Burrn! 10 year anniversary

About 2 years ago, I posted a curious watch where the head was connected to the strap with a spring system. Today, I'm wearing another one, but this time I can work out exactly when it's from!

The previous post was of a watch called the BA-727 by a Tokyo based brand called Belami. Belami were a trademark of the Empire Trading Kabushiki Kaisha company, and appear to have been active between 1984 and 2003.

The watch has a 3 hand dial design with large circles on the ends of the hour and minutes hands, and a crown at the 12 o'clock position. The strap is connected to the sides of the case with spring sections and screw mounted arms so it can flex and twist to fit your arm. The strap is also decorated with springs to give it a rough mechanical feel.

This watch is identical to the Belami BA-727 and although it has no makers marks, I assume that it is the same model. This version has a difference in the face design though, and has been made for the Burrn! 10th anniversary. The face has the Burrn! name across the bottom and the word anniversary across the top, with the 10 hour marker showing which anniversary it is (as it is the only numbered hour marker.

Burrn! is a Japanese magazine which has been published monthly since 1984 and currently costs ¥670. It is for Heavy Metal fans and often has an English language cover even though the content is in Japanese, and they describe themselves as the "world's heaviest heavy metal magazine". It is quite interesting I chose to blog this now, as it seems the latest issue is the 30th anniversary edition and I'm blogging the 10th anniversary watch which I therefore assume was issued as a limited edition cover item almost exactly 20 years ago (1984).

Head Porter Plus military watch

It seems that a lot of the Japanese fashion brands at some point regale released a watch as a magazine cover item. Today's watch is another of those.

Like the A Bathing Ape watch I blogged earlier this month, this watch was also issued as a limited release on the front of Smart magazine. Smart magazine is a Japanese fashion magazine which caters for youth fashion and seems to be a monthly release. This watch came out on a 2013 issue (sometime earlier than September) and is not for sale on its own.
The watch is a military style watch by the clothing line Head Porter Plus. Head Porter is a Japanese fashion brand which was established in July 1998. It is manufactured by Yoshida Kaban which is a Tokyo based manufacturing company started in 1935 and recognised for its high quality bags and accessories, and best known for its Porter brand. The Head Porter brand is a private brand designed by Hiroshi Fujusawa, which uses Yoshida Kaban as a manufacturing partner. It only has 3 shops - the flagship store in Harajuku, Tokyo, and shops in Osaka and Kyoto.

The watch is a 3 hand dial design with clear to read white hands and time markers. It has a plain black case and camo green fabric strap helping to give the military style. The dial shows the Head Porter Plus name and has a red + sign below the 12 o'clock marker. The back is completely blank, so there is no other information on the watch.

A Bathing Ape Black Camo watch

Today's watch was a magazine freebie, but seems to be rare enough that is it quite popular on the online auctions!

The watch is by A Bathing Ape, also known as Bape. This is a Japanese clothing brand which was founded in 1993 and makes lifestyle and street wear. They are mainly based in Japan, but have a number of stores worldwide, and is popular among celebrities. Bape has a distinctive two-tone gorilla logo (looking like something from Planet of the Apes), but they also collaborate with other brands, also featuring their characters (such as Nintendo, Marvel Comics, and Hello Kitty).

This particular watch was a giveaway with the Japanese Smart magazine which is a monthly(?) fashion magazine aimed at the youth market. It came with the July 2013 magazine, and is reported to be a limited edition (although this may be because it was only available with the magazine and therefore only sold for 1 month).

The watch is a round 3 hand dial design with a quartz movement. The face is covered with a black and grey camouflage pattern which is made up of a series of shapes, including deformed (squashed and twisted) versions of the Bape gorilla logo. The face also includes the proper logo, the 'A Bathing Ape' name, and an R in a circle instead of the 6 on the dial. I have two of these, and the both have a different pattern of camouflage on the dial, so it is a possibility that everyone of the watches is unique. The strap is a long black fabric design which loops behind the case.

They are seen on the online auctions, where one was recently sold for $42 which is significantly more than the magazine sold for!