Steinhart Ocean One Vintage - A Beautiful Homage to the 6200, A Review (plus Video)

I have a number of Steinhart watches in the collection. The Steinhart Watch Company is a small outfit in Augsburg Germany focusing mainly on homages with a few of their own unique designs. Currently in the collection, I have the Ocean Vintage GMT, the TRITON 1000 Titanium Titan, the Ocean One Titanium 500 Premium and the Ocean One 3D Ceramic Bezel. Today I have the pleasure to add another of the brand's offering, the Ocean One Vintage or O1V for short.

The O1V is a homage of a popular old model, the Rolex 6200. The Rolex 6200 was one of the very first Submariners introduced in 1954. Before that point in time, dive watches were very large and provided the diver with no other additional functions except the current time. The addition of a rotating bezel enables a diver to accurately monitor the dive times. Nevertheless, despite having a similar dial, markers, bezel and crown designs, the watch is definitely sized to current contemporary dimensions unlike the original Rolex 6200 which only has a width of 35 mm compared to 42 mm for the O1V.

Seiko Superior SSA005K1 Flight Computer CYCLOPS (similar to SSA001K1, SSA003K1 & SSA007K1) - Classy, A Review (plus Video)

The Seiko Superior Flight Computer CYCLOPS series were first launched in 2011. Back than I was relatively NOOB in the world of horology. I did come across the series in the course of researching watches but I did not make an effort to get one. Back then, there were other 'grail watches' higher up the list of wants.

Nine years later, when browsing in the watch section in a major departmental store in Kuala Lumpur I stumbled on a gaggle of watches deemed as 'old stocks' with a 40% discount. In the middle of the pile was a SSA005K1. I couldn't pass up such an opportunity and within a few minutes, it was mine (definitely impulse buying <LOL>).

The Superior line has an illustrious history. Back in the days of the quartz watch revolution in the 1970s, Seiko has always equate precision with this line of watches. Unfortunately, after a rationalisation exercise of Seiko's sub-lines a few years ago, the brand has decided not to continue with the Superior line.

The nickname CYCLOPS was given to the watch by fans as the 24-hour sub-dial looks like a single eye on a face. Officially, it is called the Flight Computer due to its ability to calculate relatively complex mathematics using the circular slide rules incorporated in the bi-directional bezel.

Seiko Prospex King Turtle Diver SRPE03K1 (similar to SRPE05K1 & SRPE07K1) - An Upgrade, A Review (plus Video)

Currently in my collection there are three Seiko Turtles. The standard Turtle RP773K1 bought in January 2016, the Mini-Turtle SRPC37K1 bought in March 2018 and the re-crafted Captain Willard Turtle SLA033J1 bought in July 2019. All three are under the Seiko Prospex line.

The Seiko Turtle is a classic. When the first Turtle was introduced to the public back in 1970 with the launch of the now iconic Seiko 6105-811X dive watch (either 6105-8110 or 6105-8119; both are exactly the same, the last digit in the reference number indicates in which market the watch was originally sold), the watch buying public couldn't get enough of it.

The winning combination of technical capability and pricing put that Turtle and its progeny a 'must-have' in any self-respecting collection. Its simplicity, the wrist-hugging design and ruggedness give it an aura seldom seen in the watch world.

In early 2020, Seiko announced another series of Turtles for the market with a few major improvements or upgrades over the previous iterations. For the first time, sapphire crystal and ceramic inserts are now standard on the new models.

I was very surprised by the changes. The Prospex line is the professional tool watch line of Seiko and every material and design features are tailor-made to do a practical job and not for fashion-sake. Hence the continuous usage of Hardlex crystal (slightly less scratch resistance but better shatter proof and definitely cheaper than sapphire) and aluminum inserts for the bezel (not as scratch resistance but easier to manufacture and cheaper than ceramic). By replacing these traditional materials with sapphire and ceramic will undoubtedly affect the production cost and final pricing of the end product.

Gruppo Gamma Venturo Field Watch #2 - A Standalone Design, A Review (plus Video)

One genre of interest in my collection is military style watches (see here for the set of military watches in my collection). One of the more striking vintage military style watches (as well as rare) is the Rolex 3139. In 2020, Gruppo Gamma has decided to scratch-the-itch of military watch collectors by offering a close reinterpretation of the 3139 with some modern tweaks. The Gruppo Gamma Venturo Field Watch #2 is the design the brand came out with.

This is the second Gruppo Gamma watch in my collection. The first was a model from a collaboration of 50 pieces made for the Malaysia Watch Forum Group (or MWF) which was delivered in December 2013 (see here). I just realised that 2013 was also the year of establishment for Gruppo Gamma. I am very happy to note that the manufacturer MWF chose for that special project has grown into a proud brand.

I booked the watch when a pre-launch announcement was made for an introductory price of US299. The 200 meter water rating, the box sapphire crystal and the use of the SII NH35 automatic movement makes the introductory pricing look like a steal!