Breitling Exhibition (Malaysia Specific news)

Breitling in conjunction with Sincere Fine Watches will be holding an exhibition called 'Pure Breitling Exhibition 2011' in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. The event will be held in the KL Center Court from the 3rd of November to the 6th of November, 2011. The times are from 1000 to 2200 hours daily. 


Visitors will be able to view the Breitling Caliber 01 which powers the Navitimer, Chronomat and Transocean, hence the tagline, One Heart Three Legends. 

Breitling will also use this event to launch the Breitling Avenger Seawolf Blacksteel Limited Edition watch. 

Photograph: Breitling

Technical Specifications:

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Date

Movement: Breitling Caliber 17, officially chronometer-certified by the COSC, self-winding, high-frequency (28’800 vibrations per hour) 25 jewels with date complication

Case: Blacksteel diameter 45.40mm, unidirectional, ratcheted bezel

Crystal: Cambered sapphire crystal, AR coating on both sides

Dial: Black dial with yellow accent on the minute marker and sweep second hand

Water resistant: 30 ATM 

Power Reserve: 40 hrs 

Strap: Diver Pro II

Logo

I finally succumbed.... 

Will write more about it soon. Learnt a bit about the watch. 

Panerai Reference list

I have never been able to remember or for that matter identify what model or which model it is by the PAM reference number, e.g. PAM00092. All this will come to an end soon as the people in www.paneristi.com is working on a 'complete' reference list by PAM reference number. How cool is that. All I can say is 'A big Thank you to those doing this'. 

Here is a link to the initial reference listing. As I understand it, they will be adding photographs to the models in the coming days and weeks. They are getting the entire forum involved in this effort. I am sure it will be an awesome list (or cheat list :) )

Panerai 'Cheat' List

Lume shot update

Since I was on this watch today, I thought I post about the lume shot, updated since I changed the hands. It is the Tudor Snowflake. 

Read about the hands modifications here:

Tudor Snowflake hands replacement

And the old lume shot here:

Old lume shot

The new lume shot. Yeah, it is just a dot, as the service bezel has a Luminova pip.

Christopher Ward C70 DBR1 COSC offer

Don’t you just love the Christmas season? In line with the Christmas cheer, Christopher Ward has this on offer. Anyone who buys one of the C70 DBR1 COSC watches (limited to 300 worldwide) before 20th December, 2011 will be in the running to win one of the 30 DBR1 sculptures (worth £950). That is a one in thirty chance of winning.  

Christopher Ward has commissioned Marshall Buck to create ten exquisitely crafted sculptures of the DBR1 in Aston Martin racing green and mounted on a walnut base – making them as collectible as the C70 DBR1 COSC.

Christopher Ward's C70 DBR1 COSC is one of the most accurate watches in the world.  It was designed to celebrate Aston Martin's famous victory at Le Mans in 1959 and shares the design details of the winning car's livery. You can read more about it here:

C70 DBR1 COSC

The watch.

Photograph: Christopher Ward

The car.

Photograph: borrowed from the Internet

'Ralph' on sale

Good news from The Watch Boys, just in time for Christmas. 'Ralph' or the Desktop Incursore is now on sale on their website. The Desktop Incursore, now in its second edition, will be available for USD 69.99, shipping included. This is until the current stock finishes. So it is a good time to grab one if you don't already have one. Why? Well, there is no telling if there will be a third edition as it took them 5 years to come out with the second edition. 

For more information:

Ralph

Photograph: The Watch Boys

PuristSPro Introduce New Roger Dubuis Forum

Watch manufacture Roger Dubuis under its new CEO is proud to announce that it has introduced a new Roger Dubuis Forum in collaboration with PuristSPro. Here is the welcome note from the CEO of Roger Dubuis, Mr. Georges Kern.

Title: PuristSPro Introduce New Roger Dubuis Forum

Dear collectors of ROGER DUBUIS watches and our aficionados, ROGER DUBUIS is delighted to welcome you to the PuristSPro.com forums. With our shared passion for watches, we are pleased to be able to exchange views with you here. And to start the debate, a subject which brings us all together: fine mechanical engineering.

Since 1995, ROGER DUBUIS has been the outlet for an ongoing stream of creativity. The Manufacture has channeled its action, philosophy, and communication into four fantasy worlds each with its own character: Player, Warrior, Venturer and Diva. These four bold, powerful and extravagant collections express the DNA of ROGER DUBUIS.

