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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 10:57:46 GMT
Seiko Perpetual 196kHz 8F32 HAQ. Seiko created the 196kHz Perpetual line in 1999. This one was made 19 years ago in November 2001. This one is still on its 2nd 10-yr battery with only one change since new. The unmatched battery longevity is paired with its perpetual movement which includes leap-years. No resetting the date. It has a 2-second tick battery life warning that allows replacing it without having to reprogram date, month and leap-year if you do so before it drains out completely. As is readily obvious, I've got several of these perpetuals. They're a quick and convenient go-to when I don't want to - or don't have time to fuss with winding, time setting, etc. In another note . . . The cat has been rapidly improving and she's gaining some strength back. Been putting the regular food up to force a couple modest jumps to get to it. We go to the vet again today for a follow-up which will include doing a white count to see if her anemia is improving. Given what she's doing now around the house with improved perkiness and interactive behavior, it's hard to imagine that it's not. Still giving wide berth to the big male.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 10:59:45 GMT
Today's is the Aristo Bauhaus 38 Sapphire on a Vollmer mesh band with curved ends, its sister company in Pforzheim.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 11:01:54 GMT
Movado Horwitt 38 Automatic (ETA 2892A2 with no date complication) AFAIK, this is the closest Movado has come to recreating Nathan Horwitt's three original "Museum Dial" watches he had custom made circa 1955 from his 1947 graphic design for them. Movado removed the date complication properly. There's no "ghost" date setting position on the crown.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 11:04:40 GMT
Android Hercules 44mm Tungsten SapphireThat's right . . . Tungsten, at the opposite end of the density spectrum from Titanium, nearly identical to Gold's, and a very hard material. I liked the gray one so much that I bought the blue one. Bezel isn't black, it's a mirror finish Tungsten like the rest of the case and bracelet. Unlike many of Wing's pieces, this one (and its gray brother) have sapphire crystals. Nope . . . no bezel lume . . . but that's fine with me.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:22:11 GMT
Android Corsair 45 (SII NH35A) Lug to lug length is very short with its integrated bracelet.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:23:04 GMT
Android DM Enforcer Chronograph (Limited Edition) This is a big one at 50mm. Not a size I'd have bought except for the extraordinarily low price for its 34-jewel, 28.8kbph high beat SII NE78 column wheel chrono automatic - versus the stiff pusher cam lever mechanism in the ETA 7750. Has a screw down crown, but like most "diver" chronos made now, the pushers don't screw down. The knurled collars around them are there just for show; they don't unscrew or lock the pushers. Its very short lug design with integrated bracelet just barely fits my smaller wrist.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:24:10 GMT
The Bulova Archive Series Computron in Stainless and blue is a reissue of their 1976 LED Computron. Case design and bracelet is nearly identical to the original. The case on this one is updated from chrome plated base metal to a mirror finish solid stainless steel. Bracelet is solid stainless with cotter pins in the removable links, a welcome update from the hair pulling folded links from days of yore. Its innards are updated to reduce its power consumption some and it's powered by a 3V CR2032 instead of two 1.55V silver oxide cells. The LED display is blue with wide LED segments, unlike the original thin red ones. The new electronics add weekday and second time zone in addition to the original's hour+minute, seconds, and mm/dd date. Weekday is calculated by setting the year, which will also handle Leap Years correctly with the date. Attempted to photograph it with the time lit up, but the studio lights overwhelmed the display. Did get a wrist shot with it lit up - which took quite a few attempts. Sorry, no lume shot. This joins my vintage 1977 Texas Instruments 401 red LED digital. Note: the studio lights show the underlying LED panel through the blue lens.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:25:38 GMT
Invicta Reserve Pro Diver Chronograph - ETA 7750 My only Invicta - it was the price and the ETA 7750 inside. Not impressed with the build quality for what's supposed to be their flagship "Reserve" line. Edges against the wrist are too sharp. I had to slightly chamfer and radius them, especially on the bracelet. Screw links are great, but the screws and threads on this one are poorly made. Lume wasn't particularly impressive. Orient, Seiiko, and Wing (Android/Aragon) do a better job. No big deal breakers or I'd have sent it back, but there's much that could have been done better. That said, unlike many "desk diver" chronos, the pushers have real screwdown collars on them, versus the faux collars found on nearly all chronos (that have collars around the pushers). Lume isn't impressive. Seiko, Orient, and Wing (Android and Aragon) do much better than this . . .
