Titoni Cosmo King: The Spirit of Rocky Balboa

Initially going to name this post "Kiss Me Under the Thousand Stars", but after watching Rocky Balboa on the satellite TV, I decided to name it "The Spirit of Rocky Balboa".

This watch was in very bad shaped. Kind of getting conned by eBay Hong Kong seller. The case and the bezel were broken. The crown was aftermarket.... So practically only the movement, the dial and the bracelet can be salvaged. This watch has suffered one hell of a beating. Read Here!

You see I refused to let this watch goes. I depleted every mean to restore it. Failed miserably several times and wasted couples of hard earned Benjamin. With the undying spirit of Rocky Balboa, finally it is presentable again. 

Have to give thanks to TaoBao. I managed to get an aftermarket Titoni case and rim from TaoBao. You can source virtually anything from the internet if you know what you are looking for, where you are looking for and some sheer lucks as well.......

Well surfing at TaoBao, you see replacement cases for basically all the famous brands..... Audemars Piguet, Patek Philipe, Rolex, Tudor, Panerai etc etc... The sky, the limit.... Not a bad place for those who loves to modifying their watches or just simply starting a project watch. 

Photos speak a thousand words. Just a footnote, the bracelet is original Titoni. Please don't expect the replacement case to be anywhere near the original but it is a good bargain.......

Resurrection of The King: Race King

What COVID-19 does?

For years, medical experts has warned of the coming of a pandemic. Something that has the scale of the 14th Century's Black Plague or the more recent Spanish Flu. We has been anticipating it from Ebola, SARS, MERS.... but it took COVID-19 to shatter the daily life that we were so comfortable with. 

Malaysia is not spared from the Pandemic. Government has no choice but to announce curfews in the form of MCO (Movement Control Order 2020) or PKP in Malay language (Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan) on 18th March 2020. Well, is basically a locked down. All industries and activities ceased apart from those daily necessities. The operating time for Groceries shops, Pharmacies, Clinics were restricted from 7 am-7 pm. After 7 pm, all should remain at home. Ya, basically a house arrest. Flights in and out were restricted as well. What was once a busy airport becomes somewhat deserted. Everything standstill.... pretty much like those zombie and apocalypse movies. 

One of the main road in my town... usually jam, and yet here I am the only vehicle on the road.

First night of MCO at my neighbourhood eatery.... Usually crowded with people.....

The ever busy airport..... Ghostly......

During the MCO period, my watchmaker friend finally had time to repair my watches. This Race King has been on his work bench since the day dinosaurs ruled the Earth. 

Can't blame him for his laziness. Is a big and massive surgery after-all. Apart from the internal transplant, he had to do plastic surgery to this legendary watch. One of the biggest obstacle was to customise chronograph pusher buttons. This watch came as an in-completed parts from eBay India.

We have tried to rebuild this watch to as original as possible. However parts are scarce..... Here is the outcome..... I believe a picture tells a thousand words......

What made Race King so very famous is the fact that it used the same mechanism as The Legendary Rolex Daytona Paul Newman...... 

 

Below is the pictures that I found on ebay of a prime Race King for sale.... 

It has been a crazy year.... somewhat depressing...... I forever thankful for my watchmaker friend to somewhat give me that extra positive energy to carry on and to survive...... Let's all survive 2020 and beyond and to Fight and Win over this COVID-19......