Titoni once again

Titoni the ordinary Cosmo King

I have a serious infatuation with Titoni Cosmo King. I think the watch is beautiful in every single aspect. This is a vintage Cosmo King using the ETA 2834-2 movement and has an acrylic glass. What is so special about this watch is its dial. It is nicely decorated with rubies and cubic zirconias. Every bit of this watch is original. 

Titoni Automatic Chronograph

Titoni Valjoux 7750 Chronograph

This is one of rare form of Titoni. Titioni does not come up with many automatic chronograph or multifunctions watches. During the old days, Titoni put more emphasis on Asia market and targeted the middle working class. This watch is like the masterpiece during its time; the prime specimen of Titoni watches industry. 

This watch I bought it from ebay Philippines at a cost of USD490. This is a two tones watches with white dial and gold markers. The hands are gold in colour. It has 3 white sub-dials encircled with gold rings and black sub-hands. The case is made of stainless steel with a measurement of approximately 38mm x 44mm without crown. The crown is gold in colour and has a unique design like the crown of Breitling Chronomat that looks somewhat like a turbine engine. This watch come standard with a dome shaped sapphire crystal and withstand water pressure until 3 atm. 

This watch has a screw in back case that is signed. From the back case, I just learned that this model is 93-988. I am guessing this is a 1993 Titoni production; from the same era of Titoni Cosmo 2000 and Cosmo 3000 multifunctions watches. I happened to have an old Titoni catalogue from early 1990's showing the same watch. True enough this is a Cosmo 2000 model with reference number 93988 SY-026 with recommended selling price at Singapore dollar $1830.00 in Titoni price list 1996. 

I somewhat do not like the design of the half tone stainless steel bracelet. I think it is ugly in a sense and is not too comfortable for wear. This bracelet uses the butterfly clasp to open. One of the main attraction of this watch is its movement. A movement that no need introduction anymore as it is widely used by so many distinctive watches like Chronoswiss, Breitling, Omega, Tag Heuer.... It is basically a 25 jewels automatic chronograph movement with quickset day and date. 

This outstanding creation embodies the full measure of Titoni;s watchmaking craftmanship. The rugged look of the Cosmo 2000 marks it out as a spotswatch and meets the requirements imposed by today's dynamic life-style. The superbly finished dials further enhances the prestigious look of this attractive timepiece. 

Seiko 130th Anniversary

Seiko 130th Anniversary~World Time

This is from a series of four watches of Seiko 5 Sports 130th annivesary Limited Edition. Seiko 5 are entry level economic mechanical watches. The only one I have is the World Time (model number SPR132).

The watch is powered by the new 24 jewels 4R36 automatic movement with hacking and handwinding features. This watch is with stainless steel case coated with PVD. The beauty of this watch is with the world time bezel that is gold coloured.  

The hands are bold with LumiBrite for great visibility. This watch is water resistant to 10bars (100m) and is equipped with sapphire crystal. The bracelet is also stainless steel with pvd coating and with three folds clasp with push button release. The 4R36 engine is visible through the screw see through back case.

Seiko diver 6105-8009

Seiko vintage diver 6105-8009

This year has been particularly lazy with writing the Watchopenia blog... Like what people say, not everyday is Spring time... but for those in winter, the spring would not be too far also.... When I was feeling down and felt summerse in deep water that I remembered apart from Grand Seiko and vintage seiko, I do have a humble collection of seiko divers. Seiko divers are great watch and really values for money. They are durable, solid and reliable time pieces.

6105 is the second generation of Seiko divers produced from 1968-1977. There are 2 series of Seiko divers using the calibre 6105: The early symmetrical cushion cases using cal.6105A (6105-8000 and 6105-8009) and the later large asymmetrical cushion  cases using cal.6105B (6105-8110 and 6105-8119). 8000 and 8009 or 8110 and 8119 are the same watch and same model; Seiko uses the o and the 9 to differentiate the marketing zones.  All 6105 divers are waterproofed to  150m.  Cal 6105 movements are 17 jewels automatic with quickset date. Some have hacking property and are beating at 21,600bph. This is purely self winding watches and cannot be wound manually. 

I have 2 units of 6105-8009. Both are restored to the best condition possible using original parts. The same model as Mr. Naomi Uemura used it for the Arctic Ocean expedition. I have one in original Seiko rubber band and another in Seiko stainless steel jubilee bracelet. The case is made of stainless steel with a bi-directional bezel. 6105-8110 and 6105-8119 shares the same turtle case with 6309-7040. That is why I prefer the earlier version, the 800x. The crown of 6105 is with the turn and lock mechanism and unlike Rolex or newer Seiko diver with the screw down crown. The crown of 6105 is signed with an arrow and the word lock. Most Seiko divers do not have a signed crown. 

