I have to admit that as much as I like G-shock models, some of them are so knobbly and oversize that I find them uncomfortable and sharp to the fingers when trying to use the buttons. Some are worse than others and whilst I accept this is part of the G-shock system as an outer exterior protection layer, it’s often a little overdone in my opinion.
Casio Jason g-001 – a smoother G-Shock
Which is why I was sad to see that the G-shock Jason g-001 reprise model seems to have vanished, or certainly in the color I would prefer (grey or black). For this model presented the G-shock philosophy in a much smoother bodied manner and with it’s wrist support strap system sat on almost any wrist and looked really cool.
It was a really chunky watch and with it’s smooth outer shell it certainly presented itself as a neater Casio than most G-Shocks even though dimensionally it was still quite substantial. I particularly liked the color way as shown in this image and note how the buttons are hidden in this view, tucked into the side recesses and without the large obtrusive shrouds of the usual shock models.
This model was pretty well specified too –
Black and gray resin shock resistant case with a similar color dial with the yellow digital display. 20 Bar Water Resistance. 1/100-second digital chronograph measures elapsed time, split time and two finishes, Countdown timer with auto-repeat timing and progress beeper functions.
World time feature displays current time in 48 cities (29 time zones), Home time zone, Alarm mode (3 multifunction alarms: daily, date, 1-month, monthly), 12/24-hour formats, Standard/Daylight Saving time, Full Auto-calendar to 2099, EL backlight.
Note the wrist “appendages” which assists wrist fit.
Digital day-date-and-month display, Black resin strap with silver-tone mesh metal inserts and black plastic buckle, black back case appendages, Black resin selector buttons, Black resin/stainless steel screw-in caseback and a mineral crystal glass.
What’s also nice about it is the relatively simple dial set up without too many cluttered distractions to worry about and at the same time a pretty comprehensive function set and all contained in a well protected and above all SMOOTH case.
For me this was one of the best G-Shocks both as the original Jason and in the reprise model that appeared some years later. Difficult to fault too though some folks report the strap/case fitting can break. Not unexpected I would say as I’ve found with many resin/plastic straps, they get brittle over time and with repeated flexing, can and do break. But as with many of these faults they are often fixable without too much trouble.
So I haven’t seen it around for a while and Casio have not re-issued it this year, which is a pity as I for one would buy it tomorrow. I still see some of the bright color varieties around, but they look too novelty for me . . .
Three elegant offerings this week, starting with the 4 model Maurice Lacroix18ct Rose Gold ultra thins.
Elegance in Rose Gold
With delicately curved Sapphire Crystal and simply elegant dials these Automatic models are just what they are – beautiful timepieces and very classic.
Not to be outdone Jaeger Le-Coultre have this addition to the well known Ultra Thin Master Grande with this time round a black dial and either in steel or Rose Gold.
In these days of black divers and luminous requirements these dress watches are rather refreshing to see, especially when produced by these flawless quality makers.
Not to be outdone there are of course the Ladies to cater for and here the new Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Small Second Watch is about as elegant as you can get.
Elegance and Mother of Pearl
The sheer sensuality of this model with it’s slender curves and oval gold case and wonderful subtlety of Mother of Pearl (I’ve always loved this on watches).
Sensuality at it’s best
So elegant watches are still around today, though you have to look for them as so many of today’s offerings are large and rather ostentatious. And with the prevalence of digital technologies maybe the style is disappearing from the watch ever so slightly day by day.
And to lose that would be a great pity.
Yimei Classic traditional watches consists of four models, including the 38 mm and 28 mm compact menswear ladies. Beautiful 18K rose gold ultra-thin case, covered with delicate hour, minute, second hand, highlights the essence: Time. The only additional feature is at 6 o’clock date display, pragmatic and low-key. Circular gradient silver or black dial, with rose gold plated hands, fantastic; otherwise black or white lacquer dial model, with gold or black Roman numerals. Such a gorgeous, before your eyes.
Yimei traditional family watches the appearance of calm in the exposed edge, reflecting centuries of traditional art heritage. Slim case, the beautiful simplicity of the dial, highlighting the restrained elegance watch, highlighting the wearer’s taste.
Watches with ML 155/ML 132 (men’s and women’s) automatic movement, shell thin, precise timing, a symbol of reliability, blending classic and modern design style, complement each other. Curved sapphire crystal so all the details at a glance. Decorated with the highest level of traditional crafts decorative corrugated Geneva auto hammer, snail lines and circles pattern plywood, and rhodium-plated oscillating weight, were pleasing.
