November GTG - Non Swiss Gathering

In November, we all got together and the two themes were Non Swiss watches and Thematic watches. In Part 1 of the blogpost, I shared the watches for the Thematic genre. In this part 2, what watches represent the non-Swiss?

When we say Non-Swiss watches, two other countries come to mind - Japan and Germany. But here, I feature a Russian watchmaker Stefan Vinogradov and a Singapore watch brand Feynman Watch.

This was the first piece Stefan made for me after visiting Singapore in 2015.

This year, Feynman Timekeepers unveiled their Feynman VI - this being the Founder's Edition.

Feynman is a Singapore brand and much of their work has focused on promoting local talent - not just the timepieces but also straps and accessories too.

Most notable is the promoting of enamel dials handcrafted by Charlotte Teh of Royal Insignia. Below a picture of the enamelling work of Charlotte on the Dragon piece for Feynman.

From Singapore, we head to Japan - plenty of choices here... Let's start with the Kurono Toki

And the new watch in town is this Credor Locomotive. In fact, there were 2 collectors with the Credor Locomotive but then one of them brought the Greubel Forsey instead... lucky us :-)

What about this Orient Star watch?

This is the Orient Star M34 F8 Date with a blue dial.

And this (below), the M34 Diver 1964 Titanium.

Then there is the vintage Seiko... This is the Seiko SCVL001 using the 6810 movement.

Outwardly, it looks like a quartz piece but when you turn over, you marvel at the mechanical movement within - just 1.98mm thin!

The next one is this Seiko with a Swiss 5328A movement. Born in the eighties, this small seconds timepiece created quite a stir when it was released.

And then there is the Grand Seiko... A High-Beat no less.

This is the 4520-8000 model.

Now on to a German. Nope, its not the usual suspect but an equally compelling piece from Dornblueth. This is the reference 99.0

Their signature rose gold plated UNITAS base movement decorated with Geneva stripes.

Le Blues is represented by this Le Forban La Malouine with a blue dial.

This 39mm divers comes with a unidirectional aluminium bezel

Then there are the other two that came off theme...

First, the Bvlgari Diagono Regatta (above) and the Zenith Defy Skyline (below) the timepiece is fitted with the El Primero 3620 high-frequency automatic manufacture movement with the very first 1/10th of a second indicator.

Of course the star of the evening was this Greubel Forsey Double Balancier.

Gorgeous is an understatement.

And then there was the food...

This is the chawanmushi topped with very sweet Dungeness crab meat

And this is the Signature wild caught sword razor shell with fried shallots (above)

And this, the pan-seared "hotate" yesso scallop

And my favourite - the crispy grilled wild caught Steenstrup's bay squid made into a pancake. And while it might be a pancake, no flour was used! What a meal. I missed out the Donabe as I was busy eating and mingling. But miss the table shot? Definitely not!

It was another evening of fun with friends - excellent range of watches and great food. What more can you ask for?

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!