The Watch Post

Review of the Triban RC 520 by Decathlon - A 2,000km Review

2022-06-30T00:14:00.006+08:00

Greetings folks, it's been so long since I last posted here, more than a year ago now where I last spoke of getting my 2B license. I had a short love affair with motorcycles, but after a few scares, some of my own and others from watching motorcycle accident videos, I sold off my motorcycles four months into the hobby, deciding I was happier off living my life without such risks.

Y'know I can't just sit still, trying new things out and getting into new hobbies is in my blood. So late into 2021 (November), shortly after selling off my Honda CBF150, I started reading up on bicycles. Alas, another expensive hobby, and after seven and a half months and thousands spent on this hobby later, I'd like to share with you my thoughts on the Triban RC 520 road bike that is sold by Decathlon.

First off, as we always do at The Watch Post, the specs:

- 6061-T6 aluminium frame, 1,830g in size M, with mounting points for mudguards, racks
- Aluminium fork with carbon blades, tire clearance up to 36mm
- Shimano 105 shifters, front and rear derailleurs, RS510 50/34 crankset, KMC X series chain
- Microshift 11 speed 11-32 cassette
- TRP HY/RD post mounted cable actuated hydraulic brakes w/ Jagwire compressionless brake housing
- In-house Triban handlebars, seatpost, saddle
- In-house Triban 700c aluminium wheelset (tubeless ready) weighing 2kg total, 28 spokes front/rear, quick release
- 10.6kg total weight in size M
- Lifetime warranty on frame, handlebar, stem
- Two years warranty on fork and peripheral components

All of the above costed me a grand total of 970 SGD (~713 USD), which is an incredible price considering a full 105 groupset (with rim brakes) costs around 657 SGD (~472 USD) alone on BIKE24 which is one of the cheaper online retailers. So for an additional 313 SGD, Decathlon manages to throw in a frame with fork and carbon blades, hybrid disc braking, a wheelset, tires and just about everything else that makes up a bicycle. Of course, Decathlon isn't paying 657 SGD for a Shimano 105 groupset, they probably get it for a much lower price due to their massive economy of scale and relationship with bicycle component suppliers, but it is still impressive as hell the value for money you get with the Triban RC 520.

The tradeoff for this insane price to value ratio is the scarcity and difficulty of attaining this bike. This bike is hardly ever in stock, at least in Singapore. I was extremely lucky when I first read about it online back in Nov '21, and messaged Decathlon Singapore on Facebook. It just so happened they had a small batch, I rushed down to Joo Koon on the very same night I messaged them, and that is the story of how I didn't have to wait a single day to get my hands on an RC 520. I've seen people on the Decathlon Facebook page who have had to wait for months, even up to half a year in order to get their hands on one.

The entire supply situation is further exacerbated by Covid-19. No reminders are needed in remembering the lockdowns that happened when Covid-19 first broke out en masse, and global travel pretty much screeched to a halt. My own mental health took a beating in 2020 and 2021, but I digress. People were raring for things to do domestically since travel was pretty much out of question in the last two years, and bicycling was one of these things. The sudden demand for bicycles and components led to shortages and price increases globally.

The selling price of the Triban RC 520 also increased from 970 SGD to 1,100 SGD, starting back in Jan '22. At 1,100 SGD, the Triban RC 520 is still a good deal frankly, a far better value than anything than you will get from Specialized, Trek or any of the high-end brands. You'd probably only get a Shimano Claris with a budget of 1,100 SGD at Specialized. That said, the Triban RC 520 was a steal at 970 SGD. At 1,100 SGD, it's become just a good value. People are still snapping up the Triban RC 520 at 1,100 SGD though, so I let the results speak for themselves.

With that out of the way, let's get into the bike itself, how does it do besides sounding impressive on the spec sheet? This review is going to be way too long if I go by paragraphs of description, so I'll list my likes, dislikes, and overall impressions to wrap up:

Likes

Groupset - The modern 105 groupset performs really nicely, with excellent shifting performance even when my drivetrain was absolutely filthy. It performed without a hitch even after I had a stationary fall on the drivetrain side, with gears changing into place precisely. Decathlon has selected the crankset of 50/34 and 11/32 for the cassette very thoughtfully, as this caters well to beginner road riders and allows for easier climbing of steep gradients. The medium cage rear derailleur means you can go even bigger than 11/32 (11/34 or maybe even 11/36) gives plenty of options. I never experienced an issue with the cassette being a Microshift instead of being a Shimano, I think the only penalty here is the weight.

Wheelset - The wheels fall into both likes and dislikes, so I'm going to start with what I like about the stock wheels. The sealed cartridge bearings on these wheels perform really nicely, and the front wheel can roll for minutes if you give the front wheel a spin while suspended. They are also are little overbuilt, with 28 spokes front and rear, but at least you know they're bombproof like that. You could easily take these wheels for a gravel adventure and abuse them, they're built solid.

Mounting points - There's a chock load of mounting points on this bike, allowing you to fit a rear rack, mudguards and a front rack if you so wish. I have myself fitted 45mm SKS Bluemels mudguards onto my Triban RC 520 and I really enjoy having no skid marks on my shirt and dry feet when riding on wet roads. Mudguards are pretty much a must for me on any bike after having installed them onto the Triban RC 520.

For touring and bikepacking, the mounting points make the Triban RC 520 a great option, which coupled with it's relaxed geometry makes for a really ideal bikepacking bike.

Tire clearance - There is room to fit up to 36mm officially, but there are people on the Interwebs who have even fit up to 40mm x 700c tires. You could potentially go even bigger if you changed to 650b wheels. Again, the versatility of the RC 520 shines here; you could convert this to a gravel bike if you wished. This makes the RC 520 an excellent bike for touring and bikepacking, just pop on some 36es if you're expecting more offroad, and when you're back from your trip go back to 28 slicks and it's back to being a road bike.

Saddle - It's said that saddles are very personal, you could buy the 600 USD Specialized Power Mirror saddle which in my opinion is a ridiculously overpriced piece of kit and still feel uncomfortable on your bicycle. On the other hand, the stock Decathlon saddle which comes with the bike (and costs just 15 SGD when bought separately) fits me great and I've done rides that are eight hours long on it.

Comfort - Overall, this is a bike with quite a relaxed geometry. The rider is in quite an upright position as compared to a race bike and it comes stock with five stem spacers. This is definitely an endurance bike and it shows in it's geometry, but it also makes for a comfortable ride which doesn't force you to bend down low while riding. I believe you could make it quite a bit more aggressive by removing all the stem spacers and increasing the saddle, along with shorter cranks, but I'm more of an endurance rider and am very comfortable and happy with the stock position it comes in.

Brakes - Love the TRP HY/RD's on the RC 520. Admittedly, I've only had rim brakes to compare it against, but damn I love the braking power of hydraulics. While these aren't true hydraulics, I've read online that the HY/RD's come pretty close when it is setup properly, while also having the disadvantages of both systems. Compared with other bicycles that I've used before though, the HY/RD's have lovely linear modulation and also a sufficiently strong bite without requiring me to jam down on the brake levers. I intend to change to fully metallic pads when the stock ones wear out, and perhaps a change in wheelset including some Ice-Tech rotors too to see if I can further improve the brake feel.

Smoothness - The bike rolls very nicely (and much nicer once you swap out for better tires), incredibly smoothly, which is a combination of all the parts like the drivetrain, wheelset and the sealed bearings, tires, and frame working together. Decathlon has put together a really nice road bike here and the feel of the road when you're rolling at 30km/h on tarmac is just great, a nice combination of feeling the buzz from the road but not overwhelming. They've nailed it with the rigidity of the frame, it falls in the sweet spot for me.

Value for money - Again, the incredible value you get, 970 SGD for a Shimano 105 (mostly) drivetrain, and all the things I like about the bike mentioned above, is truly the king of value in this price range. There is no other offering out there (short of a well maintained secondhand bicycle) that can offer this kind of value. It competes with offerings from other companies that are double or triple it's price.

This bike is pretty much the most value for money you get in entry level road bikes, short of an awesome secondhand find (or a secondhand RC 520 in pristine condition, for that matter). Canyon, Ribble, Merida don't even come close (though they offer better specs), and the only thing that may come a considerably distant second is Boardman.

Dislikes

Weight - Well, it can't all be good right? Designing an entry level bike is always an exercise in managing compromises. Straight up, this is a heavy bike, and by road bike standards, really heavy. The frame comes in at 1.83kg in size M, which is a full 1kg heavier than full carbon race bike frames. This will negatively affect your climbing experience although it can be negated by being fitter and to a lesser extent, performing component upgrades. On the flats, weight is usually less of an issue, but it does affect acceleration which brings us to the next point.

Somewhat sluggish, not the most responsive - It's not the ultra responsive, fast accelerating carbon race bike that weighs in exactly at the UCI mandated 6.8kg, in fact, after adding mounts, bottle cages and proper pedals, it's likely to weigh in closer to upwards of 12kg. This is evident when you handle the bike, it's requires more time to get into turns and also gets up to speed much slower than a "super bike". Even if it were 6.8kg, it would not be as responsive because the geometry of this bike is more upright and the rider is naturally in a less aero position. I considered before adding this point in the dislikes section, because I understand that after all it was meant as a endurance road bike and not a race bike. However I still do think that some weight could be shed from the stock wheels at least so that they could spin up more quickly, and to also have an easier time when climbing.

Alignment of disc brakes and quick release - This is my biggest dislike with the RC 520, disc brakes and quick release are simply a terrible combination. With quick release, you can never quite put the wheels in the exact same position whenever you mount them onto the bike. You'd have to remember how many turns you did if you wanted to, and who would remember such a thing when you remove the wheels only occasionally? With disc brakes, this is a problem because the tolerances are tight. The result is that you rather frequently get disc rub which is terribly annoying. At best, you have an irritating sound every revolution, and it eats away at your power just ever so slightly. At worst, the rub is full on dragging, and you're losing immense power due to a constant braking effect. It feels like you're riding uphill wherever you go.

The irritating part is the frequency of needing to adjust for disc rub, and how difficult it can sometimes be when the simple method of grabbing the brakes and then tightening the calipers don't work. By far, this is my biggest gripe of the RC 520 and I wish they charged 60 bucks more and went with thru axles.

Inconsistent build quality - Story time, I actually owned two RC 520s before. I bought the first one, crashed it, and didn't want to bother with the replacement of handlebars and saddle to make it look new again, so I bought another one secondhand, in a different size. An issue with the first one was that I couldn't fit my front mudguard onto it, because the front hole for the screw wasn't threaded all the way through. I have no experience with tapping nor do I have a screw tap, so I simply didn't bother to mount the front mudguard which always felt like a waste since the front half was just sitting there. The second frame however, very thankfully was properly threaded and I could fit my front mudguard on. I love the look of the RC 520 with long mudguards in place, it looks like it's ready to take on the wettest roads.

Wheelset - So the positives of this wheelset has been covered above, but here come the negatives. First, it is a very weighty set of wheels, coming in at 2kg for the pair. This probably contributes a large part of the sluggish acceleration on this bike, and although it does contribute to maintaining speed better, for my use case where I have to constantly stop and then roll, I'd prefer something with a lighter weight and therefore snappier acceleration. Second, these tires, which are tubeless ready (again, incredible value for the price) means that the rims are somewhat bigger. It is a massive pain to fit on tires which are themselves known to be tight (e.g. Continental GP5000 clinchers). Until I got myself a bead jack tool, it was impossible to fit on the GP5000 myself, and I had to get local bike shops to do it for me at considerable cost. I'd rather they weren't tubeless ready if this is the price that needs to be paid, as I won't always have my bead jack tool on me when I'm riding outside. Having the ease of mind that you can fit on tires with your bare hands is always reassuring.

External cabling - my last con is but a little niggle; the wires are fully externally routed, not even partially internally routed which can be found in other bikes around this price range (~1,000 SGD). This is both a boon and a bane, the boon being that maintenance is far easier like that, but the bane is the look (and perhaps some aero disadvantage) and the cables getting in the way of larger lights mounted in the out front mount. Overall, this is just a small issue for me.

Overall

Decathlon has knocked it out of the park with this offering. I didn't want to spend too much to get into the sport when I first picked up road cycling, yet spend too little and you will find yourself quickly feeling deficiencies in your bike. Therefore, the smart choice is to go with the most value you can get for your money. In this regard, Decathlon is king, not just for bicycles, but for their sporting goods in general. Most of their items are excellent value and will cover you well into intermediate level of proficiency in a huge range of sports, and bicycles are no exception.

The Triban RC 520 represents one of the best (maybe even the best) value for an midrange road bike. After having ridden it for close to 2,000km, it performs superbly as a road bike, with excellent gear shifting, rolling, braking and otherwise performance in general. The choice of crank and cassette is excellent for beginner riders and the whole package is solid, with little holes to poke at.

The only major gripe I have with it are the use of quick release being paired with disc brakes, which gives a high chance of brake rub whenever the wheels are taken out and remounted, and the somewhat heavy wheelset which makes the bike feel a little sluggish. Wheelsets can be changed though, so that is somewhat ameleoriated.

Overall, this bike punches well above it's weight, competing with offerings that are twice or even thrice it's price. Decathlon has done a great job on the Triban RC 520 and I could not recommend it more to someone looking for a decent midrange road bike to get started on road cycling.

2B License: At Long Last!

2021-06-23T15:14:00.006+08:00

This blog is about to have some radically new content, guess why? It's because I've finally unlocked the ultimate hobby; attaining a motorcycle license. In Singapore, getting a motorcycle license is a relatively arduous process, and considering that I am not very inclined to motor vehicles in general (my Class 3 license took me three tries), getting my Class 2B license was a pretty big deal for me.

Oh yea, it's sweet to see the tick in the "Passed" box

So this post will be about me recounting my experience in getting my 2B license at ComfortDelgro Driving Centre (CDC), my motivations for getting a motorcycle license, and what I intend to do with it.

Motivation for Taking Class 2B

The motivation has been there since I was in my early 20s; I thought that motorcycles were a really cool form of transport and it allowed for such a raw experience of being on the road. It's basically the ultimate vehicle to do exploration in since you could go where cars couldn't. Also, being a gearhead, motorcycles naturally appeal to me. There's a thousand different ways to pimp your motorcycle and get it to look the way you want, not to mention all the protective gear, navigation gear and all sorts of other gizmos that this hobby entails. In my early 20s though, all these were very much just thoughts.

It wouldn't be until 2019 when I was on vacation in Sabah to climb Mt. Kinabalu, where I really wished I could bike around the city on our rest day. Hence I signed up for motorcycle lessons once I was back from that trip.

My experience at CDC

I am quite pleased with the experience of the 2B course at CDC. The instructors are really doing their jobs out of passion; they're exposed to the elements everyday (including Sundays) and motorcycle lessons start from 8.30am all the way to 10.40pm. While I'm sure they have a schedule and are not working through all of those hours, the instructors are really there to help you attain your license.

Understandably, some lessons (especially the early ones where learners haven't quite figured out how to work the clutch and throttle), the instructors can get pretty fierce with learners. Remember though, motorcycling is a high stakes activity, there are certain things that need to be done correctly and if instructors shout at you when you're doing something wrong, that same mistake could be something life threatening outside of the driving school. I'd much rather get a dressing-down in the school and learn from it than to learn to ride haphazardly.

The instructors are happy to clarify doubts that learners may have most of the time, and considering the price learners are paying, I'm more than glad with the level of service. I would sum up the experience of taking the 2B course at CDC as a positive one!

I shall not recount my experience with all the stages of practical lessons in this post, that will be reserved for another post.

The TP

The Traffic Police Test (commonly just abbreviated to TP) is pretty nerve-wracking. Personally, it took me five (yes you read that right, five!) attempts to get my 2B license.

So, you've got to reach CDC at 7am, in order to take attendance, collect your number tags and attend the warm-up. Number tags are given in order of residential status, then seniority (foreigners will go first, thereafter Singaporeans are sorted according to age, the younger you are the more behind you will be). Make sure to bring your booklet, NRIC and PDL (e-copy will do). If for some reason you don't want to do the warm-up, coming at 7.45am or so will be fine, but make sure to collect your number tag upon reaching CDC, whether warm-up or not!

The instructors will allow for up to two rounds of warm-up in the circuit, and by about 8am, all warm-ups will stop and everyone will be seated (either at the training shed or the motorcycle reporting counter). Testers will waltz in to where you are seated at about 8.15am to check everyone's NRIC, where you will have to recite your own name and IC number while they are holding your NRIC.

Afterwards, instructors will push out in groups of 4-5 people to mount onto the motorcycles. You will have some choice in what bike you want to use, so remember the bike numbers which you like! The earlier groups will have less choice since the bikes are arranged in rows of five, so they have to pick from the front row as anything from the rows behind will be blocked from moving off by the bikes in the front row.

For the testees who are assigned a larger number tag, you will have more freedom in choosing your bike for the test since there will be more space between the available choices left and you can choose something in the middle of the pack and still have space to maneuver your way out.

