G-Shock#33: DW-5600EH-7JR The 25th Anniversary watch designed by Eric Haze

I know I normally publish a new blog article on Sunday, but I had waited for this watch for such a long time, I just can hold.
I think I read about this model about two months ago. Probably on Riley's My G-Shock. It looked like the perfect DW-5600 for me. The shade of red on the black display plate is so beautiful. Full respect for the designer Eric Haze (photo above). Eric is a pretty much known graffiti artist from NYC. As far as I know, this is the 3rd G-Shock designed by Eric Haze. Also the 25th Anniversary Logo, found on the 25th anniversary models was designed by him.
Above is a tribute to Keith Haring for his 50th day of birth. In 1997 I visited an exposition about Haring, which had a great impact on me, specially the letters he wrote before his death and how much he wanted to live. The last painting, a spermatozoa on a black background with devil horns had a deep emotional impact on me and other visitors. As a graffiti artist in NYC in the 70's, it is not hard to imagine that Eric Haze and Keith Haring were friends
Although my budget this summer vacation is very tight, I wanted this model very bad. I saw it on Seiya's website. A few days I kept spending looking at his splendid photo's. I had a bit hiccup against the price. Not that $120 is expensive, but simply I had doubt I could afford it this time.
Finally I decided I must have this watch. I placed the order on Friday evening August 8th (GMT+2). I noticed Seiya's shop is closed in the weekends, so I expected a reply from him on Monday morning.
To my surprise I found his friendly e-mail on Saturday. I was very happy the watch was sent out the same day. Japan celebrated the Obon festival from August 13th, so I hoped my watch was out of Japan then.
Indeed, the tracking service of the Japanese post told me the watch arrived in Amsterdam next Monday. It was sent to the customs office. Bugger (well, I actually called out something different, that not is suitable for this weblog). Normally Japanese EMS is a very fast and reliable service. The absolute record is a package that arrived in 2½ days (also due to the 7 or 8 hours time difference).
The waiting begins. Finally on Friday I saw the package was released from customs. I already expected to pay duties now. It's pretty sour. Because the rice of the watch is not very high, the customs fee would be relative big.
Saturday.... No watch :-(
Finally yesterday (Monday August 18th) I see the package service arrive at my door. I already packed my wallet when I see all the papers on and around the package. €32.30 for a €78.- watch. Unbelievable. The €16.- custom fees are in my opinion huge out of proportion. With 19% the Netherlands has a very high VAT rate. We are used to that, but in my case it's over 40%. I would like to see that the customs fees were a small percentage of the total value, but that's probably talking to a big wall...
Enough of my rant. I was waiting for this watch and it took me more time to write down my rant, that that I thinking about it. I wanted to open that package.
The EMS envelope was not opened. The Paypal invoice that was provided in a plastic sleeve was probably enough for the customs this time. When I opened the envelope I found a great box and some Casio catalogs.
I felt blood run through my vains. How would this watch look in real. Pretty nervous I opened the box and the tin.
For the first time I saw the face of the watch through a plastic protection bag. It's really here! It really looks as good as the Casio promotional photo's. I wanted to take pictures immediately, but unfortunately my parents internet browser crashed. Before I could start I drove with an USB stick with Firefox 3 to Vlissingen. Eva was at work, so when we came home I also had to put Bram to bed. Finally I could start making my photo set-up.
It was a great joy to shoot pictures. I made a series for G-Peopleland. After that I made a series for 50 G's. I could have posted this on next Sunday of course, but I'm so excited, I just want it to show the world now. It's 1:35 (am), so time to go to bed. But not before I thank Eric Haze for this beautiful watch and Seiya-San for the great transaction. Enjoy the photo's. They are taken against an Eric Haze x Stussy collaboration T-Shirt. And if you like this watch, don't take the text "Limited Edition" too seriously. This watch is released in Japan, the US and Europe. It is probably as limited as the TLC Mudman...