Affordable Luxury Watch: Casio A159WAD-1

Proposing using a diamond; in this case two diamonds....

Diamonds are forever....... a symbol of everlasting love; A vow of for better, for worse... until death do us apart is incomplete without a sparkling diamond ring. This is not about any engagement ring; it is about probably the cheapest diamonds watch around. 

Yes, two natural genuine non-conflict diamonds on a digital quartz watch. Is a Casio alright..... But not the infamous G-Shock or the MT-G, but the cult status Casio A159. 

Casio A159 is the stainless steel edition of the Casio F-91W. The F-91W is the highly popular Casio standard digital watch. The original F-91W was introduced in 1991 and is still in production and of high demand. It is popular for its simplicity, reliability, functionality, and unpretentious, clean design. Below is how a stock or common A159 look like.....

For a limited time and a single batch production, Casio is coming out with these diamonds enhanced A159. There are four variants; two steels and two golds; one for the men and one for the youth or female. 

After learning about these Casio from social media, I pressed my order through a local Casio Authorised dealer. Within a week or so, the stock finally arrived.  I bagged mine for less than USD 40 and the watch is only retailing at RM 190++ in Malaysia. This is really affordable pricing for a diamond watch. 

The watch comes in an unassuming white paper box.....

With some Japanese words and Casio printed. What it stated is that the paper cupboard is from recycled material and the plastic watch case is also from recycled PE material. 

Casio A159WAD-1 differed from normal A159 in two ways: -

1) Its dial. A159WAD-1 has a much simple black dial with less writing than normal dial. It has one genuine diamond on top and one at the bottom of the dial. Casio has stressed that the diamonds have been purchased in compliance with the United Nations resolutions, from legitimate sources that are not involved in the funding of conflict or war. No synthetic diamonds are used. The diamonds are the star of these watches. The shinning diamonds on its black dial give it a luxurious appeal.

2) Rather than flat resin glass, A159WAD-1 features a cut, multi-faceted resin glass. This gives an addition of class and elegance for a somewhat modest digital watch. 

Casio also cannot emphasize enough that A159WAD-1 is Made in Japan. 

This watch is measuring at 36.8×33.2×9.7mm and has a total weight of 45gm. 

The only dissatisfaction I have with this watch is its case. A159W case is chrome plated. It would be nice if Casio uses mash polished stainless steel case for this watch. That would blend more well with the stainless steel bracelet. 

The stainless steel band for this watch is of insignificant weight and provides quite a comfy wear.  It is equipped with an adjustable clasp that ensures a secure and tight fit. 

The clasp is signed with CASIO and has a hologram sticker to declare its authenticity. 

The A159WAD-1 has a ​1⁄100 second stopwatch with a count up to 59:59.99 (nearly one hour). Marking net and split time (lap) is also featured. There are the options of an hourly time beep and a single daily alarm lasting 20 seconds. It has an automatic calendar, although auto-adjustment for leap years is not supported. So you can only see 28 on February.

The watch is controlled by three push-buttons. The upper left button turns on the LED light, cancels the alarm, resets the stopwatch or marks the split (lap) time, and is used for selecting settings. The lower left button cycles the modes of the watch: time display, alarm, stopwatch, and time/date adjustment. The button on the right is the function button: when used it starts and stops the stopwatch, changes the settings currently being adjusted, or switches between the 12- and 24-hour modes.

This watch offers excellent time keeping as Casio stated an accuracy of ±30 seconds per month. 

The watch is powered by a single CR2016 3-volt lithium button cell, which lasts at least seven years. However it is not uncommon for the batter to last 10 years or more.....

The stainless steel case back of this watch is secured using 4 screws. This watch is water resistant and means for everyday use. The watch is worn all over the world. Its good design, high durability, low price and user friendly simplicity all contribute to this phenomenon. By any rights, this watch is a classic masterpiece.

For those who is going to propose to your loved one; maybe instead of a diamond ring, you can opt for a diamond watch..... and it won't break your bank or wallet. If she really loves and cares for you, she will accept it wholeheartedly. 

Disclaimer: If your girlfriend rejects your proposal or goes bizarre and throws the Casio at you....... Please do not sue me..........

Tissot Chemin Des Tourelles Squelette T099.405.16.418.00

It's a Skeleton; It's a Mechanical; It's a Tissot

Beautiful isn't it? Complexity and Simplicity collided into a single body......  That is my impression on Tissot Chemin Des Tourelles Squelette; that is quite a mouthful..... I would just call it Tissot Skeleton. 

Saw this watch at the second hand section of a friend's shop. Apparently, it belonged to a guy who just broke off with his girl friend. He sold off all his belongings and moved on to other part of the universe.... Pretty devastating, pretty tragic..... My guess is the girl friend dumped him... I was dumped numerous times; yea pretty drastic, bloody irrational at the time.... Time never healed the wounds or the sorrows, it just make you forget with traumatic dementia! 

Maybe looking at the watch would remind him of the time they shared together.... every single moment that matters.... It no longer matters to her.... and to him, just maybe not able to love her every single second for the rest of her life........ It becomes just too painful, that he needed to get rid of this precious mechanical marvel. 

This watch is barely a year old, so everything is as new. The outer box is in flawless state....

Here the inner box and the waranty and manual booklet. 

The red and black colour combo makes it a very intriguing watch box.

Open the box, you see a nice mechanical art slumber on the white pillow. 

Be honest about it.... Under normal circumstances, skeleton watches are not really my cup of tea. You need to focus your eye lens real hard to read the time. All the gears, the screws, the jewels, the bridges, the moving wheels, the springs.... the non-existing dial is basically a kaleidoscope!

With the current trend of people fancying BIG watch, this 42.9mm diameter watch is considering moderate sized. The case is constructed using 316L Stainless Steel. 

Its case thickness is measuring at 11.1mm. The watch comes with dome shaped anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal.

This watch is pretty light; it is about 72gm. From the literature, it has a water resistant of up to 50m/165ft/5bar. Who in the right mind would shower with a casual dress watch? 

Tissot did a great job of Perlage (circular graining) finishing parts of the movement to make the watch more high class. The use of blue hands and blue roman indexes making telling time a bit easier. 

There is a Seconds sub-dial at the 9 o'clock position. I am not particularly fond of the crown of this watch. For me, it is slightly too slim despite being big enough. For a mechanical watch, the crown is very very important as you need to wind the watch. 

Also I think Tissot is too conservative in designing this crown. Since you want it to be an art piece and portraits your watch-making skills, what prevents you to be adventurous in designing the crown? But then again, Tissot is all about practicality and functionality.......  

The front and the rear of the case has the mirror finishing. The sides are brushed finish. 

One of the reason I coughed up money for this watch is because of the movement. This watch used the hand wound ETA 6497-1. Yes the very same movement that used by Panerai......

This 17 jewels movement has about 46 hours of power reserve and is vibrating at the rate of 18,800 per hour. 

The back case is a see through view all type. Tissot decorated the movement with blue screws to enhance its appearance.

This watch is supplied with a black calf leather strap. The strap is opened and closed using a push buttons deployment buckle. The buckle is signed with a big T representing Tissot. 

The art of watchmaking is truly portrayed through skeleton watches. Every components and every mechanical works are visible through naked eyes.   

The beauty of this watch lies in the revelation of its works, with further rich details demonstrating Tissot's 160 years of watchmaking legacy.

When I was young, I thought winding of watch is a tedious thing.... I preferred the watch that need little attentions and would work anytime.....

Now each morning as I wake up.... I start gently winding the watch and observing that it is working, that is a pleasure and a passion......