Whilst checking out all these proposed and often silly phone extension wrist fads and smart watches I came across a very different sort of smart watch – and OK I accept it’s not really the conventional watch, but is anything these days when considering this so called “smart” stuff?
The Fitbit FLEX – Activity & Sleep band.
This one is actually both interesting and also one that might just get you fitter – but only if you want to. No forcing yourself off to a gym or anything like that, but a system that tracks your daily activity, so giving you the opportunity to maybe gently improve your fitness – whatever your age. Now that should be smart, maybe, and the item is the Fitbit FLEX wrist band.
Just a plain flexible 19.2mm wide band with a few electronic gizmos inside that can monitor your activity – such as the number of steps you take, calories used, stairs climbed, distance you walk or jog (the former for me 😉 ) and an indication of your sleep quality and of course it also tells you the Time. It also can indicate if your goal (yes you can set such a thing) is being met or otherwise with little lights on the screen. It also has a chargeable battery – Lithium Ion no less that manages around 5 days at full charge and a Bluetooth connection to automatically download or is it upload your data to graphical display software on whatever device you happen to have, PC, Mac, Tablet and a whole range of smart phones too.
Within 20ft of your PC etc – check the results
It has quite a sophisticated 3-axis MEMS accelerometer that measures your motion patterns to determine the calories burned, distance travelled, steps taken, sleep quality and all that and also has a smart vibration motor, that vibrates when alarms are set to go off.
So, it seems smarter and more useful than a so called smart watch that simply means you don’t have to reach into your other pocket to get your phone out! I mean is that unfit and lazy or what?
This FLEX watch should make you think – and might make you just that little bit fitter too!
On the face of it, this appears to be a smart watch I can should to and although it’s not billed as such (smart watch) to me this is far more worthy of such a title and at around £79 (UK) not that unreasonable either. Assuming it continues to work of course – and it’s Water Resistant to 10m.
For me, it could be the “smart” thing to buy – so watch this space! Find out all about it HERE. that is, if I do decide to get one.
Addendum – Well in the event I decided not to get one – basically as at my age “fitness” has sort of morphed into old age – and I’ll just have to accept it!
Always on the lookout for “something different” and this week it’s the turn of two rather standout models from Android.
The first one is the rather unique “Rotator” 50 Auto AD739BKR, which as you see wears it’s rotor on the outside and pretty stunning it is too. Every turn of the wrist sets the brightly red colored Rotor spinning around the gray dial and the broad Hour and Minute hands are infilled with Superluminova.
Android Rotator 50 Automatic AD739BKR
The large 50mm diameter watch case is of IP coated brushed stainless steel with a Japanese SII NH35 automatic 24 jewel movement. The crystal is hardened mineral and screw down crown means a 10ATM 100m Water resistance.
Android Impetus Double Escapement
The second model from Android is just about as stunning as the first choice, which is the “Impetus” Double escapement Automatic AD546AS, which being part skeleton has a similar “mobile” feature which is quite eye catching. Smaller case this time at 41mm diameter (mid size) with mineral crystal and a genuine Lizard strap with push/pull clasp buckle band. This model features the Shanghai SHS Automatic 21600, 40 jewel movement.
No doubt that Android produce some interesting models and I particularly like the ones that feature “movement” which certainly gives added interest to what can often be a dull business of telling the time. The gold colored escapement wheels once again give this model a real “visual” something different, which lifts it above the normal.
BandGenuine LizardMovementShanghai SHS-05 automatic 21600 vph 40 jewels movementCrystalMineralCrownPush/PullClaspBuckleBand Measurements9.5″L x 22mmCase Measurements41mmWater ResistanceFunction – See more at: http://www.android-usa.com/product-p/
A bit different today in that I’m looking at a “watch” I’ve had for some time – prompted by a friend to do a quick review, so for all you Golfers out there here is the Garmin Approach S3.
Garmin Approach S3 GPS golf aid. (easy read )
Now I’m not about to explain all the features of this model except to say some basics. It’s water Resistant, battery life around 20 hours, has a good touch screen and high contrast so easily seen. It has around 27,000 golf course plans in it, a scorecard feature and doesn’t look overly big on your wrist and weighs next to nothing. The image shows how easy it is to read – Hole Number 1, Par 4, Big number is 360yds to pin, top number to back of green, bottom number to front of the green – super simple even for me. 😉
So before I start I admit this is a uniquely personal and perhaps cynical viewpoint from a golfer who started back in 1957 – played off Scratch at one time to playing my age today.
