Casio PRW- 5100: A New Arrival

I have been very busy at work and also with my rediscovered passion for cycling so not much time to write on this blog.

I recently acquired a PRW-5100.

This is the Japan only PRW-5100G-4.

I will post a more detailed review later, but the first thing I did was to take off the Casio Strap and swap to a Seiko Z22 Rubber Strap (with careful cuts to the strap to make it fit):

DOXA TUSA and Seiko SRP043K2

I have been silent for a while because I have been busy with this thing called "Work." Go figure.

I received two new divers in one week.

The first one I received was a Seiko SRP043K2. This Seiko is phenomenal IMHO. Runs within COSC specs, excellent looks, great visibility. The flat caseback makes it a joy to wear. The AR coating is very well done. The only thing it needs is a sapphire crystal. It is worth all of $289 I paid for it.

The second one is a 2008 DOXA SUB1000T TUSA (Limited Edition of 100). I just got this today via a trade. I have to say, I also like this one too. It's a bit small especially when compared to the Seiko, but classic looks, excellent lume and the bracelet is awesome. This is my first DOXA but it will not be the last.


Enjoy the comparison picture:

A Classic Diver: Seiko SBCM023 200m Perpetual Calendar Quartz

Omega X-33 Prices Out of this World

A while ago, I wrote an article about the Omega X-33 prices. You can find that article here. I have been watching the prices for these discontinued timepieces on both Ebay and also several watch forums. The prices are generally trending up.

I just saw this one sell on Watch-U-Seek for around $2200. This is for a sample with excellent documentation, but no titanium bracelet. So here is my reality check pricing estimates for the X-33:

1. Gen-1 X33, excellent condition, with boxes and papers, $2000-2500. Expect to pay more for a watch with the titanium bracelet versus the not-so-durable Omega kevlar.
2. Gen-2 X33, excellent condition, with boxes and papers, $2500+. Again, expect to pay more for a watch with the titanium bracelet.
3. For watches in good condition, I expect to see samples around $1700-$2000.
4. In 2007, you could find used/worn examples for around $1000 on Ebay. Not anymore, even well worn examples are going for $1400 or so.

Things to watch out for.
1) Crown is known to collapse in the Gen 1 watches.
2) Backlight goes out

Either of these defects will require service by Omega.


Happy Hunting.

Review: Highgear Altis Titanium, my new favorite ABC Watch

I recently received a Highgear Altis Titanium as a gift. I had also purchased an Altis Stainless Steel for myself and ended up keeping the Titanium as it was much lighter and more comfortable to wear.

The strap sits great on the wrist. The watch is very legible and the display is highly customizable. The barometer trend graph is much more useful than my Casio PAW1500 and the readings seem to be very consistent with my local airport. Size-wise, the head is a bit large but due to the lightweight titanium material, no issues with weight. The stainless steel version was a bit top-heavy.

My picks with this watch: lack of a sapphire crystal and countdown timer. I can sort of understand the lack of the sapphire crystal due to the price point, but the countdown timer is a brain-dead omission since the cousin of this watch from St Moritz seems to have this feature AND a sapphire crystal at a relatively similar price point.

Timex Solar Shock -- 1 Year Accuracy Update

This is the first anniversary for my Timex Solar Shock.

I have to say, I am more than impressed with the accuracy of this watch.

After one year, it is only seven seconds (+6 + 1 leap second adjustment) off the official US clock at time.gov.

For $70, it seems like a very good buy.

The detailed review is here:


http://timereport.blogspot.com/2008/04/timex-solar-shock-ironman-50-lap.html

Citizen Promaster Sky Accuracy Update

So far the Promaster Sky is running about 0.1 seconds per day. Not bad for a quartz.
I was hoping for better accuracy, but happy with what I have seen so far.

Review: Citizen Promaster Sky Navihawk PMK65-2211 & PMK65-2212

This is my newest Citizen. Japan only Citizen Promaster Sky (PMK65-2211). Titanium case and band with Duratect coating, and a DLC bezel in a limited edition of 1000 per year. I believe this is due to the limited manufacturing numbers of the Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC) coated bezel.

There is also a version with an ordinary titanium bezel with the model number PMK65-2212.

The Box

I purchased the watch from an Ebay Japan seller. The seller was excellent and the watch was received in 4 days via USPS Express Mail delivery. The watch was triple boxed with a standard shipping box on the outside. When I opened that box, I saw a nicely done outer cardboard box and the owner's manual on top.



The inner box looked like this:


And finally, I saw my watch:




The yellow light that can seen is a reflection from my camera.

The owner's manual is in both English and Japanese. It is easy to read and readily understood.


