Cafetempo

The wristclock

2007-01-25T13:06:00.000-06:00

The Panerai PAM 111H

Seriously, I never thought I'd get a Panny. Worn by fashionistas the world over and the new status symbol for the nouveau riche, I somehow get some weird form of satisfaction from wearing this clunky piece of metal. In the end, it was the simplicity of the dial and the vintage looks that pulled me in. With watches sporting novellas on their dials (Omega), spinning star thingies (Zenith) or wet puke-green paint (Rolex), this simple looking Panny all of a sudden seems refreshingly humble. That is if you think paying $4,000 for a Unitas is refreshing :)

Sinn 142st: quick look

2006-11-10T18:19:00.000-06:00

Here's the Sinn 142st which is a most enjoyable watch and I think it is one of the most legible automatic chronographs on the market.

Designed as a pilot watch, legibility is one of the most important design factors.

It may not seem apparently obvious, as there is a great deal of information on the seemingly busy dial, but real time and elapsed time can be instantly read or differentiated at a glance. All things red pertain to the chronograph and all things white pertain to real time. The central axis minute totalizer of the Lemania 5100 is simply one of the most legible chronograph layouts

The case is entirely bead-blasted and its design is extremely simple. There is no bezel and the crystal is fit directly into the case. Shown below is the crown at 10 o’clock that rotates the inner chapter ring.

The bracelet is very comfortable and flexible with a sturdy clasp and clasp wings. The links are held together by screws and as can be seen below, the lugs are extremely short and square. I am not too fond of the bracelet at all, as it does not balance the watch very well and the clasp has opened accidentally a couple of times.

Even at an awkward angle, both real time and elapsed can still be read. The crystal is a flat sapphire that sits ever so slightly above the case and it is coated with anti-reflective material on the inside.

The beefy pushers make operating the chronograph relatively easy, although the Lemania requires quite a bit of force to activate. I find the screw-down crown quite unnecessary, as the pushers and the bezel crown do not screw down and this watch shouldn’t be in water anyways.

This watch’s claim to fame, as indicated on the case-back, came from being the first automatic chronograph (the Omega Speedmaster was manual wind) worn in space by the German astronaut Reinhard Furrer in 1985.

The Lemania 5100 movement in this watch has now ceased production. The calibre 5100 was known for its extreme ruggedness and is heralded as one of the most durable chronograph movements ever produced. With the discontinuation of the Lemania 5100, Sinn, Tutima and other users of the movement are developing substitutes, mainly derived from ETA piggybacks which I dislike. There will not be an adequate replacement for the calibre 5100 which is complete with cost saving, yet efficient pillar construction, nylon parts and a vertical clutch for extra durability and smoother chronograph operation. Morever, there is yet to be another automatic chronograph movement that looks as ugly as the Lemania 5100!!
The picture of the Lemania 5100 below was taken by Sergio Lorenzon.

Bvlgari Diagono Aluminium

2006-11-08T22:46:00.000-06:00

Seiko's funky Spirit Advan homage SARB005

2006-11-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

Seiko's new Spirit models are looking quite exciting. This SARB005 is an homage to some of the wilder designs of the 1970's. The faceted crystal and the sunburst dial are trademarks of the funky advan designs in the past.

The case is quite large and everything on this watch seems well proportioned. Ticking inside is the new Seiko workhorse: calibre 6R15 which is a 7S26 with an additional handwinding and hacking mechanism.

The dial is nicely executed with a caramel/ale colour that darkens as it reaches the perimeter. The polished hands have a white stripe in the middle to ease legibility and the elongated minute/ hour hash marks remind me of the SUS line of Seiko watches of the mid 90's. In fact, the dial markers bear a strong resemblance to the SUS GMT automatic shown below.

SUS GMT

The bracelet is all solid and the clasp is very well designed. There aren't too many watches in this price range that offers such quality and most of all, such originality.

IWC Aquatimer Pictorial Review

2006-05-24T09:58:00.000-06:00

An IWC Aquatimer 2000 pictorial review PIC! PIC!

These shots were taken last week and only these couple pictures made it out of a whole set of 50 attempts! The following are just some of my thoughts of the IWC Aquatimer 2000 after one month of ownership.

DIAL
The design of the Aquatimer is simple and retains the classical appearance of the IWC’s previous dive watches: the Porsche Design 2000 and GST Aquatimer. The entire face of the watch exudes a geometric simplicity that makes it very easy to read and very pleasant to look at. The markers, minute hand and hour hand consist of rectangles and trapezoids with different proportions. The fluorescent yellow adds even more contrast to the dial, making it highly legible.

