Chong's Watch Blog









My favourite chronograph, possibly my favourite watch - blog entry #05



Jaeger LeCoultre Master Chronograph



I love everything mid-century - the architecture, the furniture, the fashion, the music and of course the watches. Hence I was immediately drawn to Jaeger LeCoutre watches early in my collecting. My first JLC was a Master Classic in 34mm, a mid-90s model which I regrettably sold. It was wonderfully sized (there was a 37mm Grand Taille version which was too big). The stainless steel case gleamed like white gold, testament to JLC's superior finish. The blued steel seconds hand swept smoothly around the silver dial, beating 28800 times per hour. It came on a reddish-tan ostrich strap. A most perfect combination, but was sadly sold.


Then in 2010, I was collecting specifically chronographs and JLC came out with their in-house automatic mechanical chronograph. Previously they were using a meca-quartz chronograph movement. The Master Chronograph was expensive when it first came out, but by 2012 they were available through grey dealers with steep discounts. I managed to snag a BNIB piece from Ebay and straightaway paired it with a tan ostrich strap. Boy, it felt great to finally own a JLC again! The watch worked well for a few years and then suddenly the minute hand would slip when setting the time. I sent it for a full service and the watch has been working flawlessly ever since. There only drawback with the watch is legibility - the lack of contrast between the silver hands against the silver dial makes it hard to read. Worse still, looking at the watch outdoors during the day can hurt the eyes due to the highly reflective dial.


The watch remains in regular rotation, with a ton of scratches on the bezel.





Jaeger LeCoultre Master Chronograph on a blue Colareb strap



the watch i owned the longest without selling - blog entry #04



Sinn 356 Flieger II with copper dial



Among all the watches that I presently own, I had this the longest. At one time, I almost thinned out the collection completely except for this one. It was my only watch for many years before I started collecting again. I purchased it in 2002 from Ebay for only $800. Back then Sinn were great value, under $1000 for a German chronograph and they sold directly from the factory (and an Ebay store I believe). It came with a slightly misaligned day wheel but I got that corrected locally. It is powered by a common Valjoux 7750 movement which local watchmakers are familiar with.


The Sinn 356 is one of the smallest 7750-based chronograph at 38mm. The rotor wobbles and winds in only one direction on the winder. The dial is a beautiful salmon/ copper color and the hue changes with different lighting. The acrylic crystal scratches easily but can be buffed out with some Brasso. I think this one was an early version of the 356 - the crown didn't screw in very much (maybe half a turn) and the lower pusher fell out after a few years of wear. Although slightly thick, it wears extremely well on a 6.25" wrist. Many times I thought of getting the black dial version as well, but prices these days are high selling through the local AD. Imagine, the Sinn 356 has been in constant production for > 20 years and now comes with sapphire crystal and a new metal bracelet.


In 2015, I finally got the watch completely overhauled by a watchmaker who ordered a new set of crown and pushers from Sinn. Actually, I prefer the old crown which had sharper machined lines but the new one screws in completely and is more comfortable to hold/ wind. I wear this watch sparingly now, due to the sentimental value and also I do not want to lose a pusher and go through the whole repair process again!





Sinn 356 Flieger II on a blue leather strap





Sinn 356 Flieger II on NATO strap



the grail watch of 2008 - blog entry #03



Attaining that grail watch usually isn't what it seems



I remember it was around 2008 and seeing the JLC Amvox 1 at an AD. The watch has been out for some time and was probably towards the end of production . It looked handsome and had practical complications - a date and an alarm. Ideal for an everyday watch (or so I thought). Back then it cost too much - more than the price of a Sea-Dweller (presently a 2nd hand Sea-Dweller is 3X the price of a pre-owned Amvox 1). So I left it at that and wrote it down as an "attainable grail" (in WIS-speak).


Fast forward to 2017 and I had the means to get a nice watch, then I remembered the AMVOX 1. Actually I was looking at the 38mm Zenith El-Primero which would fit my 6.25" wrist better. I was collecting specifically chronographs during that time and smaller sized ones were hard to come by. While Zenith's fit and finish have improved significantly after the LVMH acquisition, it is still a notch lower than JLC's. A 2nd hand AMVOX 1 would cost about the same as a new El Primero, so I reasoned. I bought a minty Amvox 1 on Chrono24, from a reputable private seller - I have seen his posts on the forums from ages ago. He drove all the way from KL to Singapore to pass me the watch and I believe he had some business dealings in Singapore at the time.