Circuit Evaluation
At this point, the usual test route of the circuit will commence. Here are some things I found that have helped me immensely during the TP:

- Make sure to eat something!
You probably won't have much appetite since you may not have slept at all (but try your best, a good night's sleep will make all the difference in your performance), and probably had to wake up at 6am to reach CDC on time. Combine this with the test anxiety and it's easy to just forgo eating anything. You really need to though, the TP is a very lengthy process with lots of waiting in between and you will need the energy.
- Manage your emotional state
TP is undoubtedly nerve-wracking. Even having been through other stressful situations (job interviews, presentations at work, public speaking experiences), the TP still ranks up there as one of the most nerve-wracking. Do box breathing, and remember that if you're already able to book the TP, then you already have it in you! In truth, the TP is no harder than lesson 8 if not for nerves, so manage your emotional state and you'll be able to perform.
- Show your intentions clearly
Show clearly what are your intentions through actions, whether it's wanting to change lanes or checking your blindspot. Make sure to turn on your signal lights, or turn your head visibly. Intentions should never be implied, as the testers are looking for you to physically perform the action as an indicator of your intent.

After you're done with the circuit evaluation, you'll end it by parking your bikes back in the nursery on the main stand and a long wait will commence. You will be given till about 10.15am to have a break, before being seated back at the training shed or counter. The testers will now announce the numbers that will not be able to progress to the road evaluation. Thank your lucky stars if your number isn't called out, you get to progress to the second part of the TP. From what I've heard, it's about a 90% passing rate for those who go on to take the road evaluation so you're that much closer to getting your 2B license! Save the congratulations for later though because it is still very much possible to fail the road component.

Road Evaluation

Again, as with the circuit evaluation, you will head out for the road component based on your tag number. There are resources online to show you the critical areas where the testers are located. Again, some tips I have for the road evaluation are:

- Ride at a decent speed
You're no longer in the circuit, 30km/h won't cut it, and driving too slowly demonstrates a lack of confidence. Go anywhere from 40-50km/h, that will be a comfortable speed for the road evaluation.
- Independence of mind
Do not blindly follow the rider in front of you and do whatever he's doing. Often, there is a desire to follow whatever the rider is doing ahead so that you can lessen your cognitive load. Do NOT do that, every rider is in his own unique situation and you need to assess for yourself the situation you are in. The rider in front may have enough time to pass a green arrow and turn right, but do you? If you try to rush a traffic light so that you can remain as a 'follower', you may just cross an amber or red light. Don't do that to yourself, especially at this point where you're so close to your license already.

The ride back to CDC is the home stretch and honestly one of the best feelings ever. It's a huge moment of relief so ride back smoothly and park your bike in the nursery. Thereafter, proceed to the 3rd level of CDC and enjoy your one hour long wait as the testers decide who will get their 2B license and who will not. You will have taken off your number tags at this point so remember what it is mentally. If your number is called out during this one hour, unfortunately you didn't make it. After the agonizing wait, the tester will come into the classroom and announce that if you're still seated in the room, then it means you've passed. Congratulations!

Quickly book your Expressway Familiarization Ride (EFR), which is a free lesson that has two slots, 12.45 pm and 2.35pm. You will for the first time ride on expressways and it's a world of a difference to be riding at 90km/h outside, as compared to riding in the circuit or road revisions. Afterwards, all that's left is to create your driver's license (if you don't already have it), or send for it to be updated with a sticker if you already have a license for another class of vehicles.

2020 So Far: An Interest in Prepping

2021-06-02T22:33:00.001+08:00

We're nine months into 2020 already, and I think we can all agree what a year it has been so far. Everyday lives across the globe have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which is still spreading amongst us this very moment. Global supply chains have been disrupted, bilateral relations have turned sour, politicians have tried doing everything to deny the existence when COVID-19 was still not present in their own countries, and several high profile politicians and actors have even caught the virus.

The lockdown eventually came, when countries realized they had to do something before the entire population of their countries caught the virus. Hoarding behaviors sprang up first in Asia, while westerners derided the survival mindset of Asian countries. Before long, the very same behavior was observed in western countries where the most severe wave of the virus was seen. For awhile, the whole world was trying to get used to the life of lockdown; shops and malls were closed across the world, as people ate and worked from home. Things were starting to stabilize. 'No', said the powers that be, we're not ready for peace yet. And thus, after an act of police brutality, protests and riots began USA. Fueled by the pent-up frustration of having to stay home for the last three months, social unrest got to an all-time high and riots spread to the streets across the country, as were looters looking to cash in on the chaos. That wasn't the only thing that was at an all-time high though; stock markets around the world recovered from what must have been the shortest bear market. Whether it was the immense stimulus packages around the world that was artificially propping up asset prices or not is god's guess. As if economic outlook does not matter anymore, stock indices rose to record highs leaving behind their footing in reality, and behave as if they had a mind of their own.

Meanwhile back in reality, the economic engine has had a spanner thrown into the works and the aviation and tourism industry is basically left in limbo while they're burning cash to pay off fixed costs and expenses every day while barely generating any revenues. A good chunk of employees in these sectors have been forced to severely reduce spending in fear of getting their jobs cut anytime, which is a process that is well underway as employers in aviation, tourism and F&B are declaring bankruptcy left and right and choosing to close for good. This in turn leads to less consumer spending as the reduced spending from people in all these affected sectors mean less earnings for someone else. The economic engine is being shaken to its very roots. At this point, it's hard to say what might come next, but if I had to I'd bet heavily on the effects of climate change. The consequences of mankind's actions for the last 100+ years is fast catching up with us.

Eventually though, you get used to whatever is happening. Mass gatherings now seem to be a thing of the past. Sporting events, concerts are now a relic from the past. I'm glad to have attended some of these events and if this is really how things will be until a vaccine is developed and distributed widely to the whole world, then these coming few years are going to be dark days for the entertainment industry, or anything where a live audience used to be the best way to view an event.

Looking back at how 2020 has passed so far, it seems ridiculous that the year has went by like that. Back in early March when the virus was starting to soar, life was relatively normal and I was in fact about to head to Vietnam. Nine days later, flying back to Singapore, I avoided stay-home notice by a single day. And that was it, one week back to work, my company embarked on a work from home arrangement. <To be continued>

Review of Garmin Forerunner 945 - My First Smartwatch (of Sorts)

2021-06-02T22:32:00.005+08:00

We're six months into 2020 already, and I think we can all agree what a year it has been so far. Everyday lives across the globe have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which is still spreading amongst us this very moment. Global supply chains have been disrupted, bilateral relations have turned sour, politicians have tried doing everything to deny the existence when COVID-19 was still not present in their own countries, and several high profile politicians and actors have even caught the virus.

The lockdown eventually came, when countries realized they had to do something before the entire population of their countries caught the virus. Hoarding behaviors sprang up first in Asia, while westerners derided the survival mindset of Asian countries. Before long, the very same behavior was observed in western countries where the most severe wave of the virus was seen. For awhile, everyone was trying to get used to the life of lockdown; shops and malls were closed across the world, as people ate and worked from home. Things were starting to stabilize. 'No', said the powers that be, we're not ready for peace yet. And thus, after an act of police brutality, protests and riots began USA. Fueled by the pent-up frustration of having to stay home for the last three months, social unrest got to an all-time high and riots spread to the streets across the country, as were looters looking to cash in on the chaos. That wasn't the only thing that was at an all-time high though; stock markets around the world recovered from what must have been the shortest bear market. Whether it was the immense stimulus packages around the world that was artificially propping up asset prices or not is god's guess. As if economic outlook does not matter anymore, stock indices rose to record highs leaving behind their footing in reality, and behave as if they had a mind of their own.

What to do in tumultuous times like these? If you were thinking that it's about keeping your head down, working hard to retain your job, learning new skills, you'd be somewhat correct. More obviously though, it's to buy a new watch. Don't forget that this is The Watch Post, after all (please note that I'm not advocating you spend your money frivolously, I am fortunate enough to be in an OK position financially, and I managed to score a good deal on a used piece). With so much being said, let's introduce my most recent acquisition.

(pic on Garmin against yellow background)

I've always held out against the idea of a smartwatch, given that the average digital Casio lasts two years on a button cell battery. Two years? Yea, that's as good as a mechanical for me. I reckoned that this level of maintenance should be what is expected of a watch, and that having to charge a smartwatch like the Apple Watch daily was far too much hassle for a timekeeping device. During this lockdown though, I've been running more than I have ever been. For the past three months, running is one of the few activities that I can legally leave my house for, and I've been taking advantage of it since almost all forms of activities are now pretty much prohibited. I thought it'd be nice to have a fitness tracker which could keep track of my runs during this period. If there's one thing a traditional digital/mechanical watch can't do, it's tracking a run (or actually anything besides telling the time).

So with that, I was now in the market for a smartwatch. Most smartwatches these days can fulfill the role of tracking a run as long as it has GPS, and the range spans from a $150 Amazfit watch to the $500 Apple Watch to the Garmin MARQs which run over $1,000. I decided I wanted a watch more oriented towards fitness tracking, and not a general purpose smartwatch. The nice thing about fitness oriented smartwatches (Suunto, Polar, Garmin) is that they typically have longer battery lives up to two or so weeks as they use transflective displays (sort of like e-reader screens which consume far less battery than LCD/OLED screens) and also are easily readable under the sun. I suppose I could live with charging once a week. Other nice things to have would be maps for navigation so I could use them when I travel (whenever that will be) and wanted to navigate and explore the area. Of course, I eventually realized that only the flagship products of Garmin have offline maps available. That meant that I had to go for the highest end product, which is met with the highest end of prices too. I finally caved when I saw that Amazon had the Fenix 6 Pro for about $800 for Father's Day and went ahead with it.

Ten minutes after placing my order, I cancelled it. It really didn't feel right to be spending 800 bucks on a watch when the global economy was in a free fall. I was prepared to give up this venture of getting a smartwatch at that point, it's not worth feeling that I've done something so wrong just to have a new piece of shiny kit on my wrist; that money could instead have been given to my parents as allowance or I could've spent it on household items which my family could benefit from instead. As luck would have it, I then came across a used Forerunner 945 and the price was much more palatable than the price for the Fenix 6. Maps? Check. Battery life? Check. Price? Check. It was time to go ahead with it.

The Forerunner 945 is a watch with so many functions I don't think I could cover them all if I tried. It's a watch meant for triathletes and avid sportsmen. I'm just an average run-of-the-mill runner who has an interest in watches. With that, I shall try my best to review this watch including the functions that I don't use and how it has benefited me as a whole.

The Forerunner 945 comes in at 47mm in diameter, which may sound very big but given I was pleased to find out that it didn't hang over my wrists which are relatively small. <To be continued>

Review of Garmin Fenix 6

2021-06-02T22:32:00.002+08:00

The year is almost coming to a close, nothing will stop the ticking forward of time, even the year 2020. I think no one is in disagreement on what a year 2020 has been. It has upended normal life as we know it, with the entire tourism and aviation industry being upended with no end in sight for their troubles. Even with a vaccine in sight now, the logistical undertaking to administer the vaccine widely will mean that COVID-19 will linger among us for a long time.

Being in tiny Singapore, we have been fortunate to have handled the situation effectively besides during April and May. What COVID-19 has instead done is to show that Singapore needs the world to be open, our very survival depends on it. Without an influx of tourists, many businesses have become unviable overnight, and hotels, hostels and tour operators are pretty much bleeding money trying to survive until the tourists come back again. I don't see this happening anytime soon, not with all the social unrest that has been unearthed by COVID-19. Travel and regular leisure activities will be in the back of people's minds for at least a few years to come.

Meanwhile, being stuck in such a tiny country has also presented a set of challenges that everyone living here faces. There just isn't very much to do in this country, not least with many activities being restricted in some form due to 'social distancing' or otherwise outright disallowed. So, I took to a particular activity that is both cheap (or not) and good for health; walking. Since April when we started having lockdowns in my country, I've been going on long, long walks to pass time and also preserve my sanity. One should never underestimate the effect of not having anything to do on the days off work. A mind cooped up at home makes for an irritable person.

This is where the Garmin Fenix 6 comes in. After walking for about 2 months and using my phone to track my walks, I wanted something that would allow me to look at my surroundings more and my smartphone less, and down the rabbit hole I went. I settled on a used Garmin Forerunner 945 initially, and it did serve me very well indeed. The topo maps on the Garmin are a delight to use, letting you know with turn-by-turn directions how to get to your destination. I have taken walks anywhere from 10km to nearly 40km and the topo maps are an excellent guide.

But once you're in the rabbit hole, it only goes deeper and deeper. Come November, I was no longer pleased with the Forerunner 945. It performed well, but physically was not what I expected out of a watch. It was really light since it was completely constructed of plastic, and that was really good when going out for a run since I don't feel the weight on my wrist, but it didn't feel like a quality watch. So what's the really expensive solution to add some weight to your wrist? I still very much liked the implementation of maps by Garmin, as well as the battery life a Garmin offers. No other smart watch using an OLED will have a two week battery life, so it was going to be a Garmin again. At the time, the Descent Mk2i was already available but it costs something like SGD2,300, enough to buy an iPad and the Fenix 6, so that was out of the question. I had always liked the Descent line of watches since I think I will one day use the diving features. The price tag though was something I could not bear, especially not for a smart watch that will be obsolete in three years.

Ah, as luck would have it.. 11.11 sales came soon enough and the Garmin official store on Shopee was having the Fenix 6 on sale for SGD 838. After further rebates from my credit card, I could have the Fenix 6 for about close to SGD 800. Still a mighty high price for a smart watch, but also based on the resale value that I saw Fenix 6 was capable of, I felt comfortable making the purchase.

I will not go too much into the details and specifications of the watch itself, but share more on my experience in using the Fenix 6. First, what's the difference from the Forerunner 945 and second, what value does a Garmin smart watch add to my life? Truth is, if you already have a Forerunner 945, the Fenix 6 is almost identical functionally. Everything you can do with the Fenix 6, you also can with the Forerunner 945. You have topo maps, music and NFC payments on both (albeit reduced music storage on the 945), and the Forerunner 945 will do it for a significant lower cost. The real difference is in the construction of the watches themselves. The 945 is unapologetically plastic, this is part of the draw of the 945, so that the weight is kept down and isn't a hindrance in a triathlon. The Fenix 6 is composed of a steel bezel and a steel caseback, which sandwiches the middle part which is made of plastic.

Essentially, the price difference between a Fenix 6 and 945 is entirely down to the physical construction of the watch, and the Forerunner 945 at about SGD 700 and the Fenix 6 at about SGD 900, I do feel that asking an extra SGD 200 is a lot for simply making the bezel and caseback steel instead of plastic. It is what it is, Garmin still makes a killing with their smart watches and this is how their price structure is, but they've certainly been going upwards in price which I do not like one bit.

So what does owning a Garmin do for you? Well, I got into the habit of taking long walks especially during the lockdown period in April where people weren't allowed to gather in groups and shops deemed non-essential were closed for a full two months. In that period, it truly was a challenge finding ways to spend leisure time and I took up a cheap and healthy activity of taking walks of upwards of 10km. I thought it would be good to have topo maps so that I didn't have to take out my phone at every turn (really an expensive solution to a first world problem) and in this regard, the Garmin did very well. The screen on the Fenix 6 is large enough to make it useful in knowing how far ahead to go before a turn is needed. Besides that, I tracked all my walks and it does give a certain sense of satisfaction to see your history especially when I went on longer walks (my furthest walk was about 38km).

I've also been running much more since COVID and I use my Garmin to track all these runs too. It's nice to be able to see your heart rate, pace, and other metrics that the Garmin tracks. Of course, there are much cheaper solutions to seeing such basic run info, your smartphone would be good enough if you just wanted to track pace. Rather, it's the complete package of having a watch that tracks everything, and does topo maps and also has some basic smartwatch functions that makes it such a fancy gadget that I felt like owning one. Well, in this regard, I am totally a gear junkie and I do read up on gear to acquire. I felt the Garmin is pretty much the most 'do-it-all' watch available. The maps would be especially helpful oversees if I didn't want to keep taking my phone out (and of course 2020 happened, smashing any hopes of travel). Most smartwatches will be able to do GPS maps, but I didn't want to be charging my phone all the time. <To be continued>

Review of Casio Pro Trek PRW-3500-1: The Be-All and End-All?

2020-06-14T21:04:00.001+08:00

After the last post some three weeks back, I finally took delivery of the Pro Trek PRW-3500-1 (from hereon referred to as PRW-3500). Shipping took painfully long (almost a month to get from USA to Singapore), but it finally came and I have many things to say about it. Without further ado, let's get started with the review.

(pic of watch against yellow background)

The PRW-3500 has a spec list longer than that of a car. This was partly my motivation in acquiring this piece; I wanted to see what a high-end digital watch is capable of these days. The Pro Trek line of watches are often passed in favor of the G-Shock series, but they are actually solid contenders that often provide more digital complications for a lower price.

