a photo dump

I’ve recently got an iPhone, and I’m quite impressed at how good the camera is. On Twitter, a group of self-proclaimed ‘watchnerds’ has begun posting daily wrist shots under the hashtag ‘womw’ (what’s on my wrist) — see http://search.twitter.com/search?q=womw

Here are a few of my casual iPhone WOMW shots:

Bernhardt Globemaster GMT. This is a modern watch ‘inspired’ by the Rolex GMT Master, albeit more on the scale of a Seadweller/Deepsea at 42mm diameter and very thick. It uses a modified ETA automatic movement to provide a separately adjustable 24-hour hand. Along with a rotating 24-hour bezel, it’s easy to read three different timezones at a glance (I currently have it set to show local time on the main hands, GMT/UTC with the red 24-hour hand and New York time on the outer bezel). It’s 200-metre waterproof with a screw-down crown, and has a sapphire crystal.  Made in limited editions by Fred Amos in the US using Swiss movements and German-made cases, Bernhardt is one of the many bespoke watch brands popping up that only operate online and which draw their custom from the keen watch fans who frequent internet forums. This is one of my favourite ‘everyday’ watches, at home on a NATO or stitched brown leather strap as well as on its very well made, solid-end-link oyster bracelet. (see http://www.bernhardtwatch.com/globemaster.html )

This is a Chinese-made Seagull 1963 chronograph. There is quite an interesting story behind these: in the 1950s, China saw what the Russians were doing with watchmaking (brands such as Poljot and Vostok) and while they’d been making basic, reasonable quality watches for some time, the Mao government wanted a flagship watch. Enter the Swiss movement company Venus, who made wonderful chronographs in the 1930s and 40s using a column-wheel: they needed capital to develop new technologies, so they sold the machinery and patents for their classic 175 chrono movement to China. The Seagull was born, and in 1963 about 1500 of these fine (but even by then rather dated-looking) watches were issued to pilots and navigators in the Chinese airforce. By the quirks of Chinese history, this movement, dating back to the 1940s, has never gone out of production, and seeing an opening to sell a retro-styled watch to Western collectors, the ‘1963’ has recently been reissued.

This watch also uses the Seagull (ex-Venus) manual-wind, column-wheel chronograph movement, but it is British. The Precista PRS-5 is a contemporary reissue of a classic military chronograph made for British forces in the 1970s. Originals used a Valjoux 7734 movement and were made by Hamilton, Breitling, CWC and Newmark as well as the original Precista. The Precista brand is one of a number of historic brands bought up and revived by Sheffield-based Eddie Platts with his Timefactors company (http://www.timefactors.com/). The first reissued Precista chronos used the Russian Poljot 3133 movement (itself based on dies from the V7734 sold to the Russians by the Swiss), but this second batch uses the Chinese Seagull. Either way, it’s a very attractive watch, with a thick, satin-finished case and domed acrylic crystal.

From reissues to the real deal: this is a CWC G10, issued to someone in the British army in 1977. Simple, robust, highly legible: an archetypal military watch.

This Omega Seamaster cal.1020, known as a ‘TV’ model for pretty obvious reasons, dates from about 1975. My partner Kathy found it NOS from a dealer in Hong Kong and bought it for me a few years back. Automatic, day/date, matching bracelet.

I don’t usually go for quartz watches, but I made an exception for this Seiko, a 7a27 chronograph from 1983. With its very high-quality, 15-jewelled movement, this is a mechanical watch in all but its power source. A version of this watch was issued to the RAF and is highly collectible: this civilian version is still somewhat rare but was an inexpensive buy on eBay.

Another Seiko, this time a 1968 World Time (cal 6117). The dial was originally silver-white but has aged (pretty uniformly) to an attractive gold. The red 24-hour hand is matched with an inner bezel showing world cities. Oddly, this watch has an error: it shows GMT as a separate indicator, with London sharing a timezone with Paris and Rome — London and mainland Europe are always an hour apart. This error was corrected on later models.

Last one for now: this is a Titoni Airmaster, probably dating from the late 1960s or early 70s. It has an ETA automatic movement and the design is an interesting mix of Rolex/Tudor (Oysterdate) and Omega (Railmaster) styling cues. For its era it’s quite big: 39 or 40mm. Inexpensive to buy, and runs well: although the movement is somewhat loose in the case and it is low on power, running accurately when worn but stopping pretty soon after its taken off the wrist.

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.

Tudor Ranger I

I’ve long hankered after a Rolex Explorer I, but if any Rolex is expensive, Explorer Is are particularly so given how plain they are. So instead I turned my eye to Rolex’s ‘budget’ brand Tudor, and came across this little gem:

It’s a Tudor Prince Oysterdate Ranger I, and dates from sometime in the early 1970s. It came on a black leather band, and I’ve also tried it on a black and grey ‘Bond’ NATO … but it really needed a proper Oyster bracelet. It’s not too big at 35mm, but with the black face and smooth bezel, it doesn’t look too small on the wrist.

Seiko 6138 ‘UFO’ chrono

Another big 1970s watch: a Seiko 6138-0011 ‘UFO’ automatic chronograph from 1976. The face is a little worn — especially around the chrono subdials — but the case, hands, bezel and crystal are in great shape; it goes and goes and keeps excellent time; and the red-and-black perforated leather strap I found is a perfect match.

Bulova Accutron 218 Deep Sea (1968)

This one is my first ‘hummer’ — an Accutron. It has a battery, but unlike a quartz watch, the charge from the battery ‘excites’ a tuning fork to oscillate at a constant frequency. Hence the watch ‘hums’ rather than ticks. Very cool technology for 1960. And unlike a quartz watch, the second hand sweeps smoothly rather than in one-second jerks.

1968 Bulova Accutron 218 Deep Sea

This Accutron was made in 1968 (it has an ‘M8’ date code on the back). It uses the 218 calibre movement, the second iteration of the Accutron following on from the 214.

When new it was a professional diving watch, waterproof to 666 feet — but nowadays I’d be reluctant to get it wet until I have the seals replaced and the case pressure-tested.

The case and dial are in very good condition but the bezel is showing its age, as are the hands. I love the red-on-silver date and the domed crystal with cyclops magnifier *under* the uninterrupted curve (why didn’t Rolex think of that?)

Poljot Sturmanskie. It’s Russian, da?

this is my Poljot Sturmanskie from the 1990s

This is a bit of a test-post. The somewhat blurry photo to the left shows my Poljot Sturmanskie chronograph. It’s Russian (indeed it says ‘made in CCCP’ under the right-hand subdial), dates from about the 1990s, and is powered by the Poljot 3133 manual-wind movement. It’s a chunky watch, with a squared-off pillow case, a little reminiscent of the Heuer Monza. It’s very accurate, but the chrono does sometimes stop the watch, indicating it’s probably time I got it serviced. Currently on a blue canvas strap from Eddie at Timefactors, which is an almost perfect colour-match for the blue dial. This particular watch isn’t an issued military watch: although this model was used by both the Soviet airforce and navy, I suspect this one dates from the ‘Perestroika’ era when previously Soviet companies began to open up and sell their products to civilians, and even to foreigners!