Trying on the IWC Big Pilot

Currently, I have 3 pilot watches: an IWC Pilot Chronograph, a Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Automatic and a Laco Type B Pilot Watch. But my grail pilot watch is the IWC Bog Pilot. 2 weeks ago I again had the opportunity to wear big mama.

Drool...

Weekly Wrist Shot: Week 40

Here's this weeks daily watch line up. Enjoy the wrist shots!

Monday, 03 Oct. IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph 3717 to start the week


Tuesday, 04 Oct. From Swiss to Japanese, the Vintage Seiko 6138-0030 Chronograph Square Eyes Kanji takes over


Wednesday, O5 Oct. Continuing the Japanese take over with the Seiko SNKF11K1 BFS


Thursday, 06 Oct. Getting ready for another wet day with the Seiko Diver's Watch 7002-700A


Friday, 07 Oct. Started the week with a pilot, so I ended it with another pilot with the Steinhart Nav B-Uhr II 44mm Automatic


HAGWE!

Watch Rant: My Grail Killers

Being a WIS is difficult. Being a mendicant WIS is even harder. Imagine being a drug abuser without the money to buy drugs. Fine, I can't really say that's how it would feel because Ive never done it, but if I were to imagine it, thats what I would compare it too.

Because yes, I admit it. I am a mendicant WIS.

Being a mendicant WIS with a wishlist that costs more than my house and car combined, I sometimes just have to pacify my horological addition by getting myself a (more affordable) watch that's not on my my grail list. These watches are what I call my grail killers because every centavo I spent on them makes me a centavo farther away from my grail watches.

Usually the urge to buy a grail killer comes with one or a multiple of the following excuses:

It was on sale/It had a really good price
The piece is so rare you couldnt pass up the chance
This is one complication I wanted, but is not on my grailI can easily sell this anyway

So far, here are my grail killers. Dont get me wrong, I love these watches and I'll probably keep a lot of them anyway but had i not gotten them I could have been a couple of dollars closer to some of my grails.

Seiko 7002-700A Diver's Watch



Seiko SKX779 Black Monster


Vintage Seiko 6138-0030 Square Eyes Kanji


Damn these affordable Seikos!!! They're amazing time pieces at can't-pass-up prices.

I wonder if there's anybody out there with this affliction.

Watch Rave: Zenith El Primero Rattrapante

Last Thursday my wife and I went to Shangri-La to attend my sister-in-law's 30th birthday dinner. We arrived about half an hour early and as any watch idiot would do, I quickly excused myself and headed off to Lucerne.

Lucerne is probably the single biggest carrier of luxury watch brands in the Philippines. Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Söhne, AP, Panerai, Rolex, IWC, JLC, Zenith, Omega and many others are carried by Lucerne. It's the closest thing to horological heaven here in the Philippines.

I was only able to browse the Zenith and JLC cases and I have to say that for that night, my personal eye candy was the Zenith El Primero Rattrapante. Unfortunately I was not able to take a wrist shot but boy was that piece a real piece of work. Pictures over the net tend to give it a much sportier look, but in person in exudes elegance and sophistication.


I promise to take a wristshot next time. Even better check it out for yourself at Lucerne, Shangri-La. List price is PhP670k.

Weekly Wrist Shot: Week 39

Last week, I posted for the very first time my daily rotation of watches. I was surprised that in so short a time it barged into my top 10 posts.

So I thought of doing it every week. Here are the wrist shots for this week.

Sunday. 25 Sep. Seiko SKX779 Black Monster while having the car washed

Monday. 26 Sep. Seiko SKNF05K1 BFS to start the work week on a gloomy Monday

Tuesday. 27 Sep. Steinhart Nav B-Uhr 44mm Automatic to welcome typhoon Pedring

Wednesday. 28 Sep. IWC 2717 Pilot's Watch Chronograph, back to work.

Thursday. 29 Sep. Laco Type B Pilot's Watch, last time I wore this shirt I wore this watch too.

Friday. 30 Sep. Seiko SNKF07K1 BFS. Have a good weekend!

Casual Weekend Watch Under PhP30,000

Yesterday a friend sent me a Facebook message complimenting my small watch collection and also asking what would be a good weekend casual watch under PhP30,000 (approximately USD700.00).

I'm a big fan of classic designs with large clean readable dials, so it was a no brainer for me to suggest a Stowa Pilot's Watch. Or the much cheaper Laco or Steinhart. Though Stowa gets my top vote because of it's more finished look and rich history.

Classic Stowa Pilot's Watch

Stowa Pilot's Watch with Sterile Dial


The Stowa looks great worn casual either with jeans or shorts and even small enough to wear under shirt cuffs. Due to it's large face, it lends enough wrist presence. At USD640 it falls perfectly within the budget.

I'm also a big fan of the Japanese brand Seiko, and a budget of USD700 means a chest full of choices with this brand. Personally my top Seiko choices for that budget would be the 1) Seiko Sumo 2) Seiko SPORK and 3) Seiko Samurai.

