Just purchased a Ball Engineer Master II Diver with an all black bezel in SS bracelet last weekend. Really beautiful. Besides the changes on the bezel, which is now all black instead of black/green or orange or grey, the 3H tubes rating is now T instead of T25 on the older diver models. I checked it out on the other watch forums and they posted that T25 basically means that it has <25 Tritium and T on the dial means that that it has >65 and up to 100 Tritium on it. Some Ball watches has T100 on the dial (notably the Aviator series), which means that it has 100+ Tritium on it.

So, in other words, the new Engineer Master II Diver with all black bezel has much brighter lumes than the other Diver models. No wonder when I see it at night, it is a lot more brighter than my Ball Trainmaster Pulsemeter.

Fyi, the more Tritium, the brighter the lume is at night. Pictures will be up soon.

Btw, if you are planning to get an Omega, get the Aqua Terra models instead. I just bought an Automatic Omega Lady Aqua Terra in SS for my wife last month. She loved it a lot.

My next watch purchase should be a Rolex GMT Masters II with the new ceramic dial so that my SS Rolex Datejust won't be so lonely.

This post has been edited by friedricetheman: Oct 8 2009, 04:13 PM

Here's an impromptu pic of my Ball Engineer Master II Diver with the all black bezel. I bought it about 2 weeks ago.

Nope. Because I left the room lights on. Next pic will have glow. Now watch in service. something wrong with inner bezel.

You can always get a polishing cloth and a polishing stone to DIY. Much cheaper that way. But, if you really want to get it polished, I suggest bringing it back to Swatch Group to do it. Usually, the service centers will polish your watches for you when you send them in for service. I never trust watch shop people as I have a bad experience with one of them who did some servicing on my watch and also removed some parts in my watch too. Ever had a swiss watch with made in china parts...

Dunno... your description kinda vague. I have a rolex datejust in Stainless Steel (it looks like a silver casing) and it is with no numbers but have luminious markers for the minutes and it is with a silver dial. As for the black dial, there are quite a number of dial configurations for the datejust. The Rolex Submariner also has no numbers on the dial and it comes with a all black dial. But it has a unidirectional bezel (in black also) for the stainless steel model. I have both models.

A picture of it would be helpful.

Ahh... that's the new Rolex Day-Date II in platinum and white gold.

This post has been edited by friedricetheman: Oct 20 2009, 01:57 PM

Don't think you will be able to get a seiko kinetic or spring drive at that price range. You might have to buy a seiko quartz watch instead. The only downside is that after 20 years, give or take, you might have to replace the IC which will cost you as much as the watch. But then again, the cost of changing the battery is cheap (less than RM100).

Anyway, go to City Time in Mid Valley. They have a wide collection of seiko's. Remember to fully pay by cash so they will give you a discount. Ask for a minimum of 20% discount as that's the norm for seiko watches.

What caliber is the AP running on? I find it a bit peculiar that the AP watch has a very un-AP date font. The date font should have been a bit thicker for the Royal Oak series. The Royal Oak uses an Arabic font (like the Rolex watches). Your's is just a Times New Roman font. Also, the words T SWISS MADE is missing from the bottom of the Dial. Instead, the words SWISS is on your dad's AP dial. Also, the AP logo should be at the top (12 o'clock) portion of the dial and not at the near bottom like in your Daddy's watch.

Please don't post replicas on this forum and passing them off as the real deal.

Also, how much did your dad got his PP Aquanaut for? From what I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, PP's cost more in UK than in Singapore or even here for that matter. Anyway, all I can say is that your dad is pretty lucky to sell it off at a profit as the watch is a two year old PP model that is still in production today. Either that or the buyer must be some big waterfish. My friend sold his PP ref. 5036 at a huge lost last year. I think he lost RM10K in that deal.

This post has been edited by friedricetheman: Nov 2 2009, 04:56 PM

I used to work in the watch industry back in the States. We have people coming in all the time to show off their watches. But only 1 out of every 10 Patek Philippe or Panerai are genuine. The reason being is that Patek Philippe only produce less than 20 mechanical watches a year. And since we did carry PP's, AP's, JLC and most other high end watches, we were trained to spot fakes that were brought into the shop by show offs. We would usually shoot them down without any mercy.

