Superstitions Around Clocks and Watches

Here is something I have never heard of, but apparently from a friend some people still have superstitious beliefs that if you gift a clock (or watch), then that would mean you're giving death (e.g. your time is up.)

Wow if everyone will believe that then clock and watch sellers won't ever get any business and will go bankrupt!

Which is a stupid thing, because if you give a person time, then don't you extend his time?? And it's almost 2014, some people are still living in 1914.

Longbo Quartz Watch

A Longbo rectangle watch photo I took some time ago, but did not have the chance to put it up on here. This is a quartz model, most likely a Chinese brand - fairly decent watch for what the price it is probably sold at, but nothing really special.

It's a bad photo to be honest, as the lighting that day was not bright enough (overcast clouds) and this is  the reason I did not put it on here for some time. The caseback photo is actually even worse and blurry as to be unusable. :(

It does have an interest sticker with hologram stars on it though. Considering the watch had been very used, the fact that the sticker is still on is somewhat quite amazing!

Old Cognac Frapin Wrist Watch With a Nice Leather Strap

Truly sorry about the iPad pictures, I don't have my usual camera with me when I took this.

No markings on the caseback. But strap says "Genuine Leather" though. Which is thoroughly broken in.

 Found this old "Cognac Frapin" quartz wrist watch that has a very nice brown genuine leather strap. If I give the strap a good clean it should be usable for many more years. It is a 18mm wide strap. It has hardened a bit over time, but developed a nice broken-in weathered leather look.

 The watch itself? Well, the roman numerals are nice, and the dial design is not bad as well, but the I have a good reason to think that the battery has probably leaked and destroyed its internals, although I have not opened it up yet. The diameter of the case is (I did not measure) probably about 36mm.

"Cognac Frapin" is a Cognac producer, so I am guessing this is a souvenir watch from that company. Very nice watch, for a souvenir - especially that strap..

Reverse Psychology

 

Here's an interesting thought.

 I have a friend you see, who is quite well off. How well off? Well, he has quite a few property, drive an expensive car and has a big house. Generally, he is amonge top score ranking in the game of life. He's rich, basically.

 He can afford expensive watches, but doesn't buy them. Instead, he goes out to scout night markets, usually on business trips, and buys most of the stuff we watch collectors would call crap..

 So, he's not really a watch guy.

 Here's the funny thing; on a recent trip to Indonesia, he bought a watch from some street peddler that he liked; it is a skeleton watch. The fact that it has the name "Rolex" on it doesn't matter, he's not interested. It's the general shape and that it's a skeleton that led him to buy it.

 Now, when I'm with him a couple of times with friends, they would look at his hand and say, "wow nice watch".

 And then he would say, "Thanks, I found from a street peddler for RM90".

 And then friends would say, "Nah, you're pulling our legs. It must be expensive."

 Haha. They don't believe it's a fake. I don't think they ever do believe it. Even though Rolex doesn't make skeleton watches (as I understand it).

Casio Baby-G Ana-Digi (BGA-200)

This Casio Baby-G Ana-Digi belongs to a friend. As I didn't check what model it is, a little searching on the internet and the closest I found should be the BGA-200 model. This is one very nice black model, very minimalist and stylish at the same time.

I like the white over black display. The date displays 2 alphabets instead of the usual three (as can be seen "WE" instead of "WED" which takes some getting used to I guess. Not sure what the upper right corner (lower right in this shot) shows, looks like an element to show the time passing. Not sure about the "04" as well, but I'm guessing the seconds counter.

It was strapped to a basket so I just took a shot like that.

Fake "Rolex" - This Time : A Skeleton

What's up? Another day, another watch.

  This one is from my same friend who collects all the odd watches from night markets and other questionable places. This time, he got this from a trip to Indonesia. Off of some guy who sells watches on the street. Behold, a "Rolex" skeleton. I don't even know "Rolex" makes skeleton watches. I assume they don't, but I am not an expert in Rolex. Also, I am not an expert in fakes, but this one just screams FAKE. Well for one thing, the date ring doesn't even move.

 It is an automatic though. The rotor at the back doesn't spin very freely. Like it is resting on sandpaper. Fortunately, it has a manual wind option.

 The bracelet is also funny. The pieces that you could take out aren't many, so when you resize them to the maximum available to take out, it still makes a very large bracelet, which just barely fits my friend.

