The season for shopping spree continues. Yeah! This is the second item – Seiko Criteria wristwatch – that I bought at the same time with the Yonex Arc Saber 10 badminton racket.
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I almost wanted to buy the earlier model a few months ago but I was not too determined. And when I see this latest model just launched in mid-December 2010, I just fall in love with it. This watch looks really yow yeng (got style).
These days, the fashion of wristwatch comes with a complicating design; never mind if we don’t make use of the functions or features. The new design comes with chronograph function with three smaller rings within the face of the watch.
The chronograph function is a complication inspired by everyday life, just as some other complications: world time, universal time, stopwatch, etc. While the digital watch can handle these requirements better with different user-interface displays, the analogue watch will have to display them all in one go.
Where is the second hand (in this watch)? It is obvious that the watch is showing 2:36 p.m. but that requires a bit of guessing with the number 10, 20, 400, 300, 240 not giving the actual indication. The second hand is not the orange hand (pointing at 12 o’clock direction); however, it is the small ring showing 34th second. The orange hand is actually the second hand for stopwatch function.
On the day that I proudly wore it to office and show to my fellow colleagues, upon inspection, she turned the outer ring. To my surprise, the ring with the calibration turns. Okay, I need to read the operations manual in greater detail for the various functions and features.
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I was first introduced to the chronograph wristwatch by Ronnie, a mechanic in USJ Subang Jaya who is also a Pacesetters runner. One day, he was hurriedly browsing a few magazines on watches instead of cars while busy working. He was trying to ask a customer who would be going to Japan to help him in buying a chronograph wristwatch.
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During the Mount Fuji Japan trekking trip in August 2010 ... click here, I actually went round looking for chronograph watches while sight-seeing in Tokyo. After the conversion rate, the equivalent prices over there are much higher than in Kuala Lumpur. As Ronnie explained, watches in Japan are made in Japan while similar brand of watches sold in Kuala Lumpur could be outsourced and made in China or Thailand; thus, cheaper.
In order to dispel the notion that product made elsewhere (other than in Japan) are of inferior quality, almost all prestige electronic or electrical products sold in Tokyo (that I saw) clearly display “Made in Japan”.
The Criteria comes with another five other models. I like the purple one (2nd from left) also.
Written by KC Leong
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