Have you ever noticed this: Anything that you find interesting will always end up getting infinitely more complicated than what you had [initially] expected?

When you’re a guitarist, you’ll start to think along the lines: “is it time to adjust the tension in my fretboard via the truss rod?” When you’re a “singer” trying to learn a harmony, you’ll tend to think “oh ok, so this weird sounding note is just a 6th in relation to the tonic; that should make it easier to hit.” Things you couldn’t even begin to think about from the “outside.”

The list goes on, and it’s not just for hobbies or passions… it can apply to short-term stuff as well. That’s exactly what I’m experiencing with my new watch.

From being a total non-watch person, I now know what terms like “XX Jewels” mean. ¹ And no; it has nothing to do with cosmetically improving the watch. I now know the difference between winders and spinners (and why you should avoid the latter); I’m now familiar with the terms such as TPD, mainsprings, etc. And while I still don’t think I’ll ever be a watch person (as in have the urge to start collecting), I think everything I’ve been through was a fun learning experience.

Anyways, the watch I’ve been talking about has arrived. That makes it official: I have just acquired an awesome watch for about $500 less – w00t!

As promised, I’ll do some sharing 🙂 Pretty interesting stuff I’d have to say ² That, or it’s just interesting to geeks like me. – so hopefully you won’t get bored. There’s a picture gallery as well; it’s got both official product shots as well as my own. I feel compelled to mention that as I don’t want to take credit for pictures that aren’t mine (like the one posted above). I also won’t bother getting into the details of why I chose the watch; that has been discussed in the past as well.

Impressions

The design I really preferred was from their cheaper line.. Exact same concept, but more compact and even more “minimalist-looking.”

But of course I’ve always wanted an automatic watch. That’s probably the only thing I ever “knew” about watches; that if I had a nice one, it “knew” had to be an automatic 😉 Was it a non-negotiable you ask? The automatic I got is a thousand dollars more expensive than the model I aesthetically preferred – so yes, it was a non-negotiable.

Unfortunately, the components/physics required to pull that off with this design seemed to bump the size up considerably. But other than that, the watch is everything I expected it to be, and then some. The simplicity of the design makes it timeless, the lack of any visible branding ³ Which is a big plus in the automatic series; as the cheaper ones have the brand on the bottom left of the frame. makes it very interesting to look at. It’s definitely on the “big” side, but not obnoxiously so – which makes it more of a “big enough to be noticed” kinda watch… buti nalang uso ang malalaking accessories!

Details

Aside from the design, there were a number of “bonus features” with this watch. From something as simple as the watch’s case – to materials/approach used in making the timepiece.

Packaging

Most of the details can be seen in the photo. Only thing left to mention is the subtle branding the metal cover has.

Over-all design

I’ll never get tired of saying it; I absolutely love the minimalist design on this thing. The concept, based on everything you have seen thus far is obviously that of metal; suggestive of the notion that the product being carved from a single slab of metal. Simple, industrial, as well as elegant.

The absence of any possible “embellishment” gives the watch what I call a “timeless” elegance. There are no writings whatsoever, so you cannot “date” the design by the choice of “fonts.” The same argument goes for the hour and minute hands – as it can never be an issue of wich clock hand style to use.

The watch’s “design” is just circles and grooves/slits – which are universal concepts, and you can’t put a date on that. And because it’s at its bare essentials, it’s neither “dressy” nor “casual”… but simply “handsome.”

Stainless

Every metallic component on the watch is stainless steel (at least from the outside, I’m not sure the materials you usually use on the internal mechaisms) – so no worrying about rust, durability and tarnishing. I really like stainless steel stuff because they’re generally cheap, they last, and they look fantastic. In fact, Cris and I are even in agreement that [God willing] our wedding rings could be stainless steel just for the sheer practicality of maintenance. Being a person who’s had experience with body piercings, [surgical] stainless steel is one of the better materials to use with prolonged skin contact.