Buying a Seiko diver is an investment also. During the 1970's one of this 6105 was estimated to be less than USD50.00. Today one of this classic in mint condition can easily hit the USD600 mark. I have never worn this watch merely it is just too heavy for my wrist. But to be honest, it is a huge watch and really attention seeking piece of jewellery. 

In the movie Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen wears the classic asymmetrical 6105-8110/8119 diver on one of the rarer strap options available for this watch: (taken from http://forums.watchuseek.com/f281/seiko-movies-207229.html)

My Another Valjoux 72: Lecoultre 14K bezel

Lecoultre (Jaeger-Lecoultre) E2645 Chronograph

Saw one of these used in ebay asking for USD 2999.... which encourage me to write this post. After converting my first valjoux 72 watch into an educational piece of Rolex Daytona Paul Newman 6263, I bought this from US as an original full blood Valjoux 72 watch. 

Valjoux 72 is one of the best hand wound movements ever made. It was used in so many famous watches including Heuer, Rolex, Longines, Enicar, Wittnaeur, Breitling etc....   Valjoux 72 is a sturdy and robust movement and its mere presence in watches makes those watches highly sought after commodities. That is why the price will never be cheap for this 17 jewels mechanical movement watches.  

This watch is of all original except the leather band. The stainless steel case is in good condition and is Lecoultre signed at the back of the case back. The measurement for the case without the crown is 37.2mm. Rather than having a tachymeter or 24 hours bezel, this chronograph is equipped with a 14K solid gold fluted bezel. In fact, the bezel looks identical to Rolex oyster bezel.....  The dial and the hands are in factory mint form. The silver blue dial with three gold sub-dials give the watch a distinctive look. The red stop second hand makes the watch sporty and very eyes catching. 

The watch is quite thick in a sense.... this is definitely a luxurious vintage sport watch.

Another GS 6146: Grand Seiko 6146-8050

Grand Seiko 6146-8050

The contemporary Grand Seiko logo above reflects Seiko's attention to perfection and precision. Seiko chose the majestic lion as their emblem is an ambitious declaration of Seiko wanting to be the No 1 in watches industry. My apology, kind of carrying away by Grand Seiko 50th anniversary emblem. 

I have written about GS 6146 one or two years back. This is another variant of GS 6146 with a different casing.  It has been out of my sight and out of my mind.... but is a very important bit of my Grand Seiko collection.

This model was made during late 1960's and early 1970's. This watch was traced to be coming out of Seiko factory in 1972. I managed to grab hold of this watch from Philippines. What is unique with this unit of Grand Seiko is its faceted crystal. Another interesting bit is the fact that most vintage Grand Seiko has a white or silver dial, this one is with a black grey original dial. This watch is in mint condition with the original GS signed crown and the gold GS emblem at the back intact. The only disappointment is the buckle and the bracelet is belonging to normal Seiko. It will be a uphill battle to find an original GS metal bracelet. 

Seiko 6R15

This is my first Seiko with the newer 6R15 automatic movement. I bought this as a second hand from a friend's shop. The deal was sealed at 10pm with half the normal retail price for a brand new 6R15. 6R15 movement is used in a lot of Seiko model... these include Alpinist, Landmaster, Marinemaster, Seiko Scuba diver, Seiko Premier, Spirit, etc. 

I view the 6R15 as a higher grade Seiko 5 engine (7S26, 7S36)... in fact looking at some reviews, the block of 6R15 is virtually identical to 7S26 with few modifications. 6R15 movement is a 23 jewels automatic movement with hacking ability. It can also be hand winded and with an accuracy of +25/-15 seconds per day. The power reserve is an impressive 50 hours.

This watch has a clean beautiful look. It is simple and classic. This watch is proudly declared as Made in Japan... but with globalisation and the rise of China as economic super power... I do have my reserves. The dial is white with distinctive Arabic numeric which makes time telling quite effortless. What I don't like is the wording "Diashock 23 Jewels", it really spoils what is a beautiful dial. The case is stainless steel with sapphire glass.

At the back is a Hardlex crystal that enable us to view the semi polished 6R15 movement. The watch is water resistant to 10ATM. The crown of this watch is slightly large and very easy to wind. There is a huge "S" on the crown symbolised Seiko.