A BATHING APE "BAPEX SUBMARINER"

Well, this is unexpected... received this on behalf of a good friend and decided to have a look at the watch.

It's the Bapex Submariner... a homage of the Rolex Submariner by the Japanese fashion brand A Bathing Ape.

The design is lifted directly from Rolex Submariner's iconic design.

Movement is an automatic.

No details on the movement in the manual but I suspect it's a Miyota Movement as the hand winding felt similar to my Laco Pilot which is powered by Miyota as well but without a date.

Cyclops for magnifying the date is not the usual 2.5x but less.

Printing on the dial is crisp, Bapex by A Bathing Ape at the top and Made by Human on the bottom...

Made by Human... erm... ok... :-P

Clasp and diver's extention features the Ape logo.
The clasp mirrors Rolex's double fliplock clasp.
It locks in firm enough but it hurts my nails a little trying to unlock it. Maybe after a period of use, it will be smoother.

Bracelet construction is ok.

After removing some links, i can see that the bracelet is made of solid midlinks.

The screw pins does not sit as flush though...

Finishing of the bezel is acceptable too.

120 clicks uni-directional.

Crown is screwed in.

But I can't feel or see the gasket.

Also the crown sit's below the case and the crownguards as opposed to aligned like the original.

No water resistant rating on the manual as well.

I think it will survive rainwater... I wouldn't risk anything more that that.

Caseback looks to be screwed in as well.

A sticker with the Ape logo.

Being a Rolex Submariner homage, it wears similar to one alright.

But the feel of "solidity" is not present.

Fit and finish could be improved but I doubt the target market of this watch will look beyond the brand.

G FACTORY NOW OPEN IN SURIA SABAH KOTA KINABALU

Last weekend after a movie outing with my family, I stumbled upon the G Factory.
By the looks of it, seems like it was just opened recently.

Collaboration with the Korean Popular All Girl K-Pop group Girls Generation...
My guess is those will be selling like hot cakes.

Wife is interested in getting something to wear during her tennis games with friends... 
OK, let's be real... Do we really need a good reason to buy a watch? :-)
So... I leave the shop with this.

Baby G
Ref: BGA-150-4BDR
Powered by a quartz module 5257.
Sunburst pink dial.
2 hands for minutes and hours with a hint of dark pink tip just to remain fashionable... :-)
Subdial at 3 is for the day, month/date, PM indicator, world time, countdown timer, stopwatch, alarm, and hand setting mode indicator (interchangeable via shoulder buttons.
Subdial at 6 is the indicator for the mode that the watch is in.
Subdial at 9 is for the seconds.



As we all know, these watches are meant for the active lifestyle so I think it will survive a tennis match...
It costs waaaaaay less then Rafael Nadal's RM027 but will get the job done all the same :-) albeit with less prestige... but hey, I ain't complaining.

WATCH SHOPS IN PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1st, apologies for the lack of updates.

Got plenty going on and finally got some time to update my humble blog.

During the recent school holidays, I was fortunate to be able to travel to Perth, Western Australia with my family.

Came across a few watch dealers.

The Swiss Watch Box at London Court.

The shop deals in both new and pre-owned pieces.
They are also the Authorized Dealer for Mondaine watches I believe.

A highly lusted for Panerai Mare Nostrum... a matter of time before it got snapped up I guess?

Picture of some of their offerings.

That last pic was inspired by a similar picture of a friend... lol

Next up is the Watches of Switzerland located along King Street.

They have Breitling, Cartier, IWC, Hublot, Rolex, Tudor and Panerai. That's all I can remember on the top of my head.

A nice place to visit.

The staff are nice and attentive.

 Last shop that I came across is Smales located in Subiaco area.

To my surprise, they carry the Grand Seiko line of watches.

They also carry Rolex, Tudor, Cartier, Breitling as far as I can remember.

This piece particularly caught my eye.
When asked, the gentlemen serving me told me it was sold on behalf of a regular customer.
Asking price? AUD15,000.00... hmmm...

Well, that's all from Perth...
Lastly is some wristshots just for the fun of it...

TUDOR BASEL 2013

I don't know what to expect from Tudor this year as the previous years releases have got people talking about the Tudor brand again.

With the momentum going for them, 2 models were announced.

The Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue.

Paying homage to the vintage Ref 7169.

Tudor did a good job... it's almost a 1 to 1 copy.

Movement is an ETA 2892 with a chrono module.

The spec sheet does say that the chrono module also comes with a flyback function. Need to get this clarified.

UPDATE: Seems like the flyback function in Tudor term means reset... lol

The modern release is the Tudor Fastrider Black Shield.

Features a monobloc ceramic case and 2 dial combos... the khaki or red accented dial and hands.

Powered by the ETA 7753.

The Heritage line seems to be expanding nicely with some interesting releases year after year.

As for the modern release, after the Tudor Pelagos last year, it's tough trying to come up with something to top that... I think the Black Shield can hold it's own.

Excellent way for Tudor to go back into the US market.

ZENITH BASEL 2013

Zenith's official website have been updated as well.
And it's showing all the new models based on the Montre D'Aeronef Type 20 design.
All picture taken from the Zenith website.
I have covered these watches in my earlier post so no big surprises here.

The Annual Calendar.

The GMT.

The Tourbillon.

And my personal favourite... The 40mm sized Montre D'Aeronef Pilot powered by the Elite movement.

For the 1st time, the update at Zenith's website even provide us with the Recommended Retail Price.
Good move in my book.

Whoops, almost missed out this one.
The Stratos Rainbow Flyback.
I like this watch alot... if it's at a 42mm case size.
At 45.5mm, there's just not enough wrist to carry that kind of heft.
Too bad... I would have bought this in an instant if I could wear it.
According to the spec sheet, the case is not DLC steel or the previously used Black Alchron... but it says Titanium and Aluminium.
Interesting.