Saturday, November 29, 2014

Bucherer In Lucerne












There is Rolex you want there at price almost the same as you get in HK at less 5% of HK Rolex list price.

After tax 8% refund plus some surcharge of foreign exchange using your card, it would be better you could pay in cash or some part in cash to get a better deal.

The price is in Swiss France, which is about 8.03 HK Dollars.

Well, Friend of mine bought the Ref 116000 in Purple which is almost impossible to buy in HK there at Lucerne!

We cannot see DeepSea Ref116660 D-Blue, Daytona Black Ref 116520 and Submariner Hulk Ref 116610LV in display, but I believe they have it in the drawer if you ask them!
  
Bucherer
Schwanenplatz 5
6002 Lucerne
Lucerne
Switzerland
+41 413697700

Thanks for Watch Fever Secret Agent Susana's input.

HK Snob

Friday, November 28, 2014

Normal, Rich and Poor people


We cannot judge a man with his cloth but how about his watch!?
Most of the people cannot be tell if he is richer not when they are walking at the beach unless he wears a  White Gold Submariner, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms  or Panerai PAM00289…This is  the Panerai I like as it is  Pink Gold, it won’t leave you no value as Gold is the equivalent of Cash.

Richer people tends to know where they should spend their money on, something that is worth a lot but never fade out in value over time…
This is my thought of the Normal people and the Rich people, of course I am not one of them as I am classified as Poor People.
HK Snob
HKWF

An Aweful Nightmare of Watch, Women, Sex mesmerization



Nightmare

I have a dream, I always have a dream! But this time I had a nightmare.
I was confused as it was hot, like a burning hell’s inferno, I saw some of the most beautiful women dressed in sexy brassieres and were being removed and flown away, I even felt I could smell the blended smell of a perfumes, mixed with burned Wagyu beef probably I took some Wagyu at dinner. I could see a flying dragon who’s sexual organ is huge!
It was vague but I could see some shinning Emerald from a Submariner….
I woke up all in sudden and I took my Note III to drew lines of the scene before my memory would be lost.
It may be I had too much thinking about Sex, women, watches, lousy chaps like dead zombies in the hell (Company?) Oh, It makes me sick! It may be I saw the World War Z at HBO last night before I slept at One!


Ref Rolex Submariner Emerald
Released at BaselWorld in 2010, this “Submariner Emerald” (ref. 116649EM) was produced in a very limited number. Bezel is set with 36 emeralds and 12 brilliant white diamonds and this particular example also has the pave diamond dial with emerald indices. There is known one Rolex AD Shop has One stock!

HK Snob
HK Watch Fever

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

An Early Christmas Wish from HKWF




An early Christmas wish.

There is always a seasonal decoration in town, mall, rich man’s Home, Hotel lobby, street of Kowloon keeps telling me Christmas is coming.

In this particular season, here I wish that the following would come true:

The Students will go back home soon rather than to sleep in street as Winter would show no mercy on you.

May those who claims he is Hong Kong people instead of People of China wake up and find his real identity.

May the one who want to buy a home get it before thirties.

May the salesman meet his target of this year 2014.

May the One who is aged 39 could find a desirable friend of opposite sex to go for Christmas eve’s dinner this year. Would be perfect to engaged before turns out to be 40s!
I don't mean to use 40 is a cut off line as it is for the sake of the giving birth for child, 40 is STILL OK!

May this Season could really bring Hong Kong a peaceful and quiet Christmas.

May those nine Firemen could recover and go back home for Christmas family union.

May all the Watch lover found the best gift he could before the Christmas, no matter a Simple Oyster Date, an AP Offshore or a Jumbo 39 mm 1972 Royal Oak No. 001!

A bit early, but would be better than late to send you all these beautiful watches as early Christmas Greeting from HKWF.

By the way a re-useable Plastic Christmas Tree is better than a real Pine tree in your home!

HK Snob
HKWF

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014

If you Want to Buy Rolex with Less 25%, Go Japan!