(picture of thick manual) caption: a 100 page thick manual covers the functions of the watch

· Case / bezel material: Resin / Stainless steel

· Resin Band

· Mineral Glass

· Bi-directional bezel

· 200-meter water resistance

· LED backlight (Super Illuminator)

· Full auto LED light, selectable illumination duration, afterglow

· Solar powered

· Low-temperature resistant (–10°C/14°F)

· Time calibration signal reception

· Auto receive

o up to six* times a day (remaining auto receives canceled as soon as one is successful)

o *5 times a day for the Chinese calibration signal

· Manual receive

Triple Sensor Version 3

· Digital compass

o Measures and displays direction as one of 16 points

o Measuring range: 0 to 359°

o Measuring unit: 1°

o 60 seconds continuous measurement

o Graphic direction pointer

o Bidirectional calibration

o Magnetic declination correction

o Bearing memory

· Altimeter

o Measuring range: –700 to 10,000 m (–2,300 to 32,800 ft.)

o Measuring unit: 1 m (5 ft.)

o Manual memory measurements (up to 30 records, each including altitude, date, time)

o Auto log data (High/low altitudes, auto cumulative ascent and descent)

o Trek log data (up to 14 records of high/low altitudes, auto cumulative ascent and descent of particular treks)

o Others: Relative altitude readings (–3,000 to 3,000 m), Selectable measurement interval: 5 seconds or 2 minutes

o *1 second for first 3 minutes only

o *Changeover between meters (m) and feet (ft)

· Barometer

o Display range: 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 inHg)

o Display unit: 1 hPa (0.05 inHg)

o Atmospheric pressure tendency graph(past 42 hours of readings)

o Atmospheric pressure differential graphic

o Barometric pressure tendency information alarm (beep and arrow indicates significant changes in pressure)

o *Changeover between hPa and inHg

· Thermometer

o Display range: –10 to 60°C (14 to 140°F)

o Display unit: 0.1°C (0.2°F)

o *Changeover between Celsius (°C) and Fahrenheit (°F)

· World time

o 31 time zones (48 cities + coordinated universal time), daylight saving on/off

· Sunrise, sunset time display

o Sunrise time and sunset time for specific date, daylight pointers

· 1/10-second stopwatch

o Measuring capacity: 999:59'59.9''

o Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times

· Countdown timer

o Measuring unit: 1 second

o Countdown range: 24 hours

o Countdown start time setting range: 1 minute to 24 hours (1-minute increments and 1-hour increments)

· 5 daily alarms (with 1 snooze alarm)

· Hourly time signal

· Battery level indicator

· Power Saving (display goes blank to save power when the watch is left in the dark)

· Full auto-calendar (to year 2099)

· 12/24-hour format

· Button operation tone on/off

· Regular timekeeping: Hour, minute, second, pm, year, month, date, day

· Accuracy: ±15 seconds per month (with no signal calibration)

· Approx battery operating time:

o 7 months on rechargeable battery (operation period with normal use without exposure to light after charge)

o 23 months on rechargeable battery (operation period when stored in total darkness with the power save function on after full charge)

(Picture of G-Shock Rangeman and its small display)

At 46mm in diameter (at the bezel) and 88g (on the stock strap), the PRW-3500 is a beast and has real presence. I personally find it to be aesthetically pleasing. I particularly like the three buttons on the right side, which is balanced by the v3 sensor module on the left side of the watch. At the lugs, an exposed screwbar is used to attach the straps to the watch, further contributing to its blockiness. The chunky aesthetic makes it right at home on the manliest of wrists.

The PRW-3500 features a case constructed from Casio's signature resin, which is extensively used from G-Shocks to F-91Ws. Stylistically, the Pro Treks have their own distinct DNA in the form of big displays. Initially deciding between the G-Shock Rangeman GW-9400 and the PRW-3500, the size of the display was the decisive factors in going for the Pro Trek. The positive display is highly legible and you need merely glance at it to see the time. This display is nothing short of fantastic, I think everyone will truly appreciate what a difference it makes in viewing the time when you have a display this big.

The PRW-3500 will hold its own against any G-Shock with a solid 200m of water resistance too. There are many other Pro Treks that have 100m of resistance, but the PRW-3500 seems to be one of their flagship offerings and thus, it comes with an additional 100m.

Lighting up the large display is a dual LED backlight Super Illuminator, which is activated by a large knurled button on the bottom of the watch. The backlight which is white in color is bright enough to light up the area in pitch-black conditions and makes the display highly legible in low light situations. The Super Illuminator function alone has quite a few settings that you can adjust; 1.5 or 3 seconds of activation and also automatic activation at the flick of a wrist. An interesting thing to note is that the backlight cuts out if you press a button to change modes, however if you turn off button press sounds, it will remain on when you press any buttons. A smart thing to do since you may not know what mode you are in when button press sounds are disabled, hence checking it visually is the only way to know.

Covering the display is a mineral display, but the PRW-3500 does come with a sapphire crystal in the PRW-3510 update, which will cost you a considerable markup. The scratch resistance of sapphire is nice but mineral crystals are fine for a outdoor watch for me. The next thing that catches the eye is the stainless steel bi-directional bezel marked with directional bearings that flanks the display. It isn't ratcheting, which is the kind of bezel you would find on dive watches, but remains pleasantly firm to operate and is a pretty good implementation of a bezel. The bezel is marker with north, south, east, west, and a bearing in degrees increasing in steps of 30. You can use the compass, find your target bearing, and use the bezel to store your bearing.

Flipping it over, there is impressive construction quality going on here. The caseback, which is emblazoned with a Pro Trek mountain logo, looks like the caseback from monocoque watches such as the Seiko Marine Master 300. It's a very nice caseback which wouldn't look out of place on a much more expensive piece.

On the back of the watch, we can also see the 'wrist guards' that come with the default strap. These grey pieces of plastic flare out from the lugs and function as a threshold for how much the straps can move around freely. I'm not completely sure but my guess is that Casio added these so that the straps don't flop around and maintain their angle to preserve the aesthetic when it is worn on the wrist, especially a person with small wrists.

The default straps that come with the PRW-3500 are made of the same resin as the watch case and are surprisingly nice. The upper and lower straps are printed with manly words; 'TRIPLE SENSOR' on the top and 'TOUGH SOLAR' on the bottom piece. Near the top of the wrist, there are vents that help keeps things ventilated and the back of the straps are serrated so that the keeper can lock into place firmly. There is a nice brushed buckle with a skeletonized tang to wrap it off. The strap smells faintly of vanilla too, similar to caoutchouc rubber straps. All in all, I think Casio did a great job on the strap here, I'd be most happy to keep it on the stock strap till I get bored of the aesthetic.

Now we come to the functions, which I won't go into so much detail. If I did, this article would be a lot longer than I want it to be, and also partly I'm not able to verify the accuracy of all the altitude, barometer and compass (ABC) functions given my limited knowledge in this area.

Out of the multitude of functions that this watch has, let me comment so some of the ones that I did use. I compared the accuracy of the compass against a Suunto MB-6 magnetic compass and the PRW-3500 was slightly off in its reading. I'd say it could be used as a backup navigational tool but you wouldn't want to rely on it for serious hikes where a few degrees of deviation can cause you to deviate by hundreds of meters given enough distance.

I tried out the altimeter climbing Mount Kinabalu recently and sadly, I must say that the altimeter performed appallingly. The Timpohon gate, where hikers start their ascent of Kinabalu, is 1,866m high. The PRW-3500 gave me a reading of about 1,450m. If you're doing any activity where knowing your altitude is important, you will need something else to measure your altitude. I didn't mess with zeroing the altimeter however, so you may get very different results from what I did.

I don't know much about barometers so I can't say too much about the performance of the one on the PRW-3500. There is a barometer alert function which will give a visual indication when there are sudden increases/decreases in barometric pressure. A lower barometric reading is indicative of good weather, and a high reading suggests that a storm or rainy weather might be approaching.

The sunrise/sunset feature is great, where you can key in your latitude and longitude and get local sunrise/sunset timings, or you can get timings on the fly for a given latitude/longitude. You can also get timings for a different day on the fly, scrolling through the days with the various buttons. The world time feature is also great, where you can choose a local city to stick with (most major cities included) and also check the local time for a given time zone on the fly.

Per every other Casio watch, it comes standard with the countdown, stopwatch and alarm functions. These functions are enhanced in the PRW-3500, with additions such as five alarms, and easy split lap functions due to the number of buttons available on the Pro Trek. Every function is souped up from the basic F-91W or basic G-Shocks simply because the guys at Casio could do so. I'm not entirely impressed with the volume of the alarm or the countdown timer. The best alarm would of course be a vibrate alarm, but since that is a rare feature in Casio watches, we can only rely on the sound-based alarm, which is actually quite soft. In this regard, I feel like you'd need some other tool to really wake you up at a given time and wish that the PRW-3500 had a more effective alarm in waking a person up.

No worries regarding charging as this watch features Casios's Tough Solar, which is a fancy name for solar charging. All you have to do is wear this bad boy out in the sun and it will juice itself up. The battery can last for 11 months after a full charge, and 23 months if power saving mode is turned on. Power saving mode will turn the display off when the watch has not been exposed to any light source after a certain amount of time. It's a great feature as these batteries can die if they're left on a low charge for a long amount of time, and the power saving mode can reduce the chances of that happening. You will need to make a trip down to a watchmaker if the battery inside ever dies and fails to hold a charge.

Charging the watch up to full power and having it show 'H' on the battery reserve indicator is no easy feat though. Since receiving the watch almost a month ago, I have never got it to the maximum charge and its been showing 'M' since the day I got it. You pretty much have to leave it at a window sill for a good two to three days with strong sunlight in order to get it to show 'H' at the battery reserve indicator, based on what I've read from other owners.

That said, you never have to worry about battery on the PRW-3500, it's a grab and go piece, which is exactly what I want out of a digital watch. Not having to set the time after leaving it unused for months, not having to charge it every night on a dock like a smartwatch needs to be. This is hassle-free and I've really come to appreciate it when I started work, when my mind could be thinking of trying to get to work on time, I don't want something that needs to be adjusted to the right date and time and wound up so that it can last the day.

The Pro Trek PRW-3500 is a serious contender for the best digital watch that I've come across yet. Aside from an alarm function that could've been louder, and questionable accuracy of the altimeter, it has all the functions one could possibly squeeze in a digital watch that doesn't have to be charged every week, has the water resistance of G-Shocks and looks great in my opinion. It doesn't come cheap for a digital watch at about 190 USD, which puts it on par with the Rangeman line of G-Shocks, but given a choice between the two, the Casio Pro Trek PRW-3500 is a clear winner to me.

Stoked - A New Watch Incoming!

2019-07-06T23:34:00.001+08:00

Well well. It's been awhile since I actually posted here, much less actually acquired a watch. But as you all know, things are never predictable around here. The Watch Post has always been a Wild West for all horological pursuits; I may claim to have attained my grail watch, and next thing you know I'm flipping it off. Therein lies the reason behind today's post.

I'm well into the working life now, and it gets real hard to update this blog as I had during my college days. Overall, I have to say that my interest in watches has also declined after the realities of life hit you once you're no longer leading a students life. Today, we're going back to school and you are all in for a treat. Yes, I made a new purchase, and it's my first watch purchase in what I believe is the first in over a year, maybe close to two.

So without further ado, let's unveil the choice of watch:

The Casio PRW-3500, in all its glory

Well, I would love to do a write-up about the features and my motivations behind getting this piece but I think I'll just do all of that when I review this piece. Until then, stay tuned!

Open for Business - Getat?

2019-05-14T22:24:00.004+08:00

Someone's back in business and this business is one that I've patronized multiple times before, since way back when I was a wee university student. Without going into a long back story, let me just say that I was very surprised today when I found out Getat is still operating. A warm feeling spread across me when I saw his website up and going strong, bringing me back to an era where I was so much more carefree.

But don't take it from me, hear it from the man himself in his own words:

Hello,

Getat Watch Website already changed to

www.getatwatch.com

This is the only one website for Getat Watch

Tat do apologize any bad communication caused, late delivery for previous years.

BUT NOWADAYS, ALL CHANGED

There are 3 investers join to Getat Watch, Tat will be continuous for productions. Keep to making a cheap and good watches. Other 3 investers are in charge of Communication and Policies.

Now, we can guarantee

1) Reply email in 24 hours

2) Obey delivery policy, ship order in 5 days

You will not be ignore anymore, All emails and orders are monitored by 4 persons.

Furthermore, we have already found some new manufacturers, new products are coming.

Firstly, 44mm case will be restock, then Luminor style automatic watches, real Superluminova, new straps, 6152, 3646, new pilot watch………etc

Many many items come, if you have any ideas, tell us!!!! Maybe your idea will be our next plan.

Thanks for your time

Getat Watch

Truth is, I rarely wear mechanical watches these days. I usually grab my Casio DW5600E and rush off to work. Work has been all-consuming for me the past 3.5 years and having something that is maintenance-free is what I reach for whenever I leave the house.

However, I must say that the 45mm Radiomir offerings are really making me itch for one. It was what I wanted to buy before his website went bust. At the configuration that I would like it, it'll be a rather hefty USD 202 though, so I'm sitting on the fence about it.

This is The Watch Post though. We here seek to delight and surprise readers, so you never know when you might expect the next post to be a review of a newly acquired Getat. That's it for this short update, thanks for reading.

The Prodigal Son Returns - Marathon GSAR Mk II

2018-11-03T18:24:00.004+08:00

Hi readers, its been awhile really, with my previous entry being dated some twelve months back. Since then, I've changed employment (twice actually), went on a vacation to Vietnam and just generally been trying to make progress in life. Boy, do I miss the amount of free time I had back in my college days; to be able to update this blog on a weekly basis, to think of interesting content to update this blog with. That's just life though, we're all trying to do our best in whatever stage of life we're in and sometimes that means sacrificing some things in life.

Nostalgia aside, I'm writing today to bring you a fresh update. If you've read some of my previous posts, you might remember that not too long ago, I posted a review of the Seiko SBDN025 (OK, come to think of it, it was a heck of a long time ago) where I acquired a Marathon GSAR on a whim and flipped it away just as quickly. At the time, I didn't like the amount which I had paid for it and also, the watch didn't really speak to me.

Today, I reacquainted myself with that old flame of mine, the Marathon Government Search And Rescue (GSAR).

The GSAR holds a special place in my heart, as I wanted one since I was back in college. Of course, the thousand dollar price tag was something I couldn't afford as a college student, so I mostly looked at pictures of it, in hopes that I would someday acquire one. And I finally did, nearing the end of 2016, before promptly selling it off just as quickly as I had got it.

So, why in the world did I reacquire something that I had previously declared I had no chemistry with? For one, this GSAR was acquired at a far better price, which makes it a lot easier to stomach even if I eventually decide that this piece isn't for me. Second, and by far the more important reason; would you just look at that bracelet? The GSAR is meant to be worn on the bracelet. That's how it should come by default.

I had the GSAR on the rubber strap previously, which is a good rubber strap all things considered, but aesthetically it just wasn't doing it for me. The GSAR bracelet is where it's at; you have to pair the GSAR with the bracelet in order to appreciate the aesthetic that this watch has going for it. The industrial aesthetic that the GSAR has can only be realized when it is on the bracelet.

Now that we've covered the history of how I came to own a GSAR, let's get into some specifications:

Crystal: AR Sapphire
Case/bracelet material: Stainless steel 316L
Illumination: MaraGlo (lume pip), tritium (markers, hands)
Bezel: Unidirectional
Water resistance: 300m
Lug width: 20mm
Bezel diameter: 42mm
Case diameter: 40mm
Case height: 14mm
Lug-to-lug: 48mm
Lug width: 20mm
Weight: 116 grams for watch head

Right off that bat, the GSAR gives one the impression that it's here to get down to business. Everything about it seems like the designers were going for function over form, and there are no fanciful details such as a decorated chapter ring or a picture engraved on the caseback. Thus, there is a very industrial look to it which actually looks great.

I previously found the dial to be very busy, which I still do. Upon pairing it with the bracelet though, I sort of feel that the GSAR is able to pull it off as the rest of the watch is rather sparse, such that the details on the dial is able to disperse itself throughout the watch, if that makes sense. The highlight of the watch has got to be the tritium. Marathon does away with the usual luminous material and instead opts for tritium, making the GSAR the first tritium watch that I own (or second, technically).

Tritium tubes adorn the dial, serving as the markers for the hours and also the three hands. It's nice to have the tubes serve as the hour markers since the rest of the dial is flat anyway, and the tubes serve to give the dial some texture. However, the GSAR only features T25 worth of tritium, which makes it rather disappointing if you're a lume junkie (which I am); it's not easy to see the tritium at work unless it's pitch black, and even then you'd have to squint to see the time. The tritium will most definitely not be lighting up the dial. If you're a tritium junkie then you might want to look elsewhere, there are pieces out there which have T100 worth of tritium which should be considerably brighter, especially if they have flat tritium tubes.

Flanking the dial is the bezel, which has a very industrial look (take a shot every time you come across the word industrial in this article) to it. It features these great big notches cut into it so that you can easily get a good grip on it. I imagine this is very useful when wearing this watch underwater. The bezel action is perhaps one of the best I've ever come across; it makes a sharp, well defined click with every increment, is very precise (120 clicks) and has minimal play once it is locked into a click. Truly, the GSAR is the gold standard of bezel action as of now, perhaps till the day I get my hands on a Grand Seiko.

