Seiko 5 Military Red Dial - Amazon Edition

Seiko makes perhaps the most number of watches bar none - makes them affordable and makes them well too. The Seiko 5 range comes in all styles but the Military series is recognizable with their hands and styling.

When Seiko and Amazon collaborated, what they came up with was a unique red dial edition housed in the Seiko 5 Military 37mm case. Until recently, I did not know the reason for the name - Seiko 5. Why Seiko 5? Well, when Seiko debut the range, they had intended for the watch to possess 5 key characteristics - a self-winding automatic movement, resistance to water, a day-date in a single window, a recessed crown, and a durable case.

A limited edition reference SNKM95, comes with a blue canvas strap and meets all the criteria of Seiko 5.

Coming with the day and date display, the Seiko 5 Military gives great value at around US$100.

The automatic movement comes with 21 jewels and what's surprising is that the movement is Made in Malaysia!

The movement is the automatic 7S26-02J0 but the watch is probably assembled in China (lost the box and papers for this one). Power reserve on this movement is a decent 40 hours.

Rated as one of the more robust and reliable mechanical calibre out there, the 7S26 movement also includes Seiko's "magic lever" technology, which improves the efficiency of winding, much like the Pellaton winding mechanism of IWC. With the magic level, winding of the movement occurs whether the rotor rotates clockwise or counter-clockwise thereby improving the efficiency of the winding mechanism.

One down side of this movement is that it does not work with manual winding. One has to shake the watch for awhile to get it going and there is also no hacking seconds.

The stainless steel case comes with a mixture of brushed and polished surfaces and both the front and back are fitted with Hardlex crystal which is Seiko's patented name for mineral glass.

The Seiko 5, as with many Seiko timepieces out there are all great tool watches and a good way to start a mechanical watch collection. Truth be told, the first mechanical watch I bought for my son was a Seiko 5 - at Toa Payoh Hub no less. It was an incentive for him doing well in his studies.

Above the Seiko (missing the 5 on the dial) I bought for my son and below the one I bought for myself as I like the cream coloured dial.

What is really nice about the Seiko 5 and for that matter any Seiko, is that they are affordable and "discrete". Discrete enough to be worn for travels and you won't get into worrying challenges. For instance this Seiko 5 Sports which I wore when we drove into Malaysia. Rugged enough with a bracelet and also water resistant to 100m - good for when you get into the pool and without having to take it off.

On the one hand, they do not attract too much attention and even if I had lost it, it would have been easily replaced and won't burn a hole in my pocket.

Speaking of travel watches, do you wear an expensive timepiece when you travel? Personally, I tend to be on the safer side preferring to wear more discrete pieces. Nothing flashy or loud just so we don't attract the wrong attention. But this discussion will be for another post...

Hope you like the Seiko 5 Red Dial Amazon Edition and the Seiko 5s I listed here. The Price-Quality-Ratio for these timepieces are excellent and it would be hard pressed to find even more affordable timepieces that meet the 5 criteria.

Get Together - Finally! (Part 2)

Following up on the first part, this blogpost takes a look at what our collector friends have been buying during the pandemic.

Pre-owned and brand new pieces were all represented in this category. For me, the most stunning has to be the A. Lange & Sohne 1815 Tourbillon. What a masterpiece! Simple looking but simple it is not. A stunner and a technical feat too.

What's so special about the 1815 Tourbillon you ask? Well, for one they have two exceptional functions not present in many Tourbillon watches - the stop (hacking) Tourbillon and an automatic zero-reset. This is typical Lange bringing watchmaking to the next level. They first patented their stop seconds in the Lange Cabaret Tourbillon in 2008, the first Tourbillon to be able to be stopped while in operation. For this 1815 Tourbillon, they go one step further in incorporating an automatic zero-reset. When the user pulls the crown, not only will the Tourbillon cage stop but the seconds hand will reset to zero. Now this is what I call exceptional watchmaking!

Seems like precision is a very German thing as the only other stop Tourbillon (I know of) comes from Moritz Grossmann. Do you know of any Swiss made Tourbillon that has a hacking Tourbillon?

We had all gathered at XiYan Private Dining at Maxwell Chambers for the first time in many years. We all started with wine in hand and were all happy mingling, chatting and exchanging timepieces. The pandemic has starved us all of the meetings and greetings in person and it is good to be back.

The question top-most on everyone's mind was - what did you buy recently! Forget about what the definition of "recent" is but most everyone was happy to show off what they considered as a recent purchase.

Let me start with the Japanese troupe. Firstly, the Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain SPB095J1 Limited Edition piece. The Arita porcelain dial was hand manufactured and fired at high temperature and because of the process, some imperfections are expected, much like Grand Feu Enamel dials. This version has the red XII.

Then there was a more recent purchase - the Kurono Seiji, brought by yours truly.

Still on the Japanese theme, we have the Grand Seiko and King Seiko. But first, the King Seiko KSK 140th Anniversary Limited Edition timepiece. The timepiece is powered by the slim automatic calibre 6L35-00D0 and is limited to 3,000 pieces worldwide.

Next comes the Grand Seiko SBGM029. Another anniversary piece, this Sports GMT GS celebrates their 10th Anniversary and the owner paired it with the Kurono Hiroshige strap to lend a very exotic look and feel.

