styggno1

# 39

Black Explorer II

obrentharris 

Is this an intentional juxtaposition, Fumio Sasaki and this impressive watch collection?
A new direction perhaps?
Brent

styggno1

Keep your enemy close... But do I mean Mr Sasaki, minimalism or the enemy within myself?

Let us do # 40 while we are at it...

A plain Explorer - often called Explorer I (wrongfully).

styggno1

# 41

Longines - one of the more underrated brands in/on the vintage watch market.

Longines Ultra-Chron Chronometer, 1968

styggno1

# 42

Citizen Leopard 1974 36000 Hi Beat

Found this Hi Beat Citizen Leopard NOS at a local auction house. Medium to high quality Japanese watch from the mid seventies. The caliber 7230 is beating at 36000 and time keeping is excellent - the caliber was chronometer certified (not this one though). Read somewhere that this line of Citizen was supposed to compete with King Seiko. Original mesh bracelet and an overall nice find and at a price that shows you do not have to be rich to get into the vintage watch hobby and find quality items (this watch cost me less than the equivalent of 100 USD). And yes - it is oval...

styggno1

# 43

A 60ies Omega Seamaster 300... Or is it?! A somewhat controversial watch as it both is an is not. These are often called "Watchco" as there was an Australian Omega service company that started to build them from original Omega service parts. The Omega movement is normally not from a Seamaster 300 but from another model. Which makes the watch a "frankenwatch". Not a fake but a put together piece. I love mine as it is a vintage looking watch and still OK to use as a beater watch without any guilt... An original Omega 300 from the 60ies is a valuable collectors watch and not to be used as beater. This is a neo-vintage-franken-Omega and it can be used as originally intended (diving, rough stuff, etc.)

tjfastback66

Invicta Chronograph Diver is nice but my every day go to is the Seiko for sure. So nice to see others posting such beautiful watches!

styggno1

# 44

In one of my favourite movies, Apocalypse now, Marlon Brandos character Colonel Kurtz wears a Rolex GMT Master missing its bezel.



So when I found a really beat up Rolex GMT Master 16753 missing its bezel I decided to do a tribute to the movie watch. It got a full service, a new crown and plexi but the case was left as found. I then put it on a "Tropic" rubber strap.

As found



After




This one gets to be used a lot. To whatever.

styggno1

# 45

This old and beat up divers watch I bought from a likewise "weathered" military diver. They had been everywhere together. The diver wanted to part from the watch because it needed a service and he did not think it was worth it.

I do.

Gary Fountain

Great provenance with this watch.

I think there are many watch retailers with far less watch stock than you seem to have - and yours are all beautiful and very desirable.

styggno1

Thank you sir!

# 46

Sometimes it is with watches as with bikes - you find the parts before you have the bikeframe. First I found a NOS case, crystal, dial and crown to a mid 50ies "357" Universal Polerouter. Then I went looking for a suitable donor watch. Thought I had found one. The pictures in the auction were bad - I got it cheap - and/but when I recieved the watch it was in splendid original condition! I do not have the heart to use it as a donor. So... I am still looking for a donors watch. Preferably in worse shape than the one I got! ;-) Talk about first world problems.

Gary Fountain

Hahaha - that's exactly like old bicycles - find something desirable and then try to find a fitting place to hang it from.

I can really appreciate your watch collecting - such beauty and function and craftsmanship.

styggno1

I did not notice until now that you are situated in Australia! My # 9 watch was sold new there in 1976 according to Omega archives. That is fitting as there are a lot of professional diving to be done around your coasts! I spent 6 months down under (meaning both your country and below water...) in -85 and it was fantastic! I have understood that the Queensland reefs have suffered a bit since then though.

# 9 again with a side view to show its professional heft. Cousteau had one...



Today is # 47 though.

An early 50ies 2577-19. Rare in it being a certified chronometre.

ollo_ollo

I always liked self winding watches and some years ago, needed to replace my Seiko 5. Ran across this N.O.S. at a good price and was intrigued by its battery-less, Quartz, time keeping, with the electricity provided by a tiny, movement driven, generator. Was told the capacitor storeage would eventually fail, but been good for many years now. Don

Seiko Kinetic Auto-Relay

ollo_ollo

Another watch I can share. It was my grand father's Elgin pocket watch. He carried it in the top pocket of his bib overalls. One of my uncles worked for Elgin and was pleased to see I had it and kept "Dad's Railroad watch" on display. I'm not into watches enough to even know what a "Railroad" watch is, but assume it was a measure of accuracy? It has a silver case, so I polished it up and keep it on our dining room side table. Don

