MOVADO AND INVICTA

The watch itch had struck again. I had been staying away from buying watches but I find my passion reignited when I kept bumping into watch enthusiasts here and there. Recently I was at lunch with an associate of mine and he was wearing this timeless classic.

He told me its a Movado Sapphire series with a Museum dial. So I did a web search and found it: Movado Watches

I must admit that I am predominantly a sports and tool watch guy (watchuseek forum influenced) so I don't have many 'real' dress watches for those formal occasions. So this Movado really attracted my attention with its clean, sleek design. And come to think about it, Movado watches had stayed true to their design for the past 50 years with its 'Museum dial' even today it still look so modern and timeless.

And one thing leads to another. While I was seriously tempted by this watch, I saw another great deal while surfing around; Invicta watches.

The Invicta 6348, Grand Diver GMT. I was attracted by the blue and yellow colors, and the very nice looking mesh bracelet. The bezel is a bit 'omega-seamasterish' and on first look seems to be a SMP homage, but its not. I love the sword hands and how the blue and yellow contrasts on the dial. A great looking watch. I imagine it will look nice on a blue or yellow strap too. IMHO a great candidate for PMWF.com's Top 20 list.

Looking at the specs, it seems to be a great deal at only about $82!

Specs:
Screw down crown
300m water resistant
316L stainless steel
47mm case
22mm lug
Mineral crystal
Swiss Ronda 515 GMT quartz movement

Thanx for the read!

MARINA MILITARE - EBAY VS CUSTOM MADE

Some days ago I mentioned here that I had been busy buying stuff both horology and photograph related. Well the horology stuff was a project watch which had arrived a couple of days ago. EMS shipping from Hong Kong to Singapore only took one day.

This project watch was a response to my dissatisfaction over my previous bad experiences with those Ebay Marina Militares, which should be considered expensive for the low quality they offered. They looked good on pictures, (see pic to the left and right below), but I was actually spending money buying pain.
Water got it easily, the display glassback popped off once, there were cosmetic flaws on the dial, the lume wasn't satisfactory and the movement was dead within a month. Even the replacement from the seller had MORE problems.

So the solution was to get a custom made one of much higher quality. I got it from a custom watch maker known as Davidsen, based in Hong Kong. With Davidsen I can order the watch to my specifications, which are as follows:

CASE
47mm stainless steel case based on the 1950 design
26mm lug width, 57mm lug to lug
Brushed finishing, polished bezel
Sterile lever guard
Sterile case back (with extra glass display back, courtesy of Davidsen)
30meters water resistance tested

DIAL
Sandwich with Super Luminova
Sub second dial at 9 o' clock
Marina Militare text on dial, big font, RXW style (Unfortunately Davidsen's not removing the LSWISSL words for me)

HANDS
Gold with Super Luminova

CRYSTAL
High domed sapphire
Anti Reflective Coating on the underside

MOVEMENT
Swiss Unitas 6497 17 jewels hand winding

STRAP
Leather. I asked for brown, Davidsen sent me a brown plus a black, and both with nice buckles. I was pleasantly surprised.

And here I have it; my custom Marina Militare watch. Pics below, (not to confuse with the above two pictures of the Ebay watch mentioned earlier). I put it on the Red12 strap which Old Skool Zack custom made for me. It had been sitting in the drawer for months and now I can finally use it. Yes!

Someday I will find a way to get rid of the LSWISSL words. The blue sheen on the crystal is from the AR coat.

The lume is great, it is something those Ebay Marina Militares cannot match, it is also one of the reasons enthusiasts turn to custom makers like Davidsen and JOA.

Night lume shot.

The sterile case back. Davidsen forgot to send the glass back, but promised to send it.

Custom Red12 strap on Strap Culture buckle. There is a pirate decal on the buckle, a skull with two crossed cutlass. I like the contrast, since 'Marina Militare' would mean the Navy in Italian. A pirate strap on a navy watch.

Side profile.

Unattached glassback which Davidsen sent shortly after.

Thanx to Zack and Rodrigo for the help provided all this while. Thanx for the read!

UNWRAPPING THE PRECISTA ITALIAN PRS20

In April 2008 I pulled the trigger on a Precista Italian and took pictures for posting on PMWF.com originally, but I don't wanna waste those pictures since the thread had already disappeared so I am reposting it here on my blog.

UPS delivered the package quite efficiently, only took three days from UK to Singapore.

The shipping box.

Cut it open.

An envelope containing the invoice.

Nicely air packed.

Ahh, getting nearer.

The watch box. One thing I really like about Timefactors is that Eddie Platts had done away with those useless traditional boxes and provided a useful travel box instead, bringing more value to the customer. This travel box will hold two big sized watches.

And here we've got the Eddie's name card and a nice little booklet providing historic information about the Italian Navy in World War 2, the specs and warranty of the watch. Also included is a strap changing tool and a polishing cloth.

This is the most exciting part, I took a deep breath and blew that polishing cloth away.

Yes! The Precista Italian!

I was instantly impressed!

Put it on and took a shot of it with PMWF.com on screen in the background.

Specs as follows:

CASE
Material: 316L stainless steel, polished
Diameter: 44mm, 48.5mm across including crown
Lug to lug height: 50mm
Thickness: 11.5mm to the top of domed crystal
Lug spacing: 24mm
Anti-magnetic: 4800 A/m
Water resistance: 100 metres
Weight: 100 grammes with strap
Features: Screw down crown, screw back

DIAL
Colour: Semi-matte black sandwich dial construction
Luminous: Hour markers Super Luminova C3
Day/Date: None

HANDS
Style: Blued steel , luminous filled
Luminous: Super Luminova C3

CRYSTAL
1.5 - 2.9 mm domed sapphire, A/R coating underside

MOVEMENT
ETA (Unitas) 17 jewel hand winding, calibre 6498-1 (18,000 BPH).

STRAP
Custom Banda strap,black calf leather. Signed buckle. (I received the Tan Ostrich Grain version)

After a few months of ownership, here's a few things which I especially like about this watch:

*Screw down crown has decoupling mechanism preventing problem of over winding the hand wound watch.
*Higher quality Fricker case.
*100m water resistance
*Sterile yet balanced dial.
*Sandwich dial, SL lume, blue hands, AR coated dome sapphire crystal, along with many other great features.

What I don't like about this watch:

*The wire lugs might wriggle out of position and turn downwards with the use of some straps, sometimes distorting the strap. It can be resolved by using lug tubes though. How I wish Eddie provide these tubes in the first place. Strap changing is hard and a pain for watches on half wire lugs. Fortunately I don't have to do it often.