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?

October GTG at Seafood Shack - Part 1

So the 2 themes this time around was around (1) Coloured Dial (non black or white) and (2) GMT or Second Time Zone pieces... and again, the variety was definitely not disappointing. This time around, dinner was hosted at Seafood Shack in Gillman Barracks.

But the news of the day was this NWA... when I shot this Chopard LUC XP, it was all of 1 hour old!

Featuring the micro-rotor caliber L.U.C 96.53-L, the movement is refined and fiished exceptionally well.

The 2 handed timepiece has a brushed dial and lovely blued hands.

Although the Chopard did not fall into either the category, we also ask our collector friends to bring along their new acquisitions. And the Chopard definitely fit into that category. Smoking hot!

So what's in the category of coloured dials (no black, no white)?

The NHC Analogica jumping hour with a red dial (above).

The there is the Vintage Seiko Lord Matic Automatic with a purple dial. Retro looking!

Bright and sunny is the Lang 1943 Field Watch, A Lang & Sun edition. A nice play on the brand A. Lange & Sohne, this fun watch is limited to 25 pieces and done in collaboration with seconde/seconde/.

Movement is an exclusive L43.1 calibre, based on the Marvin 700 movement.

No black, no white, no problem... there is always purple. The 34mm Seiko automatic "Chariot" 2411-0050 with a purple dial and gradient cut sapphire glass. What a unique and handsome piece.

How about a "no dial"... this Atowak Tarantula Jungle Green.

Or the Vayth wandering hours.

Still on the "no dial" theme, the Orient Star Skeleton. Very striking with those blue hands, the skeleton is well made and value for money.

No, it's not a black dial but a rather colourful Bell & Ross BR03-94 Chronograph. I'd say this one qualifies as a colourful dial, no?

Back to regular channel folks... a blue dial Seiko Prospex Transocean Diver SBDC047. A really attractive blue dial diver.

Rounding off the blue theme is the Schaffen S65 Sports watch.

And for the last dial variation, we feature the Lang 1943 Field Watch Edition One with a fume dial. We were lucky enough to speak with George, Majid and Sabrina during the recently concluded Singapore Watch Fair and George told us the fume dial was created by chance. But I leave that for another day. This 39mm field watch comes with a bracelet (quick release and micro adjustment) and when you swap it out for the strap, gives a totally different look and feel.

So much for the dial variations. Next post will feature the dualt time zones and GMTs... another very interesting range of timepieces. Stay tuned!