Author: pippy

Owner review: MB&F M.A.D.1 Red

I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had an MB&F coz that’s so much cooler… I am neither particularly tall, nor do I excel at ball sports. And I certainly can’t afford to buy an MB&F. Or can I? In the heady days of Covid,…
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15/05/2023
Owner Review: Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114200

I’ve been collecting watches for a few years now, since just before the whole steel sports watch thing blew up and long before the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 114200 existed. I wish I could say that when I started out I bought a handful of Subs and left them boxed and stickered and have now sold…
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30/10/2021
Owner Review: Angles Three Kings

I decided around the end of 2020, after months of covid related lockdowns and changes to working practices taking its toll, to take my first small paddle into the vast ocean of micro-brands. The range of styles, mix of quality, not to mention my very limited watch budget, have kept my feet dry up until…
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25/10/2021
Owner Review: Seiko 7T62-0GK0 Tank

Like many people I really want a Cartier Tank. And like a lot of those people, I can’t really afford one. Who knew that having just one son would turn out to be quite so expensive! (But I wouldn’t change it for the world of course!) Instead of Cartier, I have Seiko. I have… quite…
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10/10/2021
Owner Review: Seiko 0853-8000 King Quartz

I had a tendency in the first lockdown to spend some spare time at my new ‘home office’ scrolling through sales and auction sites while muted on Zoom calls. Sounds familiar to a lot of people I bet. This had, of course, the usual side effect. Packages containing watches, parts of watches, and watchmaking tools…
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09/09/2021
Owner Review: Seiko Chronograph 7A28-7040

A black dialled watch with sub-dials at 3, 6, and 9… Could be a Speedmaster? Or a Daytona? Or any number of copycat derivatives. Not this one, this is the Seiko Chronograph 7A28-7040. In early 1983, Seiko unveiled the world’s first analogue quartz movement with integrated chronograph function. Up until then, unbelievable as it seems…
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02/05/2021
Owner Review: Luch Speed Mechanical – From Russia with Love

Like an episode from the cold war, a man whose name I never learned contacted me through a regular electronic channel with an interesting offer. He had, he said, something that I might want. Something he knew I had interest in. A few more covert messages later a deal was done. The one-handed Russian Luch…
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20/12/2020
Owner Review: Seiko Alpinist SARB017

Today I’m thinking of the first time I saw an Alpinist dial. It was the Seiko Alpinist SARB017 with its beautiful green dial, lumed golden cathedral hands and golden markers (Arabic even numerals and stretched bullet shaped odd hour markers). I was smitten. Research helped me learn a little of the interesting history behind the…
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12/11/2020
Owner Review: Seiko SNJ025P1 Arnie

A watch that was in Commando and Predator known as the Arnie, the H558 inspired the release of the new Seiko SNJ025P1 Arnie H581, based on the old one that was and is much loved by many Seiko fans around the world. No more battery – power is now supplied by the smiling sun god.…
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14/10/2020
Owner Review: Seiko Memo Diary UC-3000

I look up from my glass with its splash of nicotine coloured whisky and glance at my super sleek black digital watch. It shows 3:50 which tells me the office clock is wrong by a good two minutes. You can’t beat digitals for accuracy. I look through my office window at the girls in the…
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14/09/2020