Clasp

The deployment clasp is a butterfly type – which I thought was a nice touch as those types of clasps let you keep the bracelet visually flowing when engaged (closest to a continuous chain)

Automatics

Like I said, I’ve always found automatic watches awesome. As a kid, it was amazed by the fact that you didn’t need anything to make it run practically forever (as long as you wore it). Plus I loved (and still do) how automatics usually expose their inner mechanisms. Judging from the looks of my computer I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised. ⁴ If I was a Heroes character, I’d probably be Sylar.

However, not being a watch person, I don’t think I’ll be wearing it very often (that may change though – it’s just so pretty!) so I had to find a way to keep it “charged” even through extended periods of non-usage. I ended up getting a watch winder for it. Actually, it’s what I asked Cris for my “personally requested delayed birthday gift” ⁵ I basically told her not to get me anything since my birthday in July; until I found something I really like – turned out to be a really good decision.

A watch winder is basically a contraption that keeps your watch in motion even if you’re not using it:

Usually (at least for my winder) it rotates a certain amount of minutes, then it rests for a certain amount of hours. This is to achieve the minimum TPD (Turns Per Day) requirement for automatics to continue working optimally. This “intervallic” operation is the distinction between “winders” and “spinners.” Spinners are very cheap, but they constantly spin, which in turn puts undue stress to a fully wound mainspring. Automatics do have mechanisms in place to prevent over-winding, but the stress still ads up over time. So while it may not seem like a big deal right now, when you got watches the prices of cars, I don’t think you’ll want to take any chances.

Naturally, my watch is far from those uber expensive ones, but I got a winder just the same. Not using the watch for extended periods will mean I’ll have to manually wind (charge) it, then adjust if the time is off (which it probably will be). The sheer hassle of having to do that (and not to mention the stress it’ll have to the components) wasn’t something I was prepared to deal with.

Glass

Last thing I had to confirm was what crystal the watch’s glass was made of.

Sapphire, in the Mohs’ Hardness Scale, is said to be right up there with Rubies (which incidentally, is my birthstone) with a rating of 9. Second only to Diamond (10) ⁶ Ratings are relative, Diamonds are actually 4x harder than Corundums (family where Sapphires belong to)

It’s commonplace to have premium brand timepieces utilizing Sapphire (or better). If your watch costs a lot, it would be kinda embarrassing if they didn’t throw in at the very least, a Sapphire glass on that thing. My watch is hardly a premium brand (I didn’t even know Issey Miyake made watched), but I really hoped that it did use Sapphire as well. I mean it’s Japan made. Unlike China, I’d like to think that the Japanese care about the quality of their products.

There were contradicting “specifications” from Amazon (where I bought it) and from the watch’s official website. The latter claims Sapphire, which makes sense given the price of this sucker. On the other hand, Sapphire, technically, is also a jewel; perhaps they were talking about it in that context. Now that I had the watch in my hands, I decided to confirm with my own eyes.

There are three ways I know to differentiate Sapphire from regular mineral crystals but not all of them are practical to do.

1. Sapphire will not scratch even if you scrape a razor across it – which is just a retarded thing to try.
2. Sapphire is said to have a pinkish tint when viewed in certain angles/lighting conditions – which personally, I find very difficult to determine.
3. The water test – which is the only practical, non-invasive test.

The water test makes it possible for one to determine the type of glass you have based on how the water behaves (in relation to surface tension and adhesion) when on the surface in question. If it beads (which suggests more adhesion) you’ve got sapphire. If it just slides and is very un-organized, then you’ve got mineral.

So here’s what happened when I took a syringe and dropped water into the face:

This is how it behaved when I did the same thing with my other watch:

Now the second watch had a curved glass surface, so it may have been that my new watch being flat, might’ve just given the illusion that it was all neat and clean… so I did another test with the watch at an angle. If you would notice from the background, the watch is at an even steeper angle than what is suggested by the photo.

So I guess it’s safe to say that it’s Sapphire 😉

Conclusion

Based on all the impressions, tests, etc. This watch is a total winner in my book. While I could have it thinner/smaller, I think its a small compromise given the other factors that make it so beautiful as well as functional. The Japanese seem to really know what they’re doing.