Totally integrated, the ROGER DUBUIS manufacture produces some thirty complicated mechanical movements in-house, exclusively for ROGER DUBUIS watches. As well as being the sole watch Maison to have every one of its mechanical movements stamped with the Geneva Hallmark - a gauge of excellent workmanship - it has added a further certification: the COSC, the Official Swiss Chronometer Certificate, which guarantees accuracy.

Having arrived at the right time, ROGER DUBUIS has grown alongside the spread of communication by Internet. So it is no accident that the Maison has chosen PuristSPro.com as a meeting place where watch lovers can converse in unprecedented proximity. All your thoughts, comments and questions are valuable to us. Welcome to the ROGER DUBUIS community!

Georges Kern

CEO of ROGER DUBUIS 

If you want to visit the forum:

Roger Dubuis Forum

Yet another Lume shot

This time it is the Breguet Type XX Transatlantique. I have always liked the Type XX and XXI from Breguet. Initially I preferred the Type XXI, but after looking at the Breguet Type XX, more so the Transatlantique, I find myself drawn towards the Type XX Transatlantique, reference 3820. 

Anyway, the lume shot. I find it interesting as one of the chronograph sub-dial is actually luminous. This allows for the user to use the chronograph function in the dark, well up to 30 minutes anyway. How cool is that?

The watch. 

Tudor adventure

What an interesting adventure the Tudor Prince Date reference 74000N had the past one month. This is the Tudor I got preloved at a very good price. I had it serviced at TSC and now it looks like new. I made sure they (TSC) did not polish the watch, just service the movement, change the sapphire crystal and the crown and stem tube. 

The watch. 

The dial is actually blue.

Anyway, I had the intention to trade the watch with another watch (or part trade). Every time I brought the watch for a part trade, I did not have the heart to trade it. Three times I tried but all three times I could not bring myself to trade it. So in the box it stayed. 

A couple of days ago, I showed the watch to my wife. I had showed the watch to my wife when I first got it, but she was not interested in the watch. However this time, it was different. She had a look and she tried it on. I guess that was the last time I would see the watch. She like the watch. So the watch is now hers. 

Here lies the problem. The bracelet was much too long for her. So I adjusted it by putting it all the way 'in' into the clasp. 

It was still too long. We brought it to the Rolex boutique to check if they could adjust the length of the bracelet. I could not do it as the bracelet is of the old folded design.

And as you can see, there are no adjustment links or removable links. They suggested we bring it to RSC for them to remove the link as they could not do it. 

This morning I decided to check the Internet to see if there was a way to adjust the bracelet. A simple search showed many sites showing how it is done. Many advised that there will be some distortion to the links. Well I decided to try. 

The way to adjust or remove the link is to 'bend' out the central link to disconnect it. After 'bending' the central link, I mange to remove one link. The next job was to bend the central link back. 

As you can see from the photographs below, it is not perfect, but I guess it will do. It does not look as bad in real life.

The other problem, which was highlighted in the sites is that there will be a 'bend' on the outside of the central link. You can see it on the photograph below. My wife was OK with it as she said it is not really noticeable and that it adds character to the watch.

The removed link. I decided not the 'bend' the link back into shape, just in case I need to reuse the link. She is happy with the watch.

Panerai Catalogue

Panerai has a cool catalogue for iPad. It is available on the iTunes store. Check it out as it is a cool application. I like it (but I am biased). It is also free. 

It features a home page that shows the current time via the soon to available PAM00372. The PAM00372 is of course the 'hottest' Panerai in the 2011 model release. 

The thing I like about the application is that it is easy to navigate. It has 4 main section:

Home - shows the current time

History - showing major milestone in Panerai history

Catalogue - a very interactive section showing the current models available. It is divided into sections, Historical, Contemporary, Specialities, Special Editions and All. There are things like specifications, videos and images in these section. 

Movements - as with the Catalogue tab, this section is equally interactive. It is divided into 3 section, Hand-Wound, Automatic and All.

The last tab is the credits tab. 

The Home Tab.

The Movement Tab.

History Tab.

The Catalogue Tab.

Images littered all over the application.

Photographs: iTunes/ Panerai

My collection...

Stage 2 culling completed. Stage 3 will happen sometime next year as I want to see if the current collection will satisfy my current needs or is there a need to cull more or change the collection (part of). 

