YMMV … your mileage may vary

This expression came from US car ads in the past where the car had a stated mileage per gallon, but when sold YMMV was noted which is pretty logical, considering different driving styles, different preferred routes, the mileage may vary a lot... taking it in its original sense than its about different ways of using stuff giving you different levels of achievement/satisfaction. i also look at it as 'if you weigh certain things differently you derive different levels of satisfaction(or dissatisfaction) from certain events/occurrences'.

Eg. Your car is a pile of junk. (to understand the meaning of this, please reference the classic song by one Adam Sandler 'ode to my car') So with this 'great' car, you probably take a very long time to get to any destination… some want to get there fast and are pissed throughout the long time-wasting journey some are happy to enjoy the slow pace of the car, wif bob marley on the speakers and loving the view as they drive slowly through scenic surrounds.. ok its all a bit of a stretch but you get the idea… So looking at it from my standpoint, related to my passion… for a non-watch enthusiast, meeting vianney would be like meeting any other “ang-mo” dude (singlish term to mean caucasians in general), and a froggie to boot. Whereas for me, its standing in the presence of a great artist.

a perfect example of art and horology combined... vianney's own antiqua...

For someone who didn't care about watches, if they had a chance of strapping on a > than half a million dollars watch, all they might be thinking about is probably how they wish they owned it so they could sell it for something else or for early retirement. For me, when I had the jaeger lecoultre gyrotourbillon II on my wrist, I didn’t even think about the cost (as I know there are some limits that wont ever be breached) or the dollar value associated with it. I think about the innovation, the beauty and the horological art that is beating and alive on my wrist and I lose myself in its spherical dance… sounds of lamb’s gorecki in my head…

hmm if i set aside S$5k a month, i still need over 9 years to pay up... not good...

a work of art on my wrist... over half a million $$$ and a number sold in singapore already...

whatever the case it is for you... i am enjoyin the journey so far and i hope you are too :) Jus qu’ici tout va bien… jus qu’ici tout va bien… jus qu’ici tout va bien…

turntablist extract wif a cool camera shot from la haine... if u haven't seen the movie, i highly recommend it...

Some new watches ... F1 pieces coming up soon too ;)

the best of the lot so far... the RM 11 Singapore F1
Limited Edition... this is soooo sweet...

non f1 related urwerk 103 hex... i dont like the hex thingies
the round satellites in the older range are nicer.
the case on this with the sharp angles last seen on
the tiain piece is very much welcome though.
much nicer than the curved ones imho

when u cant see the hex thingies, the piece shines :)

hublot f-bang for the Singapore F1... good to know some of the money
from selling this goes to the make a wish foundation... thats nice...

and stay tuned for more gg mickey action
coming up in september...

drumroll please ... New limited edition (not another one) PVD and bronze
Royal oak offshore scuba from Audemars Piguet... limited to 50 pieces

seeing this pic really makes me believe they go through a color generator on the pc and after going through a few hundred permutations they hit on a couple they like and churn out LEs... hmmm. the standard ROO face is more appealing to me than the scuba's face but the combo of the PVD (last seen on the End of Days for the ROO) and the bronze is nice

black watches... pvd works ;)

who is bartorelli anyways that they deserve a AP LE? they're an italian watch dealer and jeweller ... their website if u're interested: www.bartorelli.it ....
i hope AP develops a better LE strategy but we'll see...
fyi, its going for above US$30k in the secondary market currently

waitamoment... theres another one... the taiwan LE ... at 10 o'clock there is a 101 that has diamond studs. Limited to 101 pieces in stainless steel...

and theres this too the porto cervo... looks like a navy to me...
so many LEs... its getting a little tired

oh theres the singapore f1 ROO LE. seen a printout of it and wasnt too impressed.
steel bezel red and black accents... gotta wait for a pic of that... embargoes and all