Japan is a new Rolex Purchase Preferred Country for its good price!
Rolex used to have a fixed price over all countries as that would maintain a balance of sales over all countries.
On the other hand, Abenomics is working on Yen depreciation, as of Today’s Yen-HKD exchange Rate 1 Yen= 0.06579!
Friend of mine went to buy his favourite GMT master II Black Blue 116710BLNR
Price in HK is $67,300 how about in Japan!? We, he bought it at Yen 768,000 that is HKD$50,526.72!

Ref 11710BLNR list Price Yen 870,000 with Tax or Yen 800,000 without 8% tax.
That is about less 24% of the list price in Hong Kong!? No One can provide that kind of Discount for you… and likely this is the Cheapest GMT II in the world!?
How about 116701 LN?  It is Yen 710,000 that is HK$46,711!
Suggested place is Takashimaya Nagoya and Hokkaido, According to Lau a HKWF’s friend, due to high demand in Tokyo it is hard to find.
But in other cities, it is available for most of the People like to go for except but still the Daytona Black 116520 and Deepsea D-Blue 116660.
So if you go to Japan, don't forget to go and take a look!
Takashiyama, Daimaru department store or …

Remarks
Takashimaya does 6.9% tax refund instead of 8% (with 1.1% processing fee), they do give 5% off for discount, to total you enjoy 11.9%!
HK Snob
HK Watch Fever
Japan Snob 



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Makati Gathering with Philippine Watch and wine Connoisseur!




Makati gathering
I had a time to gather with this gentleman who has been knowing good watch could be one of the investment items like what he has for other investment:  Restaurant, Trading company, other

He loves good watches and exotic wines...In fact he buys wine in cases direct from Chateau.
He doesn't  drink alone and I was invited to go to meet him at this Shopping mall at his restaurant.

He like AP as much as Patek, well, this gentleman bought his AP in Taiwan with less 20% discount, he said he should know me earlier knowing that I get less 28% which could be more cheaper in HK, but I said that 8 % really matters much for a man like him.

We had a bottle of Angelus 1989 then a Bottle of Latour 1988
The Angelus 1989 is known for his strong and powerful tenin and yet giving you a secent of flowers that was the same bottle it showed up on the train appeared in the James Bond movie Royale Casino with by Daniel Craig as James Bond.

More interesting is he likes the AP because of his dual time, but I doubt as the second time zone dial is so small how could he sees the time correctly, he is older than I at least 5 years I believe.

He loves my Diver watch and ask why I like it, I said as I used to go gold watch, it may be fun to try out some expensive watch with cheap low tech material with hi tech to make : Carbon composite.

After I using a few days, I feel I like it as it is big in size, clear to read, and light to wear, and most of the cases I will not be recognized as an Expensive watch, you can travel to Malate to those night club, KTV, local restaurants and bars and no one seems to care what is on your hand.

Note that this man used to put 5 minutes fatser on his watch, he told me this 5 minutes makes him always ahead in schedule!

Makati Snob

Rolex AD at Rockwell Powerplant Mall, Makati




Rolex AD at Rockwell Powerplant Mall, Makati
I was wandering for window shopping whilst waiting for my Customer at this Shopping mall.
And popped into the Rolex AD right there, I did not go inside as through the thick bullet-proof window  I could see only one Submariner date  116610LN, one Submariner no Date 114060, one Seadweller 116600,
...
and there is no DeepSea D-blue, 116660
No GMT master II Black Blue Ref 116710BLNR
Of course no Daytona...
There is less than 40 Rolex Watches in the Shop.
Makati Snob



Sunday, November 9, 2014

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Carbon Diver Ref 15706AU




AP Royal Oak Offshore Carbon Diver Ref. 15706AU
This is more than sporty watch that it consists of all the latest technology you want on a watch:
1000 feet diving range
Carbon composite watch base
Ceramic Bezel
Audemars Piguet Renowned Calibre 3120 Movement
An eye catching accents of yellow 15 minutes arc , yellow hour, minutes and a yellow dot on the second hand.
Glareproof sapphire crystal,
Black dial with the AP exclusive “Mega Taposserie” pattern.
I appreciate the design of the dial as there is no too many sub dials like Chronometers that makes the dial so packed and appeared to be “ SMALL”!
This watch looks bigger as it is on my wrist.
The knob for setting the time recorder is on the 10 O’clock position that makes this watch a bit more unique.
This is a watch you can wear everyday, similar to the Rolex Submariner… but the band is silicon rubber.
So a Cabon+ Ceramic+silicone+ Calibre 3120 would be so easy to take you US$27,000 away!