The brands remaining after the culling:

Breguet, Breitling, Longines, Marathon, MontBlanc, Omega (which surprising forms the second largest brand in the collection), Panerai (which is the core of my current collection), Rolex (which I thought would form the second largest brand in the collection), Seiko, Sinn, Tudor (third largest in the collection???), Tutima and a couple of Casio (mostly vintage DW-5600).

I do have a couple of military watches pending, as I have not decided to sell or to keep. I will start selling the rest of my military watches next month and may even post them here.

I am still waiting for the Panerai PAM00390 and PAM00219. I have, at the moment shelve the plan to get the PAM00000, PAM00210 or the PAM00232.

Some of my watches....

Prometheus Manta Ray

With Christmas coming just around the corner, it is great to see some good offering coming our way. Prometheus Watch Company is offering a 10% discount for all that use discount coupon MANTARAY (all capitals) on their range of Manta Ray watches. The discount will be available for a limited time period and while current stock lasts. 

For more information:

Prometheus Manta Ray

The Manta Ray.

Photographs: Prometheus Watch Company

Happy Deepavali

Wishing everyone a very Happy Deepavali and have a good day.

Panerai prices (Taiwan)

The retail prices of some of the models in the Panerai collection. 

PAM00338 Radiomir Titanio 42mm. Was told that this model has been discontinued. 

NTD 241,000.

P.999.

PAM00336 Radiomir Oro Rosa 42 mm. This model has been discontinued as well.

NTD 523,000.

P.999.

PAM00270 Luminor 1950 10 Days GMT 44mm.

NTD 506,000.

P.2003.

PAM00321 Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Power Reserve Automatic 44mm.

NTD 279,000.

P.9002.

PAM00329 Luminor 1950 3 Days GMT Automatic 44mm.

NTD 298,000.

P.9001.

PAM00359 Luminor Marina 1950 3 Days Automatic.

NTD 229,000.

P.9000.

PAM00319 Luminor 1950 8 Days Rattrapante 47mm.

NTD 1,279,000.

P.2006.

PAM00324 Luminor 1950 Chrono Monopulsante Left-handed 8 Days Titanio.

NTD 635,000.

P.2004.

PAM00372 Luminor 1950 3 Days 47mm. Most likely the 'hottest' model of 2011.

NTD 298,000. 

P.3000.

PAM00373 Radiomir 3 Days Platino 47mm.

NTD 1,244,000.

P.3000.

PAM00375 Luminor Composite 1950 3 Days 47mm. I like this watch.

NTD 378,000.

P.3000.

PAM00380 Radiomir Black Seal 45mm.

NTD 128,000

OP X.

PAM00382 Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo 47mm. Another 'hot' model of 2011.

NTD 307,000.

P.9000.

PAM00384 Radiomir 8 Days Ceramica 45mm.

NTD 429,000.

P.2002.

And there you have the retail prices of some of the models in Panerai 2011 collection.

OT but I want one....

Mickey and Minnie iPod Nano Red on RedRun Lunatik. The time is shown via Mickey's and Minnie's hands. It even has a sweep seconds hand and date complication. How cool is that.

Photograph: shamelessly borrowed from the Internet

Lume shots

This time it is the turn of the Rolex SeaDweller 4000, reference 16600. This watch is 9 years old (Y serial number). 

I wanted to include a lume shot of my GMT Master, reference 1675 from 1965 but realised that it will just be a square box on the blog. The luminous material, Tritium no longer glows. 

Explanation....

I was asked about the blog entry here:

Finally

What does it mean. Well I have decided to call it a day, and stop collecting watches, hence, 'Saturday' :) . There will still be some rationalising and streamlining, but the should not be an more growth to the collection. It has been a wonderful experience. 

Sponsorship...

I have seen watch companies sponsoring the clocks in airports, airport lounges, hotels and train stations, but I have never seen anyone being a sponsor of an aquarium. That was until we visited the Siam Ocean World in Bangkok. 

One of the main sponsor of the aquarium is TAG Heuer. I think that is just cool. 

I would love to get one of the clocks for my house. 

Best way to show and monitor the time for all the shows in the aquarium. 

Hats off to TAG Heuer. 

RIP Dr. George Daniels

Sadly, one of the greatest watchmakers of the 20th century, Dr. George Daniels, OBE, FBHI, FAWCI, has passed away today, at the age of 85.

Dr. George Daniels is well known for his revolutionary escapements in the co-axial and the independent double-wheel. 

Photographs: Internet

Here is a video of the great man.

Dr. George Daniels