Inspiration

About a month ago, I was browsing through Watchlords , and i came across a post which had a link to a video about the Submariner. Its not really a video, but a slide show of a few beautiful pics with some music in the background. A few seconds into the video, and I had a smile on my face :)



A couple of years ago, when my dream was to own a Sub, i couldn't really imagine myself ever getting one in the near future. I never could seem to get any inspiration to just forget about everything and go for it. I used to feel pretty sad really. Then one day Bio suggested that we should put pics of the watch we wanted (Sub for me and a white Explorer II for him) as our desktop wallpaper on our comps at work. I tried to choose a pic that will really make me want the watch more and more every time I would look at it and chose this (the very first pic in the video) :



I would look at it everyday and keep telling myself, "I shall have it soon!", and how nice it would look on my wrist. It worked!! And not too long after that, I bought a Sub!! Although it wasn't new, it was in excellent condition with not a single scratch on it. I was on top of the world!

So when I looked at that video, it reminded me of that time and how I actually managed to get my dream watch. By the way, for those who are wondering about Bio - he changed his preference soon and chose to go for a white dial Seamaster instead. A pic was put up on his comp and soon he too had his grail on his wrist. In fact he got it a couple of days before me and his was brand new :)

For those wanting to buy/sell watches in India

I like to go over at Ebay India from time to time and see what's on offer. But all that seems to be available are the run of the mill Japanese quartz watches and loads of fakes :( This got me and CF thinking about letting India Watch Blog help people sell/buy watches (genuine ones only!!) by listing them on our sales site.
The site hasn't seen much activity of late since my friends seem to take interest in the ones we plan on selling, and take them off our hands even before we can list them. Also, there haven't been any new purchases, off late, since there were loads of expenses that had come up in the recent past. So we essentially didn't have any new watches to add to our collection that would've made room for the older ones to be sold off.
So anyone looking to buy or sell a watch, drop in a mail at n3m3s1s_rulz@yahoo.com and we'll be glad to list it up on our blog.

My Seiko 5

A couple of years ago, I bought a Seiko 5 while on a trip to Thailand. It was more of an impulse buy and started giving me problems on the very first day. The glass had fogged up and I had to take it back and get it fixed the very next day. As time progressed, I realized it doesn't get too much wrist time and so I decided to sell it.
I put an ad for it online and soon was contacted by a watch dealer. A deal was struck for Rs.3750 ($82). A week later that guy contacts me and says he doesn't want the watch and says he wants his money back. I refund him his money but when I get the watch back, its in a bad condition. There are a lot more scratches than before and some if the paint from the markers on the Bezel was missing. The box too was missing and took quite a lot of phone calls before I got it back. I decided its not worth my time to talk to that guy any more and I thought of just making it my beater watch.
Another few months on and a close friend of mine got interested in it. I however couldn't allow myself to sell him the watch in the condition it was in, so I decided to get it serviced. I was slightly worried that the servicing cost would push the price a lil too high for my friend, but I went ahead with it anyway.
I took it to this place called Singapore Watch Company. Some of you may recognize that name as we had got my dad's Omega serviced from there. I wanted a full service and clean up (including original Seiko gaskets). I asked for the total damage and at the same time trying to think what would be a fair price to sell it to my friend and before I knew it he told me - Rs. 600 ($13)!! Not only was it so cheap, he also gave a year's warranty. The watchmaker did a great job at it. The watch now looks beautiful and will hopefully get the wrist time it deserves.

A WIS up in the air? Maybe you should pay a visit to the lavatory.

Form the Times Of India:

Costly Swiss watches found in AI plane toilet

Mumbai: Officials found 20 diamond-studded, branded Swiss watches in an Air India aircraft toilet on Monday. Each of the Franck Muller Geneve watches costs between Rs 10 lakh (~$22100) and Rs 15 lakh (~$33200). Six other less expensive watches of the same brand were also found.
The officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), who had received information about goods being hidden in the toilet, searched the AI Airbus which came from Abu Dhabi and landed at the international airport on Monday night. They found a cavity in the wall containing a bag full of watches and chemical packets.
The officials are investigating how the watches were taken inside the aircraft. “The passengers had left the aircraft when we reached,” they said. “We are investigating the involvement of the maintenance staff because the watches could only be removed after the aircraft, which is not locked, was shifted to the hangar.”
The officials said the sender would not smuggle watches into a country if he was not absolutely certain about his accomplice being able to take them out of the airport.

Posers beware! A WIS might be around...