The dial actually has a deep graphite texture and colour. I am afraid I was unable to capture this in the photograph. I examined the dial with a under a 12x loupe without detecting a trace of flaw. The minute and second hands are also bent downwards toward the minute markers which is a nice touch of detailing.

BEZEL
The internal bezel rotates crisply and securely. There is nothing flimsy about this intricate construction and the crown that rotates the bezel at 4 o’clock only allows counter clockwise rotations of the bezel. The bezel runs on jeweled click springs to ensure smooth, secure clicks. Further to the uni-directional rotation, the ratchet crown disengages from the bezel when a depth of approximately 5 meters is reached. This crown is also designed such that it can withstand 2000 meters of water pressure without the need to screw down. The gaskets in the crown are self sealing, it uses pressure as a means to secure itself further. The case, as you can see, retains the GST design of the past with the unique lugs and oversized crowns.

WHY THE HORRID LUMINOSITY ON THE AQUATIMER?
I have not taken any lume shots yet because the one big folly of this watch is the fact that it has horrible luminous capabilities. I knew this before purchasing the watch so it is not a disappointing factor and I think that IWC opted for more uniform dial colours at the sacrifice of luminosity. As can be seen from the pictures, the entire dial consists of just 3 different colours: graphite, white and fluorescent yellow. The white on the dial is a very bright white and this colour is uniform between the markers, hour hand and dial printing. IWC probably opted to use more lacquer in the luminous paint mix to achieve this. On just about every other dive watch, the luminous compound is never as white as it is on the Aquatimer 2000. Here is a shot of my Rolex Submariner and although the luminous material is almost white, it is still slightly different from the dial printing. On the other hand, the luminosity of the Submariner is great, even with the slightly anemic minute hand. It is interesting to see how IWC and Rolex both achieved the same goal of designing highly robust and legible dive watches through very different means.

CASE, CRYSTAL, CROWNS AND COMFORT
The rubber strap is extremely pliable and comfortable. The unobtrusive crowns, lugs and the soft, ventilated rubber strap allow the Aquatimer to sit very comfortably on the wrist. The light weight of the titanium case material allows me to forget the fact that I am wearing the watch.

The blue colour is the effect of the anti-reflective material of both sides of the domed sapphire crystal. To ensure its resistance to high pressure, IWC endowed the Aquatimer 2000 with a 4.3 mm thick crystal.

The thickness and pronounced dome shape of the crystal is not readily apparent due to the anti-reflective material; however, when the dial is viewed at an angle, it becomes visible.

The titanium case of the Aquatimer goes through some sort of surface hardening process. A drawback of titanium is that it has a tendency to weld to each other when in contact over a long period of time. IWC had taken this into account and designed the case such that this would not happen.

The setting crown is of the normal screw down design. As with Rolex’s Triplock crowns, the winding stem is disengaged when the crown is depressed whilst securing the crown.

THE MOVEMENT AND WHAT LITTLE I KNOW ABOUT IT
Running within the watch is IWC’s caliber 30110. This is a recently updated movement from IWC which is based on the design of the ETA 2892. From what I have read, the only thing about this movement has in common with a regular ETA is its design. Just about every part of the movement is a proprietary IWC part. The balance runs at a higher amplitude than the average ETA 2892 (300 degrees for the IWC), the mainspring for the IWC has a much lower torque output due to the efficiency of the modified going train. This movement is different from its previous iteration because it is now nickel plated rather than gilt plated.

In terms of real world results, the Aquatimer is running 35 seconds fast after one month with a constant daily deviation of +1 second. This is one of the most accurate watches in my collection and its consistency is excellent. Furthermore, when winding the movement, I sometimes question whether crown stem is engaged because the winding action is so smooth and offers so little resistance. This is testament to how much IWC has modified the ETA design to produce an exceptional movement; after all, they have been doing this for some 25 years. Those old Porsche Design watches ticking away after so many years of use is proof of the longevity of these thoroughly re-worked movements.

CONCLUSION
I have not had the chance to go on a dive with this watch; however, the Aquatimer is a very attractive and comfortable watch. I have not stopped wearing this timepiece for the month since I received it and I foresee that I will be wearing this watch more often than many others in my collection. The classic IWC style layout of the watch, the fluorescent yellow accents and the unique internal bezel design distinguishes the Aquatimer whilst its low key design and simple dial layout makes it a very stealthy and elegantly simple timepiece. Being an IWC watch, the attributes of perfect quality, attention to detail and good craftsmanship is readily apparent.

