Rado Voyager

Time to review another vintage piece, this time it is a Rado.

The Voyager has been a Rado model that has been around for a long time.

Strangely enough it is one of those models which has had different variations released along the years yet hardly any concrete info of it can be found online.

I have tried reading about it, to find out more of the story behind this piece but it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Just some back info on what shot Rado into “stardom”. Back in 1962, Rado produced the world’s first scratch-proof watch, the DiaStar, since then Rado set an industry standard in scratch proof watches and is still a market leader in scratch proof watches. Rado today still produces fine Swiss luxury timepieces, with multiple styles, having tough, sporty and timeless classic pieces as well.

Today we talk about the Voyager, which sounds somewhat like dive or boat watch or perhaps even to space, in reference to the term, “To voyage”.

As the golden age of space travel as set in the sixties, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

Voyager is the name of a model line by Rado, this particular model was around from the late 1960s towards the end of 1980s.

At the beginning, it was just one of many models. It did later it became s.th. like an entrance class model which was marketed for the Fareast markets.

There are countless variations of this piece. All have automatic day/date movements. This model was somewhat like a mass produced model, for the everyday man. There were literally tons of these watches by the end of the 1980s. The Voyager was in my own opinion and this may be true, was the most produced piece in their range.

With the never ending variations, the Voyager was more than just a model but an entire product range of one type of model.
For an everyday watch, it was a practical model and better yet, Swiss made and automatic as well.

For a piece which seems to be selling really well, it was a surprise it ended production.
Though if you think about it, it probably happened due to the Quartz Crisis back in the day.
So what did Rado tell me about my piece, they said

“Yours is from 1982 or later, inside should be an ETA 2836-2 automatic movement with day/date, as the first three digits of the reference number(636.xxxx.x). This movement came 1982. Snap on backs were usual at that time at Rado. From what I can see, it is completely authentic.

The water resistance is always a problem at vintage watches. If you want to have it waterproof, you need new gaskets for the back and crown and a hydrostatic test to be sure. That´s expensive. If you want to wear it regularly, you should have it serviced(cleaning, oiling, adjusting) by a good watchmaker.

Hope this helps. Enjoy it and wear it in health!”
 
I was ecstatic to know that I have yet another original vintage piece in my possession. Plus the last bit from their staff was kind of quirky, wear it in health!

For now this piece is kept in my collection, it is not a piece that I wear frequently as it is too small for my wrist, nonetheless it is a lovely piece that I love admiring.

If only they made the back case transparent or see through, that would have been brilliant.

As this was a widely produced piece, its price is somewhat challenging to discuss. What factors encompasses a Voyager worthy of a mentioning.

It all comes down to the same few factors for every piece I guess? The rarity, condition and current market demand. As we speak, there isn’t really a hype or excitement surrounding vintage Rado pieces except maybe the old DiaStars. Then again in about 10 years, the picture may be totally different?

You may come across many Rados online, especially on eBay. If you think it suits you and the price is right, why not go for it.

This is a nice piece to have for anyone beginning a collection. It isn’t something really fancy or pricy.

I see it as a quintessential piece that perhaps set the tone for automatic watches back in the 1960s, it was an everyday watch. It was somewhat like what our Seikos are today.

Below are some pics of my Rado, it is still in a fairly good condition.

The automatic movement works well and it can run well.


Condition perhaps 7.5-8 out of 10. There are some signs of wear on the face and some visible scratches

 

 

 

Mr. Jones Sun and Moon Miyamoto

Alright, I got an interesting piece to talk about today.

It is Mr Jones Watches from UK. Well firstly, Mr. Jones is not your average line of watches.

It has an artsy feel about it with many witty designs. Most of the time (pun intended) it forgoes the usual conformity we are accustomed to seeing on a watch face. Instead it has vibrant, bold colours, artistic and imaginative designs in place.

Their unique styles make telling the time an altogether different process.

It makes time telling quirky and hip!

They have a whole Sun and Moon range, which unlike your usual timepiece that shows you ‘day and night’ through separate dial on the piece. Mr Jones, makes use of the movement of the sun and moon and they have referred to this as the “hour disc”. The hour disc is used to tell the time and the hands on the face are used to show the minutes and seconds.

So today I am going be to talking about my Mr Jones Watch.

It is a limited edition Sun and Moon Miyamoto.
This piece is inspired by the world of Super Mario Bros, and pays homage to its creator Miyamato.
Limited to 100 pieces. (or so I thought when I ordered mine)

So about 3 weeks later after my purchase, this piece seems to have been added to their regular line of Sun and Moon pieces. Which means it is no longer limited edition but a regular sale items.