Seiko Sumo

Seiko SPORK

Seiko Samurai


All 3 watches are IMHO going to be iconic dive watches and would be the perfect companion to any weekend getaway. With any of these babies you won't have a problem checking out your wrist while swimming, beach bumming, malling or fine dining.

Among these choices, I'd go for the Sumo due to it's classic diver's design and the exclusivity of having a Japan Domestic Model.

If a gun was put to my head I'd pick the Stowa over the Sumo. I just can't resist that sterile dial and blued hands!

All pictures were taken from the web. Please drop me a line if you are the owner of the picture and would like to request it to be removed from the post or if youd like to be recognized.

Pinoy Watch Idiot Goes Mobile

Finally Google comes up with a Blogger iPhone app.

Here's my first mobile post, my Steinhart Nav B-Uhr 44mm that I wore today.

Wrist Time with Wrist Shots

I haven't been a good blogger the past couple of weeks after I came back from my international assignment. That doesn't mean I haven't been a good watch idiot.

I've been good to my collection and have given each some wrist time this past week.

Here's the previous weeks line up.

Tuesday. IWC 3717 Pilot's Watch Chronograph


Wednesday. Laco Type B Pilot's Watch


Thursday. Seiko SNKF07K1 BFS (Big Freakin' Seiko)


Friday. Steinhart Nav-B Uhr 44mm Automatic


Monday. Seiko 6138 Square Eye Kanji


Tuesday. Seiko SNKF09K1 BFS (Big Freakin' Seiko)


Wednesday. Seiko 7002 Diver's Watch

Watch Photography: Seiko Black Monster with the iPhone

Over the weekend I took my Seiko Black Monster for another dip, this time in the clear blue waters of Misibis Bay Resort. Misibis Bay Resort is only one of three hotels in the Philippines that is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels group, which as the name describes is a group of small luxury hotels (duh!) around the world.

Here is a shot of the BM while Im lounging by the pool. This was taken using the iPhone 4 camera, which I thought was quite impressive. Enjoy!

Here are some of the resort villas that I also took with the iPhone. If you ever drop by the Philippines, include this in our stop if you want a quiet, hassle free, luxurious vacation. All you need is a diver's watch and your all set!

Fire Watch Snob Series: Who is the Watch Snob?

This series is inspired by a batchmate of mine from high school who runs the blog FireQuinito.com. He has this hilarious way of writing and ridiculing Quinito Henson, a Filipino sports journalist and analyst. Well most of the time he writes something else about sports, but from time to time he takes a dig at Quinito and other popular (but oftentimes unworthy of it) sports figure in the Philippines (I'm looking at you Graham Lim).

And like Quinito, the Watch Snob, in my honest opinion often puts his foot where his mouth is when writing his articles.

Ennebi Fondale Vintage Base and Cali Watches

Ennebi is another independent watch brand that traces its heritage to the Italian Navy much like Panerai. The company's history can be traced back to the 1980s when in 1985, Alessandro Bettarini created prototype professional diver's watches and presented it to the attack divers of the Italian navy for evaluation. One of the prototypes presented, the Fondale was never produced because of insufficient orders even as it passed every requirement of the Italian Navy.

A quarter of a century later, the man from the original team of Pre-Vendome engineers who engineered the prototypes, Alessandro Bettarini, set up Ennebi and brought the Fondale back to life.

2011 Tag Heuer Link Collection

Except for the Monaco line and some vintage pieces (when it was just Heuer), I haven't really looked at Tag Heuer that much. In fact I don't own one. Nonetheless, the news is that the 2011 Tag Heuer Link collection is out and would soon be hitting the market.



Picture from

http://www.ablogtoread.com/

I havent seen an actual piece, but the pictures scattered around the net shows that the Link retains its understated design, targeted towards those seeking a simpler more formal sports watch. Of course the most distinctive feature is still the link bracelet. It wouldn't be called Link for nothing. Gone are the curves that have previosuly dominated the Link  and I think this is an improvment of the design. The bracelet looks to be edgier, more sporty but still understated. From what I see from pictures, all the models seem to be sporting brushed link bracelets.

I won't be going into further details because I don't really know much about this line and this release isn't really something that makes my horological heart beat faster. Somehow I've managed to associate Tag Heuer Link watches to corporate loyalty/milestone awards in the Philippines. So maybe when I celebrate my 15th year as an employee with <employer>, I'll be a proud owner of this watch.

Mr. Ariel Adams of aBlogtoRead.com has some of the pictures available in his website and has a better more detailed write up about the latest line. Chek it out here.

Congratulations to the would be owners!

You Might Be a WIS (Watch Idiot Savant) If...

I read this article here, and I'd like to share it because I find it funny and well a lot of them are true.

You Might Be a WIS If...