The Garmn S3 Approach Golf watch is a piece of golf assistance kit that seems to pretty much do what it says on the tin. Nothing fancy about it, but for your average golfer it works very well. It is obviously a GPS enabled unit with a database of all the courses (Europe model has 27,000 courses) you could ever want to play – I play two maybe with the odd holiday trip adding another couple at most. Though basically like most golfers I play mostly at my home course and that’s it.
So how does it perform and what does it do for your average player? Now I’ve heard and read all sorts of guff about the accuracy – Oh! it’s a yard or so out – or it doesn’t agree with my Course Planner – as if a yard or two for most of us honestly makes a difference! Let’s face it WE are not machines!
And talking about honesty, this unit should be renamed the “Honesty Meter” especially if we really start from basics – like – Do you know how far you drive the ball?
Now come on – be honest – of course you don’t – you think you do, but you don’t as there are far too many factors to consider. Did you hit the ball in the middle of the club, was your swing good, did you slice, fade, hook or draw, is there a wind, downwind or up, across etc. is the ground you hit off flat or sloping, is the landing point flat or sloping, what’s the altitude, temperature humidity, dampness and so on and on . . . . .
Now you might reckon on a good day, you can hit say 240 yards? – that’s a maybe, a perhaps – because golf is NOT exact – as I said, just too many variables (here in Scotland with our cold, damp weather – fantasy golf is out!), and this is where the Garmin comes into it’s own. It is a reality check!
OK now you’ve driven the ball and it lands on the fairway and the green is within reach. Now how many amateur golfers reach that green? I’ll tell you – the fact is that 80% of them are more often than not, short of the target, mostly because they think they can hit that 6 iron easily 180yds – and the sad truth is – they can’t.
NOW the Garmin comes into it’s own as once you hit your drive, you simply press a button and walk towards your ball and guess what – it counts the yardage.
And what a surprise to find you’ve driven the ball – err – 202 yards. But it also tells you that you’ve now got a 173 yard shot to the pin – and 160 yards to the front of the green and 190 yards to the back. Depending on pin placement, you can actually move the pin on a small image of the green on the Garmin screen, just to make it a little more accurate – IF you need to do that. I never have.
But back to the task at hand – what about this approach shot? What iron will you use to hit 173 yards? Duh – I dunno! A 6? – well it’s a guess.
And here you start to see the benefits of this unit. Because with a bit of “real” practice with this Garmin on your own some evening, it can actually measure any shots you hit with any club – you then build up real knowledge
of just how far you hit, not just the driver but every club in the bag! And most importantly you finally accept that you might need a 4 iron to hit that yardage (previously you belted the cover off the ball with a 6 or 7 – and would you believe it – short – again).
But this time you hit the 4 iron, without blasting it and as if by magic you are on the darned green! Probably the irst time since you were 17 years old and one of the leading big hitting Juniors in the club! Now OK the trajectory was a little lower than before, but who cares – you are ON the green. Is that good or what!
THIS is the value of the Garmin Approach S3 – it very simply gives you each hole’s yardage, tells you how far you have hit each shot and tells you how far to the pin. It’s taught you how far you can actually and truthfully
hit every club. It even can tell you the distance to that stream, or dogleg turn, so you can hit short and not overrun it, or know you can hit your 5 wood over it. Short or over – it’s your informed decision for once.
It’s very easy to use after a few holes and you soon get the trick of just glancing at it as you reach your ball to play the next shot. You don’t need one of those that talks to you (I can think of nothing worse!). And you really don’t need one that tells you about every little hazard on the course, with width, depth and all that value added gimmickry – because you KNOW the essentials – the distance to go, the distance you can hit and which club will do it FOR YOU.
It should really help your game. As now you know pretty well how far you can drive (honestly), you know how far you can hit every iron you have, from a full out shot to a three quarters easy shot and so on and this probably for the first time in your golfing life.
Now that for me is as accurate as it needs to be – honestly. So in my book the Garmin Approach S3 is pretty good value for money AND it can tell you the time too . . .
Another look at those “elegant” models that we are so lucky to have around these days. Here is one of my favorites – the Blancpain Villeret Répetition Minutes.
Surely one of the most elegant watches that you not only can see, but hear!
Born from a need to know the time many years ago in the dark without light when luminous hands simply did not exist. Trials of a “touchable” watch with exterior hands and minute graduations was never going to be the answer as they were too easily moved by accident. And so “sound” was the key.
