Fortis Watches AG

I was going to change the battery of my Fortis Colour watch when I remembered reading something about Fortis going under. I did some research and found out it has been taken over.

Basically, in 2017, Fortis Uhren AG came into a spot of financial difficulty. However in 2018, a German businessman, Mr. Yupp Philipp took over the company and it was renamed Fortis Watches AG. 

Mr. Yupp Philipp works in the food industry and he has a personal interest in Fortis. It is understood that he has taken over the company and all its staff.

In line with the takeover, Mr. Philipp has appointed Mr. Lorenz Aebischer to manage Fortis Watches AG as its new CEO. 

Mr. Aebischer has over 20 years experience in the industry having worked with Mido SA, Tissot SA and with Auguste Raymond before moving to Fortis Watches AG. 

I wish Fortis all the best in its future undertakings. 

More watch spotting

Remember this post...

Watch spotting

Well in episode 2 of Season 3, it looks like Richard is spotting a different Rolex. Could be wrong, but Explorer II?

Photographs: Amazon

Maybe past experience has made him a Rolex fan. 

Omega Boutique in Taipei

My Mandarin is not as good as it use to be (like it ever was) but I think the stand alone Omega Boutique along Taipei main shopping road is moving. 

The Omega Boutique located along the popular ZhongXiao East Road will be moving to the Sogo Mall. I believe it is the Sogo that is located along the same road, just about 50 meters away. 

Panerai Boutique

It looks like it finally happen. Panerai have opened its boutique in Malaysia. There has been much talk and rumors of Panerai opening a boutique in Malaysia for the longest time, however it always remained just that, talk and rumors.

So 2019 marks a new era for Panerai in Malaysia when they finally open their boutique in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

The boutique will be located in Pavilion and not KLCC as the earlier rumors and talk was indicating.

Panerai Pavilion Boutique

Lot 2.46.01B, Level 2

Pavilion KL, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 KL, Malaysia

Tel: +603-21425999

Photograph: Panerai

I think it is a good time for Panerai collectors and fans. The brand is not as hot as it use to be meaning you could possibly get the models you want, perhaps with some discounts.

Watch spotting....

Fans of The Grand Tour would have spotted a new watch in their latest season episode 1 released yesterday. 

We all know that at least 2 of the guys in The Grand Tour collects watches. They are James May and Richard Hammond. James is known to have every watch he bought and his collection is vast. As for Richard, he is normally spotted with a Rolex Submariner or SeaDweller on the show and a Tissot when he goes on one of the specials.

Here is the SeaDweller that Richard wore when he crashed the Rimac in last season. Speaks lots about Rolex watches...

The watch survived this crash. Evidently they found the watch in the car after the fire was put out. Talk about tough.

Photographs: Amazon

In the latest episode of The Grand Tour, Richard was spotted wearing this watch. I am pretty sure he has not worn this watch before in any of his shows (that I have seen). 

A closer view of the watch...

It looks like a Coke. But for sure it is the 5 digit reference GMT Master II.

However further on in the show...

Photographs: Amazon

Its a Pepsi. Cool....

Lume shot...

This is a recent pickup (not mine) .... and yes you can still get it retail without any strings attached. 

Got to love the blue lume....

Ohtsuka watches

I spotted these watches on a recent trip back to Malaysia. It was being sold in a sports shop. I don't really know much about the watches. I figure since they were being sold in sports shops, their target market are sportsmen (?). I did not  look at the prices but I suspect they would not be that expensive. 

Anyway, the watches offer pretty much the basic functions you would expect from watches in this category. You have the time, auto-calendar (date, month, day, week), 1/100 chronograph with split function and EL backlight. I am not sure about the water resistance rating.

It is fitted with Japanese movement.

I don't think the sensor thing works but I could be wrong. 

Something something from Breitling...

Breitling have or are going to release a very interesting watch in the Breitling Navitimer 1 Airline Edition Watches. Basically these watches were created to celebrate the golden age of aviation. 

These watches will be powered by the Breitling in-house caliber 01. The watch will have a power reserve of 70 hours. This seem to be a very popular target for power reserve of late. 