HK SNOB
HK Watch Fever


Friday, November 7, 2014

Cartier Crash


It might be one of the reasons why women do not care its price or discount, as Cartier Crash is one of the most affectionate watches for women!

In the mid 1960s, Cartier's vice president died in a London car accident. The crash caused a fire which burned his body and the Cartier watch that he was wearing at the time. The piece burning on his wrist happened to be the tall and oblong-shaped Bagnoire Alongee. 

The watch survived. Cartier thus decided to design  the Crash as a  melted Bagnoire Alongee. It became the Cartier Crash in 1967 and to start to produce limited edition Crash design in 1990s.

They are rare, expensive and beautiful.



Hong Kong Watch Fever

勞力士幾時層經叫做"勞律士"呵?



老友送來一張當年的勞力士廣告,"勞律士蠔錶",看語法文筆,似是港式寫法,有無人當年看過這廣告?什麼年份的?1950?


港燦勞奴?

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

New Batch of Rolex Arriving HK, Including GMT Master II Ref 116710BLNR!



GMT Master II 116710LN Green Pointer $54,000 - full set
GMT master II 116710BLNR Black Blue $64,000 - full set
(one of the three is "888")

Milgauss Green Glass Blue dial 116400GV $52,500 - full set

Submariner 116610LN Black $55,500 -full set

Daytona 116520 White $87,000 - full set
Daytona 116520 Black $91,000 - No box
Daytona TT 116523 Panda $97,000 - full set
Datona TT Blue $97,000 - full set

Submariner Hulk 116610LV $63,500 - No Box

Cash Hong Kong Dollars.

HK Snob

Sales update, Mostly 70% sold as of today 7 Nov,

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The legendary Rolex Day Date Ref 1803



You’re not ready!
You’re young.
You haven’t been with the company all that long.
You’re not quite sure of your position.
Maybe in a few years, when you’re a little bit established.
But not yet.
Of course, if you disagree, you can visit an official Rolex jeweler!
 
This is a Rolex Advertisement for Rolex Day Date set with Diamonds in 1980’s! A bit ironry.


Very often I'm asked which Rolex watch that I fond of most. My reply, without hesitation, would be the Day Date 1803.

I have a few early Day Dates in my collection. A Particular piece is a 18KT Yellow Gold 1803 that has witnessed these moment in time such as  1967 riot in Hong Kong,  Wall Street crisis on Oct. 19 1987,  the US Challenger disaster on Jan 28 1986, the June 4 1989 Tiananmen incident and the 
Occupy Central taken place in Hong Kong for more than 36 days up to now!


The Events are memorial and worth human being to take time to think about what we have went wrong, but the Rolex is everything close to perfect.

These Rolex 1803 have been running all these years, day and night, without any sign of wear and tear after half of a century.  The one that I always use remains accurate, quiet, reliable and most of all look handsome all the time.


President Watch
The Oyster Perpetual Day-Date, the only Rolex watch that shows both day and the date simultaneously, was born in 1956. Originally, it was designed and made exclusively for those who are holding an important position of a company like a president and hence the model name President. It is still being manufactured today. It is one of the most prestigious models of all Rolex Watches.

It has many major advanced features as the DATE JUST plus additional Day wheel that has been gone through a series of technological advancement allow change day and date simultaneously at mid-night without taking excessive energy from the mainspring. It has a Perpetual Rotor for Automatic winding; screw down crown, Date with Cyclops magnifying glass at 3 o'clock position and Day display at 12 o'clock; water resistant to 100 meters.

The case is 36 by 13 mm. 1803 is non-quick-set with plastic crystal.  We have to first advance the hours hands to change the right day and then using the forward one quarter and back one quarter at 2345- 0000 to change the Date. It sounds a bit clumsy but with this design, it has less components, hence the watch is and thinner compare with the later generation 18038 single-quick-set with sapphire crystal started from 1977; and 118238 double-quick-set with sapphire crystal since around 1994 (double-quick-set referring to quick-set for both day and date).