 
To be honest, I am a little disappointed as I thought that I was one of the privileged 100 to be able to own this piece.

As why to this particular piece was reinstated is perhaps due to the reason it was very successful and sold out rather quickly. I have checked their website again and they have relaunched the piece to keep the vast number of customers happy. This is one of those times where the collaboration done by the watch maker, seems to have been done right.

To be fair, Mr Jones probably saw it as an opportunity too good to pass up.

Mr. Jones has managed to leverage on the vast number of Mario fans out there, whom by now should be in their late twenties to early forties. Indeed a good target market and with the style of the watch being so androgynous that it appeals to both man and woman (another plus point for sales and style). The team behind it did a great job, this would be somewhat like their golden goose.

Let’s face it, it is definitely a great piece but also a cash cow for now.

I am sure it would outsell may of their other pieces, just due to the fact that it is somehow linked to Super Mario. Well done and good move by Mr Jones, to bring it back to both satisfy the cravings of customers (definitely more than a hundred) and ring in the profits.

Only difference is that, when I got mine it read "No 45 in an edition of 100". (as you can see from the picture below)

For the regular pieces on the back case, the ‘No XX in an edition of 100’ words on the backing are no longer there, as shown below.

 

Taken from: http://mrjoneswatches.com/sun-and-moon-miyamoto/

As I have mentioned, there is a unique or unusual way of time telling on this watch.

The sun and the moon are the indicators for telling the time, sort of like your hour hand.

Before I get onto my take of this peice, let me share some info from their website.

The website explains it in detail how you can read the time properly. (Taken from http://mrjoneswatches.com/sun-and-moon-miyamoto/)

“The position of the sun or moon in the crescent shape indicates the hours.

The crescent shaped sky represents 12 hours with the time running from left to right.
At 6am the sun 'rises' on the left of the dial. The sun slowly climbs in the sky until it reaches the apex of the crescent noon.

The sun descends until it reaches the right hand marker at 6pm.

After 6pm the Sun ‘sets’ and disappears from view, meanwhile the Moon ‘rises’ on the left.
The position of the Moon in the sky shows the hours from 6pm until 6am.”

As for the minutes and seconds, it is displayed in the middle and tells the time in the conventional type of way.

So let us get down into this piece.

The first thing that definitely stands out is its cool Blue and Grey strap with pink stitching.
The strap surely is something funky and cool, the metal buckle also has a nice crisp finishing. The watch has a nice clear sliver lug with a mostly white face, with the hour disc having the day and night designs of the Mario world.

The design on the hour disc is not too complicated, it is done simple enough to be admired and I feel it makes use of the space flawlessly, without making it too congested with over complicated graphics, it is perfectly balanced.

It would look nice both on the wrist of men and women. It is nicely assembled to look good nice on a man's wrist not too small, and neither too big for a woman's wrist.

It feels good on the wrist, not heavy or bulky, just nice.

Since all the detailing was on the hour disc, the main point was to visualise the landscape moving along as time ticks on. They left it at that, leaving minimal details for the markers around the minute and second hands.

Having done a range of sun and moon pieces, the balance in this piece is perfected harmonised.
 
Thought it is a nice piece, when looking at it I must admit the finishing looks a tad bit shabby.

 


Especially 2 particular points. First it is the block markings (see in above picture) on the face along the "hour disc", there are 12 blocks which are used to help tell the hours as the sun or moons are directly below it. The colours of these markings seem to look faded, as though a poor printing method was used. It gave it an overall poorly finished look. If the colours were more saturated it would have come out looking more vibrant and eye catching, unfortunately this finish seemed to be below par.

The second point which I have to highlight is the print finishing on the back case of the timepiece. Once again here, the printing looks mediocre and somewhat like a childish finishing. It does not look good and professional. If the printing would have been more sharp and perhaps a shade darker to make it stand out a little more, that would have been enough to make it look more satisfactory.

Lastly, another confusing point was that on the back case of the piece, it says “Made in London”. Though when the item came and on the parcel box, country of origin was declared as “China”. This is perhaps another point to ponder on? I would not really think too much into it but it makes you wonder if the watch was indeed pieced together in London or not?

The specs of this piece shown below;

Case: brushed stainless steel

Strap: navy and grey leather with pink stitching
Mechanism: Ronda 515-24H single jewel quartz mechanism
Width (3 o'clock to 9 o'clock): 37mm
Height (from lug to lug): 46mm
Waterproof: 5ATM
Smallest strap diameter:150mm
Largest strap diameter: 205mm

Now let us delve into the story of this piece, so we know the inspiration came from the graphics of the highly popular Nintendo game Super Mario.