Sadly, I stopped working just as when Ball watches were just taking off in the States. Now, from what I've heard, the brand is doing extremely well there. My modest collection includes just two ball watches. The Engineer Master II Diver with all black bezel was just purchased recently in lieu of the price hike of 15% in the States. I forsee the price hike hitting our shores very soon. Also, Ball Watch USA has ordered all their AD's to stop giving out discounts for Ball Watches or risk losing their dealership. I think that might happen in the near future here in Malaysia. So enjoy your 30% discount while it last.

To tell you the truth, fake Rolexes are the easiest to spot. But I can't tell you how as it is a trade secret. If you really want to know, go work as an apprentice in a watch boutique.

thanks, BikerVoodoo. Very informative. But problem is, Rolex replicas are getting better and better. Still, there is ONE way left to tell them apart without opening the caseback.

Are you sure it's genuine? I find the watch a bit odd. The lugs doesn't match the watch case (ie. no PVD coating). All the Alain Silverstein watches that I have handed so far has matching lugs and case. They pay really close attention to small details being an art watch. Second, the watch looks a bit dubious as the hour markers doesn't pop out like in most other Silverstein watches of that series (ie. the Klassic). Third, your split second chronograph functions are displayed incorrectly.

I think you better check with your dad on whether if did he buy a fake or not.

It just clicked in my head today. This movement inside your daddy's Silberstein watch is a very rare Lemania 5100 chronograph with 24 hour indicator. I recognized the plastic column wheel on the back of the movement. I thought I have seen it somewhere before. I have not seen one of those since the mid 90s (when I first started working for a watch boutique). The Lemania 5100 uses a 60 minute counter that is center mounted (hence the split second chronograph look) together with the 60 second counter, hour hand and minute hand. Brilliant and solid movement that was made in the 60's, I think.

Swatch group (Lemania current owner) has stopped production of Lemania 5100's and the spare parts for it since 2002. That's a really rare movement. But take good care of it as spare parts are hard to find. You might have to canibalize other 5100's to get the parts.

This post has been edited by friedricetheman: Nov 11 2009, 11:49 PM

No, never had that problem. When was the last time you serviced the watch? You do know that the service interval is between 3-5 years for most mechanical movements (except for the co-axial movements where the service intervals are a bit longer). I suspect your watch winding rotor's oil has dried up. The only time this has happened was to my mom's Tag Heuer, so I took it to the Service Center in Jalan Sultan Ismail (near Lot 10) and they confirmed that the oil has dried up.

My two cents.

Great advice. Just give it a shake now and then when you are not doing anything. Did you wind it up before wearing it? I have a habit of hand winding the crown before wearing the watch in the morning. About 15-25 turns will usually do it.

Mido is a nice brand. And it is quite affordable. Sorry I can't tell you more as I don't know much about the brand. Maybe someone in the forum can tell you more about it.

Pictures please! And welcome to the forum.

Here are some of the watches in my collection : 2 Balls and a Rolex.

Ball Engineer Master II Diver (with all Black Bezel)


Ball Trainmaster Pulsemeter (Doctor's Chronograph)




Rolex Datejust Y-series.


This post has been edited by friedricetheman: Nov 19 2009, 03:48 PM

I really like the look of the Seiko Discus. Very unique. Looks like an Angular Momentum watch I once saw.

Short answer : No.

Long answer : Watches depreciate once it leaves the watch boutique. Some by 70%. Others less. Even Rolex depreciates in value over time, whether you like it or not. With watches, you will have to factor in the holding cost and inflation. Holding cost pretty much includes overhauls, maintenance (every 3-5 years), oiling etc. The inflation rate however is more abstract. Remember the 80s where things were a lot cheaper and RM500 seems like a lot of money. That's inflation. IF the Rolex Datejust that you bought during the 80s cost you RM5000 ringgit then, the actual cost of that thing is close to RM15,000 now (at the 'official' inflation rate of 5%. In reality it is more like 8% per annum). Which coincidentally is the official selling (MSRP) price of a Datejust in Steel.

What you get however is the satisfaction from wearing the watch for 20 odd years.

Thanks. Very nice. But now am eyeing the new Rolex GMT Master II with ceramic dial and glidelock bracelet.

Thanks.
Yachtmaster is very nice too. But you should check out the YMII. It is gorgeous...