That’s the Equilibrium, the new model from Yes Watches. I had a small but prolonged role as an engineering consultant and got to visit Hong Kong twice as part of it. I chose the shiny black titanium case and orange accents because by golly I’m proud and I want you to ask me about it!
It took years of engineering and manufacturing obstacles, and of course a world financial crisis too, that didn’t exactly help. Bjorn et al: ya done great.
And today is tax day, I’m finishing ours on TurboTax, where I work and also have a small role. I’m proud of that, too. 😉
I’ve magnetized a few watches, which is a pain: the watch will start running fast, which takes a while to notice, and it’s tricky to be sure that magnetism is the cause. I’ve read that you can hold your watch near a compass and if the compass deflects then that’s evidence of induced magnetism and you can then DIY with a demagnetizer coil.
If that reminds you of hand-cranking a car to start the engine, then yeah.
All of which kind of violates the first implicit contract between a watch and its owner: Keep time.
Quartz is much less susceptible, and of course a better keeper of time, so while I wait for the new 9F watches from Seiko, I’ve done some reading.
Image credit: hashhashin on WUS
This is the Casio Oceanus OCW-S100F, in it’s -2AJF flavor. Solar powered, radio set, titanium case with titanium carbide surface finish, available in a few different color ways, most notably IMHO black vs plain metal bezel. From a design perspective, its the least-obtrusive world timer/perpetual calendar I’ve seen, and garners universal praise as a travel watch that won’t get you mugged.
Image credit: verrauxi on TimeZone
I like the metal bezel version, myself (OCW-S100-1AJF). A tiny bit of blued metal detailing on the hands, and notably Casio got Seiko to do the casework using their Zaratsu (tin wheel) polishing, so by all accounts its superbly made and finished.
‘Atto Verticale TO/03‘, $352.80. A very unusual baguette movement that was clearly inspired by the Corum:
Image credit: Corum
I’m not a fan of Corum, but for the Golden Bridge I’m happy to make an exception. (Though it’s $$$; out of my budget). The Atto Verticale is interesting, though I’m not sure how much I’d enjoy it after the new wore off. Nice to see some new ideas out there regardless. They sell it in round and rectangular cases, anodized aluminum, different colors for a nice and unusual look.
I’m fine with all these except for 1 thing, this is not a completely new caliber from Seiko Japan. In fact, it was first introduced way back in 2007 as the 4L25 and was finally discontinued in 2013 as the 4L75, before being resurrected in 2018 here as the 6L35.
Image credit: Musings of a Watch Addict
S/he (author is anonymous as per their about page) does a very deep dive that I cannot recommend enough, and from it surmises that Seiko, to my surprise, is the source of the Soprod A10 calibre!
Not surprising, Seiko did succeed to some extent in this as it was thought that Soprod eventually licensed this design from Seiko and produced the Soprod A-10 caliber from this base caliber. Note that neither company have ever acknowledge who really designed the movement and who licensed it.
Well, that’s interesting. Here’s a picture of the A10, as seen in my OWC 6538:
Image credit: Watchbase
Who actually does the hard work of designing movements, where they are made and such are typically among the least disclosed bits of information, so this is a welcome ray of sunshine and well worth your time.
Happy Friday! Orange Watch Co 6538, orange Toxic royal strap, and my trusty orange hydro flask.
I really liked how this picture came out – shows the effectiveness of the antireflective coatings as well as the gleam of the applied markers. Those details that you get from a luxury watch.
That’s the Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk II, from my review on ABlogToWatch.com. That was the first time I had ever seen one, as as noted in the review, they’re a damned fine idea.
Rolex introduced their Glidelock (details here) and it’s on several of their models now:
Soprod A10 (high end stuff) movement, killer anti reflective coatings on both sides of the sapphire, lumed ceramic bezel, beautiful machining and at 40 by 12.9mm, wears great. The 6538 big crown from my friend Dan at OWC. Band is a Toxic Shiznit, modified to remove the extra layer and cut to length.
Both are awesome.
I mean, look at how clean the knurling is and the polish on the sides. The value proposition here is tremendous. I’ve been wearing Dan’s watches for close to a decade, and consider him a close friend, so I’m biased as heck, but damn he makes fine watches.
So there was a thread on the Seiko forum on WatchUSeek, and these two images turned up, four as-yet-unreleased Grand Seiko quartz watches, 9F calibre, sporting a new GMT complication in a case seemingly identical to the SBGM series. SBGN001G in yellow, B8T007 LE minus the bezel, and SBGN007 for black. Blue is clipped.
A stint of diligent googling and watching the Basel 2018 feeds and there’s no more news yet. Soon, I expect, as part of the anniversary releases this year. Need it? No, but I am super interested anyway, enough to sell one or two to get one… Soon, my pretty, soon…
Update: 007/001 typo, oops.
Update: Timeless has placeholder pages for the SBGN001 and SBGN007, listing the color of the SBGN007 as green. Interesting! List prices are given as $3,500 and $3,200 respectively.
Image credit: OceanicTime
Image credit: ABtW
Image credit: minus4plus6.com
Image credit: Unknown/Pinterest
ultracrepidarian 