I had a thought this week, it wasn't the only one but it was an important one. It centred around creativity and this blog. I felt I should be doing a little more to flex my creative muscles, this is my outlet after all. My photos of the Seiko x Kosuke Kawamura (Seiko KoKa/SxKK) were quick and quite frankly not good enough, they sucked and don't do it justice. Especially because of the unique and interesting design of the watch. The other thing was that I started writing little stories, time worn tales, about watches, which I really enjoyed but haven't done for ages. It's one of my favourite things to do, if I have the write subject at the write time...
Now these posts of mine aren't particularly special or popular (nothing much is on this blog) but a few people have visited and I think benefited from their visits, enjoyed my rambles, photography, or some information on a watch they are interested in. The Chinese watch posts are the most popular and that makes sense. I have really enjoyed learning and sharing about them, and I will continue to do so but I have to make time to ensure there is a bit more quality and bit more me when it's appropriate. Hence a part two/bonus post for the SxKK in which I will add a few shots taken with a real camera, my dusty, trusty old Nikon D600 which has been around the world with me, and is solid after 10 years or so. I will also briefly wax lyrical about the watch. I hope you enjoy one or the other, or both.
The Feeling.
I wanted to size the bracelet to fit me, so naturally I take the protective plastic off the clasp where the signature is and immediately regret it. This led me to check the back the caseback, there had to be a layer on there, right? There wasn't, this OCD'd me and I was soon Googling and eBaying for protective covering for watches - the search continues. The clasp is the first place to get those desk diving scuffs, and the caseback print might get sweated on a bit and those are things I want to protect. I want to protect these design features and my investment in this timepiece. Aside the OCD, the dial is a masterpiece, it looks great but it's when you set the date that it comes to life, watching the day/date discs move is somehow so captivating, I know how they work I have a number of watches with the same movement, but seeing them in motion is both calming and exciting. It's obviously akin to an exhibition caseback but less technically impressive. That said, it's no less appealing, and it isn't exactly clear why. That's the magic of design I guess. The colours complement each other perfectly, they sit deep, somewhat enshadowed in the case under tracks and lines and markings that encircle the dial, focusing the attention on it furthermore. It's busy if you zoom out but once the dial takes your attention, everything else is a blur.
There is nothing else like it in my collection, and in general, other than its sister, SRPJ43, which I may never get to see in the flesh unless I want to spend a lot of monies. Saying that, it's black and blue so not the same effect in terms of colour. The SRPJ41 stands alone like an unforgettable sunset. And in writing that, I realise that's what the colours remind me of, a perfect sunset, the sky a striking still blue besieged by hazy, striated orange clouds. I believe the dial colours are based on on the Seiko time sonar, a previous Seiko offering though the colours weren't on the same dial, there are two versions, one with a blue and the other an orange translucent dial. Regardless, herein we have the 'Seiko Sunset', hopefully not literally, though this will be a tough one to beat.
Yours Impressionably,
Alvin
P.S. I was also thinking of a little redesign and restructure. Firstly I will probably combine first impressions and reviews into a review/impressions posts and find something clever to call it. Let's see how it goes.