Libenham Watches

Libenham is a new player in the watch world. It is a Swiss and Japanese collaboration. Libenham is the brain child of two brothers, Reto and Martin Hammer. Libenham tries to capture the essence of nature in the design of their watches. The watches can be identified by the off-set dial and the wonderful colours the watch is rendered in. The side of the watch is signed Libenham in the same colour as the dial. The collection includes the following:

Large Model (42 mm)

Medium Model (38 mm)

Small Model (34 mm)

Limited Model

Basic specification of Libenham watches:

Case: 316L stainless steel case

Movement: Miyota LH 90032 automatic movement, 21 jewels

Crystal: Mineral

Water resistance: 5 ATM

For more information:

http://www.libenham.com/

The site is in Japanese, but there are some English. For those who are interested, you can contact our Japanese watch friend.

A sample of Libenham watches.

The watch and the see-thru case back. Note the off-set.

The side of the watch with the Libenham signature.

Longines W.W.W. update

I have found more about this particular watch. It will be issued in October 2009. There will be 2 models;

L2.731.4.53.2 issued with black strap

L2.731.4.53.3 issued with brown strap (alligator?)

The watches will be under the Sports Legend Collection. I hope that this watch will also come in a big box and maybe a book as well, just like other models in this collection.

Basic specification:

Case: stainless steel, diameter 38.5 mm, lug width 20 mm

Case back: screw-down

Movement: Longines Calibre 615

Water resistance: 3 ATM

Crystal: sapphire

Calibre 615 is based on the ETA 2895/2. As such it should have the following specifications:

Automatic, sub seconds, hacking

Date, quick set

11.5 ligne, diameter 25.6 mm, height 4.35 mm

21 jewels, 28,800 A/h, power reserve 42 hours

Retail price: expected to be below USD 2,000.

OT something cute

I picked this up today. It comes in one of those Japanese snacks. Rather cute and it fits the theme of this blog, don't you think so? The brand is Anchovy (?). It is about 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch. Evidently all the parts can be removed and stored inside the blue box. It is like a little Japanese Mr. Potato-head.

When I got it, I really hoped that it works. It would make an awesome alarm clock with the the alarm off button at the top.

Best of all, notice the 'Broad Arrow' marking on the case back? What no NSN? Must be a fake. :)

Casio PAG-40 update

It has been a long day indeed. I have been wearing the Casio PAG-40 as my daily beater today. The DW-5600E must be relieved that another watch is there to take the beating. I wanted to see if the repairs would take my normal day. So after a day of walking the dog, working out at the gym (this is an important test as the watch was subjected to sweat and the case back being wet for at least 30 minutes), washing my scooter (once a week, every Thursday) and then having my bath.

Of course there is the normal desk diving test, the riding my scooter test, driving the car test, being exposed to the highly humid and hot Taiwanese summer and lastly being thrown on to my bed.

The result of this highly scientific tests? It passed with flying colours. So looks like I can have this watch on my daily rotation along with my DW-5600E and Suunto T3. I am not saying the repair was perfect, that single screw still bugs me, but it does look like (at least for now), water ingression is not a problem. As for the functionality of the watch, I have checked the compass reading against my Adanac Navigator II. I also checked the altitude against my GPS and there is a difference of about 10 feet. I put the watch against my car air-con which was set at 22 degrees Centigrade (been running for about 30 minutes to cool down the car) and it read 23 degrees. Only function I could not check was the barometer. Now where is that Riseman of mine.....

Watchuseek Blog

Watchuseek, one of the largest watch forum has just launched their blog. It makes an interesting read. For more information:

http://www.watchuseek.com/blog/index.htm

To date or not to date, that is the question

Well it is finally over. I have picked up my Longines Legend Diver. It is indeed a beautiful watch. I like it a lot. I think it is a very under-rated brand producing good quality watches. A review will be coming soon with a bit of trivia on the watch. So was it the non-date version or the date version? Well wait for the review.

Casio PAG40 Rescue Part 2 (Long)

Well this is part 2. The putty should be cured after 2 hours. Now it's time to test out if it worked. First to tap the holes for new threads.

The new tapped holes. OK it does not look so great. I hope it works.

Reinstall all 4 batteries. I wonder why the watch needs 4 batteries. Don't forget to reset the watch. Also install the fully lubricated gasket.

The spacer cum movement holder is next. Note all these have been cleaned.

The stainless steel case back.

The rubber case back.

And now the screws. Well did it work? Yes and no. The upper right screw can be tightened. The lower left can be tightened to a certain point, then it sorts of 'snaps free'. So I decided to tighten it to just before it 'snaps free'. I guess a bit more putty might help. But I think I shall keep that for a later date.

What about the other hole? Well here it is.

It too has been tapped. The screw can be tightened.

Restoration of the watch. All the bits can go on.