Therefore, I should show it all in pictures!

My Orient 'Ray Raven' CEM65007B Replacement

So, I finally got my 'Ray Raven' replacement. The seller responded to me on a holiday, took care of the problem, and sent me a nice, unscratched wristwatch. 

I'm happy!

Some observations:

I am pleasantly surprised with the bracelet. Upon sizing the bracelet, the pins are actually the ones with the clip(?) instead of the ones that come with the collar that lose itself into the smallest places and disappear forever like the one on my Edifice. Sizing the bracelet was actually a breeze, the bracelet was better than I was led to expect reading on here. Its size is perfect for my 6.5ish wrist (I never did bother to measure my wrist). The PVD is still a little thin  on the bracelet.
I am loving it so far.

About the box - it still came in the same box.. The box is still the mystery but oh well, I'm not going to fret about it.. not like I'm going to be wearing the box itself.

I put on the leather strap that I received and already noticed a scratch in the PVD / IP on the case inside of the end links when I removed it. 

Now this got me thinking about how the ion plating on it. With my Casio, I've whacked its ion plated bezel a couple of times on the underside of my work desk, door jams, and once when I caught it on the door jam the springbars broke and even fell onto a tiled floor and slid face down but there is no scratch whatsoever, it only had a tiny dent on the case. With the Orient, the way the scratch looks (plus the scratch on the first one I got) I'm getting worried this PVD / IP is not up to the stuff of even Casio. Only time will tell. It won't bother me too much because I like the worn-out look when these things get worn, or as they call it, a 'patina'.

Pictures of it and the new strap:

New watch, new strap, no scratches.

I should have gotten the black stitching. It didn't occur to me.
 Kicking myself.

Have to do something about this stainless steel buckle too.
Sourcing a PVD black version.

Wristshot.

Another.

The Orient for an automatic is amazingly accurate over the past 2 days. I didn't see any deviations so far (however I wasn't scientific in watching the timing either)... considering the price, this is extremely good.

Get your own Orient Ray Raven here!

My Orient 'Ray Raven' CEM65007B Arrived..

....and I am disappointed.

Firstly, the box is different. It is significantly cheaper, than what I saw online:

This is what I expected (Pic taken online)

This is what I got, on the right.. on the left is a Casio Edifice box for comparison. The Edifice is 'pleather' with a pillow inside, but the Orient is is basically leather-embossed cardboard on the outside, and fur cardboard on the inside.

Here're some pictures. I have no doubt the watch is genuine, and it IS a beautiful watch.

But, the watch bezel came with scratches. More like a scuff, as if someone hit it against a rough concrete wall:

Scratch at the 30 marker on the bezel.

I'm contacting the seller to get a refund or replacement. But if they screw with me, I might just change the bezel. Or paint it with a black marker.. :(

Casio MTP-1336

Here is a Casio MTP-1336, belongs to a friend. Classic rectangular shape, and very durable. Because it's a Casio. His shows a ton of wear and scratches, because it is 'much loved'. Quite lightweight, not displaying the heft of like some of the Edifices. Fold-link bracelet at this price point. It says water resist, but not sure about the resistance - I'm going to guess it is 30 or 50M. That's a snap-on caseback, going to guess it is 30M.

Vintage? Sea-Gull ST5 handwinding

 

 

This one belongs to a friend of mine. He just got it and I went over to use office to check it out. He bought it as new old stock from a seller I recommended to him (the same seller I posted earlier).

His cyclops lens thing seems to have gone missing, and some marks on the crystal, and the strap probably not original.

Still, it's a real beautiful watch. About 36mm diameter case, looks bigger than it should, and robust Chinese movement. I didn't get it because it was way above my budget, but oh now I'm really envious.

What could have been...

I saw two vintage watches online that seemingly available for purchase:

A manual-winding Citizen which I never seen before, and a brand called Alco I never heard before, also handwinding. Both don't have a seconds hand, have roman numerals, and very nice clean design. So far so good, but when I inquired about it the seller told me that he had already sold the Citizen... 

Well, ok but look at that Alco, it is such a classic beauty! I especially liked the super large & clean dial, thin bezel. So I asked about it and the seller said, yes, he has it!!

Yes!!! SCORE! I thought, then we discuss payment etc...