Whats not to love? the Rolex Submariner

In 1953, Rolex decided to come up with an innovative watch for the then relatively new activity of scuba diving. It would be officially launched in the 1954 Basel Watch Fair and since then, it has been worn by the world's most famous debonair spy and it and its brethren (submariner date, seadweller) have the ignominious honor of being some of the most copied watches in the world... but all these are not really important.

the mighty no date submariners

What is important is that I love this watch and i wear watches to please only one person and thats me :) so if you don't like the brand or think that subs and Rolexes are common and the purchase option of commoners, well, you're entitled as am I... I believe Rolex are the makers of many great watches and this one in their lineup calls to me a lot.

wristshot of the 14060M

so a comparison then between the 5513 and the best modern evolution of it, the 14060M

what do they have in common?
1) automatic winding movements
2) no unnecessary lines of text on cosc on the dial
3) simple and gorgeous :)

how do they differ?
1) plexi superdome vs flat synthetic sapphire crystal
2) movement advances in the 14060M... breguet overcoil etc
3) Superluminova vs tritium
4) oyster bracelet vs rivetted bracelet
5) some dial differences, text and where they're at and matte on 5513
6) size of markings and markers and white gold surrounds
7) dial and bezel fonts
8) depth rating

wristshot of the 5513

side by side comparo...

lume shot... uhm i guess thats why its called SUPERluminova

classic lines and look... pure poetry

been a little quiet round these parts... a roundup of the past 2 weeks

been a little busier of late wif settling in at my new place and tending to other personal matters... jus thought i'd do a quick roundup of the past 2 weeks...

vianney looks down at me in my study...

lange helps me tell the time in other parts of the world
(without looking at my worldtime watch or the pc that is :)

putting out some of the literature

the next bunch of shots are at the sincere watch academy. i would like to extend thanks to patrick and his team as well as the folks from corum and audemars piguet for the great sessions held there...

patrick introducin the corum speaker

some interesting golden bridges

i attended this session as i was curious about this timepiece

next up... one of my favorite watch houses... audemars piguet...

mr wehrli givin an educational talk... michael and oliviero of ap standin close by

interesting slide on some of the clients who purchased ap movements...

a prototype of the new escapement beating at a much faster pace...

mr wehrli royal oak perpetual calendar with his initials on the rotor...

and to the watches...

newer royal oaks and offshores were present ... this years LEs

but some not so recent boyz were present
including this lovely squlette number

and the end ... end ... end of days... i am pretty sure a fair number or all of
the older RO and ROO pieces are from oliviero's personal collection as i hear
its pretty extensive for royal oaks and offshores

t3

some lovely complicated pieces... grand sonnerie, tourbillon,
quantieme perpetual and a squlette chrono...

closeups of these lovelies

and thats all for now...

hmm... i wonder what september has in store...

photobucket issues...

the folks at photobucket have this thing about upgrading to get more bandwidth if i hit a low 25gb monthly limit thing... sigh... so if u see this ugly pic in place of what should be a gorgeous watch pic, its because of em... looks like i have some decisions to make but till then for older posts, please bare with it till 15/16 aug (it resets on the 15th monthly) and come by to check them out then. cheers, raph

some vintage love... Rolex and ?

a cool gtg with 2 other mates... some decent japanese food, good conversation nearly all about watches, and a little about family... and 2 watch nut's watches...

rolex gmt 1675... pepsi is the only way for this watch ... I LOVE THIS WATCH

so you were thinking its just another all rolex gtg...
well this strange box was present...

hmm the new boxes for panerai don't look like this... wat is it then?

fancy buckle...

and a gorgeous watch... damn is this good lookin :)

so the rolexes and the pammie got to hang out for the table shot...

steve mcqueen decided to drop by... some orange hand love...

just the vintage Rolexes then... tritium matte dial love

some warp factor... superdome on the 5513 subbie... love the superdome...

hope you enjoyed the pics from our gtg :)

cheers
raph