SPECS
Case Diameter: 42mm
Case Thickness: 14.5mm
Case Length: 49mm
Movement: IWC Calibre 30110
Crystal: 4.3mm thick, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective on both sides.
Case material: Titanium with hardened surface.

Possible improvements:

1- I would prefer if the hands were also made of the same matte titanium material as the case, this would made the dial look even more interesting. Seiko’s new 1000m Professional diver uses matte titanium hands with great results.

2- Better lume!!!
3- Place IWC’s highly shock resistant caliber 80110 inhouse movement into this watch.

Omega 321

2005-12-09T01:00:00.000-06:00

3.....2.....1...... I have always liked the Speedmaster Professionals, but never enough to have purchased one, that is until I came upon this vintage 321. When the original owner took off the case back, he revealed a pristine and gorgeous calibre 321. I really cannot explain it, but for some reason, this watch looks so nice with all the wear on the bezel and the decay of the tritium. I got this piece because the first watch worn on the moon was equipped with the same movement so there's quite a historical significance to this piece, but aside from that, I really don't know too much about the watch. I will post some additional information and more pictures when I have time to learn more about this piece.

Swatch Diaphane "Spanish Lodge"

2005-12-09T00:17:00.000-06:00

I was walking through the mall during my last visit to Toronto in October when I came upon a Swatch kiosk. Being WIS, I naturally passed by just to take a quick look, when something caught my eye. There were a few automatic models available for the Diaphane line and I was quite surprised how cool they looked because I have not noticed the Swatch collection for quite some time. This watch caught my eye mainly because of the colour combination and the fact that it looked somewhat "Lego-ish". The ETA 2827 is pretty much the same design as that of the popular 2824 but it runs on a slower pace of 21,600 bph and does not have the hack function. Two of the bridges are made of coloured plastic that matches the scheme of the watch and as in other Swatch automatics, the escape lever is made of plastic, which probably does not need much lubrication to run properly.

This is a fun watch to wear and it is certainly very creative in its styling. Now, the question is, what does it have to do with a Spanish lodge?

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona SS 116520

2005-07-19T10:55:00.000-06:00

Here is the Rolex Cosmograph Daytona in stainless steel with black dial model number 116520. I don't care about the whole inflated street price fiasco of this watch, what I'm interested in is the fact that this is one of the most beautiful chronographs I have seen and it contains Rolex's first in-house chronograph movement designed with traditional Rolex traits of durability and precision. When Rolex went about to create this new movement, they incorporated the input from their service department and the result is a chronograph with a minimal amount of moving parts and a design that allows ease of service to ensure the longevity and ruggedness of the movement. Furthermore, the 4130 chronograph movement contains standard Rolex features like the Breguet overcoil, microstella adjustment, balance bridge, large diameter balance wheel and proprietory balance pivot. My knowledge about the movement is very limited; however, the calibre 4130 utilizes the vertical clutch braking system to allow for a smooth engagement of the chronograph and the elegant column wheel to guide the functions of the chronograph.

Something new in the calibre 4130 is Rolex's very own balance spring known as Parachrome Blue which is an alloy consisting of Niobium and Zirconium. The Nivarox balance spring was designed to withstand the negative effects of change in temperature to timekeeping, but it is susceptible to magnetism and shock. The Parachrome Blue is ten times more shock resistant than normal balance springs and completely unaffected by magnetic fields in addition to being highly resistant to temperature change. This is a very important breakthrough in watch-making and what is surprising is the fact that the Parachrome Blue has been utilized since 2000 when the first caliber 4130 Daytona's rolled off the production line.

Another interesting aspect of this chronograph design is that the movement is divided into sections, one part for the winding system and gear train and the other for the chrnograph. The entire movement was designed with input from the service department so it is very easy to maintain.

Below are a series of quick pictures I took around my house using either sunlight or halogens. I myself have rarely even seen photos of this watch and prior to owning it, I had never even seen the black dialed version in person. I hope you enjoy the following pictures.

The detail on the dial is impeccable and it adheres to the traditional Daytona's two-tone sub-dials. The layout with the sub-seconds at 6 and the minute and hour totalizers on the left and righ hemisphere is optimal for a tri-compax design.

This watch has an extremely thick sapphire crystal. The profile of this watch is actually quite thin for a sports chronograph.