The crown action is along with the bezel, some of the best which I've ever come across. The knurled crown gives it a very rugged feel and threads on the crown tube are some of the most solid I've came across since the Kemmner Turtle. As always, you want to avoid the risk of cross threading no matter how chunky the threads are, so always turn the crown backwards while putting pressure on it to find the point where it engages, and you can greatly preserve the life of the crown tube like that.

Marathon has chosen to use a flat sapphire crystal with AR coating (unsure if both sides or underside only) that should serve nicely against everyday life, including accidental scrapes and bangs against a watch's archnemesis; doorways (my heart dies a little remembering how I scraped my Seiko SBDN025 against a metal doorway, the mineral crystal stood no chance against the metal and I was left with a nice memento). Legibility is very good, since the AR seems to be doing its job really well. Sometimes it seems that the crystal just isn't there at all.

The watch head itself already weighs in at 116g, making the GSAR a hefty piece. With the steel bracelet, it approaches 200g (depending on how you sized it) which is pretty substantial. Put it on the wrist though, and the weight of the watch head and the bracelet cancel each other out, resulting in a very even distribution of weight along your wrist. As a result, the GSAR on the bracelet is one of the most comfortable watches I've even worn.

There are lug holes on the watch head which makes it easier for you to remove the bracelet, if you so wish. While some feel that lug holes detract from the aesthetics of the watch, it personally doesn't bother me as they're really small anyway, and they can be really useful if you don't want to scratch your lugs to oblivion when removing the bracelet.

Now, the bracelet is just a work of art. It is very nicely machined, and the links are seriously chunky. This is the best bracelet I've ever come across since getting into watches. If you happen to come across a GSAR, you'll understand when you put it on for the first time. The links and end links are all completely solid (as opposed to hollow links commonly found on cheaper watches), with a double screw system used to secure the links to each other; very different from the link system I've came across on Chinese manufacturers (Longio, Fullswing Industrial).

Basically, with the single screw system that I've seen on Fullswing Industrial bracelets, there is a possibility that the screw may come lose from everyday use, since the links of the bracelet are moving around as you have the watch on and go about your daily business. They may slowly be loosening themselves. With the double screw system, this possibility is negated as the tightness of the screws are independent from the movement of the links. The result is that the links of the bracelet are very relaxed (i.e. the tension from tightening the screws does not affect the movement of the links, as they sometimes can in a single screw system), and will fit on your wrist comfortably without any awkward tension between the links.

The bracelet is topped off with a double clasp bracelet, which unfortunately doesn't match the quality of the rest of the bracelet as it is stamped instead of milled. In this regard, it is sort of disappointing since the clasp seems tinny compared to the rest of the watch. The clasp does features a simple divers extension (which is a long ways away from Tudor or Seiko diver extensions which are leagues above), and my particular clasp was adorned with a US Great Seal which just makes the watch that much more interesting.

Timekeeping is made possible with the venerable workhorse movement, the ETA 2824-2. Not much to be said here, since I don't think that Marathon did any modifications to the movement, therefore you can expect a similar performance as you do with any other watch that runs a 2824-2. As always, I really like the instant date change on the 2824-2 movement, and my GSAR snaps to the next day at 12 sharp so I've got that going for me. Timekeeping has been very good on my piece; I'm gaining just five seconds a day, which I am very pleased with. As usual, it's a luck of the draw but fret not, movements can be regulated to run faster or slower. The more important thing to me is the precision as opposed to the accuracy.

The GSAR, upon revisiting it, turns out to be an awesome watch with one or two drawbacks.

Something that didn't live up to expectations was the illumination, which certainly does not do tritium justice. Beyond that, it would be nice if the GSAR was cheaper, but I certainly like the quality that I got with the GSAR, which is a definite step up from Chinese manufacturers such as Fullswing, so that should be taken into account of the price. It clearly places a focus on function, which results in a very industrial look that ends up being aesthetically pleasing as well.

In closing, one really get this sense of being a government agent when wearing this watch, which is really awesome since these watches are actually standard issue at several US government agencies. While it is far from what I consider to be a luxury watch, I find that this watch is potentially far more interesting, conversationally or otherwise. It is rarely seen in the wild (Rolexes and Omegas are everywhere, though it's supposed to be part of an exclusive club) and the interesting heritage behind it just makes for such a fascinating conversational topic. Whether you're protecting the President of the USA or just a watch enthusiast, rest assured that the GSAR has you covered.

PS In other matters, its been so long since I last made a post and I thought I might give you guys a short update, so you know that I'm still alive and what to expect from the future of The Watch Post. I started this blog in my early twenties and unbelievably, I'm already in my late twenties now, with the thirties not too far away.

My interests have shifted considerably, be they in watch preferences or making content updates. For one, my sartorial choices are now mostly relating to things which I may bring to an office (i.e. my bag, watch and shoe choices are now made in terms of whether they're OK to use in an corporate environment). My latest fixation; duffel bags, and I do actually have one in the mail right now (hint: it's the Thule Subterra Duffel) which I intend to review when it arrives. Second, my hours spent at work means I have much less leisure time, which used to be in abundance while I was in college. Naturally, the frequency of updates has plummeted.

I just want all readers (which I am thankful for) to know that there will definitely be updates to The Watch Post, I aim to get a post out every few months reviewing a new piece of gear or share with you some of my thoughts and observations of the world. Until then, thanks for reading.

Review of Mystery Ranch Urban Assault Backpack

2017-10-23T20:10:00.001+08:00

It has been a heck of a long time, readers. So much has happened in-between this post and the last. I underwent another ICT, I've been working my ass off (as usual) and best of all I went to Japan for one hell of a vacation. Indeed, much has happened since I last posted, its been five months after all. Not much has happened in the way of watches unfortunately, I'm still with my collection of three at the moment (G-Shock, Seiko SBDN025 and Mini Fiddy homage) but headway was instead made in another area, namely, backpacks.

It was in Japan where I got frustrated with my current backpack (Direct Action Dust) as it did not allow for easy access to the main compartment. After having experienced the clamshell design on the 5.11 Rush 12, there was no going back to a traditionally designed backpack for me. A clamshell makes your life infinitely easier. It was a pain in the ass having to load items from the top into the Direct Action, especially bulky items where you had to fight with the size of the opening. It was then I knew that the Direct Action Dust's days were numbered; I had to find a replacement that allowed for easy access to the main compartment like the 5.11 did.

Enter the Mystery Ranch Urban Assault.

The Urban Assault, customised with paracord running through the bottom pull tab

500D CORDURA fabric and YKK zippers
3-ZIP design for quick access
Two internal zippered accessory pockets
Fixed harnessing
Volume: 1282 cu-in (21 L)
Weight: 0.9 kg
Dimensions: 58 x 34 x 25cm

While I've only reviewed two other backpacks on this blog, having a good backpack has been increasingly important to me over the past year and a half. I like to think that this is due in part due to my increasing wanderlust, but it's probably mostly because I'm a gear junkie. The 5.11 Rush 12 was a great backpack, but the thing that really got to me was the lack of ventilation on it. I perspired like a pig carrying that thing due to the lack of mesh backing, so it was away with the 5.11 Rush 12. In came the Helikon-Tex Raccoon, which was a decent backpack especially for the price, but that got stolen while I was vacationing in Italy.

Without much thought, I chose the Direct Action Dust as a successor to the Raccoon, thinking that I could get used to traditional opening backpacks again. As mentioned above, this was not to be so; the opening on the Dust made life pretty difficult for me while in Japan, which is sad because it is an otherwise excellent backpack.

So, I've learned my lesson. As much as possible, I require all my future bags to have some form of easy access to the main compartment. It just so happens that Mystery Ranch has a very novel approach to this problem; their signature 3-ZIP design, aka Tri-Zip or Y-Zip, so named because of the shape the zippers form. With the Y-Zip design, I pretty much have access to the entire storage compartment, though not as easily as compared to a clamshell backpack. This is good enough for me though.

The Y-Zip does provides some benefits over a clamshell, however. You can simply unzip just the top two zippers and the bag now behaves like a top loading backpack. Sometimes, you may only need to access the top of the backpack, perhaps to throw something in or take out something that is sitting on top. You can also unzip the vertical zip that runs along the length of the backpack without undoing the other two, and this zipper alone allows you access to something like 60% of the backpack. These are things which aren't possible with a clamshell; there is only one way to open it and sometimes you risk spilling out the contents if hastily done. All in all, the Y-Zip is a unique approach in allowing easy access to the main compartment and most importantly, it is an effective one.

These are all things that come at a price of course. Mystery Ranch packs do not come cheap at all. Where I'm from, the Urban Assault will set you back some SGD 280 (USD 206 at time of writing). Thankfully, I got mine for considerably less as I got it used. Even still, this is merely an introductory price when compared to the rest of their catalogue. Of course, it wouldn't be fair to pass judgement solely by virtue of their pricing strategy which is why we'll conduct an in depth analysis on what really counts; the product.

The Urban Assault is a long and thin pack that can easily pass off as a streetwear brand such as Supreme or Gregory. The Y-Zip design gives the pack a distinctive look, and if you get the pack in the Multicam colorway, you'd fit right in with the hypebeast crowd. I think it's a stylish pack overall and you wouldn't be out of place carrying this to school or work, nor would it look flimsy if you took it out to the woods for a weekend.

The pack is constructed from 500D Cordura, which is plenty strong, though some purists may prefer 1000D Cordura. Do note however that the pack already weighs over 1.2kg as it is, so I'm glad they kept it to 500D. The zippers are all YKK with giant zipper pulls and a length of paracord woven with it, making everything very easy to pull, though the zippers do make quite some noise as they tend to clang together while you're walking. The length of the zippers are rubberised which makes it harder for water ingress to happen, though I really wouldn't count on the contents staying perfectly dry if you were walking through a storm.

The capacity as stated on the manufacturer's website is stated as 21 L, though some retailers list it as 24 L. In either case, I have been able to store far more in the Urban Assault than I have the Direct Action Dust (rated 20 L capacity). I struggled to get an A5 sized book, a denim jacket, a hard carry case for my GoPro (about A5 size as well) into the Direct Action Dust's main compartment. The Urban Assault can take all those and there's still about 50% of space left. The 20L of space on the Dust was of course, representative of the space in the admin pouch and other compartments as well, meaning the main compartment was perhaps 17 L or less (numbers by gut feel, no measurements done). On the other hand, the bulk of the capacity in the Urban Assault lies within the main compartment. Aided by the Y-Zip design, I've just been able to store so much more in the Urban Assault as compared to traditional open packs of around the same capacity.

If you're big into hydration bladders, I hate to break it to you but the Urban Assault is not bladder friendly. There's no opening for your pipe to pass through, unless you're willing to mutilate the pack yourself. While I don't frequently use a hydration bladder, it would be nice to have support for one as this pack has absolutely no provisions in terms of hydration (i.e. there are no external pouches that allows for quick access to water bottles, besides keeping it in the main compartment).

Glorious, glorious mesh

The flimsy pull handle covered in paracord, much better

Turning the pack around, we can see that the entire back is covered in mesh, allowing for some ventilation at least. I definitely found myself sweating carrying this, but then again where I live, I haven't found a pack which I didn't sweat while carrying. The underside of the straps are generously padded with said mesh too. These straps are beefy as hell, they are perhaps a half inch thick and they're comfortable as hell too.

Which brings us to the carrying experience that is the Urban Assault. I was pleasantly impressed at how comfortable it was while on my back. It followed the contours of my body very closely, making for a very good fit. Mystery Ranch, who has been crafting backpacks for mountaineers and military personnel, are especially known for their elaborate suspension setups, although you won't find any of it on the Urban Assault. Instead, the Urban Assault has a fixed harness system which is essentially a fancy name for what you will find on any normal backpack.

Frankly though, the straps on the Urban Assault will more than serve their purpose and I didn't find myself wishing that it came with a more elaborate setup. A suspension system would likely be overkill on a pack like this, not to mention the price increase that would come with it. Overall, the comfort of this pack is a considerable step up from any previous packs I've owned.

There was something that didn't quite match up with the rest of the pack though. Namely, the carry handle. Being rather long, but yet constructed out of a single piece of 500D Cordura, this thing is soft and floppy as hell. It is unable to hold any shape on its own and seemed as if it was added onto the pack like an afterthought. I pretty much took an instant dislike to it after first handling it and proceeded to wrap the hell out of it in paracord. Now, there is finally some rigidity to the carry handle and I can grab it much more easily in most situations. Thankfully, this is a flaw with the pack that can be rather easily fixed with some paracord, a lighter, and some free time.

The next issue isn't nearly as easy to fix, if it is even possible. It's that the Urban Assault lacks any sort of compression straps, at all. Not even the kinds such as those on the 5.11 Rush 12, which themselves can hardly be considered compression straps. This of course, presents a problem, especially when you've got many big, bulky items or soft ''airy'' items in your pack.

Now, while it may be possible to customise some form of compression straps, I don't see any graceful solution whereby you can maintain easy access while compressing it effectively. You could possibly use luggage straps but there would be a big hit to ease of access. For some people, the lack of compression straps may be a big turn off while for others, such as myself, I've been able to live with having no compression straps. In short, caveat emptor; depending on what you intend to carry and if compression straps rank high in importance to you, the Urban Assault is not your pack.

Another point with the Urban Assault is that it is pretty spartan in terms of organization. You will not find anything akin to the admin pouch that most tactical packs have. The storage compartments do not have slots for pencils, pens and neither will you find velcro pockets for putting gear such as a radio. Again, if you have a requirement that all your gear must have assigned locations within your pack, the Urban Assault will not be suitable for you.

There is an easy access pouch on the lid which when opened, will reveal a dangling hook that allows you to hang items for easy access (I have a lighter attached). That is about as much organization as you will get on the Urban Assault. Most everywhere else in the Urban Assault (save for two pouches on the sides and two laptop sleeves), the storage is just one big compartment where your gear will mix together in a free-for-all.

In closing, the Urban Assault can potentially be a great pack. It looks good, wears great and is just so convenient to access. Whether you'll love this pack hinges on a couple of things; do you absolutely require a pack which allows for specific organization? Will the lack of compression straps and easy access to hydration be a deal-breaker for you? Perhaps most importantly, are you willing to accept these shortcomings while paying a considerable sum of money for it? If you've gone through these considerations and are willing to accept the flaws, I think you will find that the Urban Assault to be one sweet pack.

A Visit to Sungei Road Thieves' Market - My Thoughts and Rants

2017-05-21T22:56:00.007+08:00

Welcome to The Watch Post, readers, and today we'll be taking a little detour from our usual review.

Firstly, if you don't already know, I am based in Singapore. At just over 700 square kilometers, Singapore is a tiny place, and is in fact one of the smallest countries in the world. The government enforces the rule of law with an iron hand in this country, not just in jurisdictions such as criminal offences but to areas such as recreation and leisure as well.

Case in point, shisha (or hookah), one of the main draws for visiting Arab street (our hipster area) was banned in July last year. In the name of fairness, I should disclose that the government gave one and a half years notice in before the ban was actually enacted. Then, there was also the restriction of alcohol consumption in April 2015. While it is true that these bans were to address legitimate concerns (tobacco being bad for health in general and the alcohol ban due to the 2013 Little Indian riots), I feel that the way these laws have been passed are a very high-handed way to handle things.

I fondly remember the days what clubbing was like before the alcohol ban kicked in; it was a rite of passage for young Singaporeans to sit along quiet roads for pre-drinks, getting wasted on alcohol that had been obtained from outside the club (much cheaper). The trash talking that ensued when everyone was starting to get tipsy was where things got really fun. This is rarely an option these days, as public consumption of alcohol after 10.30PM is against the law. Way to go, nightlife in Singapore.

Sadly, I must say that the trend of high-handedness continues. Come 10th July this year, Singapore's only perpetual flea market that has been operating for over eight decades will be forced to cease operations. Also known as the Sungei Road Thieves' Market (so called because thieves would allegedly sell their stolen/illegal goods here in the 1930's), the loss of a flea market is significant because this is the only such flea market in Singapore. Anyone can setup shop here and peddle their goods (as long as it is not new, part of rules to sell here), without paying rent whatsoever. This is the entire premise of the flea market.

Strangely, I have never been to the Thieves' Market all my life. So, knowing that its days are numbered, I paid a visit to Sungei Road today. Unfortunately, and I apologize in advance, I didn't take any pictures of the goods being peddled. Know this though, if this is being posted on The Watch Post, that's because it involves watches.

You can just about find anything here, though I would seriously doubt the functionality of the electronics sold here. There was clothing which looked very well-used, old pottery and stamp collections, vinyl records and pirated DVD collections, heaps of electronics (old Nokia phones, Sony Ericsson Walkman phones which reminded me of my secondary school days), and lots of watches as well. Some of the items here are so well-used that well, to be honest, I'd call them junk. As in they were literally what you'd throw into the trash, but are instead being peddled here. And I loved it everything about it; the kind of goods being sold, the makeshift shelters and sales stands, shady sales practices were all part of the experience that brings one back to a different time. I imagine before Singapore became so built-up and before everything became so regulated that many more marketplaces were actually like that.

