the collection

Apologies for the not entirely great photo, but this gives an idea of the scope of my current collection (there are two watches currently at the watchmaker for servicing, and another recent eBay purchase on its way …)  In time I’ll do an individual post on each watch. [for some reason I can’t get the whole photo to display: click on it and it should open in a separate window — I’ll fix it later …]

top row: Bernhardt Globemaster GMT, Seiko 7002 ‘Franken’, Ollech & Waj M75, Tudor Ranger I, Omega Seamaster 1020, Seiko 6117 World Time

middle row: Swatch, Sandoz Sub, Accutron 218 Deep Sea, Titoni Airmaster, Laco B-uhr, Seiko 6138 UFO, Vostok Amphibia, 1920s/30s, unknown Swiss make in hand-made silver case (by or for ‘Stevenson Brothers, Adelaide’), Mondaine, Cyma Navystar

bottom row: Seagull 1963, Poljot Sturmanskie, Titus, Benrus GG-W-13 (US military), Precista PRS5, CWC G10 (UK military)

(not pictured: Certina DS3, Enicar Sherpa Guide GMT, O&W Sport chrono)

Laco B-uhr

Laco was one of five German firms that made Beobachtungsuhren (‘observation watches’) for the Luftwaffe during WWII. The original ‘B-uhr’ watches used manual-winding pocket watch movements and were a huge 55mm. With their long leather straps, they were worn over the arm of leather flying jackets and used for navigation and for timing bomb-drops. Aside from being huge in size, the originals are very rare and hugely valuable, so there are now many firms making contemporary versions of the two classic B-uhr designs in both the original 55mm size and a much more practical 42mm size . This one is 42mm (still pretty big!) and has the ‘Type B’ dial, which I like because of the way it overturns the traditional design that priviledges the hours; instead, the outer minute track dominates this face, with the hours on the smaller inner track. The movement in this watch is the inexpensive but durable Miyota automatic, made by Citizen in Japan. When ‘charged up’, the lume on the face and hands makes the whole watch glow like a green arm-lantern!

Sandoz sub

Until such time as I can afford a proper Rolex Submariner … this is actually a pretty good alternative. Sandoz is an old Swiss brand that from about the 1960s on concentrated on sales in Asia, and eventually took the cost-cutting measure of putting their watches together in Hong Kong and Singapore, using Swiss ETA movements. This one has a 25-jewel automatic movement, a nicely domed acrylic crystal and a screw-down crown. With its yellowing, aged lume, the colours of the ‘real Bond’ NATO are a good match.

Seiko 7002 diver

This classic Seiko diving watch is a bit of a ‘Franken’ — a watch made up of assorted parts that never went together from the factory. The case and movement are the 7002 model, dating from 1991. The dial and hands are new, aftermarket versions of the earlier 6139 model. The bracelet is a super-chunky ‘Lumpy’ from well-known Sydney-based eBay seller Watchadoo.