First off, I'd like to wish everyone here a Very Happy New Year! Thank you for you comments and feedback. Both CF and I look really look forward them and please continue to send them in :) Now, lets get back to the post:
So, after a lot of years of failed planning, a bunch of us finally ended up in Goa for New Years and although it's not the best time to be there with all the traffic, crowds and hiked up prices; it was still a lot more fun then doing nothing in Mumbai. I had heard about the Casinos in Goa, but had never been to one, so a few of us decided to try a couple of them out.
(Note:Since, the Government of India prohibits live gambling on Indian Land, the Casinos are built on ships which are docked just a few feet from the banks of the river Mandovi, which flows through the capital city Panjim.)
So, there I was playing Black Jack with about 7 other players when I catch a nice looking watch, in the corner of my eye. It was a what seemed to be a Tag Heuer Grand Carrera. I asked the guy wearing it from across the table, whether it indeed was one. He confirmed it and then after a few seconds, proudly takes it off his wrist and hands it over to me.
Guy: "Here, have a closer look at it. It cost me Rs 2.8 Lakhs! ($6,085)"
Me: "Umm...where did you pick this up from?"
Guy: "The Tag showroom"
Me: "You should return it and get your money back, cause it's a fake."
The guy, who was slightly drunk, suddenly sobered up. He asks me how can I be so sure. I explain to him that apart from the poor construction of the watch, the dial had the words "chronometer" on it and since the seconds hand was 'ticking' rather than 'sweeping', it was a quartz watch, where as the real one would've been an automatic.
The guy had turned a dark shade of scarlet by that time and his friends around him started snickering at his embarrassment.
Not wanting to cause a further scene, i just handed the watch back over to him and continued with the game :p

It helps to read the literature!

I came across this article published in 'Mumbai Mirror', (a popular tabloid here in Mumbai) and it saddens me when (educated but arrogant) people can't take some time off to learn some basics, but important, when it comes to buying something expensive :/

"If you have a grievance about your automatic watch failing to keep up,see if you're using it right.Claiming that his self-winding Rolex had gone kaput,octogenarian Dr K R Shetty sought a refund and compensation.
However,the South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has dismissed his plaint,holding that such watches require regular usage to function well.
For Rs 9.41 lakh,Shetty had bought a Rolex Oyster perpetual daydate watch in September 2007,from a store in Kalaghoda.
The watch used to get automatically charged when worn on a human wrist due to movement of the arm.However,Shetty said the watch was malfunctioning,and returned it to the shop in February 2008.
The shop told Shetty the watch found to be perfectly fine.As the shop refused to refund him,Shetty lodged a complaint before the forum,stating the piece had a manufacturing defect.
The shop argued that the watch lacked power reserve due to poor wrist movement,and said they had even told Shetty to give some manual winds to the watch,which Shetty did not.
Ruling out any defect,Rolex informed Shetty that such watches were to be worn daily,for at least eight hours.
It has to be worn so that it shakes and swings so as to wind the coilspring to provide the energy for it to function well, the company said.
Dismissing Shetty's case,the forum noted last week,In this case,it appears the watch is not worn daily as Shetty claimed to be affluent enough to have more than one timepiece.
Holding that it is for Shetty to prove his claim with independent evidence when tests by the dealer and company prove that the watch was faultless,the forum noted,He has not produced evidence that despite regular use,the watch is malfunctioning. "
Hopefully, he'll pay more attention to the sales staff next time!

Does it make sense to buy it here?

The other day, an uncle of mine called up and asked me regarding an ad for a Rolex watch in one of the newspapers. He wanted to know the price and some info on the model. When I had a look, it was an ad for a Rolex Day-Date 118238 (with the President bracelet). Absolutely stunning!!
(pic not mine)

I had no idea of the exact price, so I called up an AD in the city. He quoted Rs. 1292000 ($28482) with the President bracelet and Rs. 1220800 ($26952) with the Oyster bracelet. I am always tempted to compare prices here and abroad, so I compared the Indian prices with the ones in the US and Europe, which are as follows:
US prices:
With President bracelet - $26400 ~ Rs. 1198032 (diff=Rs. 93968 or $2082)
With Oyster bracelet - $24950 ~ Rs. 1132330 (diff=Rs. 88470 or $2002)

European prices:
With President bracelet - € 20715 ~ Rs. 1231958 (diff=Rs. 60042)
With Oyster bracelet - € 19580 ~ Rs. 1164562 (diff=Rs. 56238)

I am aware that Europe has some extra taxes to be paid, but I think tourists can claim it back.

So looking at the above prices, its not just a difference of a few Rupees, its pretty significant. I can actually get return flight tickets (and maybe accommodation) to the above mentioned places and buy one there in the same amount. That way I get the watch and a short vacation too :p

I am not criticizing Rolex's pricing policies here. I am sure they have their reasons for it. However, if I had that kind of the cash to buy that watch, I think I'll consider the option of taking my short vacation :)