Why is it going away? Two words; residential development. The cynical side of me is thinking 'Why the hell do we need another residential development?' Granted, the flea market is right smack in the middle of some very prime land. Do we really need another residential development to be exactly here though? Especially when the cost of developing this residence means that we have to give up on something so culturally significant.

The flea market is at the heart of Singaporean culture; it cannot get any more Singaporean than this. During my visit today, I saw uncles engaging in the fine art of salesmanship, Singapore-style. That means with lots of Hokkien expletives thrown into the mix, and half-naked uncles in their 60's and 70's puffing on cigarettes as they persuaded you to buy their wares. Certain hawkers were blasting the radio through loudspeakers and providing a service to their neighbours (or disservice?). Haggling was happening to my left and right. Where do you get to see all that in a modern shopping mall?

Of course, I realize that I enjoyed this experience only because it is novel. I'd rather quickly get irritated by the lack of regulation if I had to go about my daily chores at such a marketplace. But that's exactly my point; this is the only place left in Singapore where one can get such an experience. With that, I think the closure of Sungei road flea market will be something that just makes Singapore that little bit duller, something which the government has been getting very adept at over the past few decades.

My experience at Sungei road was absolutely delightful and I highly recommend anyone who can to pay a visit to Sungei Road Thieves' Market before it is all over. I think you will find that the Thieves' Market will give you an experience that can hardly be replicated in your generic Orchard road shopping mall. It's dirty, it's hot, it's full of goods without pretty presentations and most of all, it is a novel, refreshing experience. This country continues to surprise me with its quirks and oddities, even as I think I'm about as true-blue as a Singaporean can get. I just pray that the Singapore government will stop destroying our own culture as they go about preaching on the importance of the Singaporean identity.

Review of Panerai "Mini Fiddy" Homage - Return of the Getat?

2017-05-10T12:33:00.004+08:00

So, it has been almost three years since my attempt to order a Getat Mini Fiddy, after I was impressed by the quality of his Luminor homages. The review of that piece never materialized as the watch was not functional when I took receipt of it. The events that unfolded after left me wanting to put the entire experience behind me and never think of dealing with Getat again. Today's post hasn't bucked that trend; I haven't had any dealings with Getat since then.

Not like it matters much honestly, from what I can see, Getat is either in the process of exiting the watchmaking business or he already has. His website hasn't been updated since he introduced his new 1:1 cases for the Luminor, Fiddy and Radiomir lines which was years ago. He has only had one case option (PVD black) for the Fiddy range of watches for years now and hasn't restocked since. The last email which I sent to him in November last year bounced back. Perhaps Getat has finally decided to throw in the towel after years of receiving PayPal disputes, or has just grown tired of watchmaking in general. For better or worse, I think it's just sad that the consumer has one less choice in the market.

Regardless, I managed to come across a Mini Fiddy homage recently on the used market, which the seller informed me was in fact a Getat. This was of course, perfect for me. In spite of the bad experience with Getat three years ago, I actually continued wanting a Mini Fiddy homage made by him. To me, the level of customization plus the price for which he offers them made his homages more desirable than the ones from other sellers such as Jackson Tse or Davidsen. Knowing that I had to fill the void in my heart, I met up with the seller and we transacted. And there it was, a Mini Fiddy was mine. Without further ado, I present to you: Getat's Panerai Mini Fiddy homage.

And the specifications of this build are as follows:

- Case style: 44mm "Mini Fiddy"

- Dial: Matte black dial with Marina Militare wording

- Buckle style: Pre-V

- Case option: Brushed steel with polished bezel, see-through caseback

- Dial lume: Super-LumiNova C3

- Hands lume: Super-LumiNova C3

- Crystal: Sapphire with AR coating, mineral crystal for caseback

- Hands color: Gold

- Movement: Normal stainless steel

- Stitch color: Black

- Strap option: Vintage wooden brown

A quick note before we commence with the review, I cannot guarantee with complete confidence that this is a Getat. Parnis and Marina Militare homages sellers are a dime a dozen these days, and I've seen some from Parnis which look exactly like my piece. The only telltale sign I have that gives me some confidence is the strap. My previous Getat has a strap with the exact same style of stitching as the one here. This is the only form of confirmation I can provide unfortunately. For the purposes of this review, I will be assuming that this is from Getat so please be aware that this may just have been a Parnis/some random PAM homage in actual fact, and that your expectations may be skewed if you are intending to buy a Getat based on this review.

To start off, let us appreciate some of the rich history behind the Fiddy, otherwise known as the 6152-1. Initially created as the answer to the Italian Royal Navy's calling who commissioned Panerai to produce a dive watch for them back in the 1950's, the Fiddy has come a long way since then. Coming in at 47mm, the Fiddy is a large watch even by today's standards, and must have been an absolute beast back in the day. Today, owning an original Fiddy from the 50's is an affair that will set you back hundreds of thousands. Panerai, in acknowledging the popularity of the Fiddy design, have themselves released many homages of the original Fiddy. The first homage of the Fiddy was the PAM127, released in 2002. Since then, there has been the 212, 213, 210, 233, 270, 311, 317, 275 as well.

But wait, didn't the title mention "Mini"? Indeed, the Mini Fiddy comes in at a "measly" 44mm in diameter, a size which Panerai has never officially produced. The 44mm was probably the brainchild of some Chinese rep maker who, somewhere along the line, felt that there was a sizable market for Fiddy lovers who wanted it to be smaller. Thus, the 44mm "Mini Fiddy" was born. The Mini Fiddy is the modern-day Fiddy equivalent of a Luminor. Make no mistake though, the Mini Fiddy is hefty. It has a real presence and weight to it, and one can definitely feel it on the wrist.

Two things set the Fiddy design apart from the Luminor which we've all come to know and love. The first of which is the design of the case itself. As you can see from the above comparison, the Fiddy case features lots of curvature which stylistically is a very big departure from the Luminor, which is generally a watch that features much straighter design throughout. The curves on the Fiddy are quite enchanting to say the least, I usually spend a good minute or two appreciating the shape unconsciously whenever I am handling the Mini Fiddy. The case itself is made to a quality that I am very satisfied with. There are no machining marks obvious enough to notice and the finishing is most satisfactory. The case comes in a fine brushed finishing that has been very well done while the bezel is polished. Top marks for the quality of the case.

PAM127 on the right, notice the extremely pronounced bubble crystal

The other distinctive feature of the Fiddy was the extremely pronounced bubble-like crystal. Supposedly, this made reading the watch easier when one was underwater. Not so much on Getat's Mini Fiddy though, as it only features a domed sapphire crystal which is a far cry from the original. Sapphire, as we know, is not the easiest material to work with. To put a bubble sapphire on the Getat probably meant that prices would be jacked up considerably or either that Chinese rep makers just had a hard time replicating the shape of the original. While it's unfortunate that a core aspect of the Fiddy DNA is not replicated here, a domed sapphire with AR coating is still very nice on its own.

Not so much on the Mini Fiddy homage

The dial on this piece has seen upgrades since my last Getat. You can clearly see that the words Marina Militare punched into the dial, as the indentations are highly visible. I believe this is how authentic PAM dials are like too, so apparently these Chinese rep makers have been stepping their game up. As with the Luminor homage, this piece features the famous sandwich dial as well. The sandwich dials is a nice variation from the usual run-of-the-mill printed dials. To further accentuate the aesthetics of the watch face, we throw a set of gold-colored hands into the fray. As you may have guessed, these hands are reflective as hell and they have a way of dancing with the light that hits them. There appears to be some dirt or fingerprints of sorts on the tips of the minute hands, though I have to say I'm not OCD about these kinds of things and it hasn't subtracted from my enjoyment of this watch.

Next, we'll go over a favourite topic of mine in analog watches; lume. We'll be going over two aspects regarding this; performance and application. To kick things off, let's just say that the lume on this piece is phenomenal. I'm talking about performance that is nearly on par with Seiko, which is absolutely astounding for a rep. Seiko, as we all know, are kings in the game of lume performance and their lume is about as good as you can get with luminous paints. Chinese rep makers don't have the facilities that are availed to Seiko, and how the rep makers are able to put out this level of lume performance really surprises me.

Compared with my Seiko SBDN025, these two are really neck and neck. The Mini Fiddy is capable of the "daytime bloom" effect, which is the event that happens when you walk from a sunny outdoor area into a well-lit indoor area but the lume on the watch is still screaming with brightness. Still, I'd give the Seiko as having a most discerning edge over the Mini Fiddy. Application is nice, clean and even, with no visible specks and blemishes as was the case with my previous Getat. This level of consistency almost makes me think that the lume was machine applied (or perhaps it really was?). Regardless, I was absolutely blown away by the lume on this Mini Fiddy and it has far exceeded my wildest expectations. This is not just C3 lume in name, but also in performance.

The front of the Mini Fiddy is a marvel to behold. Everything about it hits the right spots. A nicely domed AR coated sapphire, a dial that is several steps up from my previous Getat, gold hands that dance with the lights and spectacular lume performance. I have a feeling that if you're able to get hold of a Getat which has been well-made, you'll be marveled at the quality as well.

Flipping it over to the back, we once again see the same movement that was in my previous Getat, a Chinese-made 6497 which I believe is running at 2.5Hz (18,000bph). Again, you can see the Panerai-esque bridges, which the makers have done a commendable job on. In terms of timekeeping, I shall update when I get the chance to measure it over a period of time (it's not the easiest to test when PAMs have markers in 5 minutes divisions). The thing about Chinese-made clones of ETA movements is not that they are poor performers or are mechanically inferior, but rather due to their suspect QC and assembly conditions. They are often poorly lubricated out of the factory and have random particles trapped in them (think human hair, skin) due to the less strict controls while assembling. Overall, while I'd say that these Chinese-made 6497 clones are good enough for what they do, I'd much rather have a plain-looking authentic ETA 6497 beating away inside, knowing it has gone through ETA QC.

Looking at the crown guard, I have good things to say here as well. Steps have definitely been taken to improve the quality in this aspect. When flipped out, the lever no longer flops around like my previous Getat did. The lever now features a roller at the part which comes into contact with the crown, meaning it no longer scrapes the crown as you push it back into the lock position. The tension to open/close the lever has also been much improved; it needs more force to be opened/closed now and really seems to be pushing the crown into the case which is an important aspect of water resistance. With that said, I still don't ever recommend submerging any sort of PAM homage into any form of liquid, regardless of the water resistance claims made by the seller. Perhaps the cases were really manufactured with water resistance in mind, but it is the assembly that I wouldn't place my trust in. Water resistant assembly techniques (lubricating O-rings etc.) is as important towards achieving true water resistance as is the design of the case.

By now, I apologize for having drawn so many comparisons with my previous Getat, but I have to do another with regards to the strap. I believe this is the Hazel Grey strap with the Pre-V buckle. Qualitywise, this is the same as the one as my previous Getat, which is to say it's decent for the price you're paying. It's no Ted Su or Jules Verne for sure, but it is good enough for you to wear while you hunt for a better strap. PAMs are so versatile when it comes to straps and the ease of changing straps with those screw bars makes it such that even if this strap was terrible, it wouldn't be much of an issue. For what it's worth, the strap here won't amaze you, but it is a decent enough strap.

This has been one of my longest reviews and I've covered the areas which I thought were more interesting. I'd like to wrap up this review with my conclusions on the venerable Mini Fiddy. The build quality of the watch head itself has improved considerably over my last Getat, which in itself was already quite good. There have been significant improvements made to the case build quality (especially the crown guard), the dial, and the lume. The movement itself remains the same, which is a solid workhorse though QC remains a problem with these Chinese-made movements. The strap is also decent enough, and is a part of the watch that can easily be replaced if you're unsatisfied with it. Overall, I am very happy with this acquisition. When you look at it as a whole, it really surprises you what you can get for SGD 250 on the rep market these days. Justifying a luxury watch is a hard thing for me to do, which is why I'm so glad that these Chinese makers exist and it is for the same reason I'm sad that Getat seems to no longer be actively in the scene.

I'd just like to end off this post with a reflection on the state of the collection. I have three pieces now (Seiko SBDN025, Mini Fiddy homage and the Casio G-Shock DW5600E-1V) which I feel puts me in a very good position right now, horologically speaking (if there is even such a word). The Mini Fiddy serves as the watch I wear for work as well as for formal events. The G-Shock serves as the watch I wear when going to the gym, a run or going to reserve army call-ups. The SBDN025 fills the gap in-between; it feels just at home in a formal environment as it does at the gym.

On a side note, I'm happy that I didn't give up on my interest in watches totally, which I almost did during the later parts of my university days. I'm also glad that I maintained the blog (even though reviews have been getting fewer and further) but the fact is that I just do not acquire watches at the rate I used to when I was a student. Incredible as it may sound, reading my old posts not only allows me to review my writing skills back then but also allows me to review my growth as a person. I am able to look back at the me who was writing the post at that point of time and see what has changed in me since then. I'd like to take this time to thank any readers who has faithfully come back to read The Watch Post time and again, it has been a real pleasant journey with you all.

Review of Seiko SBDN025 or: How the Marathon GSAR Didn't Pan Out

2016-12-24T23:43:00.000+08:00

Welcome back, readers of The Watch Post. Before anything, I'd like to thank Dr. Strangelove and the team behind for the inspiration of today's title. I haven't watched Dr. Strangelove before but it was famous enough that I knew of its existence. But today's post isn't at all about movies, in fact we here at The Watch Post know exactly why we come here; to read quality reviews on timepieces (mostly).

Right off the bat, if you're here today wondering about where is the promised review of the Marathon GSAR, I'm afraid I have to let you down. My apologies, as that review will not be happening anytime soon. As has happened in the past, this kind of situations mostly occurs when you get a catch and release (in WIS speak, a catch and release represents a situation where you acquire a watch and almost immediately intend to let go). Now just what was wrong with the Marathon GSAR? I'm about to get to that.

The Marathon GSAR was nice. It was solidly built - the bezel action was one of the best I have ever came across. Build quality wasn't a problem, but somehow the watch just didn't click with me. Perhaps it was the dial; which was rather too busy for me. Especially, I thought that the divisions between the seconds markers were far too excessive. Or perhaps it was the illumination. Oh boy, was I unused to the tritium tubes, which I initially held high (and probably unrealistic) hopes in. My GSAR was dated July 2013, which meant it probably lost some brightness over the course of two and a half years. Still, I wasn't really feeling this piece. Naturally, I considered flipping it after having it in my hand for no more than five minutes. Such is the life of a (self-proclaimed) WIS.

My decision to flip the GSAR was also further exacerbated by the fact that the Marathon GSAR costs more than I was comfortable with in terms of money sunk into a watch. Now, I realize this is somewhat of an unfair judgement placed on a watch whose makers probably stand proudly behind it. With that said, I'm glad to be free of having sunk over a grand on a watch, a luxury that I'm afraid I am not in a position to undertake at the moment.

That brings us to the story of the Seiko SBDN025. I've been coveting this piece ever since I saw Seiko make the announcement on the SBDN series, a little brother to the SBBN family. Having just unburdened myself from the monies sank into the Marathon GSAR, and having the SeiyaJapan website open on my computer, the inevitable was bound to happen. Thus, a few clicks later, a Seiko SBDN025 was on its way to me. Per The Watch Post tradition, let's welcome the SBDN025 to the family in signature yellow.

By the way, I have nothing but good things to say about SeiyaJapan. If you're ever looking to buy a JDM watch or Seiko watches in general, you will not go wrong with SeiyaJapan. Their response was lightning quick and the watch reached me in just five days from clicking 'Buy'. They opted for EMS and I took delivery of the watch on a Saturday (perhaps I'm new to priority mail but I've never had any of my packages delivered to me on a weekend) so that was a real pleasant surprise. Thumbs up Seiya-san.

Clockwise from top left: SBDN023, SBDN021, SBDN026, SBDN029, SBDN028, SBDN025

The SBDN series comes in a number of colorways, six to be precise. So, naturally I went for the Pepsi colorway, reminded of the SKX009 which I possessed during my happy and carefree university days. I originally chose the SKX009 over the 007 originally because I thought that the splash of color made the watch look nicer and more interesting and this still holds true with the SBDN025. Of course, there are more colorways to choose from with the SBDN and it was a really close fight between the SBDN028 and SBDN025. As you can see from the pictures, the SBDN025 did it for me ultimately, winning the battle to one of the most highly contested fights in horological history.

I think it would be fair to say that most seasoned WIS out there will know that decisions about whether you'll have this watch in your collection (at least for a couple months) or flipped within the week can be made in about five minutes of handling the watch. So, my first minute with the SBDN025, I'm happy to report, has been most positive.

First things first, I cannot enjoy a quartz analog if the second hand isn't hitting the seconds markers accurately, I would be trying to flip this piece right now if this criteria wasn't met. Luckily, there is no need to do any of that. I have been most satisfied with the way the second hands and the seconds markers are aligned on my piece. Unfortunately, this is largely a luck of the draw issue so I always advocate buying a quartz analog watch at a brick and mortar store when possible.