My Grail Watch #7: Doxa Sub 750T GMT Sharkhunter

Back in 2008, one of my friends Gary showed me an IWC Portuguese Chronograph and I was in awe of the it's aesthetics and being a mechanical engineer, was more in awe of the makings and windings of the watch. This started in me a passion  for looking and reading, not necessarily owning, watches, and the rest as they say is history.

10 watches into this hobby, all of which I really love, I still have in my head a list of what I believe would make my own perfect collection.  Read complete list of my favorite watches here. As my taste evolves, and as I spend more time (and limited resources) into this hobby, it is noticeable that a few watches from my list have come and gone but there are still a handful which I consider to be my favorite watches.

In this series I try to share what makes the following watches so desireable (according to me and only me)

-----

Doxa Sub 750T GMT Sharkhunter

picture from rlewisk of http://forums.watchuseek.com/f29/sold**
-doxa-sub-750t-gmt-sharkhunter**sold-487684.html

Doxa was probably one of the first smaller watch brand that I knew about. The brand's cult like following and its image as the originator of orange watches (whether this is true or not) makes it impossible not to know the brand among watch enthusiasts.

SOTC End of 2010

This is about 4 months too late, but as they say, better late than never.

Here's the SOTC (State of the Collection) at the end of 2010.

Top row, from left to right: Seiko SNKF07K1, Seiko SNKF05K1, Seiko SNKF11K1, Seiko SNKF09K1
Bottom row, from left to right: Steinhart Nav. B-Uhr II 44mm Auto, IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph 3717, Seiko 6139

How Many Watches Do You Wear...

...at the same time?

I saw this interesting question posted at PWC, and after posting my response, it was no surprise that the majority only wear one watch at a time. Of 32 respondents, only 2 individuals wear more than one watch at the same time.

One of them wears 2 watches at the same time. One on each wrist. This reminds me of Diego Maradona who wears 2 of his signature Hublots, one on each wrist. According to El Diego he wears two watches at the same time because he wants to have one set at the time zone of his location and the other on his native Argentina. I would have thought a Hublot endorser like him would already have heard of this thing called GMT watch or a World Time watch. Anyway, I think he gets away with it because he is one crazy, bigger-than-life kind of guy.

SIHH 2011 Panerai Prices

Finally, the prices of the 2011 Panerai models have been released! Even as these prices are not yet final, it gives an indication how much these PAM babies would cost.

Luminor 1950 P.2004 Left Handed Titanium 44mm Special Edition PAM345 - CHF19,100
Luminor Chrono Daylight Steel 44mm PAM356 - CHF7,500
Luminor 1950 P.2002 Left Handed Titanium 47mm Special Edition PAM366 - CHF12,600
Radiomir Chronograph, Steel 42mm PAM 369 - CHF6,200
Luminor 1950 REGATTA Sub P.9001 Titanium Special Edition PAM371 - CHF10,100
Luminor 1950 P.3000, Steel 47mm PAM372 - CHF8,800
Radiomir P.3000, Platinum 47mm Special Edition PAM375 - CHF37,000
(to follow tomorrow...)

All prices are in Swiss Francs, +8% VTA included. Thanks to Nad for sharing this in PWC.

When Bronze Finally Doesn't Mean Third Best

Bronze is usually associated with coming in third, deserved by someone who got beat by those awarded with gold and silver. But in the world of watches, Bronze is disassociating itself with being third best and based on the reception of the Paneristi to the Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo PAM382, Bronze has zoomed to the top of the PAM-must-have pedestal.

And who can blame the ristis? Look at this beauty.

Luminor Submersible 1950 3 Days Automatic Bronzo PAM382
(pictures from SJX of Watch ProSite)

I am obviously one of those people that has been enamored by this beauty and the concept of developing my own unique case Patina based on where I am, what I do, and my body chemistry has got me drooling for a piece of bronze candy. Unfortunately for me, the Bronzo unofficially costs about CHF9,300 (USD9,600) which is more than what I can afford.

Time to sell a kidney.

Not wanting to part with any of my vital organs, I quickly turned to Mr.Google and what I saw lifted my spirits up. It seems that there are more than a few options at a price range more palatable to a common pinoy watch idiot like me.

Benarus Bronze Moray
(from watchprojects.com)

Anonimo Bronze Polluce

(from Nalu of WUS)

Helson Bronze Shark Diver
(from time2watchdotnet.blogspot.com)

And my two favorite bronze divers:

Bronze VDB II
(from vintagevdb.com)

Kazimon 1500 Bronze
(from leeye rolexforums.com)

Unfortunately for me, these bronze pieces are as rare as a Pithecophaga jefferyi in the mountains of Cordilleras! They exist but seldom do you see them in the wild! All of them had very limited production runs and it seems that their owners are not willing to let their pieces go. If it was me, I wouldnt either especially if the case Patina has already developed.

I'll probably need to be extra vigilant in waiting for these independent watchmakers to even have a chance of owning a bronze piece in the future. In the meantime, I'll also pray for an online watch forum contest where prizes are watches instead of medals, and where I won't mind actually finishing third best for the bronze!