Grampa's Pocket Watch

genejockey 

"Railroad Watches" were pocket watches that were specifically built by watch companies for railroad service. Railroads back in the 19th and early 20th Century worked entirely with complex schedules and train orders, so that they could run multiple trains on the same track at different speeds, and sometimes opposing directions, without collision. The train orders would instruct the crew to proceed on a particular track at a specific speed, and then to pull off into a siding to wait for another train to pass, which should pass them at a particular time. So it was VITAL that everyone responsible for running the trains all knew what time it was. To accomplish this, the crews were required to purchase a watch, generally off a list of approved watches, that was of high enough quality and properly maintained to keep time within 30 seconds every week or two weeks. They had to go to one of the designated watchmakers under contract with the railroad to have the timekeeping checked, and if the watch was out of spec the watchmaker would repair it, usually giving the railroader a loaner watch while his was being fixed. Of course, railroaders were forbidden from setting their own watches, which could only be done by the designated watchmakers, and would be noted on the card the railroaders carried.

The watch had to run within 30 seconds a week in 5 positions - dial up and down, pendant up, left, and right - and also at temperatures from 30 to 100 degrees F. This, I can tell you, is no mean feat! First, the watch had to be very high quality, very carefully made, and then adjusted with exquisite care, and then maintained expertly.

The amazing thing about railroad watches is that the American watch companies produced millions of them for prices a working railroader could afford - though it was a significant investment! This was maybe the zenith of American watchmaking, when America's watch industry was the envy of the world and the Swiss were still hand filing teeth on their wheels.

genejockey 

As an example, here's one of mine. This is a Hamilton 992B from 1943. Note the easy-to-read bold arabic numerals and simple hands. The case has a screw-off back and bezel, and the watch is lever set, meaning that rather than pulling up the stem to set the watch, you have to remove the bezel and pull up a lever to put it in setting mode.



Here's the movement. 21 jewels with gold center wheel and jewel settings.

styggno1

# 48

My plain DJane from 1967. For days when I feel a bit ordinary and grey...

styggno1

# 49

And for the bright silvery days:

styggno1

# 50

This is a favourite. There are not that many pro divers chronograph chronometers. And where you can actually use the chronograph function under water. And with a titanium case. If I would have been a "prepper" - this would be my bug out watch. It is a fancy cockroach. There is a titanium bracelet but I wear it on a Omega rubber strap as I want to save the bracelet for the apocalypse (or rather - a rubber strap is more hygenic as it is easier to keep clean).

SJX426 

Update from Post #69 (Ugh) Got it back today. 100% original except the band, just cleaned up. The crown would not screw in and had to send it back. An artisan repair guy got it threaded again. Not water proof but resistant at this state. I am the second owner of the watch with my dad being the first. Happy to have this running a nd cleaned up. REF 2940
P1050181 on Flickr

That expense was to remember my dad and his service to this country with over 41 years.

Next expense might be the watch he gave me back in the early 70's. It has had a rough life. Its band is unique to the case.
P1020693 on Flickr

styggno1

I will do # 43 again as I just came back from a week on Ireland - trying to avoid the hot Swedish summer we caught the hottest Irish summer ever... and not a drop of rain either. The other watch is my wifes 36mm Seamaster 300 Professional, a automatic chronometre - a somewhat unusual watch as most of the 36mm are quartz.

Warbird21

Great thread, I'm a dive watch nerd and own several. We're avid snorkelers and definitely need a watch that can go down 10 or even 15 feet safely...!

My daily driver, a Longines Hydroconquest (bracelet in the winter, rubber deployment in the summer).




My beater watching a 1993 Seiko 200m quartz, bike rides (on rubber, despite having a clock on my Garmin). I've polished to hell and back (generally a watch no-no) and replaced the beat up bezel a few years ago.



Doxa 1200 Sharkhunter, my "Holy Grail" watch, Maria era, on a MN elastic strap for summer.




Longines Skindiver, I had the discount store version of this watch as a young boy, had to get the Longines retro-tribute when it came out a few years ago.




My father in law's 1967 Omega Seamaster I inherited.




And a Yema Superman Quartz I picked up a few years ago, thought the Seiko would eventually fail, this is backup.

Warbird21

That is an amazing project and a movie favorite if mine as well. Nice work!

Bogester 

Been wearing this recently. Stowa hand winder…retro grouching it.