On to the actual watch then. The Tuna (so named because it resembles a tuna can) is a design which Seiko pioneered and unveiled to the world in 1975, so as you might expect there is quite a bit of history behind the Tunas 41 year history. Famous people have worn it, one of them being the Governator himself in the movie Predator. I'd say that the key design elements found in the Tuna are the lugless design and the protective shroud. The SBDN series, designed in conjunction with LOWERCASE, does not stay completely faithful to the Tuna design as it does have lugs, but they are diminutive as compared to some watches. The signature shroud, although plastic, is there.

There are many things to cover regarding the case of the SBDN025. Let's start from the outside and work our way in. Albeit being made from plastic, I have been really satisfied with the shroud. It is solid and firm and does not give in any way. While Tunas have traditionally came with metal or even ceramic shrouds (their Spring Drive Tunas), the plastic shroud on the SBDN025 is not at all bad. Besides serving as a protective casing for the watch, the shroud also gives the Tuna series their signature look. It is secured to the case by means of three bolts which are prominently visible from the side, which nicely spices things up when you look at the SBDN from the side.

Make no mistake, the SBDN is a large watch (weighing in with a diameter of 45.9mm), but with a lug to lug of only 45.5mm, this makes it supremely wearable. The SBDN series largely follows the key design elements that the Tuna has, with some differences in the lugs. The design has grown on me since I got it and continues to do so by the moment, I'm pretty much a devout Tuna convert at this point.

Coming in at just 12.1mm in thick, the SBDN is certainly one of the slimmer watches that I've owned. You really start to appreciate the benefits of a thin watch when you handle one in person; it rarely gets in the way of things, be they shirt sleeves or doorways. Overall, I think it's very impressive how Seiko has managed to achieve having a chapter ring that has good depth yet manage to keep the whole package at just little over a centimeter thick.

When it comes to lume performance, Seiko is at the top of the game. Using their proprietary LumiBrite, Seiko's dive watches are among the best in lume performance and can easily stand toe to toe with anything else that you may pair it up against. However, the right luminous paint alone will not get you the best results, much of it also lies in the application. Rest assured then that Seiko has this down to a science. Underlying the LumiBrite markers are white surfaces, which I've read that is a prerequisite for luminous material to perform at their best. The SBDN is one of the few watches that has such strong lume performance that you can see the bloom when you walk into a shaded area after the watch face has been exposed to the sun. The only other watch I've ever had that was capable of this was the SKX009. This goes out to all the lume junkies out there, the SBDN will not disappoint.

I don't have any quartz to benchmark the SBDN against, so let me just share how the timekeeping performance has been like. Since taking delivery of this watch five days ago and setting the time, it has gained just one second as of writing this post. So yes, it's been very good, far beyond anything mechanical obviously. I'm pretty confident that this watch will actually perform better than the deviation of fifteen seconds per month that Seiko officially declares on the V147 solar movements.

The SBDN025 also comes with an update to the venerable Z22 rubber straps, with what I believe to be a silicon strap. I am unsure if this strap is going to replace all of the Z22s going forward, but I think it absolutely should after having spent some time with it. The strap has a satin finish to it and is really soft right out the box; a huge departure from the Z22s of yesteryear. You don't have to break-in these straps anymore like you did the Z22s (some people actually placed the Z22s in boiling water to soften them) and they feel much less plasticky than the Z22s.

Seiko has done a commendable job on these Z22 replacements. They are remarkably comfortable, fitting like seasoned straps from the get-go. However, the comfort and lovely satin finish come at a price; in just five days, I have already noticed scuffs on these straps. Naturally, this is a game of trade-offs. You either have the hard-wearing durability that the Z22s offer but suffer the almost cable-like stiffness or you enjoy the comfort and texture of the Z22 replacements but it's not going to look pristine for long. For me, I really appreciate the comfort that these Z22 successors have and they are a most welcome addition, making one's experience in owning an SBDN a whole much more pleasant.

Seiko seems to have made strides in crown action; I feel considerably more confident in the durability of the crown on the SBDN than I did back then with the SKX009. Compared with the Kemmner Turtle (which case was produced by Fullswing Industrial) that I had back in university though, Seiko has quite some ways to improve in this aspect before they're on the level of confidence that the Kemmner Turtle instilled in me. The threads on the Turtles crown tube were simply monstrous and you could basically put your mind at ease as cross-threading would really require you to go out of your way to make it happen.

Crown action aside, I would really have liked to see a signed crown on the SBDN, which I don't think is an unreasonable request at this price range. Overall, the crown on the SBDN is a decent, if simple one, but it's not going to leave you with a strong impression of it like you would on watches which have a lot of engineering on the crowns such as a Damasko or a Sinn.

The bezel action is largely similar to the one on the SKX series. It's quite good, but again pales out to watches which specifically put more engineering into the area. Now in this regard, the Marathon GSAR was really good; every click was precise, well defined and snaps into the next click without any mushiness in between. There was no backplay to mention of as well on the GSAR. The SBDN does have some measure of mushiness in between clicks, and while there isn't any backplay when you lock into a click firmly, the clicks aren't as well defined and so sometimes the bezel will go back a click as it hasn't been engaged into the next click yet, even though it feels like you already have. As with the crown, this bezel is far from bad, it is decent. If you are to compare it to a watch which excels in this regard however, you'll quickly spot the differences.

The SBDN is a limited edition, with 3,000 of each colorway except for the SBDN029, which is limited to just 400. Now, 3,000 is hardly limited given the number of colorways they are available in, but if you're keen on a specific colorway then I'd act sooner than later. If you're fine with any SBDN then really there's no rush in acquiring one.

Gracing the front of the watch, a very slightly domed Hardlex makes itself home between the dial and the outside environment. Again, sapphire with AR coating would have been nice, but if even the SBDX001 (aka MM300) still uses Hardlex then sapphire is pretty much a pipe dream on a Seiko watch of this price point. Since I tend to care for my timepieces and don't roll around in sand all day, Hardlex should be mostly sufficient for me (except for the times when you most need it, such as when you scrape the watch against a doorframe, Murphy's law at work).

So, my overall thoughts on this watch have been mostly favorable. I am in love with the Tuna design; it is unique, makes for a supremely wearable size in spite of the large diameter and is aesthetically pleasing. The quality that one can come to expect of this piece is perhaps a little notch up from the SKX line. There's a nicer strap than can be found in the SKX, and I felt the crown was also a step up from the SKX. Ultimately though, you may not feel like you are getting as much value as you are from the SKX series as many things on the SBDN are largely on the same level as the SKX (the hands, case build quality, bezel action and lume performance) but the price isn't.

Granted, the SBDN would be far nicer if they were priced at the same level as the SKX, but after paying USD 351 for it (at SeiyaJapan, the cheapest I've found it for so far), I'm still largely happy with the watch! In closing, I think the SBDN025 has made a welcome addition to the family at The Watch Post. On that note, thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next happening!

Marathon GSAR, Incoming

2016-11-08T22:59:00.001+08:00

Yep folks, the title says it all. I finally relented after my years of desire for a Marathon GSAR and finally have one inbound towards me at the time of this post. It was definitely hard to spend such money on a watch for me (I'm no investment banker or litigator) and of course I hope that it is money well-spent.

Rest assured that an in-depth review will be made available on The Watch Post after I've spent some time spent with the GSAR. Judgement day shall come and it shall be decided whether the GSAR is a grail that is better realized or left as a desire and nothing more. Till then, have a good day.

Review of Church's Balmoral in Walnut Nevada Calf Leather

2016-10-22T09:19:00.000+08:00

Dear readers, once again it has been many a month since there has been a post to this blog. The curation of items worth reviewing here on The Watch Post has reached a point where I no longer review everything that comes into my possession, instead I choose to review select pieces which I have spent a considerable amount of time appreciating and discerning.

Today, we have just the item that fits the criteria of being post-worthy. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Church's Balmoral in Walnut Nevada Calf leather.

So yummeh

Now I think it's important for me to substantiate on how this pair of shoes came to be in my possession. Church's regularly go for 500 EUR at their regular retail price (RRP), and I'm not one who enjoys spending such sums of money, especially on material possessions. Naturally, I got this pair for a price far lower than the RRP, at about 150 EUR before VAT refund. I consider that to be a rather good price for a handcrafted, Goodyear welted shoe.

If you ever pop by the Space Prada outlet at Montevarchi in Italy, make sure you try your luck at the shoe clearance section because that's where I got this pair of Church's for 150 EUR! I think I was unbelievably lucky to find this gem hidden in the further discount section as this was the only pair of Church's there (everything at the outlet is already discounted but this is the further discount section) and the other shoes in this section were unimaginably tacky (there were some Prada shoes which were supposed to be formal, but it looked like they had mated a basketball shoe with an Oxford).

This shoe is a UK 7.5 in G width which fits me snugly though I am usually an UK 8 in other shoes, and an US 8 in Red Wings. So my experience with Church's thus far is; size down may be necessary, though I believe it might've been the G width that made it possible for me to fit in this pair comfortably.

The somewhat obvious discoloration of the captoe or: the reason this pair was going for 150 EUR

It ain't all a bed of roses with this shoe though, there is a reason for this deeply discounted price. This was probably a pair which didn't pass QC and it shows. First, if you would bring your attention to the toe cap area, there is a noticeable discoloration there. I would say this is the most obvious defect. Second, the shoe has been creasing quite strangely as well, which I suspect is due to it being slightly undersized for my feet therefore leading it to crease at the wrong area. The left side however seems to be creasing normally and it's just the right side that is creasing strangely. Abnormal creasing is usually indicative of shoes that have been fitted to the wrong size of feet, though I'm not so sure in this scenario as one side seems to be normal and the other side isn't.

Notice the odd creasing on the right side

Perhaps the most striking thing about a pair of quality leather shoes is the smell. I've read that real good quality leather should have a woody/fleshy smell and since I've never really owned any shoe/boot of such a caliber, I never knew what woody/fleshy meant. That is, until I opened the box with this pair inside; you will instantly know what the smell of quality leather should be like. I am unaware of the tannery which Church's uses, all I know is that this shoe is constructed of leather leagues above anything else I own (Thorogood, Diemme) and it is quite apparent.

Admittedly, this shoe doesn't have the sleekest silhouette, which I think in no small part is due to it being G width, but also probably has something to do with the 73 last (according to Herring Shoes). It has a rounded captoe and overall, has a nice and simple design which I like.

The inside of the shoe is completely lined with leather, a first for me as I've only had unlined shoes or shoes lined with drill vamp lining. A leather insole which will slowly conform to your feet with each wear meant that my first few wears were rather uncomfortable as the shoes were very stiff, but by now (at about ten wears in), they've already begun to break-in nicely and are getting more comfortable with each wear.

Mine looked similar to this, less the 'Custom Grade' markings and the Church's logo at the rubber portion of the heel before it was topied

This may be a sight of sheer horror to people who insist on authenticity but to me, I'm more of a 'a topy a day keeps a resole away' kind of guy

The sole is beautifully adorned with an debossed Church's logo, which I unfortunately am unable to provide actual photos of as I had them topied with Vibram right out of the box. You will find stitching all around the sole, less the heel area and I chose to topy them as replacing a topy sole is far cheaper than sending this pair all the way back to Northampton for a resole. I am aware that some shoemakers will not work on your shoe if they have been modified by some third party. While I am of the opinion that that is absolutely ridiculous (and what I think is a underhanded attempt to gain additional revenue on something that is rather frequent in nature considering leather soles are not very lasting), that is a discussion for another time. With Church's, I guess it remains to be seen as I won't be sending this pair back for a resole for a very long time (as long as possible till topys can't get the job done).

Yep, it's Church's alright

Overall, at EUR 150, I am absolutely elated to own a pair of Church's. I think I got a great deal on this pair and that makes me a very happy owner. It is my first pair of high-end shoes and I think that it'll be my only pair for a long time to come as I'm not willing to blow a small fortune for a pair of Edward Greens or Crockett & Jones. For the price of a Meermin, I have a handcrafted and Goodyear welted shoe. So understandably, this hasn't been much a review but more of a sharing of experience, which I do apologize for but I don't have anything in a similar class to compare to.

In closing, would I pay the full RRP for this pair if money wasn't an issue to me and I had more than enough disposable income to have a cupboard full of handcrafted shoes? My personal belief is that once you get past a certain level in footwear, the differences are minute enough that only savants will be able to appreciate the differences and I do not possess such a level of zeal when it comes to footwear. I would probably be hard-pressed in finding the differences between this pair of Church's and a Meermin (of which I'm sure there are plenty if you are a person with a wardrobe full of $500+ MTO and bespoked shoes). In other words, and to make a long story short, the answer is no, I wouldn't spend the kind of money that Church's is asking for at RRP simply because I don't value shoes so much in my life, but I do appreciate something which I know is a fine piece of work, and this pair of Church's is a fine piece of work alright.

Review of the STOWA Flieger Classic

2015-12-19T10:22:00.000+08:00

Dear readers, at long last I am back in the watch scene! I know, it has just been so long since I've posted a watch review, but it has been a hectic time for me since going out to the working world after university. It was a big period of transition and sadly I lost my passion for quite a few pursuits since entering the workforce. Also, my mental health hasn't been in the best shape so things like buying watches and writing reviews really took the backseat for the past one year. Yup, I really miss school life. But through it all, here we are again, back with a new watch review, so I'm glad to say that this little horological passion of mine has withstood the test of time. This is all rather exciting news, which is befitting for the situation given the watch we're reviewing today; the STOWA Flieger Classic - No Logo.

A brief history lesson is necessary to provide an appreciation for the piece of history you hold in your hands when you own a STOWA watch. STOWA is a company steeped in tradition, and have done much since they established in 1927. I find one of the most interesting things to be the fact that they were one of the five original manufacturers (the other four being A. Lange & Söhne, Wempe, Laco and IWC) for the B-Uhren, the watch upon which all Flieger watches are based upon, including the STOWA Flieger Classic.

Now let's move onto the the watch itself. Measuring in at 40mm in diameter, the Flieger Classic might be considered somewhat small by contemporary standards. I've always been a fan of the 42mm club myself, but found that the Flieger Classic is sized just right at 40mm since it wears big. The case itself has a brushed finishing, with the crown being bead blasted. I actually much appreciate the onion crown over the diamond crown as it's more aesthetically pleasing to me, although this is largely a 'different strokes for different folks' matter. The crown is covered in grooves faithful to the pattern found on the B-Uhren and they are very functional as well in keeping the crown easy to handle. It is not a screw-down crown, as should be expected since this isn't a dive watch. Crown action has been similar to my other watches with the 2824-2 movement, producing a somewhat grainy feel when handwinding. On a side note, you probably do not want to bring this watch into contact with water whatsoever besides perhaps washing your hands as it is rated merely 5ATM and STOWA recommends never completely submerging this watch in water.

Overall, the quality of the case is on point, I think the case is machined and finished to a high standard. However I think beyond a certain point the improvements in case quality and finishing is indiscernible by the human eye and touch. As such if I were to judge the STOWA purely based on case quality as a metric then there are certainly brands which are cheaper than STOWA.

Depending on whether you opted for it, the left side of the watch may be adorned with the letters 'FI23883', which are the exact same characters that appear on the B-Uhren back in 1935. This engraving will set you back 79 EUR, a little bit on the steep side for me but it is a nice touch if you want your Flieger to be more faithful to the original.

When it comes to the dial, there are quite a few options you can go with. Basically it boils down to whether you want the STOWA logo as well as having a date function on your Flieger or not. Oddly, the no logo variant is more expensive than the with logo variant, even though it probably takes more effort to make a dial with the logo. I guess the no logo variant is probably the most popular version and this is reflected in the price. The available options for the dial configurations are as follow:

With logo with date

With logo no date

No logo with date

No logo no date

They offer the Flieger with the Baumuster B dial as well but you can only go with no logo and no date for the Baumuster B variant.

Radioactive

Lume on this watch is a particular point of interest to me, since it features Super-LumiNova C3. As you may or may not know, Super-LumiNova themselves came up with this chart that claims C3 is their brightest lume. The STOWA Flieger Classic truly doesn't disappoint, with dive watch level lume. It's been awhile since I've been able to observe lume glowing in the daytime under certain situations such as when entering indoor areas. The last watch that had this 'daytime lume' effect was the Seiko SKX007.

Dat Hands Tho

STOWA is quite famous for using heat-treated hands in their watches. These hands have a extraordinary love affair with light, ranging from nearly black when viewed head-on to a shade of intense, sapphire blue when viewed from an angle. They provide the Flieger Classic with a lot of character and I think this is one of the biggest highlights of the watch.

The Flieger Classic features an ever so slightly domed sapphire crystal with underside AR coating. No complaints here, the sapphire does it's job of keeping itself free from scratches well.

Going over to the back, we can see the display back and all the components in its full glory. There's a lot to cover here. Firstly, the crystal on the display back is sapphire with inside AR coating as well, which is a very nice touch by STOWA. There's always a solid caseback if you're not a fan of display backs. The display back is secured by six screws and there are various engravings along the perimeter which indicate some of the technical specifications.

