Watch hunting nv ends.
Always have a grail that you can never have, yet you won't stop trying to achieve.
lume shot in ION toilet
Previously mentioned, I have a thing for watches that lume like a torch. Many people were saying the buy the coveted Seiko SKX781 aka Orange Monster. Its in almost everyone's collection. I tend to shun mainstream stuff, not trying to be hipster, neither am I trying to look like everyone, blending red paint into more red paint.
I wanted a watch that is versatile for all occasions and I don't like the 'boomz' of orange, my best friend tho, has orange hair.
So I was snooping around shops, its really hard to find cheap watches to me its below S$300 a pop. But I keep hearing about monster selling BNIB for less than $250 in shops, not forum sellers mind you. More research was needed.
I found out that Seiko produces watches in Japan (Asia's equivalent of Swiss). But I'm not one to nit pick: "SONOFABITCH! MY WATCH IS +/-5 SECONDS A DAY!! I WILL BE LATE!!" Turns out I don't know how and don't want to measure as well. Neither do I want to know how many stitch per inch my tailored shirt has or how high my guitar strings are from my 12th fret.
Some other Seiko are made around the region, where exactly, I don't know. But mine is definitely not made in Japan because of the price, lack of the word made in japan all that. Mostly price, it damaged me slightly for <$250 (bracelet version). Cheap by many standards. Here's the watch pictures first before more words.
black subtle character that is brings out class in all accessories used
The black is this comfort zone of watches, some people prefer white/silver but I like black, it's suave, slick, sexy, s-word something, seductive as well. It makes the watch easy to match with wide variety of straps.
Some pros and cons:
+ good clean look+ good heft and feel
+ drill lugs makes it easy by 1000x to change straps
+ 4 o'clock screw down crown doesnt ribs into the back of the hand, since i wear the watch tight and as near to the hand as possible, not high up
+ LUME is bright, bright, BRIGHT!
+ slightly domed hardlex(hardness between mineral n sapphire crystals) makes it an eye candy even under water
+ the stock spring bars are the thickest ones I have seen and it feels rugged
+ bezel clicks nicely
- bezel is abit tight, should be 120 micro-clicks to go 360°C.
- the screw down crown is abit tight and not smooth, I'm afraid I might damage the thread if I screw it up (pun intended)
- aesthetically, the hands are white hands with the lume, if they could be black with lume it'll be even better just a small pet peeve i have.
- the chapter ring spills abit too much into the dial face.
- the thick spring bars although thick is abit troublesome to fit into most straps.
- non-hand wind-able movement, I'm used to it since I have a fortis with ETA movement
- non-hackable or hand wind-able movement, I'm quite used to cranking mvts
Another thing to note for small bony wrists people, most watches have these protruding 'horns' where it is the lugs for big watches, the closer your 2 springs bars are to each other, less awkward it will look on small wrists. For this black monster, the design is such that the spring bars are to be fitted under the round body of the watch, there is no gap between the strap and the body. Making the strap look 'fitted' if you will. Look a top shot of the watch to see what I mean.
The lack of gaps makes the watch fit the strap nicely on tiny wrists.
24mm strap cropped the sides to fit 20mm, should do it for more watches
Like I said I cannot comment on the movement's accuracy, not that I care, from what I see, it does keep time exactly with my phone's time. So it's good enough I'd say.
The day/date functions fine, day has 2 language, I assume it is spanish? not that I give a damn. At around 2, the movement will first switch the dates following which, date will move into the alternate language one then move into the correct day before 1am (note for inter-time-zone travellers).
full frontal shot
the thickness of the case and the slight dome of the hardlex
notice also how short the lugs are to the body
generic 'genuine' leather strap from bencoolen (one of the watch havens in singapore)
case back is screw down with a wavey pattern too
This watch is great versatile, I have nato straps but it doesn't sit well, heavy watches tend to slip, I find it quite nerdy if the watch rides up your arm, so no picts on that. This watch is my first bracelet watch, its very solid but bracelets aren't mean to be worn tight without abrasion so I'll keep it for my dad if he wants one, also bracelet has a divers' extension, 10 points for Seiko!
This watch is bought from skywatches.com.sg (at their brick and mortar shop) in people's park complex 3rd floor. *Not an advertisement, I will post where I get my watches from.
This watch is as mainstream as it gets, as cheap as it is, I have to say that the unique design itself is a heritage alone which other watch brand markets around. In house solid movement, unique design, killer lume (I said lume like 100 times already, not sorry at all), divers watch. Rumor has it that Seiko movements do not require servicing to it every 5 years (Swiss made ETA movement requires 2-3 years service once), some even worn for 10 years without having to service it at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment