Luminox changed from first to last ...

Thanks to USPS's Priority mail, my Luminox became my last watch for 2009 instead of the first watch for 2010. :p Not that I am complaining ... LOL

I sized the watch and tried it on. It has a good weight to it (compared to my last Traser titanium P6506 with bracelet and practically the same case size). The glossy dial is a nice touch.



One thing I have a praise the Luminox is that the 6 o'clock side of the bracelet has one less non-removeable links than the 12 o'clock side. This is is nice because from my experience when I size my bracelet, the 6 o'clock is always shorter than the 12 o'clock side. So this way, the non-removeable links balanced it out.

But on the down side, the links are secured by split pins (I would prefer either screws or pins & collar). And also, the clasp is stamped instead of a solid piece of metal.



Otherwise, the tritium tubes looks bright and fresh. The watch is nicely sized for my wrist size, and it has a comfortable slim profile.

The caseback markts are engraved instead of laser etched, which should be more durable.

My first watch for 2010 ...

Its not even 2010 yet and I already know what my first watch for 2010 will be ... haha~ I just pull the trigger on a Luminox 3202 SS. I *think* its gonna arrive in 2010, which would make it my first watch for 2010. (unless USPS has decided to work over time FOR FREE to delivery my watch before the end of 2009, LOL). It has:

• tritium gas tubes for non-stop glows (at least for the next 20 some years, LOL),
  
• WR 200M,
  
• swiss quartz movement with 10 year battery life,
  
• sapphire crystal with AR coating on the inside,
  
• SS bracelet with solid end links (SEL)
  

I had titanium Traser P6506 before, I sold it and missed it. What got me to get this Luminox is the SS bezel and SEL. Along with the 10 year battery life are the improvement from the the Traser P6506.



Nice SEL. Not that I have much to complain about the folded end links on the titanium Traser, but you can't beat a nice set of SEL.



This will be my beater for the time being. I may still get a Seiko Kinetic or Citizen Eco Drive later on. There's always room for more watches .. :D

My 2009 report card (watches)

2009 is coming to an end in a few days. Its time to take a look at my (watches) report card and see what I got ...

There was really big changes this year for me this year. We bought our first home, went from owning a (few) Rolex(es) (not at the same time though) to none, and from slightly screwed by the credit card company to having to sell the watch (with small profit) and let the new owner of my watches to absorb my credit card fee ... (btw, lesson learnt here: don't trust credit card company with all their fine prints. One way or another, they are just out to separate as much money as possible from you! I got lucky and end up with a net lost or $0 this time. But I learnt from my mistake and won't do it again, ever.)

So I went from this (actually not too long ago):


(SA DM 500M LE, Omega SMP blue Bond co-axial, Seiko Tuna 300m, Rolex Sea Dweller 4000, Omega SMP GMT Great White, Marathon SAR)

to this:


(Omega SMP GMT Great White, Omega SMP blue Bond co-axial, Omega SMP black Bond co-axial)

I really liked the Rolex GMT IIc. But that's still a little too big of a piece cake for me to take (... for now). I like Rolex(es) and I might get another one in the future, on my short list would be:

• Rolex 16600 Sea Dweller 4000 (Y series or earlier with lug holes),
  
• 14060M Submariner COSC,
  
• 16610LV Submariner Date 50th anniversary,
  
• 116710LN GMT Master II (ceramic bezel)
  

But that would be for later ... much later.

I think I have found my *sweet spot* for case size, which is about 41-42mm. The Omega SMPs fits the bill and it shows. (i.e. I own three SMPs now) I think they are great value for the quality and quite frankly, they are much cheaper to collect then Rolex, LOL :D

I like the SMPs very much and there are still a few of them that's on my radar:

• Non-Americas Cup (2230.50),
  
• Limited edition with grey dial,
  
• SMP Titanium (2231.5),
  
• and of course, my grail, the new 1200m Ploprof,
  
• 42mm Planet Ocean black/black on rubber strap (may be ...)
  

Anyway, it has been a fun year in watch collecting. There was a few ups and downs, but I think its always "you win some, and you lose some". I look forward to 2010 and see how much collection is going to change. :-)

You can have it in any color you like as long as its black

I am sad that the Rolex GMT IIc and Doxa SUB 1000T Pro Mil Ed are gone. At least the Omega SMP co-axial black Bond is here to cheer me up.

Since I already have a blue Bond co-axial on Bond bracelet, I want to wear the black Bond slightly different:





But I have to admit, I do miss the Bond bracelet from time to time (I think I still am a bracelet guy). Future plan: maybe I would put the SMP GMT Great white on rubber strap, then put the SMP speedy bracelet on the black Bond. But that's for later. Right now, I am wearing it with a black NATO strap and I think its a great match to the watch.

So far I am liking the watch. Though the watch has similar (actually the same) layout to the blue Bond co-axial, it actually *feels* different. The black dial and bezel insert looks much deeper than the blue color on the blue Bond co-axial. The black wheel is white on black (background) to complete the dial dial.

Two things thats different from the blue Bond co-axial (besides the color) are the wave pattern on the dial and the lume material.

On the blue Bond co-axial, the wave pattern on the dial stops right at the minute marks (chapter ring?). So the minute marks are printed on smooth surface. While on the black Bond, the minute marks are printed on wave patterns, the wave patterns extends all the way to the edge of the dial (rehaut).

The second thing is the lume material. The blue Bond co-axial has C3 Super Luminova that's very bright. Its one of the best lume I have seen so far. But from time to time in day light, the lume will appears to be light green. On the black Bond, the lume color (in the dark) is blue. And in day light, the color appears to be much whiter all the times. The down side is the blue lume isn't as bright as the light green C3 SL lume. Having said that, the lume still last through the night (tested by me). I think the brightness of the blue lume is in between C1 SL and C3 SL. Compare the Rolex Sea Dweller (non-Maxi dial), the blue Bond co-axial and black Bond, the order would be:

Rolex SD < black Bond < blue Bond co-axial

Though the blue lume is not as bright as the light green C3 SL, it matches the watch's characteristics perfectly. The color on the black Bond is black, white and red (second hand tip and the word "Seamaster" on the dial). So the "always white in day light" blue lume would be much preferred than the "sometimes appear light green" C3 SL. I am happy with Omega's decision to go with the blue lume material on the SMP black Bond.

Another thing that I think Omega did right is the lume dot on the bezel insert. The lume matches that of the hands and dial. It makes all the lume color matches perfectly. This is important (to me) since this completes the watch. There are quite a few watches in the market that has blue lume on the dial but with light green lume dot on the bezel insert. The mismatch indicates the lack of attention to detail and possibly cost cutting. So I have to give a thumb-up to Omega for doing it right.

I am glad that Omega makes the two Bond co-axial (watches) to be similar yet so different. This makes me (who own both of them) doesn't feel like owning two of the same watch. :-)

Goodbye Doxa, goodbye GMT IIc ...

Good things usually comes to an end ... early! Oh well. I have to let go of my Doxa and GMT IIc unexpectedly. I like both, so this decision didn't come easy.

I got semi-screwed by the credit card company. I end up doing semi ok and I don't really have to have to sell both watches. But I strongly-dislike (well "hate" is an extreme emotion, so I use "STRONGLY-dislike" instead :p ) being screwed over by fine prints. So I end up selling the Rolex GMT IIc to recover my lost, which I can get my "cost for the watch" + "cost of being screwed over by the cc company" back (net gain or lost is $0). And the Doxa being sold was pretty much out of my frustration with the credit card company and that I rather have some buffer with my toy funds.

Maybe this way, I am one step closer to having an all Omega collection. LOL :D Watch out Ploprof 1200m ... :p

Addiction has no end ... (game)

This is one very addicting game ...

Warzone - Tower Defense

When one is not enough

I have a Omega Seamaster Pro (SMP) co-axial Bond with blue dial. I love the watch as a non-diving tool (not that I dive ... LOL) because the bezel is not-easy to use in almost all situation. I digress and I still love the watch.

That's good enough, right? ... hehe. No.

And here comes a Omega Seamaster Professional 300m co-axial Bond with black dial 41mm full size (212.30.41.20.01.002)


(Pic from the web)

Its kinda crazy to buy two watches thats are similar but only different in colors. But this is how much I love my SMP blue Bond co-axial that I think I am going to like the black Bond co-axial too. Besides the difference in color of the dial and bezel insert, the Super Luminova lume glows blue instead of green in the dark (e.g. my blue Bond co-axial and GMT Great White).

