Rolex 16570 Explorer II

Rolex Explorer II ref: 16570 F series

Someone asked me "How come you have a number of Rolex watches but you never write a review on any of them?" This is because Rolex is such famous watches with so many reviews on forums, magazines, and with so many truly experts.

I break my silence for a dear friend, who is looking for a new 16570. It will be a birthday present for the father. Being real honest, I always think that Rolex watches are overpriced. No doubt, Rolex watches has superb quality and built; it will serve you for ages provided you take a good care of it; It is accurate and you can easily sell it off in time of emergency.

Explorer II is a truly timeless classic. It has been in production since 1971 with reference no 1655, 16550, 16570 and the newly launched 216570. Among all, the most famous one will be the Steve McQueen 1655 with the orange hand. The below is just a picture I downloaded from a forum, a watch like SM 1655 is out of my league.

Explorer II lives up to its name which emphasized on sport and adventure endeavored. It gives you an image of toughness and sophistication. Below are some advertisement on Explorer II; see for yourself what Rolex has to say on this watch.

Throughout ages the Explorer II is 40mm in case size. Only the latest model 216570 increased by 2mm. The solid 904L stainless steel Oyster case has crown guards just high enough to engulf the Twinlock crown. The Explorer II is waterproofed to 100m. There is also a fixed 24 hours engraved bezel and sapphire glass.

Like most of the Rolex watches, Explorer II deployed Rolex own in house movement of 1575, 3085, 3185/3186 and the latest 3187 (for 216570). Time has proven the reliability of the 31 jewels Rolex 3185 movement. This high beat 28,800bph has a power reserve of 48 hours. 3185 movement which enables the user to move the small 24 hours hand independently - an important convenience when travelling from one time zone to another. The 24 hours hand is painted red and is always easy to read. The date of 16570 is considered quick set as one can alter the date by moving the 24 hours hand clockwise. The watch comes with oyster bracelet with a double deployment oysterlock. The bracelet is very comfortable to wear on the wrist. 

All Rolex sports model watches are superb and can function normally even under extreme environment. If you want an adventurous watch that can be used as a dress watch, Explorer II will be high on your list. 

If I ever have the chance, I would love to have one of the 216570 in white dial... look at it, isn't she a beauty...... Damn, you can never have enough of ROLEX.

Another GS masterpiece; Grand Seiko SBGR019; 9S55-0050

This is the watch that appeared in so many watch magazines during the early 2000's. It is one of the most detailed watch among the Grand Seiko family of that era.  This is a full stainless steel watch characterised by its hexagon shaped bezel and crown. What sparked my interest in this watch is the oversized, highly polished arabic numbers six and twelve. My this particular GS was produced in 2001.

All the newer GS came with a dual curved sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating. This make the watch seems like without the glass. Worth mentioning is the dial on this watch... it looked black on this photo, but it has a carbon mesh patterned dial. The indexes and the hands are brushed and highly polished to make them easily visible even under very dime light.

Seiko affection to detail is just simply stunning. Just by appreciating the beauty of the crown, you will know what I meant. The crown is screwed in type and this watch has a water resistant of 20 bars. The four holes at the bracelet lugs remind me of older days Rolex.

The caseback is simply exceptional... The Lion engraving is my all time favourite. The Lion used to symbolise the status of Seiko Chronometer during the early 60's. Now Seiko declared its own in-house GS standard which is even more stringent than Chronometer testing. SBGR019 is powered with a 26 jewels automatic 9S55 movement that can be manually winded. 9S55 has an accuracy of  -3 to +5 sec per day.  

The bracelet on this watch is one of its kind... it is incredibly complex in a sense. In fact, per link of the bracelet is consist of 7 parts. Well, personally I am not a great admirer of this bracelet. I think a simple one will put more emphasis on this spectacular watch. This bracelet has a 3 fold clasp with push release button that ensure the watch holds ergonomically onto our wrist.

 This watch comes with the original Grand Seiko box which is a dark blue velvet box with the gold GS wording and lion symbol printed. What a shame, this watch is without its papers. Well life ain't perfect... we just have to make the best up of it and enjoy it. 

Credor: The Pinnacle of Japanese Watch Industry

My personal perception of Credor

Credor is a brand that Seiko created to compete with the very best of European watches i.e. Patek Phillipe, Vacheron Constantin, Alange Sohne, etc. Grand Seiko, on the other hand, is targeting the vast market that enjoyed by Rolex, and Omega. Credor put more effort in decorating and beautification process, while Grand Seiko concentrates on its accuracy and tough built. 

History of the Credor 

In 1969, Seiko wanted to design a specially selected wrist watch series, one that was high end and made of precious metals (14/18K gold or platinum). In 1974, the series was grouped and named "SEIKO KUREDORU” ( SEIKO CRET DOR ). “ CRET D'OR “ means " the golden top” in French. The symbol of Credor is derived from the chinese word "Mountain" and symbolise the aim of reaching the summit and touches the cloud and the heaven. 

In 1978 the Credor was introduced as a high end quartz, made of gold or platinum. Not until 1996 was it introduced as a mechanical. Along with the 6S auto movement, the 4S and 8L series movements were used in the Credor mechanical line. 

