Seiko Criteria, Chronograph.

Let’s talk about Seiko today. The game changer, the Japanese power house!

Seiko almost wiped off the existence of automatic watches back in the day. Aptly known as the ‘Quartz Crisis’ in Switzerland and the ‘Quartz Revolution’ outside of Switzerland. The invention of the Seiko Quartz watch changed watch history forever in terms of Horology. The world’s first quartz watch was released by Seiko, call the Quartz ASTRON.

From then on Seiko has never looked back, developing so many other interesting timepieces like the Seiko Kinetic as well.

Today I won’t go into deal on how fantastic Seiko has been over the years.

I am going to talk about a Seiko I own. So this is my first ever Seiko. A Seiko is somewhat a watch for the everyday man and here in Singapore I see a Seiko or Citizen on the wrist on the average man on the street. Well growing up no one in my family really cared much about timepieces and we had really basic watches on our wrist, just to tell the time. The first ever watch I had as a kid was probably a digital Casio watch.

Well since then, I have come a long way. I have had a deep interest in Horology and in the arts of fine watch making. Though Seiko may not fall into the category  of fine watch making. It definitely deserves a place in Horology history for their contributions to the Horological world.

The watch at hand is the limited edition Seiko Criteria SNDG13P1, number 2041 out of 3600.


Below are the specifications of this timepiece

 

Quartz movement.
Calibre: 7T92.
Black ion-plated stainless steel case.
Blue ion-plated stainless steel unidirectional rotating bezel and inner ring with tachymeter.
Black ion-plated stainless steel bracelet.
Three-fold clasp with push button release.
Screw case back.
Blue dial with luminous hands and indexes.
Date calendar display at 4 o'clock position. 1/20 second chronograph, up to 12 hours.
Sapphire crystal glass.
Water resistant to 100 meters.
 

Visually the piece looks amazing, I feel the colours of the dial and the bezel match together very well. That metallic shine makes this piece stand out more as compare to the other similar models which are not limited edition. The Black ion-plated steel bracelet gives sort of a gun metal finish colour which once again I find visually stunning. So aesthetically the colours are nice and vivid. There is a nice extra touch with the blue dial having luminous hands and indexes.

For the technical side, the Calibre 7T92 has the sub dial at the 6 o’clock has the hour and minute hands that track the chronograph elapsed time up to twelve hours. The sub dial at the 12 o’clock is the 1/20 second indicator. The interesting this is that the second hand does not measure the time but is used to measure the second for the chronograph movement. Where else, the sub dial at the 9 o’clock is actually the one which shows the seconds for the time.

On the bezel there are Arabic markings and seconds hands in multiple of fives.

Inside on the dial there are more markings for the Tachymeter function.

This is a nice weighty piece, as for me I like big heavy pieces that has a little more weight on the wrist.

The steel bracelet does surely add more weight on this piece. Making it a little bulky and stand out slightly more.

So overall this is a nice piece with great chronograph and
 tachymeter functions.

With stark colours to make it shine, it has a nice sporty feel like an aviator or motor GP watch.

This can be worn both with your suit to work or for a game of golf.

Take a look and judge for yourself.

Valjoux, who?

One of the first movements that I began to hear a lot when I was reading up on timepieces and how many automatic watches ran was the term “Valjoux”.

It is one of the names I have heard many times and is a movement used in my timepieces, usually for chronograph movements.

Valjoux was a fabled movement maker and was part of the behemoth ASUAG group known today as Swatch Group.

The piece de resistance of the Valjoux movement is none other than the ETA 7750.

How this movement was conceived tells an interesting tale. At that time, Valjoux was a leader in the manual wind chronographs.

It had already produced the manual wind Valjoux 7733 movement which doing amicably well. In the 1970s, they wanted to spearhead a development of a new movement, one which would be reliable and cost effective. This movement is also acclaimed to be the first to have been designed with the aid of a computer back in the seventies.

Sadly it was short lived, it did sell well in the beginning with an estimated of around hundred thousand pieces in 1974. In the following year, production stopped and this movement went bust. At that time, the demand was so low that supplies lasted well into the eighties. Imagine if your Grandad or dad actually bought those pieces when nobody actually wanted them, they would have gotten them at a steal. Today you would be seating on a ‘goldmine’, as the demand for automatic timepieces were somewhat resurrected, so the ETA 7750, somewhat like the phoenix rose from the ashes. (Thankfully the people of ASUAG kept the dies and equipment so they could restart production seamlessly).

Thanks to its ingenious design, this was both durable and economical to produce, along with great support from Swatch Group the 7750 became the most movement in the Swiss automatic chronograph movement. It could be said to be the most successful automatic chronograph movement, perhaps period.

Here are some of the brands out that which use this fantastic movement in the timepieces; Breitling, Cyma, Hamilton, IWC, Mido, Omega & Panerai to name a few.

ABCs of Watch Brand Abbreviations

This is a beginners guide to the abbreviations commonly used by watch users or in discussions on forums.

Basically I have hunted high and low (well not really) and these have been some of the common terms I have came across online.

It may help to clear up confusion you may have had while reading online something or have no idea what on earth some acronym means.

So basically here is a sumamry of all things watches or horologically related.

ALS - A. Lange & Söhne
A&S - Arnold and Son
AP - Audemars Piguet
B-ling - Breitling
B&M or BM: Baume & Mercier
BP: Blancpain
GG: Gérald Genta
GO:   Glashütte Original
GP: Girard-Perregaux
IWC: International Watch Co., that was what it was known as back in the day, today they have sort of rebranded and called themselves, wait for it “IWC”
JLC: Jaeger-LeCoultre
MB: Mont Blanc
ML: Maurice Lacroix
PP: Patek Philippe
RL: Ralph Lauren Watches
Tag: Tag Heuer
UG: Universal Geneve
UN: Ulysse Nardin
VC: Vacheron Constantin

Bascially these are the more well known brands, it would be impossble to cover all brands out there.

If you know any more which I don’t, please feel free to add.

Cheers.

My Bulova Sea King

I recently got my hands on a classy vintage Bulova Sea King, fitted with a Speidel elastic band.

This was a particular model that I have been trying to get my hands on for a while, pictures below.

 

 

Prior to getting it, all I knew that it was from the era of the seventies but its story, which once I found out which intrigued me and made me sought after this piece even more.

So when I got it, the first thing I had to do was to get it authenticated from Bulova (something everyone should do once they get any vintage watch).

So Bulova got back to me, confirming my time piece was indeed genuine and from the N1 on the back case confirmed that it was produced in 1971.

Wow! What a marvellous piece of work, it is 44 years old this year and it still works fine.

From what I have gathered, the Sea-King was a water-resistant line from Bulova, it was introduced in 1959 all the way till the seventies. Which means mine was one of the later models.

Some have only the label “SEA KING“, some with the “SEA KING” & Whale logo, while some only had the whale. Which I guess changed over time. This is what is believed as a general consensus.

It seemed to be something that was not questioned by most, who took it as a gradual change in the aesthetic feature of the watch. Apparently there is a meaning to the whale on the face.

Some Bulova experts, have stated that the whale actually appeared around the 1966 to 67 but it did not necessarily meant it was a ‘SEA KING’ model. The whale actually meant it was waterproof.

If you dig further, there seem to be a link or a tribute to the Whalers of Sag Harbour, which was the home of the Bulova watch case factory (at Sag Harbour).

We only know this to be hearsay, its seems plausible thought. The whale logo came out around 1966, which coincidentally marked the 100 year anniversary of a Whaling Festival of Sag Harbour which was where the Bulova factory was situated as well. This seems the most promising explanation which links the two together.

For those of you who would like to delve deeper, have a whale of a time reading more into the story here : http://www.mybulova.com/forums/bulova-sea-king-whale

I guess the story of the watch actually compelled my to want to own one as well, as it has an interesting story shrouded in mystery.

I am a fan of many of the old Bulova timepieces, another highly sought after piece for myself would be the Bulova Accutron.

To me, the Bulova timepieces of old which were Swiss made are really lovely and has that ‘real deal’ feel about it. What I mean is that it built watches that were made to last.

Though the current modern day do Bulovas look nice and are now mostly made in Japan, I am just a little unsure if it would stand the test of time, like the stalwart Sea King that is still going strong 44 years on.  Asthetically a watch may look exquistie but there more than meets the eye. To someone who love timepieces, the movent and detailing matter much as well.

Though I would think it would be time I sent it for some general servicing and cleaning.

As to why it is now mostly manufacuted in Japan, here is a short history.

Back in the day, Bulova was a major force in the watch industry. Bulova timepieces were mechanical movemnts that were well made, deisgned and relialbe (just look at the one I got, still ticking away). Bulova had a great share of the electronic watch market with their tuning fork Accutron. By the mid seventies, there was an eruption of quartz watches in the market, Bulova was suddenly hit and somehow seemed to dwindled down from then. It has lost its marketshare to the influx of Japanese watches, names the qaurtz watches. They were sold to the Loewe Corporation and then finally sold of to Citizen of Japan in 2007.

 

So the Sea King is surely a piece to be etched in Bulova history.

Deconstructing the Tachymeter

Alright today let’s talk about the tachymeter complication.

A tachymeter gives a timepiece a sporty look, something that when you look you associate with sports such as racing or for the military.

It add lovely contrasts to many timepieces, making the overall look more sophisticated.

Though a lovely complication which adds dimension to your timepiece, it may be totally foreign or alien to some on how to use it.

Like seen from the below picture, my Seiko Criteria SNDG13P1 (which I will write about soon)

 

Some people go out having their timepiece without ever using the tachymeter function.

To a major share of watch uses, they may simply purchase a timepiece with the tachymeter function due to the fact that it add aesthetic value to their timepiece.

So let us cover how a Tachymeter actually works.

A tachymeter scale is a scale sometimes inscribed around the rim of an analogue watch. Usually with Arabic marking around the dial as well.
 
This function is used to either measure a distance based on speed or speed based on travel time. The markings have spaces in between them on the tachymeter dial are consequently proportional to 1/t where ‘t’ is the elapsed time.

A tachymeter’s performed function is independent of the unit of distance be it kilometres, miles or any other only as long as the unit of measure is equivalent for all calculations. In essence, a tachymeter is a way or means of converting ‘elapsed time in seconds per unit to units per hour’.

To get a little mathematical below is some info on calculations to work it out;

“To use a tachymeter function to measure speed, start the chronograph at a starting marker of a known distance. At the next position, the point on the scale adjacent to the second hand indicates the speed of travel between the 2. The typical scale on a timepiece converts between the number of seconds it takes for an event to happen and the number of times that event with occur in a hour. The formula to create this

kind of tachymeter scale is     T = 3600/t   

Where ‘T’ is the tachymeter scale value and ‘t’ is the time in seconds that it takes for the event to occur and ‘3600’ is the number of seconds in an hour.

So lets work out an example, if it takes 35 seconds to travel 1 kilometre then the average speed would be 103KM per hour. Do take note that the tachymeter scale only calculates the average speed.”

So with that, we are more or less through with the practical of a tachymeter.

Lastly, just some history, the first rotating bezel tachymeter was introduced by Heuer, now Tag Heuer which was back in 1958.

By the late sixties chronograph timepieces where sky rocketing, demand grew invariably and watch manufacturers around the globe were contesting to opportunities to patent automatic versions and wanted exclusive rights. It has to be known that without the chronograph the tachymeter complication would have no place as well.

Let me share a little fascinating history on some very lovely chronograph movements which came into being.

