Stussy x Jam Home Made Jam Diamond Watch Type 2 Version Stussy

Stussy have collaborated with Jam Home Made to release the Stussy X Jam Home Made Jam Diamond Watch Type 2 Version Stussy. That was a mouthful.

There is not much information on the watch other then there are two model, one in silver and the other in black. The watch is 40 mm in diameter and has the following functions: hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and date complication. The watch takes it's design cue from a popular Swiss chronograph. I believe the watch is powered by a quartz module. 

The watches are part of the Spring 2011 Capsule Collection from Stussy and Jam Home Made. The watch retails for about USD 440. 

The watch.

The interesting aspect of the watch is that Jam Home Made has moved away for its usual fare of Disney based watches to one carrying a skull on the dial of the watch.

Photographs: Stussy

I would love to get one. 

Christopher Ward C11 Altus update

Just got more information about the C11 Altus watches.

The C11 Altus Automatic will be powered by either the ETA 2824-2 or the Selita SW200-1. Both the movements are great movements. The luminous material used on the hands and dial will be the SuperLuminova White. The interesting aspect of the watch is the use of what is called Museum quality crystal. I suspect this is a high grade crystal offering very good clarity. 

The C11 Altus Chronograph will be powered by a Ronda 5030.d chronograph movement. This is a 12 1/2 ligne quartz movement. It has 6 jewels. As with the C11 Altus automatic, the hands and dial on the C11 Altus Chronograph will also use the SuperLuminova White luminous coating. 

The interesting aspect of the watch is, from my understanding, the case back will be awesome. I don't have much details on this yet, but will bring more once I have more information. 

My holiday watch

It is great to be on holiday. But the question is which watch do you bring along for the holiday? Well for this trip, I decided in the following watches; Panerai PAM00367, JSAR, Tudor Date and Breitling Aerospace. Why these watches? Well, I do know that I will be going swimming during the trip, so it will be a good time to test the JSAR after the conversion, also to test it for reliability for daily use. 

As for the Breitling, it has become my unofficial daily wear watch as is the Tudor Date, which I rotate between it and the Breitling. So these two had to come along. As for the Panerai PAM00367, I thought I bring it along just for the fun of it. To tell the truth, there is no actual reason for selecting these watches, just felt like it. 

The watches, a real contrast in size.

Watch Shopping in HKIA

I was in HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport) today on my way to our family holiday when I noticed that there is a new watch shop in the airport. The last time I was in HKIA, the shop was being renovated. It is now ready and open for business.  

It is a pretty big shop carrying a number of brands. I was pretty impressed with the shop. The photograph below does not show the true size of the shop. The one below it does.

It is a big and long shop carrying some major brands and some very nice limited edition watches. The location of the shop? Near gate 62.

The brands they carry. 

Maîtres du Temps Chapter 3

Sometime ago I wrote about the Chapter 3 time piece from Maîtres du Temps. You can read it here:

Maitres du Temps

The watch is the combine engineering expertise of master watchmakers Kari Voutilainen and Andreas Strehler. They started work on the Chapter 3 in 2010 and the watch will make it's much anticipated debut in Basel 2012. I am sure it will as exciting as Maîtres du Temps's past creations. 

Stay tuned. 

Damage, does it bother you?

I was posting this on one of the forums I frequent and realised that some of the watches I have are pretty dinged up. The photographs below are just some of the damage on the watches that I have. I guess I used to be 'disturbed' by the scratches and dings and dents, but after looking at some of the damage, I am no longer affected by them. In fact, I seem to like having then around, but that does not mean I will purposely ding a watch. 

Here are some of the watches and the damage (wabi).....

Rolex GMT Master. Still don't know how I got the pin prick on the case back. Perhaps the edge of the bracelet hit it.

The Tudor Snowflake. Lots of wabi, lots of love.

Panerai. Lots of scratches, more so on the highly polished case. Use to freak me out, but not anymore. 

Bell & Ross BR01-92. For those who are wondering how strong the PVD coating is, well have a look here. It is not bad. In fact I am pretty impressed by it. 

Case back. Note that almost all the PVD coat on the 'DO NOT REMOVE' screw is gone.

The Tudor Date Day. This watch 'flew' about 10 feet before landing in the bath tub. I was washing my hand and left the watch on the towel. Forgot it as there and grabbed the towel. Well, you know what happen next. Took the watch to TSC (Tudor Service Center) and they said everything was OK. Asked if I wanted the case polished and dents and dings removed, I said no.

Lastly, my Tag Heuer F1. My main reason why I have apprehension about the quality of the rubber used on Swiss made watches and it's durability and life. The watch is hardly used and the rubber has deteriorated. I asked Tag and they said that they have to replace the case. They cannot just change the rubber. Best part of all, no guarantee that there will not be a repeat performance. Sigh....

The watch, looks can be deceiving.

The rubber almost all gone. The watch is no longer water resistant.

Another view.

Even the coating on the crown is dropping off.

The rubber at the side of the watch. It is now very sticky.

Christopher Ward C11 Altus watch

Christopher Ward will be releasing the new C11 Altus watch in late August. The watch is based on and inspired by modern aircraft altimeters. I do have to say that I like the watch. There is not much information on the watch as yet and I hope to bring more information as soon as I have more. 