The watch comes in at 43mm in diameter with 22mm lugs. The watches will be rated at 3ATM.

The watches will feature the logo of the selected airline on the transparent case back. There is no indication on which airlines will be featured, how many pieces will be issued and the pricing. So far 3 airlines have been featured.

For more information:

Breitling Navitimer 1

Swissair

Pan Am

TWA

Photographs: Breitling

I better start saving and keep an eye out for what other airlines will be selected and issued.

Tudor Teaser update...

It looks like I need to go out more. :) Remember I posted this sometime back?

Tudor teaser

Well, it seems the watch in the teaser is not a new watch but a Tudor prototype from the 90s. 

The watch...

Photographs: Tudor

It appears that the watch have been posted before by Tudor on its Instagram page. The watch is a prototype and forms the basis of the Black Bay Red and the Burgundy colour seen on the Black Bay GMT. 

Anyway, it would be nice to see a Tudor with crown guards and Mercedes hands again. 

Seiko Monster 2019

Seiko has not been as busy with the Monster of late as can be seen from the lack of Seiko Monsters outside of Japan and even in Japan itself. Its like Seiko have abandoned the Monster all together. 

In 2018, Seiko only released these Monsters and they were mostly for the Japanese market.

Photograph: shamelessly borrowed from the Internet

Seiko Blue Ocean Monster SZSC003

Seiko Green Monster SZSC005

Seiko Blue Coral Reef SBDC067

However it looks like Seiko is starting 2019 with a bang. 

News is coming out that in February, Seiko will be releasing the following Monsters. For the moment, it is still a Japanese only market release. 

Seiko SBDC073

Seiko SBDC075

Photographs: shamelessly borrowed from the Internet

The Seiko SBDC075 is an interesting one. It looks like the Gen3 Seiko Orange Monster (SBDC023), but it is not. It will have an orange sun-burst dial and the hands do not have the black surrounds. 

There is talk of 2 other Seiko Monsters to be launched in 2019. I suspect these could be Thailand only models, but who knows, maybe Seiko will release new Monsters for markets outside Japan. The models are:

SRPD25K blue dial

SRPD27K black dial

Lets see what else Seiko has for us in 2019.

Watch shopping in Malaysia 2018

It has been sometime since I posted something like this but here goes. It will be a few places to shop for watches.

First we have the Gardens in or at the Mid Valley Megamall in KL.

Rolex Boutique. There is another in Mid Valley which is connected to the Gardens. 

You can find a nice selection of watches here.

This is interesting as I like Hublot. 

This place offers a unique shopping experience. It is not just a watch shop, more a gentleman shop. You half expect to see the Kingsman to come out of this shop anytime. :)

Next we have NU Sentral near KL Sentral. An interesting place to come and shop. It is the transport hub of KL.

Swiss Watch Gallery.

These two shops are actually connected and are under the same management. 

The usual suspects...

These were the latest malls that I visited when I was back in Malaysia. 

Seiko diver strap change

One of the reasons I like Seiko divers is the vented rubber strap that comes with the watch. The strap, although tough is very comfortable and if you are daring, can be moulded or 'curved' to fit the wrist better.

However the major drawback of the strap is that after sometime it becomes brittle and will break. Sometimes it will give you a warning, i.e. the strap keeper will go first, or it will just break. 

And when it breaks, it really breaks.

I lost the lower half of the strap.

However it is easy to order the replacement strap. There are 2 types of strap, the straight vented strap and the wave vented strap.

You can just order the strap by its more popular moniker, the Seiko Z22 strap, 22 denotes the strap width.

The remaining strap crumbling. 

Actually it does not help that I was using the 'fork' type spring bar removal tool. The better tool to use to remove the Seiko spring bars is the knife or blade type spring bar removal tool. This is because the Seiko spring bars lack the shoulder for the fork to sit in. The edge of the spring bars, especially the fat ones, actually sit flush to the sides of the watch lugs making removal with the fork type a bit difficult.

The watch head, washed and ready to strap fitting. Note the Seiko fat spring bars.

The old and new straps. Comparing the buckles. The new one carries the -Z while the old one is the -F.

All done.

Don't forget to keep the old buckle.