Around that time Breitling, Heuer and Hamilton partnered up with Dubois Depraz to develop the first ever self-winding chronograph. It was a clandestine affair in which only a handful of professionals involved on a need to know basis. This great development was unveiled in Geneva and New York on 3rd of March 1969. Called the Chrono-matic, the Calibre 11 movement would wind itself using an off centre micro rotor.

Soon enough, Zenith had produced the El Primero (Which might I add, is absolutely stunning!) which used a central mounted full rotor and was capable of measuring time to one tenth of a second.  Seiko the Japanese giants also released their automatic chronograph called the 6139 Auto-Chrono.

Out doing themselves once again, Seiko created the world’s first quartz watch, a giant breakthrough in Horological history, thanks to this hefty invention it somewhat marked an end and seemingly rendered chronographs virtually obsolete with the Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ.

Back to our modern day and age, the chronograph is making a comeback and is appreciated by many once again.

With many lovely pieces from Tag, Seiko, Breitling, Hamilton and so on.

Though some of us may not entirely know how it functions or its practicality, it may serve as an aesthetic feature. Nonetheless the tachymeter is a lovely complication, you will never know when it may come in handy.

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.

My frist Swiss Timepiece & what is GMT

The first Swiss timepiece I got was a Cyma, it was a world time GMT in rose gold.

 

Just to share something on Cyma, so the back story of Cyma (in French meaning Summit) watches, is that it was founded by brothers Joseph and Theodore Schwob in 1862.  By the 1920s, Cyma’s strategy or route was  inclined to standardise watch part manufacture. For Cyma producing average parts wasn’t good enough. Precision was paramount to ensure long term accuracy. Though there was magnificent accuracy, it wasn't all that study and these wasn't something faced only by Cyma. Despite all these efforts, early timepieces were known to be vulnerable to damage when impacted upon.  Till there was a breakthrough technolody. A reliable and fantastic shock proofing system being used in 1930s, invented by Georges Braunschweig and Fritz Marti. From this creation it led to an in-house revolution by Cyma, in the 1950s, it developed its own shockproofing system known as Cymerflex. This is a true testament of Cyma’s pinnacle, sort of reaching its “Summit”. Thus till today, you hardly ever hear of a Cyma of the yesteryears giving you much trouble.

Today, having spoken to so numberous people it seems the name Cyma is somewhat a forgotten thing of the past.  In recent times, its prestige and presence has dwindled down over the years from the way I see it and am not entirely sure why so as well.

On to my first Swiss timepiece, it is a GMT World Time (pictures below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a quartz movment, a beauty to behold, aesthetically to me it is lovely and classy. So after getting my hands on my timepiece, I had to figure out how exactly does one read the time on a GMT watch. So here I will try explain what exactly is a GMT watch and how it functions in lay man’s terms.

 

Firstly, “GMT” stands for Greenwich Mean Time and is the zero point on the 24 hour scale of international time zones. Greenwich is in England, and from there other time zones are plus or minus GMT. This was set in place so that travellers could tell time of the location they are in, where ever in the world. As long they knew the GMT time, they could then add or subtract from that time to get the local time or somewhere else. Point to note, GMT is also known as UTC ( Coordinated Universal Time), this may be a common sight in German timepieces.

 

Most GMT timepieces have two hands to display both the time in a 12-hour format and an independently adjustable 24-hour hand. If the 24-hour hand cannot be adjusted independently, its only purpose then is to solely indicate if the time is AM or PM. One of the primary reasons a GMT timepiece is used so that people can tell the local time along with other time zone that is not usually GMT. So this helps to tell the time in any two different time zone, which may be locally or internationally and doesn’t not have to be GMT.

 

Once you have accustomed yourself to reading two different time zone, since most GMT timepieces have a rotating 24 hour bezel (if a GMT scale is available on the dial) you can use it to follow a third time zone. Though this may need some calculations.

 

So basically a GMT timepiece shows you 2 times zone at the same time. This may be the second most handy complication out there in next to a chronograph. Or even the second most common?