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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:01:10 GMT
John has been known to post the watches in his possession with information that could be very helpful as a reference. With his permission, I will be collecting them for The Library.
Marcel
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:01:44 GMT
It's the first of August now . . . and the Zodiac Astrographic 2000 is next in rotation. Zodiac's last hurrah and limited edition Swan Song just before their 2nd bankruptcy and being swallowed up by Fossil. Zodiac pulled out all the stops on these gems they made in 1999 to put on the market in 2000.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:06:03 GMT
Rado DiaStar Original XL here today. I was inspired to lust for one by Paul December circa 2005 at a Windy City Windup and seeing his on the PMWF. The XL size was allegedly Rado's mythical "Unicorn" as it was always in their catalogs, but we never seen in the wild, with only the L Men's and S Women's being seen. Got this one from a local B&M jeweler in 2007 who happened to be a Rado AD, located diagonally across the town square from the Rolex AD. The jeweler closed up a couple years ago after being in business for many decades. A sad but not surprising loss. Yup, the weighted anchor does rotate on the dial, and the faceted sapphire crystal has a subtle effect on the metallic dial. The DiaStar is what made Rado famous and differentiated them from others with their "scratchproof" watch in 1962. Since then their trademark has become highly scratch resistant ceramics and the oval shape, with the DiaStar Original continuing in production with its faceted sapphire crystal and sintered tungsten carbide shell on its watch head.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:07:52 GMT
Enicar special edition 150 Year Jubilee made in 2004. One of the watches I bought from Reto's PMWC store - with Helen Wong handling the sales transactions. It's patterned after their famous Sherpa line of field and explorer watches with modern, upscale materials such as a domed sapphire crystal . Powered by an ETA 2836-2, it has a unique horizontal day window above the date. Trivia Question: Where did the name, "Enicar" come from?
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:09:52 GMT
The Atlantic Seacrest Automatic adorns my wrist today - the large size automatic powered by an ETA 2824-2. The sapphire crystal is subtly domed to prevent it becoming a circular mirror. Like the Enicar yesterday, I hadn't worn it in quite a while, having ignored any semblance of rotation for many months. Atlantic is one of the very few independent Swiss watchmaking firms without its own in-house movements. They survived the Quartz Revolution by refocusing their marketing east of the Iron Curtain, primarily in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, where quartz watches were extremely scarce and there was no silver oxide or mercury battery manufacturing infrastructure of any significance to support them. No batteries; no ticking. After the Cold War ended circa 1989-1991, their primary market has remained in that region. They're unknown in North America.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:16:43 GMT
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:17:53 GMT
Seiko 5 6119C for me today. One of several ~1970's vintage pieces I have. Bracelet is aftermarket, but period for the watch, and fits its case profile perfectly. Got it from a fellow PMWF member a month or two after buying the watch on ePrey in Dec. 2005, just before Christmas. The 6119 was an evolution of the 6105 and is considered part of its larger family of movements which spans a number of calibers including the 6139. Difference between the "C" and prior variants of the movement is the day/date quickset which is actuated by pushing in the crown and implementation of bilingual day. The "A" and "B" cannot quickset the day, only the date. They require scrolling the time back and forth to advance the day, without engaging the date change mechanism which occurs before the day change. The "C" quickset advances the day and date if the crown is pushed in fully, and advances only the date if pushed in partially. There's tactile feedback when pushed in halfway with increased spring compression resistance to pushing it in further.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:20:20 GMT
with this Hamilton automatic on Zuni inlaid "tips" Powered by an ETA 2782, the 2750/2770 generation of ETA just prior to the 2801/2821 family
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:21:57 GMT
Continuing the 1970's vintage theme . . . just before the 1970's Feb 1969 Seiko 5 6119A
Difference between this and the earlier 6119C is the day and its quickset which is only one language and required rocking back and forth around midnight to quickset the day. Date is done by pushing on the crown.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:22:45 GMT
Circa 1977 A.Schild Brain Matic
Powered by a 28.8 kbph AS 5008 automatic alarm, the alarm mainspring also auto-winds. Bracelet isn't original, it's a Watchadoo. Highly unusual as nearly all of these were made by Fortis. A.Schild began marketing their own watches under their own marque shortly before they went under. The brain matic was one of them. The AS 5008 was one of the few movements that ETA didn't acquire with the acquisition of A.Schild. It's my understanding Maurice Lacroix obtained the rights to it. The AS 5008 has found itself in a number of much newer watches under a number of brands as a result. The case is made of an extremely hard metal, almost as hard as the Rado DiaStar's. It doesn't scuff or scratch, although this one has a few very minor dings around its sharp edges.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:25:13 GMT
38mm recreation of the 34mm US Mil-Spec they made from the 1960's-1980's before the Marathon contract - with domed sapphire crystal and Hamilton's H-50 version of the ETA 2801-2 inside. I've wanted one of these for a while and it moves into the Military Watch accumulation next to the smaller originals. The other one similar to this with a 2804-2 and date complication moves to the Field Watch part of the accumulation. 38mm diameter reissue of the 34mm hand wind Mil Spec Hamilton made for the US Armed Forces from the 1960's to mid-1980's. Has Hamilton's H-50 movement inside, a derivative of the ETA 2801-2. Sapphire crystal has a very slight dome to it that eliminates glare which would be a light discipline issue with a flat crystal. Hamilton got this one right with its dial and hands, and jettisoning the date complication. Unlike the original military watches with fixed, non-removable strap bars, this one has drilled lugs. Immediately pulled off the funky NATO strap Hamilton put on it and replaced it with a real 20mm Mil Spec strap; IIRC made by Marathon for the US Gov't.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:26:45 GMT
Didn't know I had this many - never counted them before 1974 Bulova Caravelle "Causal" style with West German 17j PUW 1561 Auto inside (same as the 200m Caravelle Diver). Bracelet is original with Caravelle signed deployant clasp. Photos are telling me I need to use a bit of Polywatch on the crystal. Have a great Friday!
