Oris Pointer Date vintage automatic watch

Oris is a well known watch brand that's been around for more than 100 years. Their pointer date models are among the more collectibles for this brand. It wasn't long ago when I acquired a manual wind that ended up with the Clairvoyant. That was mainly because it was a small-sized watch and not suitable for my wrist. More recently, I was able to get another pointer date, which is larger and with a very similar design as the wife's.

There are four hands on this watch. The hour hand, the minute hand, the second hand and the pointer hand for the date.

Side view of the watch

Side view showing the crown

A closer look of the dial shows how nicely this watch has aged. The lumes are practically gone where it was on the hands and eight of the hour markers.

The movement can be seen through the transparent back. The back also says its water resistant but I had to do some research to find out it was only for 3ATM or 30m. That should be okay for the typical rain showers or washing hands.

The movement is a Cal. 574, which runs at 21,600 bph with a power reserve of up to 40h. The movement is based on the ETA Cal. 2688. The movement actually dates the watch to 1990 so this one is a 28-year old vintage.

Here is the watch side by side with the wife's manual wind pointer date.

Here's the watch on my wrist

The watch runs well gaining a few seconds per day. It lasts overnight between uses. I haven't really had the chance to time watch so I can't say if it reaches the 40h original power reserve it was supposed to have.

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Zodiac automatic vintage watch

I have a few Zodiac watches. This company survived the quartz revolution of the 1970s but seems to not have progressed as other Swiss watch companies. They do have some popular lines including the Sea Wolf divers watches that can fetch hefty price tags even for the vintage models. I don't have one of those but have some dress watches including the Olympos automatic I featured in a previous post. This one's a simpler automatic watch that I still have yet to get the model name and other specs.

Simple face of this automatic from Zodiac with only the date feature.

Side view showing the crown and emphasizing the raised hour indices

The other side view that validates the watch to be in very good condition. Some people like to have some sort of patina in old watches. This is not so old - perhaps 30-something years but doesn't have signs of significant corrosion or water/moisture damage. If this is a restoration job then it was a good one. Otherwise, the watch was well taken cared of by the previous owner(s).

Case back showing the watch to be antimagnetic and water & shock resistant. The Zodiac brand and logo is seen at the right while a gold-plating mark is on the left.

The obligatory wrist shot at my workspace

As mentioned, this is also a gold-plated watch. And there is a hallmark etched on the case showing it to be 20 microns gold-plated. I have not opened or had this watched serviced so far (it is a more recent acquisition) but it keeps accurate enough time and the power reserve seems to be decent enough. I haven't had the chance to do some serious estimates but after a day's use, it will last overnight to be worn and re-charged the next day.

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Citizen Promaster vintage diver watch

My collection of Citizen watches include a diver. But unlike other watches, this one is a lefty or designed for the left handed (watch is worn on the right wrist and can be adjusted using the left hand). It is not exactly a rare one but is not a common one either in the sense that there are few with this orientation.

This Citizen diver has both day and date complications

View showing the screw down crown

The other side view

Case back showing the water resistance, model number and serial number

Side view showing the crown and the thickness of the watch

Close-up of the bottom of the dial showing the model number

Here's the obligatory wrist shot

This watch is powered by an Citizen 8203 movement  by Miyota that runs at 21,600 A/h with a supposed power reserve of 43h. I haven't really gone into testing the watch but it usually lasts more than 36h.

This watch has one of the brighter lumes in my collection.

These are watches that are often preferred by those who want to have what they call a 'beater' or everyday watch. I actually prefer dress watches over divers but wear one whenever the weather or the occasion (swimming) calls for it. And with the weather in the Philippines, that means wearing a diver more frequently during the wet season. My preference though would be my Mido Cal. 80, which is to me a very reliable piece.

[Note: I unloaded this watch last year. Had to let go as I trimmed my collection. 2/11/2021]
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Torimomo Japanese Restaurant, Feliz Mall

We were supposed to have lunch at another restaurant last Saturday but then ended up in another. The plan was to have a nice meal at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants that now has a branch nearer our place. It helped that we were coming from a picnic at the UP Diliman campus so it was along the way back. As we made our way to the restaurant, we chanced upon another that looked to be newly opened or having a soft opening. We liked what we saw in the menu one of their staff were showing passers-by so we decided to have our lunch there. Our daughter loves salmon sashimi so seeing that in the menu made our decision easier. :)

The interiors were definitely colorful and I like the paper lamps that advertised a Japanese brand beer

It was a soft opening so many of the staff were on on-the-job training (OJT) mode

Match It! promo for drinks, rice, miso shiru, and desserts

I took this photo of the wall as it reminded me of typical walls in Japanese restaurants that featured major items on the menu. Of course, it is not so obvious if you can't read it. :)

The salmon (shake) sashimi was good.

We ordered a sampling of their barbecues including bacon-wrapped enoki and asparagus, beef cubes and chicken. We highly recommend the bacon-wrapped enoki and asparagus!

Their version of chahan tasted good. My only suggestion is for the rice to be more sticky. You can't really get a good handle with the chopsticks.