First impressions were - the watch is large at 42mm and has quite a "wrist presence", which I liked. The short lugs made the watch fit nicely even on a small wrist like mine. The stock strap tapered from 22mm to 18mm and was stiff and uncomfortable. Later I would try different aftermarket straps, NATO and even a Staib bracelet.


After a few months of wearing the watch on and off, rotating with another 2 other watches - one day, I saw one of the hour markers had fallen off! The dial has applied hour markers at the 12, 2, 4, 8 and 10 o'clock positions. So off it went to the JLC boutique for repairs. I opted (and paid) for a full service with the hour marker repair included. Over the years the markers at different positions would fall off and I even had the rotatable inner bezel replaced. The bezel is inside the case and is where the applied markers are stuck on. Unfortunately, even after the replacement a marker still fell off. It's been a year after the last repair and the markers are still good, hopefully they reinforced the markers with something.


So, is it a great everyday watch? The domed box sapphire crystal sticks out quite a bit and there is a high chance of banging it against something. The watch is thick at about 15mm although it doesn't look so, due to JLC's clever case design. I do wear it quite a lot and surprisingly I have not chipped the crystal yet. I think it's a great daily watch for non-sporting activities.


Pros:

- handsome Polaris-Memovox design

- practical complications - date and alarm (and timing bezel?)

- very legible, Super-LumiNova glows brightly

- notch on the caseback allows for straight-thru springbars and bracelets


Cons:

- large and thick case

- inner bezel rotates quite easily, resulting in inaccurate reading of time (minute graduations shifts with the bezel)

- when not wound, the alarm mechanism makes ringing noises when you move your arm around

- non quick-set date (turn the time from 10pm and to 2am repeatedly to advance date)






JLC Amvox 1 on a Chromexcel strap from Delugs



UOB PRIVATE BANK ‘BICYCLE’ TV COMMERCIAL - BLOG ENTRY #02



A commercial that uses wristwatches to tell a story



While traveling for work, I often watch the in-flight movies to pass time. On Singapore Airlines flights, there is always a banking commercial shown before every movie. Being a WIS, I was instantly captivated by this commercial because of the use of 2 wristwatches and the act of telling time to weave a tale of integrity and trust. Here are the watches that (I think) were used -


- a Universal Geneve FS Railroad Watch (Ferrovie dello Stato). This watch is shown when the boy checks the time and notices it is getting late. He trades the watch for a bicycle.


- a Patek Phillipe Calatrava 2584. The girl's father checks his watch and the time indicates that she is brought home within the curfew.





UOB Private Bank ‘Bicycle’ TV Commercial - 2016



hello world! blog entry #01



Journey into the depths of WIS-dom



It was towards the end of the 90s, when watch collecting took to the internet and on-line forums such as Watchnet and Timezone started operating. User-friendly and low-cost web-hosting sites such as Geocities allowed watch collectors to set up their stories and post pictures. Pics of watches were called "scans", as digital cameras were rare and expensive, thus watches were often put on a photocopier and scanned. If you see a picture of a watch with a curved second hand, this is evidence that it was scanned (it takes time for the scanner to move across the watch), Scans of the front and back of the watch were needed to buy/sell watches over the internet. How did I get into this crazy hobby?


It all started after my quartz fashion watch failed. A friend suggested that rather than buying a cheap quartz for $50 and changing it every year, why not get a Tag Heuer which will last .... a very long time. "It's water resistant and you can even swim and shower with it" he said. Tag Heuer watches at the time were mostly quartz and they were the rage (remember the "don't crack under pressure" campaign?). So I bought a quartz Tag 2000 Chronograph for about $1000, which was serious money considering it was early in my IT career. Then I found Watchnet and then Timezone, and it got crazier. After reading through numerous "quartz is crap and mechanical watches are cool" threads I decided to get a mechanical watch. Tag Heuer had just released the Carrera 1964 re-edition chronograph and I asked about it on the forum. It looked awesome, staring out of the boutique showcase - a white dial version and a black dial (I preferred the white though I decided that the black is better looking later on). A nice chap by the name "Chronocop" said it was very good piece, as it had the manual wind Lemania 1873 movement inside. Same as the Moonwatch. So I bought the white dial version and the obsession with mechanical watches continued till today (Jun 2021). I must admit my initial observation of the chronograph reset was "disappointing", with the second hand jumping back instead of sweeping back to zero like the quartz.


I took a break from collecting early 2000s in order to spend money on more important things in life. Then I got back into collecting again after visiting Switzerland, on-time for BaselWorld 2015.





Jaeger LeCoultre AMVOX 1 on a Staib mesh bracelet, acquired 2nd hand in 2017





BaselWorld 2015





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