Next up is the movement. This is a very pretty movement, to say the least. The rotor is custom made by STOWA and has several laser engravings that indicate the brand, serial number, movement, make and Jorg Schauer's name. There are several choices of movement grades you can choose in your Flieger, mine was the TOP grade which will set you back a rather hefty 80 EUR. This is mostly an aesthetic decision; if you are constantly admiring the movement through the caseback you might like to invest in the TOP grade movement as it comes finished with perlage. For another 50 EUR you can get blued screws too. Personally, I have to say that is a hefty price tag for a couple of special screws.

Accuracy is guaranteed by STOWA themselves to be plus-minus ten seconds a day and my own Flieger Classic has been somewhere around faster by five seconds a day so I think STOWA has done a very good job in regulating their movements.

The strap that comes with the Flieger Classic is the signature double-riveted strap, reminiscent of the one on the B-Uhren. It's a fairly nice strap, which comes with one floating keeper, one fixed keeper and one metal keeper. I personally didn't like how the sides of the strap was finished though, they were coated in some rubbery material which reminded me of the leather straps that come with Parnis watches. That's a shame because the leather seems to be of quite a good quality. I'd prefer to see raw or burnished edges on the straps.

The buckle is laser engraved with the STOWA characters and logo and it's a nice stainless steel thumbnail buckle.

In ending, STOWA has really hit a home run with the Flieger Classic. It's everything good about the B-Uhren with a contemporary touch. STOWA took no compromises on the construction of their Fliegers, with a high quality case, dial and hands, movement and a beautiful strap to wrap up the package. Undoubtedly, we've left the realm of what I consider affordable, with the base model starting at 781 EUR, and the way I've configured it will actually set you back 940 EUR in regions without VAT. However, considering the heritage behind this brand and also the fact that you are getting a product with top notch components in nearly every aspect, I'd say the pricing is fair. If you are in the market for a Flieger-styled watch, you would be hard-pressed to find something better than what STOWA has to offer. The next step up (IWC and A. Lange & Söhne) might just cost you your whole house.

Review of the Helikon-Tex RACCOON Backpack

2015-05-16T00:24:00.001+08:00

PICTURES WILL BE UPLOADED SOON

Good day, readers of The Watch Post. It's been some time since the last post and in the time between, something happened; I took delivery of the Helikon-Tex RACCOON backpack.

Some one week back, I came by a military gear web store which was having an anniversary sale and was having a storewide promotion of 30% off. Quickly, I placed an order for the Helikon-Tex RACCOON, for a price of 32 EUR, inclusive of shipping, which I think is a great price compared to the next best price I could find. Before we get to my findings however, let's take a look at the specs to be found on this pack.

100% Polyester construction

20L capacity

Main compartment dimensions 43x23x14cm

1270 g

Adjustable shoulder straps and webbing hip belt

Hydration bladder compartment

Admin pouch on front

Quick release shoulder straps

MOLLE/PALS compatible

So there we have the specs, and it's quite a full featured pack in spite of the rather small size of it, such as the hip belt that is inclusive of the package, and the rather hefty weight of it overall.

Let's dive right into the construction of the bag. First off, I should disclose that the RACCOON is quite a fair bit easier on the wallet than your typical 5.11 Tactical or Maxpedition bag and it would therefore be an apples to oranges comparison as the RACCOON and another pack such as the RUSH 12 belong in different leagues. Still, the RUSH 12 is the one other tactical EDC bag that I've owned and I shall therefore be drawing quite a few comparisons between the two.

On the tag, we can see that the RACCOON is made in China, featuring polyester construction. The fabric does feel rather like nylon, in that it has that smooth, technical finish and texture to it. It isn't made from the thickest material and the fabric on the 5.11 Tactical RUSH 12 does feel quite a bit more substantial than the RACCOON. For the loads that I'll be subjecting it to (jackets, water bottles, EDC) however, I believe the RACCOON will hold up just fine. I wouldn't however place enough faith in the RACCOON however to go rucking with it, unless I had the A-TACS version which is constructed from 500D Cordura.

The price also meant that this bag couldn't have top-of-the-line hardware such as YKK zippers and Duraflex buckles. The RACCOON comes with SBS zippers instead. One gripe that I had with these zippers were that they kept catching onto the fabric of the bag while in operation which is a little irritating to say the least. While I can't ascertain the longevity of the zippers right now having not spent a substantial enough time utilizing them yet, I'll definitely report back here should there be any issues. Overall, the RACCOON is relatively well built for the price, with clean stitching and a good consistency in the fabric, although the fabric is a little towards the thin side. It shouldn't however be much of a problem unless you are intending to carry heavy loads, in which case you should be looking at other packs. This bag is a 20L bag meant for EDC and not bricks. The difference in price versus the RUSH 12 shows, with a cheaper fabric, buckles and zippers being used. That said, the RACCOON is decently constructed and I was pleasantly surprised at what I was getting for 32 EUR.

Design wise, this bag definitely draws inspiration from the RUSH 12. The carry handle, flanked by the openings for your hydration tube, is an almost exact copy of how the one on the RUSH 12 looks. Not that it's a bad thing however, the RUSH 12 has tube opening ergonomics down to a science and the same design appearing on the RACCOON means I get to enjoy the same ergonomics. If originality was a concern for you though, don't worry as the rest of the RACCOON has a look distinct enough to differentiate it from the RUSH series. Sadly, we start with a negative; the main compartment isn't clamshell style, a feature I miss sorely from my time with the RUSH 12. Having got used to the clamshell on the RUSH 12, you'll feel major pains whenever you get back to using a non-clamshell style pack as it makes organizing the contents of the compartment a much more troublesome affair. Simply put, once you've experienced using a clamshell style backpack there's no going back.

The main compartment features a few smaller compartments. A see-through compartment like the ones on the RUSH series as well as two zippered compartments on the other side. One of these compartments is really only good for flat objects since it doesn't have much depth to it. In my usage, I've found that a notebook or writing materials would fit well here. The other compartment plays host to the HDPE back stiffener, which is of course a must in any decent backpack. This one does its job just fine, being just as stiff as the one on the RUSH 12. You'll find no problems with being poked by irregularly shaped or pointy objects in your bag.

The other compartment that the RACCOON has would be the admin pouch on the front. It has quite a few compartments, all of which are secured by a velcro on top of each to prevent the contents from spilling out as well as to serve as a separator if you choose to put smaller items. The admin pouch isn't as well thought out as the one on the RUSH series, with there being no zipped compartments and most of these compartments were somewhat lacking in depth and width. That is of course a limitation imposed by the size of the pack. A smaller pack, a smaller admin pouch area.

I would've liked an additional compartment to be present on the RACCOON. Right now, the RACCOON features just two compartments, both of which are major compartments. A smaller compartment independent of the main ones would've been nice, to store small items such as coins, sunglasses and other small items conveniently.

Another peeve I had with the RACCOON was the strap management. Compared to the RUSH 12, which had keepers for every strap and made managing them such a breeze, the RACCOON offered no such experience. Helikon-Tex has opted for velcro keepers which fundamentally don't work very well as they are severely limited in the length they are able to manage. I had to find alternative means to roll up the excess and it just isn't all that good of a system.

One of the major advantages this pack holds over the RUSH series however is the presence of air mesh on the back. This is perhaps the biggest reason I could not continue using the RUSH 12, it was just too hot given the weather conditions in Singapore. The RACCOON on the other hand, with air mesh on the back and the straps as well, manages to keep temperatures manageable. It's not as good as not wearing a backpack at all of course, but air mesh is a significant improvement in keeping your back cool. I can carry this backpack with both straps on in Singapore weather (that being 30 degree Celsius and at least 60% humidity all year round) without soaking the back of my shirt. Helikon-Tex has done a great job in this aspect on the RACCOON. The pack is rather tall and thin as well, a welcome departure from the RUSH 12 for me as that was one of the gripes I had with it.

The RACCOON has shock cord on the front of the pack, which although I don't frequently utilize, can see it having its uses such as stuffing a thin jacket outside for easy access or dirty clothing so that it won't dirty the contents. I also found another use for it; to hang a ring off the end of the cord, which I really liked as I felt it really helps personalize your backpack.

The whole pack is covered in MOLLE, making modularity a possibility and also giving the pack a tacticool look. I'd very much see myself adding a water bottle pouch in the future so it's good that I can do that thanks to MOLLE.

In closing, while this pack seems to lack some things such as premium materials and several shortcomings in the design aspect, the price for which I acquired the RACCOON is just half of what I paid for the RUSH 12. The RACCOON doesn't have YKK zippers, Duraflex buckles or Cordura construction and that's OK, because lacking those it is still a very decent, usable backpack. The RACCOON is growing on me by day honestly and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a small and well-priced daypack. So that's it for the review of the Helikon-Tex RACCOON, thank you for reading and have a good day!

EDIT: Took the pack out for a 13km trek today (23rd May 2015), and I'm glad to announce that the pack fared supremely well throughout the trek. The mesh back did wonders in keeping my back at a comfortable temperature, and the straps were very comfortable. Sometimes, I felt like I wasn't even carrying a backpack, as long as the straps were configured to the right length.

My Next EDC Bag - Helikon-Tex RACCOON

2015-04-27T22:39:00.000+08:00

Greetings readers, six months ago I shared with you some of the shortcomings I faced in using the 5.11 Rush 12 backpack. In the same post, I surmised that the solution to the problem was a bag that Helikon-Tex had just released back then; the Direct Action Dragon Egg. Well, six months later, I still haven't acquired the Dragon Egg, and now I don't think I will. Why? Straight up, the Dragon Egg isn't the cheapest bag. It'll set me back by at least $150, which I didn't think was worth it considering the Rush 12 still serves me decently. Second, and also the main reason behind this post is that I've found something else.

The Helikon-Tex RACCOON backpack.

Now, why was I dissuaded from going with the Dragon Egg?

Picture credit of KICKAss Tactical

I came across several pictures of the Dragon Egg in actual use and it simply seemed to large for my purposes. Understandably, I did mention that I wanted a larger bag than the Rush 12 in the aforementioned post. I've now graduated from college though and gone are the days where I have to pack my textbooks along with my gym shoes and a shaker bottle. I have begun to find even the Rush 12 a little larger than I'd like it to be. Therefore, the next EDC bag I go for would have to smaller than the Rush 12. I was faced with another choice, competing for attention with the RACCOON however.

The Direct Action Dust is the Dragon Egg's little brother, sporting similar features, construction materials, but being five litres smaller in capacity (same as the RACCOON at 20L). It would also ideally by my EDC bag of choice. Here's the thing though, the lowest price I could find for the Dust backpack was 82 EUR while the RACCOON was just half of that at 41 EUR. Of course, there's a trade-off; the RACCOON is made from polyester and doesn't feature Duraflex buckles like the Direct Action line does, which is also made from 500D Cordura.

Still, the RACCOON sports the meshed ventilation on its back, one of the things I needed most but the Rush 12 didn't have. The RACCOON is relatively cheap, seems to be decent and it looks great to me. And for that, the RACCOON shall be my next EDC bag purchase. Expect to see a review of the RACCOON in a couple weeks time. Thank you for reading and stay tuned!

Review of the Archules Bronx Hill II Double Monk Straps

2015-04-01T01:45:00.000+08:00

Greetings readers of The Watch Post, I have good news to share with all. After close to three very lousy months spent job seeking, I have finally secured employment. And thus, my first steps in the corporate world are about to begin, which means it's time to put those sneakers aside for the weekends. During the weekdays I'll be all about Oxfords, Derbies and of course, monk straps.

With that, let's move on to review the Archules Bronx Hill II monk straps in tan which I bought sometime back. Let's go through some of the specs on this particular offering from them.

Constructed with cowhide leather
Lambskin lining
Cemented construction
Rubber soles

The Archules Bronx Hill II series goes for SGD $115. While I'd like the shoe to feature Goodyear welt construction, that would be most unreasonable to ask for at this price point. The Bronx Hill II comes with cemented construction which is understandable, however that also means there's nothing special to comment on in this aspect. One should be reminded that shoes with cemented construction are unlikely to be reconstructable and once the sole has worn out, that will likely spell the end of the shoe's life. Meermin would be a good direction if you require Goodyear welt on your shoe as a minimum.

Moving on, the shoe uppers are constructed from cowhide. The quality of the leather is very decent indeed, once again considering the price point at which this shoe is going for. The leather has some spots here and there, but these are just minor quibbles and won't detract from the overall aesthetic of the shoe, especially when you view them from a distance such as on your feet. The interior is lined with leather as well which is a nice touch for something at this price point, as I wasn't expecting any sort of lining.

The Bronx Hill II features a cap toe, with a chisel toe profile. It also comes with some sort of premade patination on the toe cap area which I think is really well done. While I don't have any Allen Edmonds or Alden shoes to compare with, the lasting on the Bronx Hill II is fairly slim and overall I'd say it makes for quite an attractive silhouette. Obviously, a definite improvement from square-toed shoes that I've been using in the past.

One point of contention I've had with this pair of shoes so far is the buckles used to tighten the shoes. The silver-colored buckles are a little to thin for the straps to be going through them. As a result, threading the straps through the buckles has been quite a frustrating experience for me. The stitching between the lining and the leather uppers often get caught on the buckles as I'm trying to do the buckles. I foresee the straps which go through the buckles becoming quite creased and deformed as this shoe is used for longer periods.

This shoe is surprisingly comfortable, even as I wore it out for the first time. Break-in time for the Bronx Hill II is nigh non-existent; I didn't suffer any blisters even when I wore this shoe out for the first time and the shoe was already relatively flexible. The cushioning system that Archules features seems to work well, and standing for extended periods won't be too much of a pain to your feet. The soles on the Bronx Hill II are rubber, which has provided me with good grip right out the box. I haven't got to test the grip in a wet environment but there is no reason so far to suspect that these soles will not rise up to the challenge.

Overall, the shoe has been satisfactory on most fronts. The construction, from leather quality to the profile and silhouette of the shoe have all been executed pretty well in my opinion. The comfort has been quite good indeed, with the cushioning system doing it's job well and there being little to no break-in time necessary. About the only gripe with the Bronx Hill II, considering it's price would be the buckles used to secure the straps. I think leaving the straps unlined or using buckles with a wider opening would have made the somewhat frustrating experience when doing up the straps a much better experience.

Archules does include an accessory pack which contains the following: plastic shoe horn, a tin of Kangaroo neutral shoe polish (I believe they will give you the relevant color of polish based on the shoe you bought) and a shoe brush (can't tell if the bristles are synthetic or natural, but it is of a pretty nice quality), all of which are contained in a small velvet drawstring pouch. Other things that are included in the purchase of the shoes include two drawstring pouches (one for each shoe) and a logoed zipper bag which contains the shoebox. All in all, I consider the package to be a rather good.

Archules does home delivery as long as you're living in Singapore and delivery is free. There is an express delivery which comes with an extra charge if you need that. They will bring two sizes for you to try on and you may select the size which better fits you. The second pair however can only differ in size from the first pair by either one size up or down, subject to availability. I personally found this service to be excellent, as I'm a size 41 in some brands and 42 in others. They also have a returns and exchange policy which seems rather friendly although I haven't had any personal experience with it.

The service standards from Archules are commendable to say the least. Singapore isn't exactly known for the best customer service or consumer protection laws. Archules has realized this and capitalized on this by providing better service and I guess you could say it paid off; I am a happy customer. The two size delivery policy will save quite a lot of sizing worries and overall I'd like to applaud Archules on providing a quality of service and product which has been pretty good.

So that's it folks, thanks for reading this review of the Archules Bronx Hill II double monk straps and I think as I start receiving my paychecks, I'll slowly be able to dabble into higher levels of footwear. I think I'll go with a Meermin next, and hopefully one day I'll be reviewing shoes from the big leagues such as John Lobb and Edward Green. Be sure to keep checking The Watch Post for when that happens, thank you and have a good day!

Review of Crumpler Dederang Heist

2015-02-18T00:40:00.001+08:00

Good day, readers of The Watch Post. Today, I shall be reviewing the Crumpler Dederang Heist laptop bag after having used it for about two weeks. As with other reviews on The Watch Post, let's take a look at the technical specifications on this bag:

- Width: 40 cm
- Height: 29 cm
- Depth: 8 cm
- Volume: 10 Litres
- Empty Weight: 0.65 kg

- Neoprene padded carry handles and shoulder strap

- YKK water resistant zippers

- Wing design for structural strength

- 900D/300D Nylon ripstop construction for exterior

- 150D Ripstop lining, flamed polypropylene webbing

- Bonded nylon thread with bar tack stitching on all stress points

Now, the main reason I was attracted to this bag were its looks. It seemed as though someone mated the average laptop bag and a tote bag, resulting in the sleek, futuristic look which I simply think looks great. Let's continue digging within though, to see if Crumpler has managed to make form meet function.

Let's begin with the construction of the bag. I won't say that I'm the leading authority when it comes to nylon, as I've only one other nylon bag which is the 5.11 Tactical Rush 12. However, for the environment that this bag is likely to be used in (e.g. office environments), 900D is very much sufficient. Thread denier alone is of course, not a good indicator of durability or quality if the manufacturer does not know how to make a proper bag in the first place.