I didn't expect much as they weren't a ramen restaurant but their version of the tonkotsu ramen was definitely a pleasant surprise. My only "complaint" is the serving size - bitin!

Torimomo is a good restaurant that I would highly recommend especially for those who like Japanese-style barbecue. They also have a lot of items in their menu so there's something for anyone who likes other Japanese food - cooked or uncooked. I think the prices are reasonable, too, for the quality and serving sizes. The staff are still under training but this should improve very soon and the managers look to be on top of things based on observation. We're looking forward to the next meals there.

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Jacob's Stew, The Village Center, Antipolo

The Clairvoyant and I travel a lot and one thing we learned from our travels is to try out new things. That includes new places to eat at. We usually practice this whenever we travel but during weekends and with family, there is always comfort and convenience in going to the usual restaurants where familiar menus and quality of food means a good lunch or dinner.

Last Sunday, though, there were limited options when we decided to eat near the All Home store in Antipolo to get some Christmas decor for our tree. We were surprised that our default option of a chicken restaurant fell through. The Savory branch there had already closed. Then there was another restaurant, Gilligan's, but it was already crowded and by the looks of it we couldn't probably get a good table and have to wait for some time before we can be served. And so we walked a bit to check out other restos in the area to find the others full except for one - Jacob's Stew. There was only one customer at the restaurant and their menu seemed good enough for a hearty lunch so we decided to eat there. We were not disappointed.

Jacob's Stew is at the Village Center beside All Home along M.L. Quezon Extension in Antipolo City

Their specialty is beef stew and it was definitely good and something to order when you eat there.

We also ordered their molo and were not disappointed with the serving size and the taste.

Price-wise, we thought their items were priced just right for the quantity and a good deal for the quality. I think the next time we are in the area, Jacob's Stew would be our default restaurant to go for a nice meal.

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Replacing the leather strap on a watch

I was looking for a tool to use in replacing the bracelet or strap of a watch. You can actually use a knife or some other tool for this but its best to use a spring bar tool. Fortunately, I remembered that I had one that came with my moon watch. And so I have been using it to change straps and give many watches a different look.

Helbros alarm with Hirsch leather strap

I've replaced and removed (in favor of the more easily changeable nato and zulu straps) metal and leather straps from certain watches in my collection. The changes help keep the watches casual rather than formal.

New custom leather straps and the watches they were intended for

One set was for a vintage Gruen Precision and another was for a Citizen Homer

The custom straps I recently got from an artisan I discovered over social media. He's really very good and perhaps deserves a separate post in the near future. I also have a stash of natos and zulus that I use interchangeably with several watches.
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Seiko AGS Scuba SBBW015 [5M23-6B40]

A recent acquisition is this min condition Seiko AGS (automatic generating system), which is an innovation on the movement that Seiko introduced sometime in 1988. This later became well-known as their Kinetic line of watches with AGS being retained for Japan domestic models (i.e., Kinetics were for international release models). I have one other AGS, which is my Landmaster Titanium and a Kinetic auto-relay that has a lot of sentimental value.

Dial showing the immaculate bezel, blue face, Kanji day and date features. Also visible is the power reserve guide that allows one to check how much power remains with the press of the button at 2 o'clock.

Side view showing what appears as raised hour indices. The lumes on this watch is also in great condition.

Side view showing the screw down crown and the power reserve indicator button

The watch model in fine print at the bottom of the dial

The bracelet is original and luckily is a good fit to my wrist.

The case back showing the watch the details on the watch including the serial number indicating this to be made in Japan in March 1994. That makes this watch to be more than 24 years old.

The watch on my wrist the first time I tried it on.

The capacitor on this watch was already spent and it didn't function long after taking the watch off so I had it checked. The newer capacitors were not cheap and there was the option to use a battery instead so I had it converted into a regular quartz watch but with the indicator still functioning. I intend to have it back as an AGS/Kinetic in the future. Here's the interior with the battery fitted where the capacitor was. Perhaps Seiko already thought of this as a back-up to when the capacitors cannot be replaced?

I took this photo of the movement and the battery in place of the capacitor

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Molnja vintage watch

I have this large watch from the former Soviet Union that I chanced upon online. It seems to be a pocket watch that was converted into a wristwatch and also reminded me of the Pop Swatch models that came out in the 1990s.

Interesting watch face with the sub-second on the left side instead of a the bottom.

Side view giving close-up of the sub second feature

Side view showing the crown

Case back. Note the absence of spring bars for the strap or bracelet. This is similar to my old Laco watch and basically limits the straps you can use with this watch. It is supposed to measure 20mm but is wide enough to fit a 22mm (the current strap the watch came with is a 22mm).

The watch on my wrist while working at the office.

It's a nice watch for casual days and to use for walks in our neighborhood.

The lunes are working well for this casual piece.

Did you notice something about the hour markers? They are in Roman numerals but the number 4 retains the correct form 'IV' instead of using 'IIII', which may be found in other watches (I wrote about a Tissot that has 'IIII'). The latter style is called the "watchmaker's four" and is more for aesthetics and symmetry.

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