Material for Day Date is limited to precious metals like 18kt yellow, pink, white gold or Platinum. There is no stainless steel Rolex Day Date. I have not seen any one of those someone told me that there are 7 pieces of Day Date that were said made with Stainless Steel.

The fun of collecting Rolex Day Date 1803 starts with choices of material, colour and design of the dial. One can choose dial material from Onyx, jade, birch, Oak, Lapis Lazuli, Aventurine, tiger eye, just to name a few more…. Plus many other choice of colors is available like Stella Red, Green, Turquoise, yellow, Chicken-blood Red, black, blue, purple, white, champagne gold, silver, white.

In design, there is strip form, round dot, door step, embedded with 8 diamonds hour index, diamond bezel with 44 diamonds. All these materials, color and designs provide can come up with thousands of different combinations. That drives all Rolex collectors crave for…


Courtesy Picture of HK Rolex Collector "Raymond"
These are Rolex Day Date Ref 1803, left in Black White Gold, Stella Red with Diamond Dial with Chinese Day wheel, Black with strip index and creamy matt White dial on the right.


There are quite a number of Day Date collectors in Hong Kong.  They share the same reasons: good fun with minimum amount of money, and attractive return of investment. Yet, a simple 1803 yellow with Champagne gold dial with strip hour index with leather strap that cost about HK$23,000  ten years ago worth HKD$40,000 now. Another example is a platinum Day Date with Stella blue dial set with 8 diamonds, currently worth HKD$260,000 was just HKD$90,000 ten years ago. Rare one could enjoy even higher appreciation over years.


Stella Dial
Rolex made a series of colored dials with a multi-layered lacquer coat in 1970’s referred to as Stella dials,

Stella which means star in Italian, it was a name bestowed only by collectors because they glisten in the light, giving the impression of shining stars of porcelain and there is a certain translucency when you look at it closely. They are also sometimes being called Stellina dials.

In fact Rolex didn’t actually call these Stella dials.  There are many attractive Stellas made on Ref 1803 between 1970-1985 though Rolex did not actually call these Stella Dials.

During that time Rolex produced these colored lacquer dials, they weren’t very popular and not being welcome by the local HK Chinese, as I could recalled I saw a Green Stella for than 6 months in a Rolex shop no one bought it, until one day the Salesman bought it by himself with staff price. Now that Ref 1803 with Stella Red is probably the most sought after Day Date.

Rarity, which is one of the Concern in looking for Vintage
Watch beside, Condition, price and Quality.


In the last 10 years, collectors have revisited the Stella dials, finding them quite beautiful and appealing, accepted as an unisex watch due to the optimum size of 36mm. Many people decorated them with alligator strap of matching colour.

And they have a lot of different dial colour that would work like opium to stimulate you for enlarging your Day Date Collection. Also they are still quite affordable as far as of today, Thought their price has been double for two times in the past 8 years, Such as the Stella Red was just HKD$80,000 in 2007 and now there is no one want to sell you for HKD$160,000!

HK Snob
HKWF

Various leather strap for your Rolex





Various types of design leather strap for your Rolex,

 All above shown here is sample only

Price Pony leather is HKD$750

Other is HKD$380

Custom made with delivery time 3 weeks

HK Snob

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Speacial Leather Strap for your Rolex Watch



The one on top is sheepskin strap with Camouflage pattern. 
The other is a pony skin with special pattern made
All custom made genuine leather, for your exotic taste and it is like no others stands out peerless flaunting amongst the crowd.

We have various colour and all pattern is unique, are you interested in getting it for your Rolex?

HK Snob

Interesting data on Watch Fans's Choice


Interesting data on watch fans and watch collectors,
Well of course the data was those HKWF readers choice.

Source of purchase
60% prefers to buy at Rolex AD,
18% goes for pre-owned Watch
14% goes for Grey Dealer
4%  goes eBay

(note that the data shown on Google Poll has bugs)




Choice of Brand
Amongst these big 4
56% goes for Rolex
21% goes for Patek Philippe
17% goes for Audemars Piguet
4% goes Panerai


Thank you for the voters as it helps us to understand more about our purchase practice

HK Snob