...but suddenly the seller said he went to look for it, but couldn't find it. :(  According to him that means he must've sold it at some point and forgotten about it..

Oh well, I am so disappointed to finally get a chance to get some real classic beauties, but it is never to be. Hopefully, it is still somewhere around at the seller's place, and there is some chance he will find it and send it to me.

Cheap Find: "Olj"

Updated: Added better picture.

Sorry about the bad pics again.

I found this watch in town for real cheap. About 5 USD. I just just walking past all the cheap watches and spotted it.

I was actually more interested in the strap. So I inquired about it. The watch was original put as RM35. So I asked if they have such straps and how much they are, I'm not really interested in the watch. The salesgirl said, "RM15 for that strap" (5 USD).

So, I said, so, what about if I get the strap.

The salesgirl then said, "well, how about you get the watch, for RM25". I said, nah, not interested, just interested in the strap.

So she said, fine, RM15.

So I got a free watch for the price of the strap. They must be desperate to let it go.

 Now, I realize that they are probably still making some money on the watch itself, but I think this situation is a win-win.

 I intend to put the strap on a black watch to give a "PVD vintage" look to it.

PierCarlo d' Alessio - A Really, Really, Bad Fake

Yeah this one is a really bad fake. I thought even the brand was some random name but I searched it on the internet and apparently it is a real brand.

 How bad is this fake? Firstly it is quartz, and the smaller dial hand in there is totally fake. It's printed on the dial. LOL!

And the back, there's nothing at all, just a flat piece of metal disc.


Watch belongs to friend who likes to scout cheap night market.

Vintage Sandoz Automatic -Repaired!

Yes! The vintage Sandoz automatic that was in a bit of a sorry state which I found is now back in my hands, and ticking away happily! I am so stoked about it.

The lug was not bent back as mentioned previously, but I will leave it for now. A longer springbar was used to hold the strap in place.

The ever compulsory pictures to accompany this post (iPad pics first, as I'm now at office without my trusty camera):

Enjoy.

Vintage Sandoz Automatic

Wow, this one is old. I don't know how old, but, it definitely is very old. Behold, my father's vintage Sandoz automatic. I have never heard of the name Sandoz but apparently it has been around since 1870s. Sandoz in the 1970s was split into several companies, according to Wikipedia, all of them named Sandoz but split into 4 areas of production, due to licensing. This became 4 separate brands, Sandoz Singapore, Sandoz Hong Kong, Sandoz Swiss and Sandoz Spain, each with their own line of products. 

Now, that means that, I am just really guessing here that this watch is either one of the post-1970s one, or the pre-1970s product. As the watch has the "Swiss Made" on it, it maybe the Swiss one. But really, I have no idea.

Condition:

When I found it, the second hand has fallen off sadly. And it doesn't tick. I can wind it, but it won't work. I have since cleaned it up a bit, and brought it over to my watch guy to have a look. He says he can see some rust (uh oh) but if that clears up there doesn't seem to be anything else wrong. Hopefully we can fix it.

The lug on the lower left side has also bent, most likely as a result of a fall. My watch guy says that he won't be touching that as he doesn't want to be held liable for breaking it off... fair enough. Well we will see how that will work out. Hopefully I can get it at least ticking again, and reoiled and serviced.

"Bariho" Watch

 

My friend's night market find, very cheap quartz watch. Brand is "Bariho". The design is quite unique, which is why he bought it in the first place.

"Bell" Quartz Ladies Watch

This is my wife's "Bell" quartz ladies watch. I am not sure if this is supposed to be a knock-off of the brand, or what, as I am not familiar with any "Bell" brand.

Anyway, this watch is unused and only dug up by me for blogging purposes. Not much info I know about it other than it's a Ladies quartz. The case and its bracelet is made from what seems like transparent plastic or perspex material of some sort.

I knew it was too good to last...

Well earlier I had posted about my Edifice EQS-500DB-1A2 bending a spring bar and the watch fell to the floor without damage? Well, turns out it dented the watch and I totally missed it until this afternoon, when I got new springbars and put the bracelet together. Sigh. Oh well, first cut is the deepest they say, here's to many more years with my Edifice EQS-500DB-1A2!

....meanwhile, an excuse for a new watch!! How about Casio Edifice EQS-A500?? Or the EQS-700DB-1AV I've been eyeing?

 Decisions decisions..