The Case

Either model is fully coated with the Citizen proprietary Duratect coating. The case size listed at the Citizen website as 43 mm. The lug size is 20mm and the case has standard lugs which means you can use your favorite 20mm strap including a NATO strap. You can see the case, dial and the crystal here.

The lugs on the case are curved downward so that even if you have a small wrist, there should not be undue pressure on the wrist. The caseback (screwed down) is also made of titanium and coated with Duratect. In nearly a month of ownership, there are no scratches on any part of the case, bezel and bracelet. This coating definitely works. I wish my IWC GST Chronograph Titanium was also finished with this coating. In fact, I wish the caseback of my IWC did not stick out as much and the lugs were curved. But hey, that's another review. Getting back to the Citizen, despite the 43mm size, this watch wears no differently than my Rolex Explorer II on the wrist except it is lighter. It is not paper light, but it is about 1/2 the weight of the Rolex. The lugs and the case are beveled to be smooth and not to dig into the wrist. I wish my Kobold Soarway Diver had such a nicely smooth case, but I am sure Mr. Kobold has his reasons for why the edges of the lugs are razor-sharp. The bezel rotates smoothly (uni-directional) and has a lume dot that glows pretty much all night long at the 0 minutes position.

The case is completed by a SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL coated with anti-reflective coating on the inside. The sapphire crystal is domed and looks beatiful. I have no idea why Citizen only brings in mineral crystal versions of their world time watches to the US.

The Bracelet

The bracelet is also made of titanium, and tapers from 20 mm to roughly 18 mm at the clasp. The clasp is milled and not stamped, has a very solid feel and has the required safety foldover. The bracelet attaches to the clasp with spring bars that seem to be made out of titanium (at least the color matches the rest of the bracelet). Like the case, the bracelet has tapered and beveled edges which makes it comfortable to wear with no digging into the skin and no hair pulling. It is light but still feels substantial, overall quality is very high. In fact, I would go out and say that this bracelet would not feel out of place on a watch that costs $5000-10000. Coated with Duratect, there has been no scratching over a month of daily wearing.

My only pick is that is uses the pin and collar method of fastening and much like my Omega X-33, I could not adjust the bracelet myself and had to take it in to my watchmaker (yes, we are on a first name basis by now) to get it fixed. If you want to adjust it yourself, you will need an extra long pin punch and a press to insert it back. The supplied bracelet will fit up to an 8 inch wrist. My watchmaker took out two links to make it fit my 7 inch wrist. There are 3 micro adjustment wholes on the clasp for seasonal (too much Turkey this thanksgiving !!!) adjustments.

The Movement

This watch comes with the Citizen C651 caliber Eco-drive world time movement. This movement is very similar to the US specification C650 except all the annoying power saving features have been toned down. For example, the seconds hand will only stop after being in complete darkness for 30 minutes as opposed to the C650. The power reserve has not gone down from 3 bars during the last month. The dial has a nicely done golf ball texture and the solar panels underneath are not visible unless you know what to look for. The LCD display is easy to read especially when compared to my Skyhawk AT. The edges of the LCD display holes on the dial are coated with black which makes this dial more professional (and less pronounced) looking compared to the Skyhawk AT . The lack of the battery reserve subdial also means that the 24 hr clock and the UTC clock are easier to read since they are bigger.

The lume on the dial and the hands glows brightly all night long and once you get used to the blue green color, the brightness is similar to my Seiko Monster (orange dial). The hands are finished with a matte-white coating which presents nice contrast with the black dial and makes them easier to read.

Unlike the Skyhawk AT, the crown can be used without pulling it out one click. This is the way it should be. I have no idea why the Citizen design team changed this from C651 when they designed the Skyhawk AT.

The Citizen C650/1 are covered in many places on the web, so I will not discuss the functions in detail. In a summary, the movement has 3 alarms that can be set in any timezone (31 time zones), a functional timer, a chronograph and obviously a perpetual calendar. Additionally, I also use the diver bezel to time things. So you can be timing three things at the same time which I do use occasionally.

My only pick on this movement is that Citizen should bite the bullet and put the UTC hand with the main clock hands (like an Explorer II) and increase the size of the LCD display to be even more legible. Again, Citizen design team, if you let me, I can design a really usable professional watch line for you. No payment necessary, consider it volunteer work.

The Conclusion

Normally, every watch I own, I have things that I don't like, except maybe the Explorer II which has been through thick and thin with me and is about perfect. This watch joins my Explorer II as the only other watch in my collection where I have no reservations. Titanium so it is strong and lightweight. Duratect coated so it does not scratch easily. AR-coated sapphire crystal and a DLC bezel. I simply love this watch. Get one soon as I am sure Citizen will discontinue this timepiece once they exhaust their supply of C651 movements. At a bargain list price of 82000 Yen, it is too good to pass-up.