Rest assured then, that the Dederang Heist is really a solid bag, with sound contruction all over. The many stitches that reinforce stress points should put one at ease from knowing this bag is unlikely to fall apart even if you cram it with piles of documents as well as jam a laptop inside. I am of the opinion that this bag will easily last me at least five years of daily use, unless I start carrying this bag into the jungle.

My Dell XPS 15 rested snugly inside, it being a 15.6" laptop. I felt really safe when my laptop was in this bag thanks to the internal padding present in this bag, which is colored a nice bright orange so that you may easily discern the contents of the bag with a glance.

Apart from the laptop compartment, there is another pocket that runs the length of the bag which I've used to put my documents, a 650ml water bottle and an umbrella. There are also four smaller pockets which one can use to put smaller items in the main compartment. This bag will fit a surprising amount of stuff. I did find the lack of penholder pockets a little disappointing, this being a bag designed for office use. Putting a pen in one of the four smaller pockets is not the best solution since you might have to fish for your pens quite a bit.

On top of the aforementioned compartments, there is a seperate compartment which can be accessed by another zip. As well, I'd like to have seen some organization pockets here since being the big plain compartment that it is now made me have to fish for my items on occasion.

The zips are YKK zippers all-around, and are rubberized to make it harder for water to pass through. There is a little bit of a trade-off in that these zippers require a little more force than normal zippers to operate but I appreciate the amount of effort Crumpler made in keeping this bag water resistant.

The handles feel sturdy, more than enough to support the weight of the bag and any contents you may have inside. They are padded with neoprene on the bottom so that they'll go easy on your hands. I've carried this bag for extended periods by the carry handles and the neoprene does a great job indeed at keeping the handles comfortable to hold, even with a considerable load.

Likewise, the strap that comes with the bag has a portion which is padded with neoprene that keeps things comfortable. It has a rubberized Crumpler logo on the strap which keeps it grippy while on your shoulder. The strap does it's job of transferring the load onto your shoulders well.

To end off, I think the Crumpler Dederang Heist is a great-looking bag with good construction and materials. It'll contain laptops up to 15.6" and protect them very well indeed. I felt that content management could have been a little better though. The addition of pockets for pens and notebooks would be good in reducing the amount of effort needed to fish things out of the bag. Still, if you're fine with the plain compartments this bag has, the Dederang Heist is a laptop bag which I will wholeheartedly recommend. Crumpler seems to have long discontinued this particular bag but there seem to be a couple of online retailers which you can still buy this bag from.

So that's it for today's post, thank you for reading and in the next post, I shall be reviewing the Bronx Hill II double monk strap shoes from Archules!

Muh Driving License

2015-02-10T20:42:00.000+08:00

Notice: I posted this exact same post in my other blog, Hangouts of Singapore as I felt the content of this post didn't fit into The Watch Post well. Still, I'm changing my mind now as I feel that I want to share this with all readers of The Watch Post. Enjoy the read!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me start off the post with an announcement that I am immensely happy to make; I have just acquired my driving license and am now qualified to drive on the open roads of Singapore. This is a buildup that has begun since the start of 2012, where I had driving lessons for a short period and then stopped as I wasn't fueled by the urge to drive back then. When I resumed lessons again, it would already be at the start of 2014. Talk about procrastination.

I made a terrible mistake of going over the stop line during a right turn at a junction which had a red arrow. That was the story of my first attempt. The second attempt saw me having the jitters, and I could barely control the clutch and accelerator which resulted in me striking the kerb twice, along with numerous other mistakes which stemmed from a lack of confidence. Somewhat deterred by the two failures, I booked the my third attempt at the practical driving test.

So the day of the third test eventually came. With the pressure of a three-month wait and close to $300 of test fee mounted on my shoulders, I went ahead with it anyway. Sitting in the room awaiting for the my assigned tester to read out my name was perhaps the worst part. This room has never failed to bring out some nervousness in me, in spite of this being my third attempt. This time however, I was not going to let it get the better of me. I whipped out my phone and played several games of 2048 which really took my mind off the fact that I was going to have a driving test and away with that went my nervousness.

Eventually I heard my name being called. An instructor who went by the name of Choo Cheng Sang was assigned to me. Went through the circuit relatively smooth, only abit of rolling backwards on the ramp. Outside, I thought it went pretty good as well, with just a short drive to a junction to do a U-turn, followed by changing lanes to do a right turn back to CDC. I followed my tester up to the results release room and he called me in and I was thinking, 'Damn it, failed again!'. This stems from something I've read on forums, where the instructors won't bother calling you into the room if you passed and will instead ask you to wait outside while they print your result slip. Knowing that, I had a heavy heart as I stepped into the room and reluctantly took a seat. He was collating the results and took quite a long while, during which I was praying hard that being brought into the room still meant a chance of passing.

Eventually, the tester came and sat infront of me. He started chiding me on how it was my third attempt yet I couldn't move off the ramp properly, and how my overtaking skills were causing an inconvenience to other road users. He was holding the result slip in his hand which gave me no chance to look at it, but based on the things he were saying, things were not looking the best. I was bracing myself to go for a fourth attempt already when he changed his grip on the result slip, allowing me to take a glance at it. I managed to make out the word "PASSED". From that point, I couldn't give a shit how badly he scolded me. I had PASSED! FINALLY!

Mr Choo Cheng Sang, you ain't so bad in my books after all. I'm loving this tough love thing you've got going on actually. This slip of paper is a result 36 months in the making and some $3000. Slow I hear you say? WHATEVER! I'm overjoyed at the achievement of attaining a Class 3 driving license and I'm not taking shit from anyone.

So, to bus service 854, trips to ComfortDelGro Driving Centre and to Mr. Chua Ah Huat, I bid you farewell for you are now a thing of the past. Alright, I've got to newfound swag to be handling people, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

The Year 2015, and the Incoming of Double Monk Straps

2015-02-10T20:36:00.000+08:00

What's up readers of The Watch Post! First off, I have to apologize as you may have realized that I never got about to making a post to sum the year of 2014 up. I'll make no excuses here, I was just plain lazy to do a write-up. So let's skip ahead a little, what can you (the reader) expect from The Watch Post this year?

Well, ironically watches will no longer be take the spotlight in The Watch Post in 2015. Why? That's because the Casio G-Shock DW5600E-1V is pretty much my only go-to watch now. I've flipped most of my other watches away and am left with only the Casio G-Shock and a MDV106. There might of course be some watch related content sometimes but the focus of this blog in 2015 shall be on these few topics; office wear, shoes and EDC. Regarding the new interest in office and footwear, this naturally stems from the fact that I'm about to enter the workforce and my preferences in clothing and footwear is now influenced by what's presentable at work. So, following up from the previous post, I present a pair double monk strap shoes from Archules, the Bronx Hill II in Oak.

Of course, stay tuned for the review which I will post up as soon as I receive these babies. This pair costed me SGD $115 so I'm definitely not expecting these to be in the same league as Crockett & Jones or Edward Green. Still, they seem to have received quite a good amount of feedback on their Facebook page so I hope that these shoes will serve me well. Now, as for EDC, I always had a strong interest in it and 2015 will be a year where you readers can expect to see much more content relating to EDC.

For starters, I'm looking into getting my first multi-tool and my heart is set on the Leatherman Skeletool for now.

Now that's a sweet bit of kit. As well, you may have seen my post here on my gripes with the 5.11 Rush 12 backpack and I'm hoping to replace it with the Helikon-Tex Dragon Egg.

So today's post shall come to an end here. In the next post, you can expect a review of the Crumpler Dederang Heist which I bought to use as a bag for work. A quick impression of it so far; great. Thanks for reading and have a great day folks!

Shoe Porn - Double Monk Straps

2014-12-08T21:05:00.001+08:00

It's been awhile, readers! The month of November was a period of hectic studying and exams. I should add that they are too some of the final ones that I'll ever be taking in my life, unless I choose to pursue a master's degree or take professional exams.

For now though, the end of my final semester in university means that I'm about to be thrust out into the working world. Naturally, in fitting with the culture at The Watch Post, this thought dawned upon me; "What better way to start my career than to look the part?".

And thus, let's start from the bottom-up. First though, a little background on my work shoe situation: I've been using a pair of black square toed shoes for work so far, something I bought years back having not known better. I've since learned that square toed shoes seem to be quite the fashion faux pas.

Luckily though, there seems to be a type of shoe out there which is capable of washing away the sins of such a heinous footwear faux pas; the double monk strap.

Shoe Porn

All I could think of when I first saw these shoes was, holy shit, these look damned good.

Edward Green Westminster

Reading up on double monk straps led me to brands such as Edward Green, John Lobb and Alfred Sargent. Unfortunately, those are just a pipe dream for now as I'm not about to spend half a grand on a pair of shoes even if my finances permit me. I'll come back for a double monk strap by these brands when I'm a managing director or an executive. I promise.

Archules Bronx Hill II

Meermin Classic Collection Dark Brown Calf

Ah, here we have something more in line with my financial situation. Double monk straps from Meermin of Spain and Archules of Singapore. I'll be making my choice between either of these soon and then, as is customary, a full review shall be posted here.

Also, stay tuned for the next post which will be an end of the year summary post about what The Watch Post has went through during the year and what you can expect to come in 2015. Thanks for reading!

Shortcomings with the 5.11 Rush 12

2014-10-25T22:16:00.001+08:00

It's has been a little under four months since I acquired the 5.11 Rush 12 and I've come to realize some of the shortcomings which I've failed to see earlier. Using the pack on a daily basis over these months has changed my perception a little for the worse.

First, and also my biggest gripe with the 5.11 Rush 12, is that it has absolutely no ventilation to speak off. The Rush 12 simply features four slightly raised panels at each corner of the pack which touches your back. Slightly meaning it's not nearly enough to raise the pack off your back in a way meaningful enough to allow any air to flow into the area. As such, carrying the bag is akin to carrying an oven. I've perspired immensely whenever I carry it with both straps on. This is further made worse by the weather in tropical Singapore; hot and humid all year round. A short walk of a couple hundred meters will often leave the back of my shirt drenched in sweat. I now resort to carrying this pack on one strap whenever it's a sunny day outside; not the best of solutions given my usual load. In my opinion, 5.11 should seriously consider incorporating mesh ventilation panels in future revisions of their Rush packs.

The rubber patches found on the side in contact with my back could also be done away with. I think they are largely unneccessary since they don't really help the pack in staying still against my back. These also abrade away at the clothes I'm wearing and mine have shown serious signs of wear from just normal everyday school use.

Next, I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the strap which incorporates a neck yoke system. It does indeed do it's job of distributing some of the weight onto your neck but for the most part the yoke simply gets in the way of comfort.

Over on the other side of the pack, the compression straps aren't the most effective straps as there is only a pair of them, situated in the upper half of the pack. The bottom of the pack is usually where most of my items end up, making the placement of the compression straps at the upper half of the pack quite a poor decision indeed. At the very least, I think the compression straps should be situated right in the centre of the pack, but the best solution would be of course to have a pair of compression straps, one serving the upper portion and another serving the lower portion.

I'd also like if 5.11 made a size in-between the Rush 12 and the Rush 24. The Rush 24 is much too large for me at over 32.7 litres of capacity, yet the next smaller option is immediately the Rush 12 which is over 11 litres less at 21.2 litres. A pack at 25 litres so would be the perfect size for me, and could well exist as a Rush 18.

Recently though, there seems to be a bag which overcomes all these shortcomings; a pack from Helikon-Tex's Direct Action line known as the Dragon Egg. It's 25 litres in capacity, has a meshed ventilation system to keep things cool, features normal straps that doesn't have a neck yoke nor does it have the rubber patches and has compression straps across the upper and lower part of the pack. It looks really nice too, barring two problems; it's constructed in 500D Cordura and also there's the rather hefty price of around EUR115. I'd have preferred 1000D or 1050D nylon construction, althought it's already 1.4kg with 500D construction so I think 1000D would have been unnecessarily heavy. I'm not too sure about the paracord handle but I think I'll assess that when I have the pack itself.

So that's it for today's post, thanks for reading!

Review of Casio G-Shock DW-5600E-1V - Simplicity Done Right

2014-10-23T12:23:00.000+08:00

Greetings readers, it's been a long time since the last post. The reason for the absence? Getat, and the less said about him, the better. The watch from Getat did eventually arrive around three whole months after I placed my order. To top off the quarter of a year waiting time, the watch arrived completely dysfunctional; the movement just doesn't start ticking no matter how much it has been wound.

Alas, I wasn't too motivated to write about my very poor experience with Getat and it'll certainly be my last time dealing with him. I like the way the watch looks and thus have chosen not to send it back to Getat for a refund which God knows how long will he take to process. So for now, it'll be just lying around on a shelf till the day I decide to bring it to a watchmaker.

That is all I'll say on Getat in this post, because today we are here for something else; to cover a new acquisition I've made in the last couple of days. What exactly have I procured?

Why, the venerable classic, Casio G-Shock DW-5600E-1V of course.

Long have I yearned for a digital watch to accompany me on runs and visits to the gym after the straps on my Casio F-91W broke. Since then I've been using analog watches to cover these duties but analog watches simply cannot do the job as well. Using a countdown bezel on a diving watch is after all, not the most convenient nor accurate method to measure rest time between sets. It didn't serve well for timing my runs either, which is why a digital watch had to be had. Without further ado, the technical specifications of the DW-5600E-1V:

Shock resistant
200 meter water resistance
Electro luminescent backlight with Afterglow
Multi-function alarm
1/100 second stopwatch
Countdown timer with auto-repeat function
Auto calendar (pre-programmed till year 2099)
Accuracy of ±15 seconds per month
Battery CR2016
Approx. battery life: 2 years
Module 3229
48.9 x 42.8 x 13.4mm / 54g

The DW-5600E-1V is held as the quintessential G-Shock by Casio themselves. It is the latest iteration in the evolution of the square-shaped DW series that begun with the DW-5000C, released over 31 years ago. To start off, let's discuss the size. The DW-5600E comes in at a perfect size in my opinion, large enough to have some wrist presence yet not being stupidly large. The size is considerably bigger than a F-91W which I liked a lot since the F-91W always felt a little too tiny for me.

The watch wears very comfortably, partially thanks to being just 54g in weight due to the resin construction. Now, I'm used to wearing watches made of metal since just about every other watch I have save the F-91W is metal. Coming to resin is therefore a big departure for me and I have to say, it is pretty nice. The DW-5600E doesn't feel poor in quality or durability despite the resin construction and you feel that this watch can actually survive a beating more than watches made from metal. There is a YouTube video here of the watch being thrown off seven stories and it continues to function so yes, this watch is likely to outsurvive the person wearing it. The resin strap is decent enough, being sufficiently pliable and comfortable. The buckle though is where I felt an improvement could be made, since it was just a stamped buckle which is really thin and felt quite cheap.

Reading the time is a breeze, with a LCD display that is relatively large and has great clarity and contrast of the digits from the background color. Viewing angles are excellent but not at the level of OLED displays; one would have difficulty reading the time from angles nearing 90 degrees. I don't see this as a major disadvantage though since turning your wrist or your neck by just a little will always ensure you can get a clear view of the display.

As is standard with most G-Shock watches, the display is covered by a mineral crystal which will do nicely in protecting the display. The raised bezel assists with keeping scratches off the crystal unless you happen to have an impact very precisely landing on the crystal. Sapphire would have been a nice addition but keep in mind that the DW-5600E is one of the cheapest in the G-Shock range and it would no longer be so if it had a sapphire crystal. The choice of mineral crystal is more in line with G-Shock ideology as well since it is harder to shatter. The display is backed with a bright electro luminescent backlight that makes for easy viewing in low light conditions. It glows with a nice green color and serves the purpose very well indeed.

The face of the watch is flanked by four buttons, namely the adjust, mode, start/stop and backlight button. All the buttons are covered by a lip which protects the button from being depressed should you drop it. The adjust button is markedly more recessed than the other buttons in order to prevent accidental adjustments in the course of usage. Changing between modes also produces the signature 'beep' sound. The beep produced when going back to the main screen which displays time is higher in pitch than the beeps produced when accessing other modes. This gives you an auditory indicator that you're back to the main screen. Little touches like that show the amount of thought that Casio has put into their watches.

Over on the back, we have a backplate that is held down by four screws. Usually, only the higher-end or older G-Shocks have screw down case backs. Since I'm no G-Shock collector though, the case back on the DW-5600E suffices for me as it still commands a very respectable water resistance level of 200m.

Timekeeping has been on point so far, with no deviation in the two days I've acquired it from a website I used to set it against. Further testing is required here to see the deviation in a month and in a year's time.

The Casio G-Shock DW-5600E-1V is a simple digital watch with extreme durability, and it is for that reason why it is such a great watch. It isn't addled with twenty alarms, thermometers, altimeters and barometers, just plain and simple timekeeping with functions such as a countdown timer, an alarm and a stopwatch, all of which I see as being rather useful.

This watch is one of few that has been approved for use in space by NASA and I can see why. It is the epitome of simplicity, of form meeting function, of durability meeting intuitivity. Then you add in the price; the DW-5600E can be had for about USD$42 on Amazon. Now it's a brilliant watch with a brilliant pricing. This is the watch I'd take with me if the world is going to be a zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic world tomorrow. On that note, thanks for reading and stay tuned!