a tough bar ....

why do most watches come with spring bars...??? are they cheaper to use or are the manufactures reluctant to change.......

spring bars present a real headache when owners wish to remove or change the bracelet/strap... !! especially if one did not use a special tool....... try using a toothpick or thin pen-knife and you will surely curse and swear....and very often one will knick or scratch either the case or bracelet or worse still, BOTH !!.....

even technicians at the service centre are not spared the problem....... of course we can reduce the likelihood by taping the case, bracelet and screwdriver tip with masking tape....... but why should we have to do this in the first place.....

anyway i prefer screws...... and of course the various quick-change system introduced by panerai, JLC, IWC.....

really hope to see these being implemented across the entire range..... and also more manufactures to pioneer their own unique system...

a piece of f1 action.. by casio

if u r interested to get a f1-inspired timepiece but has always been reluctant to spend the big bucks, this casio is especially made for YOU.....

it is a very nice watch at a silly price.....

so remember to check it out....

arriving very soon......

the world has become much much smaller and very much more connected now that the internet is a part of our lives...... and so we know the JLC NSA is already at dealers in the USA and europe.....

very soon it will be coming to singapore.......... and if you like alarm watches, you probably should not miss your watch to get this....

although it's limited to 1500 pcs, there should be sufficient numbers to meet the worldwide demand......

well from past experience, JLC limited edition watches are not exactly the most sought-after timepieces .... unlike examples like AP offshore limited pieces......

the old and the new gmt master II.......

before we all forget the colourful instruction booklets we used to get...... let's have a comparison of the covers between the old and the new.....

TAG the right direction......

i saw these last week during my visit to an AD........ and they didnt catch my attention at all ..... these pictures taken by Kong certainly did though....

maybe it's the lighting.... or it could be the close-ups.....

no matter what, i consider these better-looking tags............. even if you never like cyclops on a watch crystal, the rest of the touches are still a right step ahead....

unlike most that are just taking up space in the display shelves, this range has a match-winning look...... especially the larger numerals which are set on a ribbed bezel, a cool touch when one realises that rubber, a relatively low-cost material, was used to create contrast and detail....

powering the watch is a ETA-clone, renamed as calibre 5 by tag........... you can certainly expect a work-house performance from this commoner from the stable of ETA.....

all pictures copyright of VL Kong

the GV and rolex

can anyone remember the hype and excitment when the milgauss was launched a couple of years ago..???

can anyone remember how much the first few pieces was sold for in singapore...??? as far as i can remember, figures back then was about S$20,000 .........

recently i saw a GV being sold at S$10,500 at an AD........ although this is about S$1,500 more than the list price, the selling prices are far more reasonable then before.....

can anyone get one at list price? i think it could be done........

love cartier

wow if you can scoop S$1030 for this cartier love bracelet this year then please do so..... especially when 10% of sale proceeds go to charity.....

not only that, you get to own this beautiful piece ...... i just hope the white silk cord stays clean..... or i hope it should be easily cleaned......

will be on sale on 11 june 09 at cartier boutiques only......

mesh mesh

are you a fan of mesh bracelets...????

not me......

it used to be popular decades ago..... but retro isnt always in right...??

as the watch case is stout and thick, a muscular-looking bracelet is a better choice....

rolex crown...... as in winding crown

it's common knowledge that there are three dots on a rolex triplock crown.............. whereas two dots or a dash for a twinlock crown.......

however, not everyone knows that the central dot is larger for a white gold triplock crown as shown on the rolex white gold submariner (pic below) ....



maybe it's an intentional move by rolex ........ to enable their technicians to differentiate the materials of the winding crown with ease.......... stainless steel, white gold and platinum do look very similar ............

while a person can obviously tell the difference in weight between a platinum and steel watch easily, the size and mass of a small winding crown can be a liability in this case.......... a person cannot be depended to judge the difference between 2 items of very similar weight.......

like the deepsea, the new range of submariners come with the brilliant glide-lock oyster bracelet.............. simply breathtaking in its concept, design and operation.............. i dare to say rolex has completed wiped out the competition with this new bracelet............



photos copyright of rolex enthusiast

what if? how about a breitling WOLF WOLF....?

indeed the rolex sea-dweller deepsea is impressive.......... however it's also significantly MUCH more expensive than the out-going sea-dweller......... compare the list prices of the 2........ S$8751 vs S$12668!!!!!!!!

what if you want a diving watch that is rated to close to what the deepsea can do....... but for less less money......

how about 3000 m........... ? which is about 900 m less than what the deepsea can boast of..... far too close for approximately half the money..............

you have a choice.......... between 2 breitling WOLVES............. one is the avenger airwolf......... the other the avenger seawolf............ in fact, they are largely similar in most respects.....

so do u prefer a all arabic numerals dial........... or the one below.......??



although visually and physically VERY CHUNKY, i think they are manageable bcos of the lightweight titanium watch case..............

glidelock bracelet by rolex

copyright rolex

now this shows you how complicated the glidelock bracelet is...... in fact, it's an engineering marvel and also quite an overkill ...... adjustment on the fly is now possible.....

rolex clasps used to be a laughing stock but things are different now............... the current models with the stamped metal clasps will very soon be replaced.....

from memory, only a few are left......

explorer
explorer 2
yachtmaster
submariner ss and tt (there is a new submariner yg/wg this year)

rolex series 6: quick adjustment link

ok so there was another question..... how to use the quick adjustment link........

errr.... easier to answer the question with pictures than with words......

the first pic shows the link in its open position.......... u can see there is a U shaped part in the last centre link.....





ok.....in order to make it shorter, u need to close the link........ first u lift the bracelet up and rotate the last link around the spring bar that attaches the bracelet to the clasp.....



see the spring bar in the picture below...?





the U shaped depression will fit perfectly on the spring bar and it will then look as below







to make the bracelet longer, reverse the procedures.......

very simple huh.....

rolex series 5: rolex clasps

spotted in the rolex forum on www.timezone.com ......... question: are the clasps on the daytona and new gmt master 2 the same???

well.....i posted a reply there but here are more pictures............ and no, they are not exactly the same....

let's look at the daytona clasp...... it's slight shorter in length and comes with the quick adjustment feature....



there are also 3 positions for the minor adjustment holes....



as for the new gmt master 2.....it is also equipped with the quick adjustment feature......which is really cool....



you can see the glidelock mechanism that allows the clasp to close securely yet as smooth as butter....



in comparison, it is also longer than the daytona clasp....



the inner clasp is also different........

you can just see the catch for the glidelock on the inner clasp.....

that's all for now folks....