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:26:30 GMT
Limited Edition Strider Hyperdive (Miyota 9015) Graphic design of dial, hands, bezel, case and bracelet were created by the controversial Jim Skelton. Wing Liang provided mechanical design with materials knowledge, parts manufacturing sources, and final assembly resources to make them in 2013, two years after he left ShopNBC. Remaining stocks of them were eventually liquidated in deeply discounted sale prices by Wing. For me it was another opportunity to get one more interesting watch with a Miyota 9000 family inside for a very, very low price.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:27:14 GMT
Zavtra T-37 Sea to Land (Miyota 9015) Overall design was created by Craig Hester of R2A watches. Detailed mechanical engineering, materials and manufacturing were provided by Wing Liang, owner of Android and now Aragon. Hester's Zavtra line was a one-time limited edition attempt in 2013 to create his own watch line. This one is an homage to the T-37 Soviet WWII amphibious tank with the dial layout taken from the tank's clock. Hester's personal brand didn't get much traction and Wing liquidated remaining stock of various Zavtra models. Maybe it was because the movement inside was a Japanese Miyota instead of a Russian. Sheer speculation on my part; Hester and R2A have been very strongly identified with Russian watches for many years. This one has a black MOP dial and build quality is excellent. Grabbed it when they were being closed out at a super price for yet another with a 9015 inside.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:28:21 GMT
Aragon Divemaster 9100 - 45mm Snagged this one at a good price just after Wing restarted under the Aragon name. Couldn't pass by a 45mm with a Miyota 9100 inside. the 50mm are too big for me. If I were to change anything I'd ditch the 24-hour subdial. It cannot be independently set to a different time zone making it a useless appendage. Kermit would be proud of this one.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:28:57 GMT
Seiko Sportura Kinetic GMT
Unlike many GMT, most if not all Seiko, including this one change the normal hour hand in one-hour increments in the crown's 2nd position that would normally be a date quickset. Rolling back and forth across midnight will increment and decrement the date, which is how increment the date at the end of a short month. Allows travelers to change their local time zone quickly without stopping the watch to reset local time. The downside of this is for those who use the GMT hand for a different time zone that frequently changes with business calls to other countries, continents, etc. A rotating bezel would fix that, but alas, it's fixed and doesn't. Pusher at the "2" is for showing how much energy reserve is stored in the watch's battery. Trivia note: A normal watch winder will not work with the Seiko Kinetic. It rotates much too slowly. They're made for wearing with a normal amount of daily activity, primarily walking and doing things with arms and hands beyond sitting at a desk or in an easy-chair.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:29:55 GMT
Balmer StratosAt 45mm width (without crown), and 22mm lug width, it's not a small watch. Well made with a AR coated slightly domed sapphire crystal, its sandwich dial and hands have an aviation cockpit vibe in a cushion stainless case with large diameter crown. Under the dial is a nice 6-jewel Ronda 7004.B from their top tier Mastertech line of quartz movements. This movement has a little-known energy-saving feature that reduces consumption if the stem is pulled out to the date quickset position, which disengages the date change, versus stopping the movement entirely in the time setting position. Allows for temporary storage without losing time of day. Date must be reset when crown is pushed back in. Also has a battery end-of-life indicator using the seconds hand, something that used to be a nearly universal feature in quartz analog, but isn't anymore. If I were to change anything, it would be a slightly larger silver oxide cell than the 381 to increase normal life from four to five years, but that's a nit. Balmer was the aviation related brand in John House's Carrollton, Texas "Always At Market" Chinesium mushroom brand empire before it collapsed a number of years ago in the wake of a lawsuit judgment. Always the odd one out, it wasn't among House's other Chinesium brands. Its Swiss movement watches offered up some very good mechanicals. The company now has a distributor operating out of [drum roll] Carrollton, TX. It's a different address than his used to be. House is operating out of Dallas now selling other stuff. The current distributor and contact for warranty is Dalshire International, Inc. with Dilip Tandan listed as the company's current owner. Balmer, Louis Bolle and Duboule are all trademarks owned by Le Bonheur Group, SARL (a type of Swiss company), in Switzerland, with Molly Buck Richard in [drum roll] Dallas, TX, listed as the Attorney or Record. Efforts to find out who owns Le Bonheur Group, SARL, in Switzerland lead nowhere. Inquiries regarding the trademarks are pointed toward the Richard Law Office (in Dallas). John House divested himself of the watch business(es) and what was left of them were taken over by Dilip Tandan with Dalshire International, Inc. (in Carrollton, TX). Probably more than you want to know, but it's a tangled web they weave. I've little doubt that ultimately the dots would connect Dalshire with Le Bonheur Group via Molly Buck Richard, but I'm not inclined to spend time chasing it.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:30:47 GMT
Seiko 1/20th Sec Quartz Chronograph (7T92) Bought this specifically for its 1/20th second precision, which is handled by the subdial at the 12. Subdial at the 6 has two hands for totalizing hours and minutes, making it a 12-hour chronograph. I consider it better than its related sister 7T62 chronograph movement. It's surprising and disappointing the movement has zero jewels. Apparently Seiko doesn't jewel their quartz chrono movements, not even the newer solar powered. This is definitely a faux desk diver with 100m rating and omission of a screw-down crown. The knurled collars around the pushers, which would lock them down to seal them up on a real diver, are only there for show. The timing bezel does rotate though, and it's unidirectional. Typically a quartz chronograph above the very basic entry level would have at least a half dozen jewels, usually more. Second in a series of quartz, and first in a series of quartz chronographs.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 12:34:15 GMT
Bulova 262kHz Precisionist 1/1000th Sec., 12 hr. ChronographThe P123 movement provides for a smooth sweeping central seconds hand in timekeeping mode - and its alternate use as the seconds hand in chronograph mode. Third in the current quartz series and second in quartz chronograph series.
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