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Monday, October 31, 2016

Seiko 5 SNK805K2 Automatic Military Stainless Steel Watch with Olive Green Dial & Canvas Strap – A universal watch - Everyone can use it, A Review (plus Video)


My love affair with military watches with green dial continues. This time around, I caught the Seiko 5 SNK805K2 in the net. Got it via Amazon Prime. Interestingly, the watch has its origins in Malaysia! It travelled to the US, stayed there for a while and then took another long haul trip back where it was made. What a homecoming.

Since the Seiko 5 sub-brand was first launched back in 1963, it quickly made a name for itself as Seiko offer a selection of affordably priced watches with a combination of far bit of water resistance, automatic movement and day & date display in a single window. The SNK805K2 maintained the standards and is one of the most cost effective mechanical timepiece currently available in the market.

The movement is housed in a 37 mm diameter by 11 mm thick stainless steel case with a Hardlex crystal protecting the dial. The lugs are 18 mm wide. The case is bead-blasted for a matte finish. The small push-in crown is located at the 4 o’clock position and is partially sunk into the side walls of the watch casing. There is a sloping fixed bezel that is the same level at the Hardlex crystal. The screw-down display case-back is also protected by Hardlex crystal.

Monday, October 24, 2016

The ORIENT Automatic Military Collection CER2D009F (or ER2D009F) Olive Green Dial – An excellent starter watch for budding WIS, A Review (and Video)


As part of my continuing focus of collecting military themed watches with olive green dial, I was able to land the Orient CER2D009F into the collection. My trusted internet merchant, www.citytime.my emailed me about the latest batch that just arrived at his store. The MSRP in Malaysia is RM418 (inclusive of 6% GST) but I got it for just RM295.

The CER2D009F is sized perfectly for my wrist. With a width of 41 mm (excluding crown) it has a thickness of just 11 mm. Its lug size is 22 mm which helps make it feel like a watch with smaller dimensions. Made out of stainless steel, the surface is polished including the solid screw-down case-back. The dial is protected by a flat piece of mineral crystal glass.

The watch is traditional in design with three hands, a date complication in an aperture located at the 3 o’clock position. The crown is also located at the same location.

There are 5 lines of text and graphics on the dial. The first three which includes the brand as well as the logo are located on the top half of the dial. The final two are on the bottom half where the fifth line is in small font with information about the production coding.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Citizen Promaster Titanium Diver NY0054-04L Blue Dial Watch – Very flexible in all situations, A Review (plus Video)

Best Bang For Your Buck”; is a colloquial terms that best sums up the Citizen Promaster NY0054. It is a pity that Citizen has stop producing this model for some time now. I have always harbor a wish to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, the thought of getting a used piece does not sit well with my collection philosophy.

It so happens that a particular internet merchant that I used before suddenly listed a NOS piece. The price listed was way above the original price but since this would silence the ‘ache’ that I have, I decided to get it anyhow. It was listed at RM929 (MSRP was at RM2,750) www.bodying.my.

Citizen’s Promaster series is the brand’s high-tech range of sports watches. The family of dive watches under this line is designed specifically for professionals. The NY0054 is a model well suited for normal scuba divers right down to a depth of 200 meters. It was made to a tolerance that is in compliant to the ISO6425 dive watch standards.

Monday, October 10, 2016

SEIKO 5 Military Sports Automatic Watch SRP621K1 Olive Green Dial & Strap (similar to SRP623K1, SRP625K1 & SRP635K1) – A Handsome Value for Money Watch, A Review (plus Video)

I have been slowing building up my olive green military style collection for the last few years. This is one genre that is seldom highlighted in watch forums. At the moment I have three in this category. The SRP621K1 will be the fourth.

This particular example is part for the Seiko 5 range of products by Seiko. Made out of 316L stainless steel, the case material has a satin finish to give it the dark silvery gray. Round shaped, it measures 44 mm (without crown) across. Lug width is 22 mm while the lug-to-lug length is 51 mm. The watch has a height of 12 mm.

The dial is protected with a flat Hardlex crystal glass. The same material is also used for the display case-back. The watch comes standard with a vintage-style crown located at the 3 o’clock position. The crown is a simple push-down system with three positions (winding; adjusting date & day; and adjusting time). The watch is paired with an olive green nylon strap with a simple buckle clasp and two thin wire bands for the strap lead. The strap has a sufficient length for a wrist circumference of 210 mm. The lugs have a straight-through pin holes which facilitate easy strap changes. Overall weight of the watch stands at 86 grams.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

SEIKO Prospex Marinemaster Professional Spring Drive SBDB011 GMT – A Good Tool Watch With Some Quality Control Issues, A Review (plus Video)

You have guessed by now that I am a dive watch freak. One of my favorite dive watch brands is the Seiko Prospex series. Under this series, I have watches with water rating either at 200 meters, 300 meters or 1,000 meters. However, I do not have in the collection a Seiko Prospex diver with an intermediate water rating of 600 meters. Currently, Seiko has two sub-models with 600 meters water rating; the SBDB011 and the SBDB013. Both this sub-models uses the innovative Spring Drive movement by Seiko.

I decided to go for the SBDB011 to complete the set as it has a number of extras that the SBDB013 do not have. The first is the all-titanium construction including bracelet and second is the GMT complication. With this piece in hand, I would just about complete my collection of bracelet Prospex Marinemaster divers (there are still a few more to go but slowly but surely). Picking the winner is the simplest act, what came next was much harder.

The SBDB011 is a fully made in Japan (or JDM) model. It is the replacement model for the SBDB001 which was first launched back in 2005. Launched on 8 August 2015, the SBDB011 has a number of improvements over its predecessor. The new changes will be highlighted later in the review.