A Junkie's Collection
I have to admit - I am a DIY person. I repair some of my home appliances, fixing minor car problems, do plumbing works, restoring old furniture, and work on watches in collection. I bought a lot of watchmaker tools throughout the years. Not only that, I also keep some watches' junks - from those tiny little watch hands and rusty old dials to watch cases and bracelets. Some of these junks come from my BER watches. BER??? Beyond Economical Repair! That makes me a watch junkie! Just recently, I manage to organise and put all these junks and gadgets into proper storage. Before, they are all over the place... huhu.
Temporary workbench. My old workbench dah reban (in Malay means collapsed). Will get new one soon.
Divers' Watch... Desk DiversAlmost all watch enthusiasts have at least a diver's watch in their collection. Some enthusiast really into collecting this most versatile and appealing watches. Be it Japanese, Swiss made, German's masculine divers... dive watches are the most sought-after design and liked by many. There are few watch collectors that I know for many years keep on collecting dive watches... new models, old models, vintage... I call them penternak (in Malay means breeder). They keep expanding their collection... 200m, 300m, 500m, 1000m and even deeper ISO rated water resistant dive watches. I don't fall into this penternak category. I have a few... haha a few! But I didn't bother to collect by depth ratings because I am a diver no more. After going through endoscopic surgery for my sinuous blockage in 2006, I stop diving. That makes me a "desk diver". Wearing dive watches and do desk job! Haha... how about you fellow enthusiasts? Another question, would you dive deep into salty water with your expensive Rolex??? Nowadays, dive watches are common for daily wear. A fashion I would say. If I want to go diving one of these days, I would prefer to wear a "dive-comp". An essential and real diver's tool...and may be wearing an ISO rated Seiko as my dive-timer back-up.
A desk diver's collection... nyelam atas meja laa kita! anak itik berenang-renang pakai jam diver atas meja boleh berenang... ha ha. Ni hobi Wak Asan nih. Penternak tegar seantero Malaya. Wait for my review on some of these divers.
Investing and LiquidatingI do not have the privilege to invest in watches. No big spending on watches like before. At this very age, I decided to hedge my money in real investment. For watches, I only look for certain brand, type and model - good bargain suit to my quest is utmost important all the time. Getting limited edition and JDM Seiko is my main interest now. Buying the rare and expensive Seiko? Not me. Why not? Experience... not many people really want to spend heavily on rare Seiko. You might face liquidity issue turning watches into cash. Unless you bought many years ago then it is worth a treasure to liquidate. But in any trade - buyer always have the upper hand. Buying for short term and expecting extra returns? Better not. You might end-up in willing buyer - willing seller situation and at the end, you might get frustrated. Most of these rare timepieces are old models and majority classified as vintage. Rare one is for us to keep and not to trade, unless you are in the used timepieces business. Limited Edition? Ya... but depends on type of watches. I only go for dive watches. Not field watches or dress watches. Special Edition? Ha ha... Seiko, Citizen or may be Orient... what else? Casio G-Shock... Swiss brands? Since the past decade watch manufacturers starts collaborating with institutions and individuals to produce their themed and Special Edition timepieces. Their sales strategy is to satisfy the watch enthusiasts need for a difference... extra cosmetic will do. We got PADI and Save the Ocean for Seiko divers line. We got celebrity endorsed edition, what else? Recently announced, Seiko is releasing the Brian May (the famous Queen's rock band guitarist) special edition Seiko 5 sports dive watch. The dubbed Seiko Superman watch is fitted with a special dial resembling the Brian May's famous guitar look. Are these SE watches worth investing? For Casio G-Shock, I would say yes. Because the cult members always hunt for SE, some SE models are very pricey. But for me; not for Seiko, not for Citizen and not for Orient watches. Swiss? Yes, because most of the SE are produced in limited numbers. It goes with the price though! Spending wisely, I go for Seiko LE. You know why? Easy to liquidate, better resell value. Tak caya? Tanya la Wak Asan... hehe.
