New Year GTG - Amazing Line Up Part 2

Wow, what a new year gathering it turned out to be... Many unexpected pieces turned up for this gathering which was held at Under Der Linden Restaurant at Portsdown Road. Company was great and so was the line up, food and wine.

As usual, we have a theme around every gathering - this time around, theme 1 was any skeletonised timepieces or pieces with unusual dials and theme 2 was any timepiece under S$2,000 when you bought it. Unofficially, any NWA qualifies too. This is Part 2 of the report and you may connect to Part 1 here.

For Part 2, I will focus on watches under S$2,000 when you bought it as well as any NWA and those who "did not get the memo"... Let's start of with the most colourful one on the table. The Underd0g Watermelon. What a timepiece and what great value it represents. Fitted with a Seagull column wheel manual winding chronograph movement, the Watermelon is my first Underd0g

After the Underd0g, the next under 2k must be the RZE RESOLUTE Pro - Jet Black Enamel. Not bad for an email dial with a Miyota 90S5 Automatic Movement. Titanium bracelet to boot.

Up next, the very unusual Ralph Lauren Stirrup...

What a steal for below S$2,000! And it is the automatic version too... not the quartz! It's themes like these that bring out the unexpected. As I have mentioned, we typically have 2 themes around our gatherings and most come double wristed. The idea is not to bring your most coveted or expensive watches but those that many may not have had the chance to see or even know about.

And what about the Ba111od Chapter 1? When it was launched, Chapter 1 was a concept watch which debut below US$1,000.

One of the collectors in our group picked this up for less than $2,000 - the Chronoswiss Regulateur. Back in the day, if you know where to find, you could get a bargain and this is one such example.

And what about this Horizon watch which was launched on Kickstarter for under S$2k... there is always a bargain on Kickstarter and this is one such deal.

Then there is this Unimatic U1S-HS2 Mickey. The watch comes with a Swiss Sellita SW200-1 movement and just under S$2k. Well made for that price point.

Great value for this rectangle Trafford Crossroads.

The Formex Field watch is up next. Second time Formex has turned up in our gathering. The last being at our gathering at Seafood Shack.

Then there is the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Jour et Nuit, another unusual piece and all for under 2k. As the name suggests, it displays the day and night with the use of the hour hands. During the day, the "Sun" is on the upper half of the dial indicating the hour of the day. When night falls, the "Moon" takes over.

The surprise for me was this Russian watch called "The Little Prince". The more "famous" Little Prince is of course from IWC but this is a rather unique piece which was part of a Russian crowd sourcing site - and yes, for under $2,000. In fact, it was under $1,000! This is a single handed watch featuring only the seconds and the hour/minute (increments of 5 minutes) ala Meistersinger. I'll be doing a separate blog on this special Russian Little Prince. Such a unique piece.

Nivada Grechen F77 is a new watch to me. Comes in the under 2k category.

Impressive is what I would say about the Seiko Ginza Alpinist SPB259 for a watch under S$2,000. Made to celebrate the Seiko 140th Anniversary and Limited to 3,500 pieces

Vintage for the evening is this Tugaris Day/Date which was one of the first watches one of our collector bought. Still ticking and definitely of sentimental value. But time for a spa yah?

Coming up next are the NWA

First up, the Goldpfeil Svend Andersen. Quirky time telling machine wouldn't you say?

This is another - the Waldoff Tourbillon.

Missed this one on the skeleton category but just as well featuring in the NWA - the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon.

Then there is the other category... "Missed the Memo" category.

The Glashutte Original Panoinverse. I kinda like this watch - putting the movement side up with the hand engraved balance cock in clear view. Wow!

Then there are 2 Patek Chronographs, Aquanaut no less.

Ah, the Nomos Metro Date Power Reserve. This one's got a funny way of adjusting your date. No quick change here. Gotta have the hour hand go from 10pm past 1am, turn it back past 10pm, hear a click and advance the hand past 1 again to have a date change.

What's a gathering without good food? Blue swimmer crab salad...

And for mains, Wagyu beef strip loin

Or duck breast

I was so caught up and I missed the dessert... so much for being the host at Under Der Linden.

And then there is the table shot...

Another successful gathering, if I may say. Healthy discussions, good food and greater company. Looking forward to the next one very soon since this is the Leap Year!