The Minute Repeater is probably one of the most complicated watch movements even today and there are not too many of them around. A slide on the side of the watch is moved and a chime sounds the Hours, Quarter Hours and Minutes – so much more artistic than luminous paint and with a discrete elegance that’s quite personal I think.
To find one today that has the purity of sound and the incredible exactitude of transforming the exact time with the applicable sound is a feat of watch intricacy that is extremely hard to achieve. This model features the calibre 35 which has 2 hammers @3. These strike against little “sounding rings” on the outer circumference and features 35 jewels in the movement.
Next up is this brand that I would not have normally have associated with the word elegance.
This is the Suunto Gambit 2 – an all in GPS, Weather Station, Time, Distance, Altitude – you name it and perfect for all you runners, trekkers and bikers and so on out there just raring to go.
The Suunto Gamit2 a position of elegance?
But for one in this particular guise it is really rather superb to look at too. Perhaps a bit big for me at 50mm x 17.5mm – but I feel I have to add this in to the “elegant” category I really do.
And then something perhaps unexpected in the shape of the Timex Easy Reader – Why?
Timex Easy Reader – simple elegance
I suppose it’s because of it’s utter simplicity and purity of form and function, this model has an elegance all of it’s own. Forget all those digital “hard to read” over functioned monsters hanging on to wrists that simply are not big enough to handle them and look sensible – THIS is a bring you down to earth reality check.
This watch does exactly what it says on the tin! Great dial, great numerals, even a 24 hour clock set and a clear date. Centre second hand and excellent clear hour and minute hands. For night use “Indiglo” of course. Nothing more and nothing less than a “watch” and there’s such a natural elegance in that.
The last pic this week is more in your classic form –
The very elegant De Witt – what can I say – except that it’s not quite as simple as your average watch. From one “easy reader” to another – in the form of this beautiful “jump” disc watch. This model is just 40mm in diameter and in 18ct Rose Gold and is powered by a manual wind movement with a 42-hour power reserve. The 21-jewel fully decorated movement operates at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour is also visible via an exhibition back. There is another color I understand and both look very elegant indeed.
So without doubt there are some very elegant watches around and most are really beautiful designs too. They don’t have to complicated either – take the Timex easy Reader for example, but can have a purity of form and function that has an elegance of their own and rightly so. It is also a fact that you don’t have to necessarily spend a fortune to find an elegant watch, though it is I contend somewhat easier, as design has so much to do with elegance.
Anyway what will I find next week? Difficult to tell, though I might just include another of my own collection and see if you agree.
My third outing of “The elegant Watch” feature, showing watches I would consider could meet that description. Starting with the Ralph Lauren “Sporting” model with it’s IWC Cal.RL98295 mechanical manual wind movement.
Ralph Lauren “Sporting” model – (IWC Cal.98295)
The well constructed Stainless steel case and matching bracelet and general look of the piece I find rather pleasing. It features a seconds sub-dial @6, convex Sapphire Crystal with internal and external colorless anti-reflective coatings. The dial is unusual with a black matte galvanic center, brown elm burr wood outer (fixed with 4 screws), Arabic beige colored numerals and white hands, each with luminescence. At just over 44mm diameter it is a substantial watch and yet still manages to look elegant.
Another very stylish watch but from Germany is this lovely Limited Edition BENU by Moritz Grossmann.
Moritz Grossmann
This model in Rose gold equipped with a manually wound movement adjusted in five positions. Hours, minutes and seconds, 42-hour power reserve, solid silver dial, Arabic numerals, sapphire crystal with anti reflective coating, hand-crafted steel hands with brown/violet hue, hand-stitched alligator strap and limited to 100 watches worldwide.
Not to be outdone in the “elegance” stakes this next model shows that not all elegant watches have to be gold or classically shaped. This is the v-tec Gamma designed by Michel Huber. A highly interesting design from the orginal Ventura square model back in the 1990’s.
Ventura V-Tec Gamma
The watch dimensions are 41.85mm x 36.50 in a hardened Durinox® case. Sapphire crystal, multifunction VEN_10 digital module (backlit LED display), 50 metres Water Resistance and orange rubber strap with adjustable folding buckle. The brushed case finish and orange/yellow strap with the black face really set this off and for me it has a definite modern elegance.
Last and certainly not least is the wonderful (and expensive) Jaquet Droz 6553L2, Self winding mechanical, double barrel, retrograde moon phase with 22ct white Gold rotor. Bit of a mouthful I know, but what a stunning watch. 28 days reserve, 28 jewels in an 18ct red gold, 39mm diameter 12.7mm height case, with 3 bar WR or 30 metres.