I have to say that the design of the watch is bold and the 42 mm guarantees maximum visibility. This with the large Arabic numerals (which I am sure is luminous), combined with the broad luminescent hands, makes this watch very visible. 

There are two watches in the collection, the C11 Automatic and the C11 Chronograph (quartz?) and two different straps, brown and black. The C11 Automatic will retail for about USD 650 while the C11 Chronograph will retail for about USD 570.

The watches.

C11 Automatic.

C11 Chronograph.

Photographs: Christopher Ward

Skagen Pouch

I got this pouch from Skagen free with one of the magazine I usually get. It is a black pouch measuring 7 x 5 inches. The pouch is pretty thin, so I don't think I will be using it to store watches. The zipper opens 'L' shape from the top to the right (bottom). I think I will use it to store my collection of thumb drives (which I have lots). 

The pouch. The cartoon character from One Piece (Luffy) does not come with the pouch. 

Away on holiday

I will be away on holiday for the next two weeks. I will try this time to post as many articles as I can during this time period. 

Casio G-Shock Perfect Bible 2011

Gakken Japan has just released the G-Shock Perfect Bible 2011. The publication date is July 2011 and the Mook cost 838 Yen. The ISBN is 978-4-05-606349-3. 

As usual, the Mook (Magazine bOOK) is filled with many photographs of current models and lots of focus on the colour collection like the Hyper Colours, Black Gold and others. There are also pages on Baby-G and of course the Cockpit Series. 

As with past editions, the last pages are reserved for the complete list of all G-Shocks released in Japan since 1983 to 2010. Overall a cool book. 

The Mook.

This is the fifth Mook I have on Casio G-Shocks. The rest:

The Book of G-Shock.

January 2010.

ISBN: 978-4-19-710214-3

G-Shock 25th Anniversary Mook

September 2008

ISBN: 978-4-584-22162-4

G-Shock Perfect Bible 2007

July 2008

ISBN: 978-4-05-604820-9

G-Shock Official Book

May 2006

ISBN: 978-4-05-604368-X

A tad disillusioned....

Why? Well I just saw the following watches from Panerai already on the pre-loved market. These are from the 2011 release. Two of the watches is from the special edition collection. Sigh.....

Panerai PAM00368 Luminor 1950 Left-Handed 8 Days Titanio 47 MM. I like this watch a lot.

Panerai PAM00371 Luminor Submersible 1950 Regatta 3 Days GMT Automatic Titanio 47 MM. The perfect Submersible? 1950 case, In-house movement, GMT function and power reserve indicator on the back. What else can you ask for?

Panerai PAM00380 Radiomir Black Seal Logo 45 MM. The logo makes it to the Radiomir.

Photographs: Panerai

Casio DW-5600CS-1 review

This is the DW-5600CS-1. It is part of the Crazy Colours Series issued in 2008. It is basically the same watch as the basic DW-5600 but with bolder, brighter colours. The Crazy Colours series consist of the following model; DW-5600CS-1 and DW-5600CS-9 from the DW-5600 design. There is the DW-6900CS in the series and these are based on the basic DW-6900 design. This watch, the DW-5600CS-1 is fitted with the Module 1545.

Module 1545

Timekeeping Mode: Hour, minutes, seconds, am/ pm, month, date, day of week (time display switchable between 12-hour and 24-hour format)

Calendar System: Auto-calendar from 1995 to 2039

Alarm Mode: Multi-function alarm, hourly time signal

Countdown Alarm Mode (Timer): measuring unit: 1 second, input range: 1 second to 24 hours, auto repeat and repeat function

Stopwatch Mode: measuring unit: 1/100 seconds (first 60 minutes), 1 second (after 60 minutes), measuring capacity: 23 hours 59 minutes 59.99 seconds, measuring modes: elapsed time, split time and two finishes

This is short review of the DW-5600CS-1 as it is basically the same as the DW-5600E reviewed earlier. The review will focus on the differences between the CS series and the basic watch.

The review of the basic DW-5600E can be read here:

DW-5600E-1 review

First we have to look at the colour of the watch. It is it’s most outstanding feature. The watch bezel and band is finished in gloss black and it is enhanced with orange highlights. The ‘PROTECTION’ and ‘G-SHOCK’ is rendered in orange as is the dial and the background of the LCD. The dial is actually rendered in two shades of orange.

The case back is standard Casio. It is the standard vertically brushed stainless steel plate. The center is adorned with the Casio G-Shock logo and the usual marking around it. The watch is made in Thailand (Thailand Y).

The bands are different from the standard straps. It is devoid of any markings or design. It has a glossy black finish and is very smooth to the touch. The glossy black coating is only applied to the upper surface and the lower (inside) of the strap is matte black. It is strange that the strap keeper is not glossy.

The band is wider as compared to the standard DW-5600E. However it does have a ‘step down’ notch along the strap. It is a very comfortable. The strap is a tad stiff but still comfortable. Markings on the inside are '413 F2' and it is the same on both straps.

Unlike the basic model, the buckle on this watch is made in Japan. I don’t see any noticeable difference between the buckles. It has the same quality as other buckles made by Casio.

The EL back light on this watch is very interesting. Although the screen is orange in colour, the back light is green. Yes, standard back light colour. Sadly I did not take any photographs of the back light.

Overall this is a nice watch. I do like it. I am happy that it has a new home in Indonesia (wedding present).