Another Seiko on the table was the Seiko Prospex LX SNR049J1 Skyline. Fitted with a Spring Drive movement that can be found in Grand Seiko, this Prospex has a two toned graduated dial - black on the top half and dark blue below. Comes in a titanium case and with a GMT function too. Seems like Seiko was the top brand with so many piece represented here.

Cartier has been making huge inroads into the realm of horology. Their recent releases are nothing short of jaw droppingly gorgeous but this very simple Tank was part of an 18 watch collection specially made for a group of Singapore watch collectors belonging to the SWC group.

What about the Reservoir, another automotive inspired timepiece?

The case back says it all... Automatic retrograde minutes, jumping hours and power reserve.

Nomos Glashutte is another less appreciated brand but one that makes great timepieces too. Take for example this Singapore Limited Edition piece - the Tangente automatic.

Part of a 50 piece limited edition made for the Hourglass to celebrate their 40th Anniversary.

After the wonderful meal, we moved on to the all important table shot... Highlight of the evening!

And of course, I missed a couple of watches too... The Cartier Roadster and the Alain Silberstein just to name 2.

As the evening comes to an end, we are already planning for the next gtg. We were supposed to have 19 in attendance but someone came down with a scratchy throat and decided to give this one a miss (latest update was he tested negative for COVID). Sign of the times but we do appreciate the sense of responsibility of each member. But all said, excited that we are all back together again and looking forward to the next gathering!

Get Together - Finally! (Part 1)

So, the pandemic had us all couped up and when the Singapore government announced the relaxation of the rules, it was a huge relief for many of us. The requests came in very quickly - when are we going to have our long awaited get-together? It took all of 3 weeks to round up the gang and find a location that could accommodate us.

Very quickly we settled down on the date and the venue - a place we are all familiar with, XiYan Private Dining. The theme - Unusual dials and any "New" purchase (#NWA)...

Let me start with my favourite unusual dial for the evening - the Vacheron Constantin Great Explorers Christopher Columbus Expedition. What a timepiece - actually, I would call it art-piece. Enamel dial with a wandering time complication to boot. Had to showcase this one first.

XiYan Private Dining at Maxwell Chambers was the perfect location for us - privacy guaranteed and great food.

For those of you who have not been to XiYan, their private dining is a culinary experience - the food is not only delicious but a feast for the eyes too. Take a look at the first course - the Parma Ham, Smoked Salmon & Asparagus green salad with Xi Yan special dressing. They present the dish, explain what goes into making the dish (what ingredients and how it is prepared) before apportioning for each individual.

Some of the other dishes we had (total 8 course) - the braised abalone, steamed garoupa on rice noodle and cinnamon ribs with Osmanthus. Great company, excellent food and even greater selection of timepieces!

Next up on the like meter scale is this yellow gold LM101 Frost by MB&F.

I have been a fan of Max Busser and the LM101 represents (to me) the purest expression of his work - avant-garde. Not only is the LM101 innovative and progressive, I find the design bold and totally out of the ordinary. This is what you can expect from MB&F and for the longest time, LM101 was (and still is) one of my grail watches... if only I could afford it. Pardon the patina on the case - the humidity in Singapore is something we all have to contend with.

Up next is a microbrand not heard of much in the watchmaking world - Leinfelder.

The Pop-Art definitely qualifies for an unusual dial (above) and the movement made by Uhren-Werke-Dresden (UWD) is a sight to behold.

A few more unusual dials and the next one definitely is coming out from the left field. Parking meter in a watch? What do you think?

I think it is so cool to have this Stowa Mini-Stop (parking meter) from the 60s... so retro and so period appropriate. I am sure the Gen Zs won't get it.

The fun part about such gtg is that you get to see all the different kinds of watches you would otherwise see only in media. The group is diverse and so are the interests of each collector. Take for example the automotive inspired Contagiri by Italian watchmaker Giuliano Mazzuoli.

And the Gruppo Gamma Nexus...

Taking inspiration from the depth gauge and incorporating a jumping hour complication, the large hand tells the minutes with a jumping hour showing at the window.

Another not often seen is this Swatch Automatic Golden Sixties with a flexible strap. So Swatch, so retro and so cool. And so not MoonSwatch :-)

And my friend tells me he paid $194 for this watch back in 1994! A steal in my opinion. But come to think of it, who would have bought a mechanical Swatch back then???

Another brand I hear a lot nowadays is Undone. They started off as a watch company allowing their customers to "customize" their watches - either using quartz or mechanical movements. This Popeye, while not customized, belongs to a discerning friend.

How many of you have heard of Schauer? Come on, let's be honest here... This Schauer Einzeiger (one hand) is part of a limited edition series made by German watchmaker Jörg Schauer. A perfect "weekend" watch - when the exact minutes is not that important - things seem to move slower with this timepiece!

Clearly the largest timepiece on the table has to be the IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar. This is one of my favourite version with the orange accent markers making the dial a lot more legible.

And how can one forget a timepiece like the Audemars Piguet Star Wheel - what a stunner! My first encounter with the actual timepiece.

Last but definitely not the least is this lady's Omega DeVille in a chocolate bar case. Out of this world!

Watch collecting and get-togethers are fun when we ask for special themes. What was on show tonight were pieces from a very wide spectrum and that is what such gtg aims to achieve. Bring along pieces that you think is unique and that others might not know of.

Following this post, the next post is featuring some "new" acquisitions, not necessarily new watches but at least something they bought in the last 12 months. Look out for that post.