Well, I do have plan for this black Bond, which is to wear it with maybe a rubber or NATO strap. I just think the blue Bond co-axial looks exceptional with the Bond bracelet. The blue looks deep and I didn't want to ruin the color contrast with a strap. As of a black dial, I think its much more versatile and should go well with a rubber or NATO strap. I am going to experience with different straps when watch arrives and see how I like the color combo.

Man, maybe I am heading to the direction of an all Omega collection. But at the same time, I like the Rolex GMT IIc a lot and if I could have only one Rolex in my collection (like what's going on now), the Rolex GMT IIc is the one that I would like to own.

The Doxa is here :)

After a week of waiting, the Doxa SUB 1000T Pro Mil Edition is finally here. Here's my quick impression:

• + It wears bigger than the dial size would suggest. I haven't measure the dial size yet, but the dial is a bit smaller than say a Omega SMP's. But because of the pillow case, the watch wears bigger. And the short (47mm?) lugs to lugs size makes it easy to wear for my 6.5" wrist.
  
• + The orange dial POPS! Especially with a black PVD case and bracelet.
  
• + I think the lume should be on par with the painted Omega SMP dial (i.e. my Omega SMP GMT Great White). But since the hour hand is dwarfed (with less area for lume), I don't expect the same level of ease-to-read as the Omega SMP GMT.
  
• + Seems to be comfortable to wear.
  
• - The bracelet is really nothing to call home about. To me, I think the weak point is the diver extension. It feels a little flimsy.
  
• - Not true "beads of rice" bracelet links.
  
• - The bracelet is PVD-ed assembled. Though there's no missing PVD spot on the bracelet when its on the wrist, but you can see the missing PVD spots when you disassemble (size) the bracelet.
  
• - The quality of the prints on the dial is only okay/decent, but not great.
  

One thing that I don't know if its good or bad, is that the watch wears small than it is because of the small-ish dial size. The case is of great size, but the small dial size made the watch looks small. But the lug to lug size definitely fits better than the Doxa SUB 750T or 5000T that I had before.

Here's a quick pic, and the watch is not even sized properly. LOL :D




I sized the bracelet afterwards and the watch seems to be comfortable to wear. I will have to give it some wrist time before

@ the mall ...

So what if I have enough funds to buy my watches?

[Day dream mode on]

Any other day (let's call this day #2) when I was "day dreaming" (again), what would I get if I have enough funds to buy the watches that I want (as of 12/08/2009)?

I would probably get ...

1. Rolex Milgauss black dial (116400)
   
2. Rolex Sea Dweller 4000 (16600, Y series with lug holes)
   
3. Rolex Submariner COSC (14060M)
   
4. Rolex Submariner Date 50th anniversary (16610LV)
   
5. Rolex YachMaster (16622)
   
6. Rolex GMT Master II (117610LN, which I already have)
   
7. Omega Seamaster Professional 1200m Ploprof (with mesh bracelet, my grail)
   
8. Omega Seamaster Professional co-axial blue bond (which I already have)
   
9. Omega Seamaster Professional GMT white dial(Great White, which I already have)
   
10. Tag Heuer Grand Carrera 17RS2
    
11. Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) Master compressor diver chronograph (186.26.40)
    
12. Panerai 243 1000m Submersible (K series or later because I prefer the L dial)
    
13. Panerai 320
    
14. Doxa SUB 1000T Professional Military Edition (which I already have)
    
15. Seiko Landmaster automatic 10th Anniversary (SBDX009)
    
16. Grand Seiko Spring Drive 200m diver titanium (SBGA031)
    
17. Casio PAW2000T with titanium bracelet
    
18. Casio G-Shock DW5600C (with 901 module, which I already have)
    
19. Casio G-Shock GW200RB Frogman
    
20. Casio G-Shock GW6900-1 (which I already have)
    
21. Casio G-Shock GW9200-1 Riseman (which I already have)
    
22. Casio G-Shock GW7900B
    

I figure out I would probably need about USD$68,000 for them. I priced them as below MSRP, its more like "the price that I am willing to pay for them" ... LOL :D

Not too bad, isn't it? ;-)

[/Day dream mode off]