The image of the hour disc showcases the landscape of the scenes from the game. If you played Super Mario while growing up I am sure it would strike a chord with you.

Remembering the times you had to run pass the turtles and trying to get your mushrooms. It shows both the day and night landscape or 2D background as we would have known it back then.

So why is it called the Sun and Moon Miyamoto, is basically because this piece pays homage to the designer of this game Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto.

As I have mentioned Mr. Jones tends to be an artsy-fartsy sort of brand. They have an explaination the story behind the design of this piece. You can read more from, http://mrjoneswatches.com/sun-and-moon-miyamoto/ in the description tab.

All in all, it is a nice piece and especially if you are a Mario fan.

 

My Batman Timepiece

If anyone of you out there are a batman fan, then you would have known that in 2014, was the 75^th anniversary of Batman.

Hence a whole range of products were launched and labelled limited edition. These items included some gnarly looking timepieces.

This isn’t your usual lovely classy timepieces, it’s the Dark Knight we are talking about here, so it has to be quintessentially dark, rugged and manly. Everything that encapsulated Bruce Wayne’s alter ego Batman. Also did I mention, I am a huge Batman Buff.

I am a fan, so yes you are right, I definitely had to get my hands on some kind of Batman Limited Edition merchandise, sadly yes I am a sucker for such memorabilia.

Firstly, let me say that Romain Jerome was the right choice for this collab project. As few of their other timepieces have a rather sinister and alluring look about it. Go check it up and you'll see what I mean. 

There was the big hype about the release of the Romain Jerome collab with DC comics timepiece, it matched the dark side of Batman, as shown in recent years with the image portrayed in the Dark Knight installment played by Christian Bale. The watch looked so sweet, it was in the distinctive matt black, nice scratched edges looking somewhat carbon fibre-ish. Topped off with the newer batman logo seen in the recently Dark Knight movies. It was lovely, plus the strap looked perfect all crumpled and crackled like the batsuit or cape after a night long of vigilante chasing.

 It was only limited to 75 pieces and cost roughly 19,000USD, you can see a picture below.

(taken from : HTTP://blog.luxurybazaar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/RJ-Batman-front-3.jpg)

Well, that wasn’t the timepiece I got, since I did not have 19,000USD lying around.

What I got myself wast the HCG Batman 75^th Anniversary Chronograph.  So more details into the watch, the back case logo was designed by Jim Lee, with a serial number, limited to 100 pieces. It is a quartz movement made ny Miyota Japan. It came in a nicely packed comic stlye book style box.

The features are as follows;

 - Case: 46.5mmx 55mm
- Movement: Japanese Chronograph JS50
- Super Luminous : C-3
- Water Resistance: 200m
- Band: Anti-Alergic Silicone
- Limited to 100pcs worldwide

 

So my watch was numbered 25, pictures above. From the way I see it, this was released to target the Asian Market and I have been seeing it mostly on websites in Singapore, Malaysia and Hongkong. Though I would say little was really done to market this watch or advertise it as it would should have been done. With the correct marketing, I am sure this timepiece would have been snapped up in a heartbeat. As I myself wasn’t really aware of the release of this timepiece until much later and am glad to be able to still get my hands on it.

I must admit, I got the watch because it was a Batman colletor’s item and it only looked alright to me.

Since I have gotten it, I must say it has grown tremendously on me. The more I look at it and wear it on my wrist the more I love it.

The way it feels and the bulkness of the timepiece feels just right. I like that rugged look, yet I feel they did not go overboard, which actually makes the timepiece look quite contemporay. What do I mean by that, well it feels like a timeless Batman classic, meaning it matches the entirety of Batman from begininng till date. It did not lean nor focus too much on the recently darker image of Batman due to the Dark Knight series movies, like the Romian Jermoe piece. This piece stuck true to the original batman logo and yet managed to keep the look of the face current and all around as well. I though that the Silicone strap was a good move in making the piece look sporty, current and active to go along with the theme.

The chrornograph was a nice added feature to add some complexity to the face of the timepice, which I could compare to Batman’s utility belt.  You can time how long your batarangs take to hit your target if you’d wish.

The surface is entirely black and has that nice smooth matt finish. With 3 nicely sized knobs for the time setting and the chronograph features.

I really like the feel of this timepiece plus it is a collectorable Batman memorabilia, what’s not to like.