The Longines Heritage Chronograph

The Longines Heritage Chronograph is perhaps one of the most affordable single push button column wheel chronograph on the market.

I recently featured the Heritage Chronograph in another post. Here are two of the three models close up.

First the monopusher Chronograph featuring a pulsometric scale reference L2.800.4.23.2.

Clean white lacquer dial...

Very legible and the glossy lacquer makes it even more so.

The accompanying brown leather strap has an orange backing. Very contrasting and very pretty!

Next comes the two toned dial version reference L2.800.4.26.2 which comes without the pulsometric scale.

I like this version the best... clean. And the slightly greyish blue toned lacquer dial is just perfectly executed.

Also comes with a leather strap and orange back.

So which one do you prefer? The white lacquered dial with a pulsometric scale or the clean two toned dial?

Then there is the black dial version (reference L2.800.4.53.0) which is also very versatile as a day time turned night formal timepiece. Head down to the Longines Boutique or to Watches of Switzerland to try one and perhaps get one for the Chinese New Year. I assure you the timepiece is very affordable. The white lacquered dial L2.800.4.23.2 retails for S$4,770 while the two toned L2.800.4.26.2 retails for S$4,930 inclusive of GST.

Urushi - A Rare Dial for a Rare Beauty!

The Japanese are well know masters of lacquer ware and when I first heard that they have commissioned a new timepiece in their Presage line, I was excited about it. So when I visited Japan earlier this year, I had to look for it.

Despite going to several department store in my first three days in Tokyo, I was met with one disappointment after another. And then, when we visited Kyoto, I chanced upon it there!

What’s so special about this piece? Well, for one the Presage line in this case features a special dial. The dials are made by artists Seiko commissioned and they are called “tokinowaza” - master craftsman. The art of applying lacquer is a well known Japanese skill and when I saw the timepiece, I was really awestruck! What a flawless dial!

The gloss on the dial is beautifully reflective. The master craftsman making these dials is Mr. Tamura Ichifune, a resident of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. According to Seiko press release, the production numbers of these dials are very low - about 15 per day due to the complexity of applying lacquer to the dials to achieve a high gloss and deep finishing.

Even the hands are different - seems like the gold coloured hands have a sandblasted finish. I have not seen such finishing on a Seiko before.

On the display case back houses the calibre 6R15 which is the workhorse calibre for Seiko three handed timepieces.

As you can see, it says “Made In Japan” - in fact, it is Made for Japan! As I understand it, this range is not available outside of Japan thus dubbing some of these as Japan Domestic Model!

The timepiece is 40mm and a similar piece was also launched on Valentines Day 2015 - the SARW013. I saw both the SARX029 and the SARW013 with power reserve and date. I ended up with the three handed model.

Why the three handed model and not the “higher end” SARW013? Well, what’s special about this piece is the Japanese Urushi (lacquer) dial. When one adds the date at the six o’clock position and the power reserve at the nine, it somehow crowds the dial and takes away the beauty of the urushi dial. Even the strap has a matching golden thread matching the hands. In the end, the cleaner three handed timepiece was my choice to show off the dial work.

In the end, I managed to source another two pieces making it a total of three.

One more look at this beauty.

The list price of these timepieces are a very reasonable JPY110,000 for the SARX029 while the SARW013 is listed at JPY130,000. Good luck trying to find them if you happen to be in Japan. I also managed to find the SARX027 which comes with an enamel dial. I shall be sharing that in another post.

Seiko Presage - Made In Japan For Japan

The Seiko Presage range is somewhat special - more so the “tokinowaza” range where Seiko enlists the services of a master craftsman to create special timepieces for the Japanese market.

Enters both the Presage SARX027 and the SARX029. The former comes with a white enamel dial while the latter a lacquer (Japanese Urushi) dial.

The SARX027 with the enamel dial.

The SARX029 with the lacquer dial.

So which one do you like? Both are available only in Japan - Made In Japan for the domestic market. A full report to come.