Fly with Icare 2

Back in December 2010, Seiko launched a new global site dedicated to showcase their 4 core watch technologies (Spring Drive, Kinetic, Solar and Mechanical) with an emphasis on the environment and how these fine watchmaking technologies help to reduce and/or eliminate harmful waste and thus promote a more "green" approach to the earth in terms of overall energy consumption.

Here is an excerpt:

The secret of fine watchmaking lies not only in precision time measurement but also in extending the duration of that precision over as long a period as possible. A great watch should have the maximum possible power reserve or should convert the maximum amount of energy from light or movement into the power to run the mechanism. SEIKO leads the world in energy-efficient watchmaking in all its forms, mechanical, quartz, solar, Kinetic and Spring Drive. Examples? SEIKO’s 2010 Quartz Astron uses 2.5% of the power needed to run its famous 1969 predecessor and the IC in the Spring Drive regulator uses just 0.25 nano watts; if every single human being on Earth wore a Spring Drive watch, the total power required would be the same as just one 150 watt light bulb!

Also as part of Seiko's clean energy initiative they are proud to sponsor "Icare 2" and its pilot Klaus Olhmann (Pictured above) flying the world's most advanced solar powered glider plane that can take off on its own power with no assistance needed whatsoever.

Be sure to check the in-flight video of the Icare 2 glider here.

G Shock Perfect Search

There are enough G Shock models to make your head spin.  Fortunately Casio Japan has a fantastic search engine.  An open search will yield 198 pages (as of date of this post !!) of G Shocks which should keep you busy for a few hours.  Selective searching on year released, model line, model number, display, ...will deliver more narrow results.  Check it out.

G Shock Search Engine

*Thanks J George*

Citizen Announces World's Smallest Radio Controlled Watch Movement

Citizen has recently announced the development of the H240 movement which sized at 20.8mm is the world's smallest radio controlled watch movement. The movement will be analogue with multiband global reception and features Citizen's PERFEX technology which adds anti-magnetic construction, impact detection to prevent hand displacement as a result of and also automatically detects and corrects hand position every minute.  Expect to see watches released with this new movement in June in ladies models of the EXCEED line.

Image from Citizen.

Read the complete announcement here.

Review of Citizen Skyhawk AT JY0000-53E

If you are a gadget person, this is the watch for you. It does everything, and it does everything well. This model is the third generation of the Skyhawk model and includes the following features:

Review of Casio G Shock GWM5600A-3

Remember those little green army men? Yep, that’s the color of this model. I like the color because it is something a little different but not the standard adolescent selection for G Shocks. There are a few other color options which include black (of course), red, white, yellow and a funky Halloween black and orange. The resin has a flat appearance and is not glossy.

Review of Seiko SARB021

This is a review of the Seiko SARB021. The fantastic pictures shown in this review were all taken by jbdan and used with his permission.

The SARB021 is a member of the Seiko Mechanical Line. Other models in the line include:

SARB023

SARB025

SARB046

SARB045

SARB021, SARB023, and SARB025 were released late of 2007 while the SARB045 and SARB046 were released the next year. All have an MSRP of 60,000 Yen except for the SARB046 which is priced at 68,250 Yen. All SARB models are available as Japanese Domestic Market models.

Introduction

Welcome to Jikan Watch Blog!

My name is John and I will post under the name Spin Doctor and also have a history on various watch forums under the name nhoJ.

I consider myself a watch enthusiast with an interest focused mainly on Japanese watches of all brands because of the quality, history and styles that resonate with me.  Jikan is the Japanese word for time, which seemed like a good name for blog focused on Japanese watches.

The purpose of this blog is to provide in depth reviews as well, share any relevant news that I think others interesting, along with anything else that simply strikes my fancy. If any readers are interested in sharing any content or send a link to some interesting news, feel free to contact me through the Contact tab at the top of the site or simply click HERE.  Also please take a moment to join my followers list.

Thanks for reading!