Here you can see that Rolex saves its best clasp for the Daytona. This is one solid bracelet and although the clasp is still of the fliplock style, it is of a much higher quality than the regular Oyster bracelets and I suspect more durable than the push button bracelets of other watches.

If you look closely at the sub-dials, you can see that their borders have a texture made of thin concentric rings, the use of white gold on the dial softens the reflection, giving the face a very elegant appearance.

The clasp utilizes an ingenious design that allows for quick adjustment without the use of tools. The extension functions somewhat like a diver's extension, a tug on the bracelet with the clasp open will extend the length a slight bit, allowing for quick and convenient micro-adjustment that really comes in handy during temperature changes.

Here is the extension in its closed position.

I have to thank my loving father for such a wonderful gift. This is a watch that I will cherish.

Introducing the Seiko 6M26 Multifunction Quartz

2005-04-25T03:23:00.000-06:00

Here is a simple little dress watch styled after the much beloved Grand Seiko line, with long, polished indices and classy dauphine hands on an elegantly simple dial. The only things that betray the simple appearance of this timepiece are the two pushers protruding from the left side of the case.

This is the Seiko Auto-Calendar which was a Japan only model equipped with a fascinating quartz calibre 6M26. Loaded with features, this three hand watch has the features of a 1/10th second chronograph with split time, a countdown timer, automatic-calendar and alarm. The functions of the watch are directed via the setting crown and the window to the left of the date displays its mode. To switch modes, one simply needs to rotate the crown.

TIME SETTING
Setting the time is extremely easy with this piece because when the crown is pulled out during TIME mode, the second hand flies back to the zero position and one push on the top pusher will advance the minute hand in one minute increments. The lower pusher advances the hour hand. The fact that the second hand zeroes makes it very easy to synchronize the time. I am beginning to think that all watches should have this feature.

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ALARM SET
Shown below is the watch in alarm setting mode, and currently it indicates that the alarm is set to 10:30. When the mode is switched, the hands will quickly rotate to the appropriate positions. The top pusher advances the minute hand and the bottom one advances the hour to set the alarm time. Afterwards, simply rotate the crown to the “Alarm” mode to turn on the alarm.

CHRONOGRAPH

In Chronograph mode, all the hands converge at 12, moving smoothly from their original positions. In this mode, the second hand becomes the 1/10 second indicator, the minute becomes the second indicator and the hour hand turns into the minute indicator.

What makes the chronograph mode so fascinating is how the 1/10 second hand races to the10 second position and jumps back to the 12o’clock position every second for the first minute. After the first minute passes, the 1/10th second hand rests at the 12 position until the chronograph is stopped whereby it will jump to the appropriate 1/10 second. This is probably a battery saving feature.

Below, the chronograph has been stopped and it indicates an elapsed time of 33 and 8/10 of a second (the photograph’s angle may obscure the indicator).

TIMER

In the timer mode, all hands converge at 12 once again and to set the time for countdown, simply depress the lower pusher and the minute hand will advance until it reaches your desired time. In the picture below, it shows that the timer was set to 10 minutes for countdown and was started 7 seconds ago. Simply press the top pusher to activate the timer. The second hand and minute hand actually move counter-clockwise to count down the timer.

DATE

The “Date” mode indicates the month. As can be seen below, the hands converge at 4, indicating the month of April. To set the date and month, simply pull out the crown and the top pusher will advance the month and the bottom one will advance the date. Because the watch acknowledges the month, you only need to set the date once every leap year to correct for date errors.

The solid link bracelet is quite nice, but the folded end link has a tendency to rattle a bit and they never seem to hold the bracelet quite in its place. The watch is very light and comfortable. The case measures 37mm in diameter and the watch itself is styled similarly to the Grand Seiko/King Seiko line. The 6M26 movement has not been produced for a while and seems as if it has been discontinued. I don’t know much about this movement or its history, but it seems that it has been around since the late 80’s or early 90’s.

In addition to all the aforementioned convenient functions, there is also a demo mode. Simply depress both top and bottom pushers and hold them for a couple of seconds in the “Alarm” mode and a chime will sound. Do the same in “Time” mode and the hands start dancing, it is certainly interesting to watch!

The Seiko Auto-Calendar is a fascinating watch and its ability to do so much with only three hands is very creative and entertaining.

Rolex Submariner shot

2005-03-14T12:49:00.000-06:00

Here's a Rolex Submariner shot I took 2 years ago, it is still the watch I wear most often.