Kintoshi Kyoto - Elegance Blue

This year I came across a new brand Kintoshi Kyoto and was enamoured by their porcelain dial Elegance series.

The first edition is the Elegance blue.

Enjoy the photo essay

The little details are executed well I must say...

A fume blue porcelain dial

Priced at US$1,750 for this beauty.

The green version is coming out soon. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

October GTG at Seafood Shack - Part 2

The Seafood Shack GTG was small and cosy and definitely lots of interesting pieces that I have not seen before. Our gatherings are around two themes (we have two wrists) and this time around they are (1) Coloured Dial (non black or white) and (2) GMT or Second Time Zone pieces. In Part 1 of the coverage, we featured coloured dials. Now, we check out the GMT or Second Time Zone pieces.

Let's explore the first GMT timepiece - the Bvlgari Diagono Professional GMT

This steel 40mm timepiece comes with an automatic movement and a day/night ring around the periphery of the dial.

The Seiko World Time 1964 6217 was first released to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. This vintage piece belongs to one of our vintage collector Ken.

Now on to something more contemporary, the Nomos Zurich Worldtimer Weltzeit "Red Dot" Edition. This piece was made specially in celebration of The Hourglass' 40th Anniversary. Made exclusively for The Hour Glass and Watches of Switzerland, the salmon dial version was limited to 15 pieces, while the white dial version was limited to 35 pieces.

Another anniversary piece is the Grand Seiko GMT 10th anniversary edition. With the lovely royal blue dial, this GMT was limited to 700 pieces.

Up next is the Formex Reef GMT. What's special about this watch is the ability to swap out the bezel yourself. Coming with a special mounting, they sell 6 different coloured bezels.

This one needs no introduction... The 39mm Tudor Blay Bay Pro. Tool watch...

Another Seiko is this Prospex SNR033 GMT featuring a spring drive movement.

Not a GMT but definitely a NWA! HT is on a roll! The customised Ophion Velos 786. Can you tell what's been customized?

The night was made even more wonderful with the food we had at Seafood Shack. We started off with the firefly squid... (food pictures courtesy of Harry Tan)

Then the cold kang kong with lime juice and fried shallots.

Then we each had one chawanmushi (steamed egg) with Dungeness crab meat.

Then came the main course - Fish Soup with somen (below)...

And the signature Hae Mee Tng (prawn noodle soup).

A Lang & Sun - The Lang 1943

I recently visited the Singapore Watch Fair and managed to meet the team behind the brand Lang 1943. No surprises I fell in love with the Field Watch.

And not just any Field Watch, but the limited edition A Lang & Sun... Fun watch and an even more fun name. While we were at SWF, Professor Harry Tan and I had the opportunity to photograph the full range on display. Georg, Sabrina and Majed were nice enough to allow us free rein to photograph all their pieces, including the prototypes.

Starting with the Retro collection, the Retro Green and Retro Orange are limited to 25 pieces each.The dial on the Retro collection is sandblasted and rhodium coated and the numerals are neon green and orange to truly bring out the liveliness on these pieces.

This is a piece you will not find on their website - a protoype red fume dial.

Then there is the limited edition 'The Onion Crown King,' so named because the co-founder of Lang 1943, Gerd-Rüdiger Lang, was also the founder of the famed Chronoswiss brand, which he sold in 2012. As you may know, Mr. Lang introduced the onion crown from pocket watches to wristwatches, and the limited edition rekindles this moment in time. This timepiece, done in collaboration with seconde/seconde/, can be identified by the small 's' found on the onion crown on the seconds (onion) wheel."

And this bronze version of the Field Watch Edition One, taken off the wrist of CEO Georg Bartkowiak, the patina on the bronze case is already quite evident.

Just wondering when they will be releasing this one - or if they ever will. It would be a waste if they don't, IMHO.

But what I liked the most was the bright and sunny A Lang & Sun!

Paired with the bright yellow strap with a sky blue backing really brings out the enjoyment on this piece. Aptly called A Lang and Sun, it also can be paired with a bracelet...

But I find that the strap version works better for me.

Also done in collaboration with seconde/seconde/, notice that the sun wheel has a red tip and a small "s"? No prizes for guessing what those are for. If there is one gripe, I guess I would have preferred a hacking seconds movement.

The markers and numberals are luminuous too.

Based on the vintage Marvin 700 movement, this is an exclusive L43.1 calibre used specifically for the Field Watch.

The manual winding calibre has an approximate 46 hours of power reserve and the watch case comes in at 39mm.

The bracelet comes with a quick release catch - so easy taking it off and putting it on.

Notice the 2 pushes on either side of the lock on the bracelet? Well, that is an extension mechanism that allows the wearer to extend the bracelet links. This is the so called "half link" extension that one might need if a full link is too long and less one is too short. Additionally, when our wrists expands in the afternoon, this catch comes in real handy.

The good folks at Lang 1943 have a nice sense of humour... even the box comes with the model A Lang & Sun.

But what is more surprising is the watch box - a solid Pelican case housing the timepiece.

No effort is spared to ensure that you get great value for money. From the timepiece to the packaging, Lang 1943 has outdone themselves.

Of the lot that is featured here, which is your favourite iteration? And if you are wondering why 1943, well that is the birth year of founder Gerd-Rüdiger Lang. He has, unfortunately, passed away in March 2023 just as Lang 1943 was taking off. Let's continue to support the man and his vision.