Zenith Chronomaster Revival El Primero A384 Reference 03.A384.400/21.C815 - It has the Pedigree and its Genesis is Remarkable, A Review (plus Video)

The year 1969 was defining period for the horologists as it was the year the first truly automatic chronograph movement was born. In fact, three independent designs were launched that year by the three separate groups. The first was Seiko, the second was Zenith and the third consists of Breitling, Heuer, Buren-Hamilton with the help of Dubois Depraz.

In conjunction to the 50th anniversary of that momentous event, members of all three groups created commemorative timepieces to celebrate that occasion. Seiko created the Seiko Prospex Automatic Chronograph 50th Anniversary Limited Edition SRQ029J1, Hamilton created the 

Hamilton American Classic Chrono-Matic 50 Auto Chrono Limited Edition while Zenith created the Zenith Chronomaster Revival El Primero A384. I was able to acquire the first two and today, finally I was able to complete the 'trinity' with the acquisition of the third piece, the Revival El Primero A384. 

This acquisition is also memorable as this is the first Zenith to join the collection.

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.

Hamilton American Classic Chrono-Matic 50 Auto Chrono Limited Edition Reference H51616731 - A Great Tribute Watch, A Review (plus Video)

Recently, I was fortunate to get my hands on a 50th anniversary timepiece from Seiko that commemorates the brand’s first automatic chronograph movement launched in 1969. The Seiko Prospex Automatic Chronograph 50th Anniversary Limited Edition SRQ029J1 was made in honour of the Seiko Caliber 6139. It was a major milestone for Seiko but it also was part of a gigantic battle by big watch makers to come out with the first truly automatic chronograph. In fact, three competing designs were launched in 1969 by the three competing teams. The first team was Seiko, the second team was Zenith and the third team consists of Breitling, Heuer, Buren-Hamilton with the help of Dubois Depraz. I am happy to note that I also just gotten my hand on the 50th anniversary timepiece to commemorate the third team’s first automatic chronograph movement, the Caliber 11 Chrono-Matic. The Hamilton American Classic Chrono-Matic 50 Auto Chrono Limited Edition is the timepiece that Hamilton would like to remember that momentous event.

Like the Seiko commemorative timepiece, the Hamilton design is actually an interpretation of a 1972 model called the Chrono-Matic E GMT Countdown instead of a model designed in 1969 (Seiko chose a 1970 model instead of a 1969 design for their commemorative timepiece). Nonetheless, it was a great choice by Hamilton as the Chrono-Matic E is a classic and much sought after by collectors today.

BALL Engineer II Skindiver Heritage Blue Limited Edition Reference DM3208B-P1-BE - A No-Nonsense Dive Watch, A Review (plus Video)

As a watch company, the BALL Watch Company has been making watches since 1891. Back then, it specialises in railroad timepieces. However, like many watch companies in the world, dive watches was an area that was worth looking into. The BALL Skindiver timepiece conceived in 1962 in response to the increasing popularity of underwater diving in the United States.

To commemorate that milestone in the company's history, BALL launched the Skindiver Heritage series in the form of three distinct groups that are differentiated by the movement used. The most affordable group features BALL's RR1102 automatic caliber with a day-date complication (built on an ETA 2836-2 base); the middle group uses the BALL's RR1102-C caliber with COSC-certification; and the most expensive group used the BALL in-house RRM7309-C movement with 80-hour power reserve and COSC-certification but drops the day for a date-only complication.

After looking at the three options, I ended up with the most affordable option available, the model featuring the base movement RR1102 without COSC certification and paired with a rubber strap. The DM3208B-P1-BE was the model I chose.

Squale 30 ATMOS Blue/Red Vintage GMT Ceramica Reference 1545GBRVC - Quality Control Issues, A Review (plus Video)

I have been looking at the various models offered by Squale in the last few years. There are a number of very interesting designs that I would like to have. However, I never got around acquiring one, until recently.

One of Squale's famous design is the Reference 1545 diver series. This series was first introduced by Squale back in the 1960s. There are a number of slight variations to choose from. I decided to find one with the following criteria: no Rolex or Mercedes hands; sapphire crystal with no magnifying cyclops, ceramic or sapphire inserts for the bezel and jubilee bracelet. Lo and behold, Squale released a model that fit my requirements perfectly. The Squale 30 ATMOS Blue/Red Vintage GMT Ceramica Reference 1545GBRVC is the latest model introduced by Squale.

Made in Switzerland and powered by a Swiss Made automatic movement with quickset GMT and date functions, this is the first black dial GMT model featuring a two-tone blue/red ceramic bezel with engraved caramel coloured 24 hour markers.

I found the watch on offer by Gnomon Watches out of Singapore and I immediately made a purchase. Within a few days, the watch was on my table.

Glycine Combat 6 Vintage Reference GL0122 - A Wise and Good Investment, A Review (plus Video)

I am definitely into the military or infantry watch phase. Everywhere I look, only military style watches appeal to me. When I was crazy for dive watches I used to wear them in every occasion but experience have taught me that contemporary styling is important and a mismatch situation of a timepiece with a specific attire is a fashion faux pas.

The Glycine Combat 6 Vintage Reference GL0122 is a simple watch. Made from 316L stainless steel, it has an original military style dial layout with an automatic movement. Manufactured strictly to the MIL-W-3818B military specifications (see the PDF document at the end of the review), the three handed watch with a date complication is easy to use, reasonably accurate and tough.