Endangered species! This rare and LE Seiko SKXA65 is not cheap. Hence, the announcement by Seiko Watch Corp. to stop production on SKX line makes the value sky high. Nak carik pun payah... nak kira-kira lagi payah. Kalau seller tuu kengkawan bole laa dapat harga cun-cun. Nak jam-jam camni ngkorang tanya laa Wak Asan Detikduabelas. Spesis macam ni memang ada saja dalam sangkar ternak dia.
Quest for AccuracySwiss C.O.S.C. standard? Japan standard? Mechanical timekeepers' precision? Quartz watches accuracy? How accurate you want your timekeeper to perform? I would prefer the Atomic Time Clock. Why? The atomic time clock is the world's most accurate timekeeper, -1 second in a million years. It is a timekeeper synchronised for global operation standard. The most advanced atomic timekeeper that we have now was first made available for synchronisation with computers, named the Internet time clock. Not only for personal computers but for all sort of control instruments and advanced equipment used for daily operation, globally. Accurate, it is a single point of reference for international standard. In terms of consumer service, the telecommunication service providers (telcos) are the early adopters. It is use to record our call or what they call the Call Data Record. The mobile phone is the most accurate timekeeping device most of us own right now. But most of them only display timing up to the minute - no running seconds. Accurate, provided you set the default to synchronise the phone with the telcos timekeeper. The quartz watch precision timing so far lead by Seiko - the Grand Seiko quartz watch. The accuracy measured at -7 seconds per year. Ranking number two is the Longines VHP (Very High Precision) quartz watch and if not mistaken is around -10s per year and the infamous Breitling Superquartz stays third. Besides these three big names, are there any manufacturers come close to atomic precision? There is or... there are now. Not the mechanical but the quartz watch manufacturer, definitely the Japanese. How they brought this precision timekeeping into our watches? You might have read the chapter too early! Casio. Multi-Band? Waveceptor? No... they did it inexpensively and in a very simple way this time. They just use our smartphone as a bridge. Connecting to the Atomic Time Clock using the Bluetooth! Hence the watch operation now driven by a software running on our smartphone.
I always set my watches manually by referring to Internet time clock on my laptop. Not anymore, this G-Shock GR-B100-1DR is my most accurate reference now. Wait for my review on this chunky and Eco-friendly dude!
Go GreenCitizen is the first to mass produce the Eco-friendly timepieces by introducing the Eco-Drive models. The Eco-Drive is a light-powered timepieces with many improvement and it comes with various shapes and functions. I use to own one before. A military watch. No need to change the battery! Exposing the watch dial to the desktop lamp can do. Once sufficiently charged, the stored electrical power will drive the quartz movement. A couple of years ago the market was introduced to the G-Shock Tough Solar and the Seiko Solar. Eco or Solar, the timekeeping technology eliminates the need to replace chemical cell batteries. Disposal of these chemical batteries is the main concern. Go Green! For me, less hassle to maintain the watch. Opening the case back in every two or three years for battery replacement might cost more than the battery itself. Damage on the screws and thread, the rubber gasket, and the need to lubricate for water proofing. Get one I must. From YouTube watch reviews I found a Seiko Solar that really amazed me. Love at first sight! A dive watch. I repeat! A dive watch.
Released in fourth quarter in 2019, I bought this Seiko Prospex SNE541P1 soon after watching a review by Maverick Watch Channel on YouTube. A solar-powered baby tuna... nantikan kemunculan review diver tin sardin ni. Tunggu tauuu... Wait for my review on this shrouded scuba dude.
"Hmhhh... where did I put my digital camera? I rarely see people with digital cameras nowadays. Most every Tom, Dick, and Harry... and Jane and Mary use smartphone camera. I need my digi-cam... I need my digi-cam... It produces better pix for my blogging. Not my Redmi 8 phone... damned. Where did I put it. Search I must. Haha... guys, enough for Part I. Wait for Part II. Coming soon." - thetick-thetick2020