Jaquet Droz – who else?
The dial features Triple Date Calendar complications on an Ivory Grand Feu enamel with 18ct gold applications plus moon phase and 18ct gold hands including the strap buckle. Yes this is one very highly specified watch from one of my very favorite watchmakers. For me this is simply a delight and elegance in the extreme – if only I could afford one of these, then I’d happily reduce my collection down to far less models but much more of this quality.
So another four “elegant” models for you to consider and I’m already looking forward to the next Elegant watch post . . . .
The problem when looking for a Calendar and Moon Phase watch is knowing what the terms actually mean. There are models which show the day, date, month and lunar phase and most commonly will require adjusting the date on short months and leap years. That’s February (28 days), April, June, September and November (each 30 days). Now with most of my old collection of mechanical models this is pretty normal, so no big deal.So to acquire a straight forward Triple Date Calendar and Moon Phase, as described above, isn’t too difficult and OK whilst not quartz cheap, can certainly be found at a relatively “affordable” price.
A Brand that does crop up quite often today is the German Nivrel and they produce excellent quality models such as their Calendar Moon Phase N436.001 AAAS and AHAFS.
The retail price appears to be around £1700 or €2100 which is not at all unreasonable for such a complication model from a decent Maker. The automatic movement is based on the Swiss ETA 2898-2 and is neatly contained in a 38mm x 10mm case with 5 bar Water Resistance.
Now the point I started to make at the start of this Post was about the description of what a Calendar Moon Phase watch was all about.
You can have “Full Calendar” – where the Day and Date are accompanied by the addition of a month display, and – sometimes – also a moon phase. Some movements switch to the next month when the date jumps from 31 to 1 of the next month and there are movements where the month display is not automatic and has to be advanced manually every month. Regarding the two Nivrel models above I’m assuming the months change as the date moves from 31 – 1.
There is the “Annual Calendar” – where the disparity between months is taken care of automatically, except for February, so basically you have to make an adjustment once per year – hence the “annual”.
And finally there is the “Perpetual calendar” – I suppose this is the natural progression from the “Annual” by taking into account the 28 day February and that every 4 years February will have 29 days (leap year). In this case it more or less runs in a four year repeatable cycle so not strictly a “perpetual” either and an adjustment will still have to be made in 100 years time, not that it should bother you – but make sure your son has the instruction booklet! (basically as our Gregorian calendar drops a leap year in every 100).
This is where unfortunately the costs increase greatly with such complications and can be quite expensive. A reason perhaps why so many people prefer quartz digital models, which of course can do “perpetual” using the power of electronics – but as I said at the start – it’s just NOT the same.
However models are available and again Nivrel have a mechanical Perpetual Calendar and Moon Phase model at perhaps the most reasonable price of any I can find.
Nivrel
This is a 3 sub-dial style model that shows hours, minutes and central second, date, day, month, leap year cycle and the lunar phase. This Perpetual Calendar model is the most complicated watch NIVREL produce and as they say on their web site –
“It is a very complicate mechanism that indicates to the year 2099 without external intervention the correct date of the Gregorian calendar. Providing continuous winding up means that you do not have to adjust your clock, even at short months and not even on the 29th February in a leap year”.
The Nivrel Perpetual Calendar Moon Phase model N401.001-1 AAASS uses an automatic mechanical movement based on the ETA 2892-A2 calendar module and the watch is a really neat 38mm x 10mm, a Water Resistance of 5 bar and retails for around £8300 currently. But if that’s beyond your purse, then the only other option is to look at pre-owned models and whilst there’s often stiff competition, there are good buys to be had.
So basically whilst the “perpetual” idea is easy enough to find today with quartz digital models such as Citizen, Seiko and Casio, we enter a different world in mechanical complications watches. Yes we can fairly easily find good and sometimes exceptional quality “Calendar” models of varying degrees of sophistication and at often quite reasonable prices, but when it comes to true mechanical “Perpetual” models – it can be a sometimes frustrating, wonderful, but expensive game – and if you’re really lucky – a rewarding one.
Finally just to make you drool somewhat, here is my absolute favourite – the H Moser & Cie Perpetual 1
H Moser & Cie – Perpetual 1 – the ultimate Calendar
Simple and elegant. Check out the small center Month pointer towards 11 (November) and that big Date display (known as the Flash Calendar) which manages an instant change of date at the end of one month to the start of the next month, without any invalid numerals to appear in the date window, so avoiding that uncertain period in between – and lastly a 7 day reserve.
