There was a time when I used to wear watches before the era of smartphones and IoT devices, from a simple classic Casio black watch, to a Swatch chronograph watch. I always like a classy watch timepiece on my wrist, telling me the date, time and moment. I was also probably influenced by my parents, my Dad had Seiko, while my Mum had Rado watches. As technology advanced over the years, I thought that a modern smartwatch would be the answer, somehow or another, a smartwatch is too similar to a smartphone for me personally. I thought I won’t be wearing a watch again, yet most recently, in the utmost secrecy, I announced the arrival of the classy Seiko spirit quartz chronograph watch SBTR017. This is my story behind this classy Seiko watch.

Photography by Isaac Ong

I am still, first and foremost, a fan of chronograph watches. This classy Seiko spirit quartz chronograph was first introduced to me by Isaac Ong (and heavily influenced on that Seiko spirit series watches), a  fellow EOS World Community Ambassador a few months back. Over time, I started to research and learned more about the Seiko spirit series of watches, there were a number of different models under this series, their price wasn’t that expensive (15,000 Japanese Yen for most models, 14,000 Japanese Yen for some models) compared to the chronograph watches displayed on Seiko website and Seiko Japan Instagram account  (their chronograph watches can go up to 270,000 Japanese Yen!).

In the utmost secrecy, I had a big sister and friend, Jenny, who happened to be traveling to Hokkaido for a summer holiday. Prior to her traveling for holiday, I did a Hokkaido travel sharing session with her. I asked her if she was able to buy this particular Seiko watch for me and some other local Hokkaido products for my Mum. She said, “Ok, sure, send me the details!”, I forwarded her the information and waited for the day she arrived in Sapporo, corresponded with her via WhatsApp while she was shopping at BIC Camera Sapporo Store. There were only a few selection of the Seiko spirit series watches on display for me to choose from, my first pick wasn’t available there, I continued looking. A green and gold Seiko spirit quartz chronograph caught my eye and liking, without much hesitation, I chose the classy Seiko spirit quartz chronograph watch SBTR017!

Photography by Isaac Ong

The Seiko spirit quartz chronograph watch series may not get the limelight and attention as compared to the Seiko Astron chronograph watch series. Personally, it’s a really nice watch at a great price point (14,000 Japanese Yen for my SBTR017) and I am very happy to own this classy Seiko chronograph watch. Upon reaching Singapore shore, I didn’t collect it immediately from Jenny due to work and timing commitments from both sides. Finally, I met her in early September and collected my prized classy Seiko watch! Touching, feeling and admiring my new Seiko SBTR017, the green and gold is a very nice colour combination, I didn’t regret making this decision! My lucky colour for this year is yellow, I read it somewhere and this really became my lucky watch in the space of one month!

One key motivation behind owning this Seiko SBTR017 is that this would be a nice fit as well as a complement to my TGH Photography x Canon EOS RP Explorer series production – photographs and stories of my exploration adventures. A classy Seiko chronograph watch timepiece that tells my exploration stories with her day, date and moment in time. Living in a world of modern technology from smartphones, smartwatches, IoT devices and social media, a good old classy chronograph brings a breath of fresh air and sometimes nostalgia of the good old days without too many technological devices and innovation. Such classy timepieces still fit in nicely and perfectly in our modern technology connected world today!

Walk with me, as I bring you through the times and moments with my classy Seiko spirit quartz chronograph watch SBTR017 and my TGH Photography x Canon EOS RP Explorer Stories.

1 Comment

  1. nice watch 🙂
    hope all is well, shifu!

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