Now to check if the watch works as it should. Adjustment of time works. I have checked the compass against my Adanac Navigator II and it works. I am not able to check the barometer function and the altitude function. I will do that when I go hiking on the hill nearby.

Next comes the straps.

And now the moment of truth. Will the watch resist water? Back to my non-scientific test method. This time however, there will be additional test. These are also very very unscientific. First test, wash the watch. Well that was how I found out about the watch had issues. Second, have a hot bath and then out into a cool room. Both test passed as there was no water vapour on the crystal. Third test, fill the sink with warm water till it overflows. Then put the watch into the sink and move it around rigorously. And the last test? Same as above but at 6 feet underwater in a swimming pool. How did it fare?

Moment of truth. The watch just out of the pool.

Removal of the rubber case back shows water in the steel case back. This is normal.

Water on the rubber case back. Notice the rubber case back is now clean.

The inside of the steel case back is dry. This is a good sign. By the way, if you want to clean the inside of your Casio case back, use a soft eraser and gently rub it. It will clean the case back and the disk where the sound spring connects. Notice how clean the disk in the center of the case back is.

Finally, the spacer is also dry.

Conclusion? I figure this repair is only temporary or perhaps will last to the next battery change. I don't think the putty will adhere well to the resin case and will eventually give way. As such, will use this watch as a it is and if it breaks down, I will use it as spares to be cannibalized if and when I get another PAG-40. Perhaps, if it does give way, I will try the repair with liquid cement and see how that works out.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed reading this as I have enjoyed posting this.

Casio PAG40 Rescue Part 1 (Long)

I got this watch off the net recently. I have always liked this watch and when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed the watch. Actually the watch was sold to a friend who then sold it to me. Talk about a long-winded way to get a watch.

Anyway after getting the watch, I set off cleaning the watch. I do this with all watches that I buy used. Alas I found a few problems. Firstly the design of the watch is really bad, I mean having to remove 8 screws just to change the batteries? It is not even rated beyond 10 ATM. Hence the problem. I found out after washing the watch, there was water vapour in the watch. On checking the watch, I found 3 screw mounting holes were stripped. Worst of all, 2 were the ones that holds the case back.

I removed the screws and the case back. The gasket inside was all messed up. It was dry and it was not in the groove. It was also all bent-up. There was water on the movement spacer. Luck was with me, as there was no water on the movement.

So it is time to try and rescue this watch. So out with the tools and most important, the modeling putty. I was not to sure if the putty would stick to the resin, but it is worth the try. If this fails, then the next option (don't really want to do this) is to fill the holes with liquid cement and drill new holes. Then use the screws as a tap to tap new threads.

Well on with it. Don't want to bore you guys with the removal photographs.

The watch. The rubber and stainless steel case back and the spacer removed. Module 2271.

Another view. The batteries have been removed. It is powered by 4 batteries. The battery holder for the center 2 batteries have been removed.

The sensor attachment to the PCB.

The watch. Notice that the lower bezel (around the light button has been removed).

Another view. We can see the large buttons for compass, barometer and altitude.

The batteries and the central battery holder.

Part of the bezel at 3 o'clock position. It protects the sensor located at that same position.

The other part of the bezel.

Another view.

The movement holder cum spacer. Water was found here.

Case back, inside view. Don't know what the numbers mean.

Case back, outside view. Made in Korea.

The rubber case back. This is fitted outside the stainless steel case back for additional protection.

Inside view. Lots of water stain.

The compass rose. To remove, insert a plain (flat) screwdriver under it and lever out. It will just 'pop' out.

Inside view. Note the metal locking device. This locks the rose to the watch. Simple but it works. No ratchet mechanism.

The lock is held in place via spring tension.

The watch. Lots of love and DNA.

The sensor grill. Note the feet at the two extremes. It holds the grill in place.

The gasket. Finally straighten out and basking in a bath of silicon grease. Ah! that is life.... The kinks that you see is not bent up but part of the design.

All the parts off for a cleaning. I did not remove the module as I did not want to remove the sensor from the PCB. So I reinstalled the case back and held the case back tightly against the case when washing.

The watch after washing. Notice that the compass rose has been installed. It is as simple as 'click on'.

Bezel installed.

Another view. Note the sensor grill. It is held in place via the feet of the grill.

Now to address the problem of the stripped screw mount. Note the hole on the right is larger as compared to the hole on the left. That right hole is the problem hole.

The other hole, diagonal to the first hole. Upper right and lower left as luck would have it. This makes the watch wearable as the other 2 screws will hold the case back in place with some tension.

First application of the putty. Too bad I was not able to inject the putty into the hole. Manual application, sigh....

The holes is still too large. Thus second application.

This is the the other hole. I am not too concern with this hole as this holds the rubber case back to the watch and does not effect the water resistance of the watch.

Now wait for the putty to dry and see if it works. Fingers crossed.

Continue in part 2.....