Since this is the first Glycine in the collection, it would be good to cover the core history of the brand.

Glycine was founded by Eugène Meylan in 1914, The company has been producing watches at its factory in Bienne, Switzerland. One of its famous series is the Combat range. Combat or military style watches stand out for their classic design, enduring strength and reliability. Since the early 1960s, Glycine has offered a slew of examples made for severe conditions of wear and use using military specifications.

BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon DeepQUEST DM3000A-SCJ-BK - Highly Capable Swiss Extreme Diver Watch, A Review (plus Video)

This is my second BALL watch for the collection. The first was the BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT Reference DG2016A-SC-BK. A real hunk of a watch, well protected like a tank and a bright spark in the dark. This second piece is even hunkier with a body designed to be 10 times stronger than the AeroGMT. The BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon DeepQUEST with reference DM3000A-SCJ-BK is currently the brand's ultimate dive watch with a rated diving limit of 3,000 meters or 9,850 feet!

The technology that goes into the design and manufacturing of extreme dive watches have fascinated me ever since I started this hobby. Although I doubt that I will ever be in a position to use the capabilities of such dive watches, the desire to wear such watch is strong. To make something small immensely strong against external pressures is remarkable and this factor is what appeals to me.

The BALL Engineer Hydrocarbon DeepQUEST is a simple 3-hand watch with a date function. However, its design and manufacturing incorporates a number of cutting-edge technology developed by the BALL Watch company. BALL states quite a number of their own in-house technologies but for the DeepQUEST, the following are the notable ones used.

Hamilton Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO 1000m Automatic H78585333 - One of the Most Comfortable Deep Divers Around, A Review (plus Video)

In 2015, Hamilton launched the Khaki Navy BeLOWZERO 1000m Automatic H78585333 to be featured in the Hollywood blockbuster movie The Martian on the wrist of the hero, Mark Watney played by Matt Damon. The BeLOWZERO has a futuristic feel to the design which fits in nicely with the movie tie-in. It has the typical black-out military styling with the casing, dial, Arabic numerals, hands, bezel and everything else except the numerals on the date wheel either in black or in various shades of grey. Although paired with a rubber strap straight from the box, the watch does come with a stainless steel bracelet that you can replace by using a strap replacement tool provided as well.

Although I took note of its existence, I did not put in on my priority list then. However, much later I started to see that the specifications of the watch does not correspond to the price demanded. In fact, the watch was underpriced in my opinion. Think about it: dive watch with 1,000 meter water rating; automatic HEV system; sapphire crystal; PVD case surface; a strap and a bracelets as options; Swiss made; ETA 2826 Caliber; and a strap replacement tool - all for just RM6,080.00 MSRP in Malaysia.

Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT Reference AL-555LNS4H6 Sunset Blue - My Example has a Quality Issue, A Review (plus Video)

I saw Gnomon Watches of Singapore putting up for sale the Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage GMT last month. I tried getting one but was unsuccessful. Recently, the merchant re-listed another one under the series, the reference AL-555LNS4H6 nicknamed Sunset Blue. I quickly made my order and within 24 hours it was on my desk.

On Gnomon Watches, the watch was listed at USD1,080.00. The MSRP is EUR1,295.00. I was able get it for RM4,674.11.

The watch is a tonneau shaped watch casing with hidden lugs, two crowns, boxed crystal, leather strap, three hands, GMT function and date wheel.

The watch has a vintage feel to it. For those of you that prefer the classic look, the Pilot Heritage GMT has all the trappings.

Alpina has a long history of watch making. It had its golden age and it also suffered under the Quartz Crisis in the 1970s and early 1980s. Close to collapsing, Alpina was able to weather the storm and today, the brand is revitalising its name with many interesting offerings. To read more about the brand, please refer to the book about Alpina at the end of this posting.

Victorinox Swiss Army INOX Mechanical Blue Bracelet Reference 241835 - A Capable Refined Timepiece with Limitations, A Review (plus Video)

As you know, I originally separated my watch collection into two blogs, one for watches made in the West while the other for watches made in the East. Due to the inconsistency and unbalance nature  of acquiring watches for the collection, it would appear my http://westernwatch.blogspot.com blog is not getting similar traction as this particular blog. As such, I have decided to consolidate all my reviews, whether it is Eastern or Western made watches, into this blog instead from this point onward. The existing reviews on http://westernwatch.blogspot.com will remain for reference.

When the first INOX (it is actually spelt as I.N.O.X. but for the purpose of this review I will write it down without the periods) was launched in 2014, I willed myself to wait for a mechanical version to appear. As the years progress, I actually lost hope that Victorinox will ever come out with an automatic caliber timepiece. Many reviewers have the assumption that such possibility is remote if Victorinox wants to maintain the 'indestructibility' quality of the INOX. No mechanical movement is deemed able to withstand the myriad of tests that an INOX is expected to endure. Before anyone accuses me of being a quartz-phobic, I am not. I do collect quart watches (see the list of quartz watches in the collection here). My preference is solar or kinetic powered timepieces because only these kind of quartz watches do not need periodic battery replacement. For me, an INOX would be better suited as a solar powered timepiece instead of battery powered. The though of always opening the case-back after every two-year cycle is too intrusive in my view. The integrity of the INOX can be put into question after every cycle. Do note that in the instruction manual for the quartz INOX, it is recommended that a maintenance service should also be done during a battery change.