Credor Phoneix Chronograph Ref: 6S78-0A30

This is my first piece of Credor. This watch was manufactured in 1999. Phoenix symbolizes "The bird that never dies". Seiko has so much confidence in this watch, which is expected to last forever. Mine is the stainless steel edition, there is also one with titanium casing. Looking at the watch, it is built with exceptional qualities and details. The casing is well polished and the watch has an anti-reflective sapphire dome crystal. 

It also has screw down crown. At the tip of the crown, is a precious stone of dark blue to black colour. I would suspect it is sapphire, but some say it's Azura stone. My Phoenix chronograph has a silver white dials with great details. The sub-dials are all surrounded with highly polished rings. The date window is with up-lied silver frame to make it easier to see. The stopper watch hand was painted red to make the dial more attractive. The best part of its look is the case back; which has a very fine engraving of a phoenix.

The heart of this chronograph is 6S78 movement which is a 34 jewels automatic chronograph with date function. This movement has an amplitude of 28800 bph; it hacks and can be manual winded. 6S78 movement is keeping great time.

At 7.2mm thick and 28.4mm in diameter it is a robust movement. The 6S78 movement is finished with brushing on the plates and colimaconnage (“pattern of radiating lines”) on the rotors, and the manual-winding is finished with Tokyo Stripes. The whole movement is gold-plated to give it a more stunning look. 

In conclusion, this Credor Phoenix Chronograph is money worth paying for and it certainly is in the class to compete with the best of the best. 

Breitling Chrono Avenger

Haven't been writing in this blog for ages.... just too much thing to do lately... Anyhow introducing my very first Breitling... I always think Breitling watches are big, bulky, heavy... and you can use it as a brick to throw at your enemy.... an expensive brick indeed!

One afternoon my watchmaker friend emailed and offered this watch to me... After browsing through the net and found that in the movie Blood Diamond, Leonardo DiCarpio wears the same watch, the breitling E13360 Chrono Avenger.

 This watch is made of Grade 2 Titanium with 44mm case. It is much lighter than those stainless steel counterparts. The Chrono Avenger has a black dial that sometime looks blue due to the reflection of the anti-reflective coating of the dome curved sapphire glass. Breitling is re-known as a pilot's watch or instrument so the glass enables easy reading of time at any angle.

The Chrono Avenger is from the Aeromarine series and as such has a water resistance rating of 300meters. This mean you can scuba diving with this watch. This watch is powered by Breitling B13 movement which is based on the famous ETA 7750 chronograph movement. B13 is running at 28,800 vph and has 25 jewels and with a power reserve of minimum 42 hours. This movement is certified by COSC as chronometer. 

The watch comes with boxes and papers... and it has titanium bracelet with all the spare links... This is an adventurous rugged watch for outdoor activities. 

Pronto

Pronto ~ Another Rolex look alike 

This is another watch in my collection that has the Rolex oyster look. I bought this watch from Hong Kong. It comes in stainless steel case and bracelet. Bezel and crown are gold plated. The watch is water resistant and is using 25 jewels Swiss movement ETA 2834-2 with quickset day-date. This watch is equipped with scratchproof sapphire crystal. At the bottom of the dial it stated "Swiss Made"; I do have my reserve on this. Anyhow, it is a fine watch with a reliable movement and I am always sentimental with these type of watches. 

My new toys

These watches were bought brand new and never wore before....

Titoni Airmaster Pilot
This is a 25 jewels ETA 2824-2 automatic watch with a power reserve of 38 hours. The main characteristics of this watch is its highly luminous hour and minute hands and an upward arrow at 12 o'clock position. This watch is equipped with sapphire crystal and is water resistance to 50m depth.

Titoni Cosmo King Diver
This is a mid sized diver.... has a sporty and rugged look and with water resistant of 200m... Using the same movement as the Pilot above, it also has sapphire crystal, highly luminous hour indexes and hands, single direction rotating bezel and screw down crown. Actually it has some similarity with the Rolex Yatchmaster...

Rado Diastar The Original
This has been all time classic and an icon... With scratchproof sapphire glass and scratchproof case... this rado will look like new even after 20 years. I have another stainless steel Rado diastar original that I bought back in 1993 and is still going strong without ever go to a watch repairer.... Sadly the price has triple for the same model over the years.... For those who are looking for an entry level automatic watch that will not hurt your wallet... I will highly recommend this watch...

Bulova Chronoprecision

Few months back I was sharing about my Bulova Chronometer...... I was murmuring about searching for another Bulova with similar dial.... With the help of an Indonesian friend, I manage to get this one.... Amazingly the watch is in new condition....

This is a Rolex look alike Bulova... The dial, the bezel, the case back and even the bracelet is similar or identical to Rolex.... This watch comes with sapphire crystal as well...

The beauty of the watch falls on the dial which with the wording

"Bulova

Chronoprecision

Day-Date

Official Certificate

Sapphire Crystal"

It was arrange in such a way that it mimics the wording of Rolex Oyster....