There’s nothing else to say, but I AM doing the European lottery next week . . . . in hope!
It’s always been fascinating to me the extraordinarily different and diverse media surfaces upon which people will add their personal artistic talents. The street artist for example
directly on the pavement or sidewalk, the graffiti merchant to walls, under bridge supports, on the side of a bridge span in the centre over the river and even on the
sides of skyscrapers. The more conventional manage their stuff to paper, wood, canvas, metal, ceilings mural walls – in fact almost any surface that happens to be blank!
Even at bottom of swimming pools and cars don’t escape their attention and I’ve even seen stuff on grass! (maybe I should re-phrase that last statement!)
But there’s a specialist group of Artists who just happen to have a skill set that transcends them all and will be immortalized perhaps for all Time.
Yes this is “Dial Art” –
Van Cleef & Arpels – California Landscapes (inspired)
Where the very best of the world’s top watchmakers create not only masterpieces to adorn the wrists of men and women, but engrave, paint and enamel some fantastic Art
to the face of your watch.
And they have the benefit of the fact, that the wearer or viewer, doesn’t walk past and no longer sees that nice picture on the wall, but looks directly at that art
perhaps many, many times a day, something few artists can manage.
Here are just a few of the amazing creations and for no other reason, but an appreciation of their collective skills.
Cartier – enamelling technique called grisaille of an Andalusian horseJaquet Droz
From the gemstone mosaic horse of the Cartier Cartier Santos-Dumont in white gold to champlevé enamelling, hand Gilloche, added diamonds. Mother of Pearl engraving and goodness knows what other incredibly difficult technical art feats, they are quite amazing. A far cry from my daily beater I can honestly say – though . . . . it has to be said that within the limitations of my own small budget it’s just possible that I can acquire an equally (well not quite equal) piece of immortalized Art work on my wrist too.
Ta Da! I give you my personal favourit Classic of all –
Mickey O’Clock Watch – Mickey Mouse in red – Model OCD02.
And be honest – there’s not too many folks on the planet who don’t know who this is – Oh Yes! OK – I’m sorry and no disrespect intended – but I’m retired (did I say?) 😉
This is A STORY, Tokyo, the handmade watch brand of Gothic Laboratory – Designer Kouhei Yanai and Mari Goto (watch creator). The web site says their works are influenced by modern Japanese culture, which means animation, cartoon, game, J-ROCK and J-Pop music. Now we’re really into something that’s way beyond me, BUT I do like the punk style look of their watch collection, some of which I feature here. When I said something different I really did mean it.
Brand：Mari Goto
Material：Brass, Acrylic tempered glass, Bull leather
Body size：Diameter 35mm × Thickness 11mm
Movement：Japan SEIKO Quartz movement
To fit wrist size：17cm ~ 19cm
Width of strap：25mm
Non-waterproof
Guarantee：One year
Brand：Mari Goto
Material：Brass,Acrylic tempered glass, Bull leather
Body size：Diameter 24mm × Thickness 9mm
Movement：Japan SEIKO Quartz movement
To fit wrist size：15.5cm ~ 17cm
Width of strap：10mm
Function：Non-waterproof
Guarantee：One year
Brand：Mari Goto
Material：Brass,Acrylic tempered glass ,Bull leather
Body size：Diameter 40mm × Thickness 10mm
Movement：Japan SEIKO Quartz movement
To suit wrist size：16cm ~ 19cm
Width of belt：18mm
Function：Non-waterproof
Guarantee：One year
Definitely NOT the mainstream, but nevertheless these are such an inspired artistic mix of rock and pop culture, grunge and steam-punk that they smack of “today” and modernist young “in your face” if ever was!
A bit like science fiction, the end of civilization, yet from the bits left over – we start again, we start out time again from zero and on.
Now OK, waxing a bit lyrical there for a moment, but you’ve got to hand it to these two and applaud their efforts. Thing is, it’s not beyond possibility that I might just order one just for me, maybe as a statement – you know I might be a bit frayed about the edges, but I’m not done yet!
Prices are around £100 – £200 and sent directly from Tokyo. Give them your wrist size, color of strap and they can provide engraving too (free) to your requirements. Each model takes about a month to make and around a week to get to you – can’t be bad. And it certainly makes a change from the high end Independent Makers and maybe brings us all down to earth that little bit.
Watch space 
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