selling my entire collection

after neglecting this blog for the past 18 months, i have taken the decision to sell most of the pieces in my collection.

i may not have time to upload pictures of everything but if there’s a model i’ve blogged about here previously, the pictures are still in the relevant posting. do enquire.

do check out the “watches for sale” page for updates from today.

cheers.

dave. 

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dw-8400bk-1mjf real black mudman: bnib/nos with original box, japanese manual and hangtag – 700usd

dw-8400bk-1mjf real black mudman: like new condition with generic box – 500usd

dw-8400bk-1mjf real black mudman: like new condition with generic box – 500usd

my most beloved watches in my entire collection is now available for purchase. all threepieces in my collection have never been worn before and have been stored with care.

more info and pictures: here and here.

kikuo ibe interviewed

singapore freesheet TODAY carried an interview with the father of g-shock kikuo ibe today.

sale of g-shock mini models at gilt.com

gilt.com is an online shopping site that features superb knockdown prices on fashion and lifestyle products. typically, each sale lasts about 36 hours and a new label/brand is added daily mondays to fridays.

i discovered this week there is a sale on the rarely seen g-shock mini models that are not available in singapore.

at the time of writing, there are nine models selling for 55usd each. shipping in the usa is a flat 10usd regardless of quantity ordered. the bad news is the website does not ship overseas.

for singapore buyers, this can be overcome by using vpost usa or borderlinx. you will also need an american express credit card as all other singapore-issued visa or mastercard cards will not pass the verification process.

click here for an invitation to join the website and start shopping.

shock the world tour finally to grace singapore

new atomic frogman gwf-1000 promo video

wus member kiwidj has pointed the way to a new video on the g-shock.jp website promoting the new gwf-1000 atomic frogman.

have taken the liberty to upload the clip onto youtube. you can also download the video directly from here. the file is in flv format.

rare sighting: real black dw-9000bk-1v

seeing that i have been plain lazy to snap my own watches these past couple of months, i’ve decided to at least make myself useful and do some g-community service.

fresh from stumbling on the as-yet-unconfirmed mastermind japan atomic frogman, a grail member of a grail series has been spotted on yahoo auctions japan: the dw-9000bk from the very cool real black series.

i believe this is only the second copy of this watch that i’ve seen on yahoo since frequenting the auction site from end 2007.

the previous copy was snapped up by a buyer who subsequently flipped it on ebay; and the last known address of that piece is another collector in singapore who i befriended a few months ago.

at 69,800yen –> 63,000yen, it is pricier than more than a few notable g-shocks i can name offhand: the new atomic frogman, a near mint brazilian frogman gw-200cf, a mint icerc blue jelly frogman gw-202…

to be fair, the dw-9000bk is rarer than the real black mudman dw-8400bk and even more so than the real black frogman dw-8200bk. it was never officially listed in the g-shock perfect search archive, nor any of the g-shock bibles i own.

this is also the first time i have seen the full model number: dw-9000bk-1v : an indication perhaps that this was an export model that was not officially released in japan. the auction description seem to reinforce this too.

to sweeten the deal, the seller is also including an extra set of original straps. “http://www.g-shock.com” was printed on the underside of the retainers in the following real black watches: dw-056bk, dw-069bk.

update: the watch was eventually sold for 59,800yen.

mastermind japan x g-shock atomic frogman in the works?

photo © jahan’s blog hosted on hypebeast

“cult japanese label” mastermind japan (mmj) showcased its fall/winter 2009 collection in taipei on august 12 and in attendance were a host of personalities involved in fashion, street culture, entertainment and the like.

singapore-born artist jahan attended the show and posted some pictures on his blog over at hypebeast.

among the installations, art and personalities pictured in the blog was the above frogman!

the new atomic frogman(s) gwf-1000 and gwf-1000b were officially announced on august 27. so is this new special edition really in the works?

from the single picture, it seems this model will have a red tint ala the real black frogman dw-8200bk-1jf.

a custom logo in the backlight seems de riguer for a high-end limited edition such as this and it seems a pair of skull and cross-bones (the mastermind japan logo) are used.

if this collaboration materialises, it will not be the first mmj g-shock. the mastermind japan x g-shock valentine’s boxset comprising a dw-5600 and a dw-6900 was released in february 2008. here’s a recap:

i also had a chance to look into my g-rystal ball and saw the following:

1. hype beasts (–pronoun) hobbling on the streets after selling a kidney (maybe two…) to buy this watch.

2. the usual heated debate about the (de)merits of such a watch, as seen here and here.

new g-5500ts now available in g-factory singapore

hidden within the pages of the current casio catalog available to retailers are two new g-5500 tough solar models which i missed thanks to the onslaught of the new g-5600 and g-6900 variations.

while window-shopping this evening, i popped into a g-factory (“g-factories” are official casio stores here in singapore) and was surprised to see the dark grey g-5500ts-8 and yellow g-5500ts-9. these are currently selling at the full recommended retail price of about 170sgd.

these watches seem like further extensions to the g-5500 line-up with simple colour variations. they do however feature custom logos in the backlight: the city codes of new york city and tokyo are used in the g-5500ts-8 and g-5500ts-9 respectively.

the two models are currently not featured in the g-shock perfect search archive but some online japanese retailers do carry them.

***all pictures featured belong to their individual rights owners.***

tough solar g-5600a-3

in july 2009, casio introduced a whole new line-up of colour variations to the gw-m5600. these were essentially colour updates to the multi-band 5 models: gw-m5600-1jf, gw-m5600bc-1jf and the somewhat limited gw-m5600r-1jf.

available in white, yellow and dark green, it was soon revealed non-atomic versions sporting tough solar will also be available. these became the colour variations for the recently released g-5600e, the refreshed and updated version of the classic dw-5600e.

the dark green g-5600a-3 was my favourite in the set and after picking up the white and yellow versions earlier this week, my regular shop at the bencoolen finally received the the final piece in the collection.

upon receiving the actual watch, i had a pleasant surprise.

the g-5600r-3 has a very lovely and permanent blue/green hue in the display even when the backlight is not activated. this  is reminiscent of the old g-viper g-5600gh-8jf, another watch that is also a classic in collectors’ circles.

the colour of the bezel and straps closely resemble the dw-5600fs-3jf (hero). here’s a quick comparison:

a recap of my recent tough solar acquisitions:

green g-lide glx-5600a-3jf

one of the latest incarnation of the classic square 5600 series is the g-lide series first launched in the middle of 2008. this is a totally new watch containing a module that features a tide graph and moon phase indicator more commonly seen in the non-atomic gulfman these days.

the first three that were made available came in black, red and white.  the first special edition of this totally new model was a collaboration with the brand in4mation: the glx-5600x-3jr which proved to be a bestseller. in the space of one year three in4mation g-lide models have been released, the latest being the salmon pink glx-5600xa-4jr that followed the gls-5600x-6jr – dubbed in some circles as “purple rain“.

although i have been a fan of the square dw-5600 variants for the longest time, the new square g-lides did not appeal to me initially. i find the display too cluttered with the addition of the tide and moon functions.

in april this year, casio announced five more new square g-lide models. of the five, the one that interested me most is this glx-5600x-3jf. these set of watches were officially released on may 31, 2009 in japan and i am surprised it is already available i singapore (all except the salmon pink in4mation special edition).

the band printing include the word “g-lide” and a floral pattern running along the length of both straps; details which i had not noticed previously in the stock pictures from casio.

the green is highly glossy and i’m pretty sure both the bezel and straps are coated and will eventually peel given enough abuse. for now this seems like a fun and cheery watch to have.