Timex Solar Shock Ironman 50 Lap

This watch is a Timex Solar Shock Ironman 50 Lap. Since the timex website does such a poor job of listing its features, I will cover them here:

1. Three separate time/date zones are accessible. These are cycled through by pressing the start/split button right underneath the dial of the watch. Each time zone is settable individually and completely arbitrarily. The helps in accommodating time zones such India or certain regions in Australia. The date also displays correctly such that if it is 18PM in CA, and GMT is programmed, it will show the correct date as well.
2. The main dial displays day, date, month as well as the time. Both AM (A) and PM (P) are indicated as well so there is no confusion.
3. The watch features a countdown timer with repeat or stop feature. This makes it easy to get an alarm set at a regular interval since it will keep repeating the countdown.
4. The watch features a 50 lap chronograph with recall feature. On the last lap, you have to hit start/split button after finishing the lap otherwise you do not get the final lap time.
5. There are three individually settable alarms. The best feature of the alarms is the ability to set them weekdays only, weekends only, or everyday. This is very cool indeed.
6. Timex says it is shock resistant to the same standard as the G-shocks (ISO standard). I did not verify this.
7. It has Indiglo which IMHO is not as good as the EL backlight of my Casio Pathfinders. It does the job however. This watch does not have automatic light activation which is the equivalent of AutoEL (which timex calls FLIX).
8. The bezel is made out of steel and appears to be very sturdy. The buttons are rubberized plastic. The paint on the START/SPLIT button is already starting to wear off.
9. The rubber strap is not replaceable by the user. The watch has to go in to Timex to get the strap replaced. The cost is $10.00.
10. Solar charge function seems to work well. I have never seen it drop past FULL since the first time I charged it.
11. There is an annoying delay when one changes the mode of the watch. It takes the watch about a second before it accepts a command (such as START timing).
12. Accuracy: The watch has lost 2 seconds in 22 days.
    

The verdict: At a price (from a nearby clothing store) of $70, this watch is a good buy. I have two picks with it: the strap should be user replaceable and the annoying delay between modes should be done away with.

Skyhawk AT Software Update Performed

I received my watch back from Citizen of America about 10 days after I sent it.
Watch looks as good as new and the only mark indicating that the service is performed is a dot on the case back (engraved) before the serial number.

Kudos to Citizen of America for taking a proactive stance in fixing this problem.

Skyhawk AT Software Update

It looks like there is a service action for the Skyhawk AT both in US and Japan. The problem is that the perpetual calendar will not update correctly after the year 2010.

Citizen is performing a software update to fix the problem. I sent my watch in after contacting them and verifying that it is indeed affect by this recall.

You can find more details at:

1) http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=128979
2) http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=128476
3) http://seiyajapan.com
4) http://static.zoovy.com/img/kseiya/-/sozai/rfn_new

If your watch serial number starts with 8xxxx or it has an RFN stamped next to the 7xxxx serial number then your watch is not affected.

In Japan, you can email citizen using this link.

In the US, I email them using CustomerService_US !at! citizenwatch !dot! com

Skyhawk AT Update

Quick update on the Skyhawk AT.

1) The watch had difficulty adjusting to the daylight savings time change. It took another 24hrs after the change for the watch to automatically update the SMT setting.
2) I managed to put a minor scratch on the mineral glass crystal right on top of 9PM. Barely visible, but I am still wondering why Chase-Durer can put a sapphire crystal on a similarly priced watch and Citizen can't.
3) Watch fits fine on my 7 inch wrist. No issues.
4) I was sorely tempted by a Breitling Emergency for sale at an online dealer this week.

Another Skyhawk Review

Another nice review posted about the Skyhawk here.

Citizen Skyhawk AT Review: The Ultimate Pilot Watch or is it THE ULTIMATE WATCH?

After selling my Omega X-33 Gen 2, I immediately started missing it. The following monologue is my story of how I found, in my opinion of course, the ultimate pilot/traveller's watch.

As every methodical watch collector does, I first started putting together a list of functions that I needed to have on my new timepiece:

1. Chronograph: This comes in handy for lots of functions including time traveled, or who can hold their breath under water the longest. I own three mechanical chronographs including a Speedmaster Professional Moon to Mars edition, but frankly, I prefer reading a digital readout for precise measurements.
2. Countdown Timer: Countdown timer is one of the most useful functions in a watch. You can precisely time how long the marshmallows have over the campfire before they are roasted beyond recognition, or alternately, the time that you have before you should look for more fuel.
3. Quartz Movement: I can almost hear people cringe over this one (although if you read my X-33 report before, you are probably not surprised). As much as I love the fine art of watchmaking, and own more mechanical watches than I can count, for an every day, tool watch, I don't think anything can beat quartz. No watch winder necessary, no resetting the date (if you have a perpetual calendar) and no fuss.
4. High Accuracy: Again, in an everyday watch, it is very nice to be able to set it once and forget it. Even better is an atomic receiver.
5. Large Dial with Large Luminous Hands: I like being able to read time quickly and even in the dark. The dial has to be a dark color and the hands have to be a light color for better contrast.
   
6. Backlight: Backlight is crucial especially when the luminous hands are not charged enough to glow through the night.
   
7. Solar-Powered: My apologies to Seiko. If I wanted a inertia-wound movement, I would be wearing my Explorer II. For a quartz watch, the best self-powered option is solar.
8. E6B Slide Rule: A slide rule bezel always comes handy when trying to figure currency conversion or figuring out how much to tip the waiter at the local restaurant.

After putting together this list, there was really only watch that fit the bill. I considered the Breitling B-1 and would have probably bought one if I were not happy with my Skyhawk AT.

After deciding on the watch I wanted to buy, I went to the Princeton Watches website to checkout the models for the Skyhawk AT. I am a previous happy customer, so I did not think about looking elsewhere to get a better price. Not being a huge fan of rubber straps, I ended up ordering Citizen Skyhawk model JY0000-53E.

The order was placed on a Saturday afternoon. On Monday morning (8:40AM), they called me to confirm that I really wanted the order shipped to an address different from my billing address, my package was on its way. UPS delivered the watch to my work on Wednesday morning. As any WIS would attest to, it was very hard to not even open the package and wait until I got home that evening.

The watch was shipped in the following box:




The box from citizen was presentable (but not as good for example as a box from Tissot for a similarly priced watch):



Opening the box reveals the nice but not impressive inner package:

'

I was impressed with the manual and the CD that Citizen included with the watch:



And finally, I opened the box and came face to face with my Skyhawk AT:



This was very very good. It looked much better in person than what I have been able to find on the web. Specifically, I was worried about the orange accents on the dial, but they do not distract at all from the look of the watch. On the contrary, they complement the cockpit instrument look of the dial.

Taking the watch out of the case, I was impressed with the quality of the bracelet and glad to see that Citizen includes two half-links as well as lots of full length links as well. My guess is that this watch would easily fit an 8 inch wrist.



Finally, this is what the back of the case looks like:



Now that we covered the basics, let's get to my impressions of this watch.

1. Weight: The watch feels heavy but well balanced on my roughly 7 inch wrist. Due to inclusion of the half links in the bracelet, it is easy to get the watch to sit level on the wrist and not wobble around. Overall, I can feel the weight of the watch, but not in any uncomfortable way.
2. Bracelet: No complaints at all with the bracelet. I think I still prefer the bracelet on my Omega Speedmaster Pro, but overall very good for a watch in this price range.
3. Dial: This was the biggest surprise to me. In the pictures, the dial looks so busy, but in person, unless one is looking for one of the subdials, the attention is directed automatically to main watch hands. I find it easy to read the UTC clock in the center and the 24H display right next to it.
4. Crown: Crown is nicely textured. This makes it very easy to pull out even when the watch is on the wrist. As one turns the crown to change the function, for each function, there is a nice solid click as it is selected. This is much better than the Breitling Aerospace where the speed at which the crown is turned decides whether the correct function is selected.
5. Backlight: It is nicely done in orange to go with the flight theme and does not ruin my night vision.
6. Hands: The main watch hands are large, and coated with a generous amount of Superluminova. They glow through the night without a problem. The seconds hand lines up perfectly with the hash marks on the dial.
   
7. Functionality: Two alarms that include the timezone as part of the alarm setting. Chronograph, Countdown timer and an atomic clock receiver complete the watch. The E6B slide rule bezel is very legible and has a nice feel when turning it. The metallic knobs on the bezel make it easy to grab and turn the bezel.

Overall, this watch is much better than I expected and is a worthy replacement for my X-33. I have a few gripes: the crystal should be sapphire and not mineral glass, the bracelet and case should be coated with duratec coating like the Campanola line and finally, I think the second (smaller) digital display could be used for more functions than just to display the name of the home city.

Update. I got several queries on how to obtain the Japan only version of this watch. There are few vendors that specialize in this:

http://seiyajapan.com/
http://www.higuchi-inc.com/