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:27:45 GMT
The Vintage continues with a Waltham automatic made circa 1972 as best I can date it. This was my father's that I inherited in 1984 with two others, one of them his father's. He always preferred yellow gold (which I don't) and it's plated over base metal. Has a Speidel Twist-O-Flex. He liked expansion bands (which I hate) and loved the Twist-O-Flex design; put every watch he ever had on one. Among other things, they're a PITA to add/remove links from. This Waltham was unusual as he was enamored by the cheap Timex watches and that's what he wore for decades, pitching it out to buy a new one periodically. Has an FHF 905 inside, which helped place it in the first half of the 1970's. FHF was eventually absorbed into ETA during the 1980's. Runs quite well. This FHF movement is different from most in its date quickset and time setting (it doesn't hack). The 1st position is the normal wind. 2nd position sets time, and 3rd position is date quickset in either direction to run the date forward or back. The 2nd and 3rd are opposite from most movements, and all the contemporary ones I know of. He definitely wore it quite a bit from the wear on the bezel and especially the band. Need to hit the crystal with some Polywatch.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 2:28:52 GMT
Today it's this ~1972 zero jewel Swiss Made Chalet Wunder-Watch. I wore it through several summers of underground hard rock mineral mining (copper) while I was in school. The mine "made water" as it was bored down through a hot spring seeping through the rock. I worked at the lowest level, a mile and a half underground in 105 F temperatures with 100% humidity. Carried a 3-gallon Gott water cooler. Filled it with ice and water at the beginning of an 8-hour shift just before taking the skip down into the mine. It would be empty when I came up - without urinating once during the entire 8 hours, pouring it all out in sweat. It was essential to stay hydrated; we took a salt pill every shift to maintain sodium. Then I used it in military training and operations for the first couple years of my military career. After it was retired from that role it became the beater for a while. Thoroughly thrashed is an understatement. Just before I started work at the mine, on the advice of experienced miners, I went to the local K-Mart and bought the cheapest watch they had so it could be completely disposable. 200 feet water resistance was good enough. Survived full immersion in tactical river crossings. Finally had the courage to open the back about ten years ago to see what made it so robust to the abuse it was subjected to. I call it the Wunder-Watch because I keep wundering why it's still running after 48 years after I saw what was inside. Must admire those Swiss and their horological prowess. Die cut sheet metal movement plate, bridges and wheels, all held together with rivets, and a plastic balance wheel. Two screws, but nary a jewel.
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Post by marsss25 on Sept 29, 2020 10:28:03 GMT
More of the '80's with a ~1982 Armitron 20/3173 quartz alarm. Noted now for very inexpensive quartz, they weren't always at the very bottom price tier. This one has a West German 6 jewel PUW 683A under the dial. (PUW = Pforzheimer Uhren-Rohwerke; Pforzheim, West Germany). In spite of retooling to make quartz movements in addition to their very good mechanical workhorses, PUW didn't survive the Japanese Quartz Revolution and was swallowed up in 1990 by SMH, which very soon after became the Swatch Group. It's a battery eater if you don't turn off the alarm and use it very sparingly. It was a gift from the now ex-wife who bought it while I was deployed on a mission. Memory tells me it cost about $100-$125. That would be ~$270 in 2020 dollars, a far cry from most of Armitron's watches today which are in the $50-$75 range. Typical of the time, it has a base metal case and bezel with stainless steel snap-on back. It's held up well but is finally showing a bit of corrosion through the chrome plating. Crystal is thin mineral glass but has survived nearly 40 years. Bracelet is thin folded link stainless with a hook type clasp similar to that on most mesh. I only wore it when I was in a dress (green) or formal (blue mess) uniform. Has a Bauhaus style to it, but the visual impact of the wide day/date/alarm status window pulls it back from being one. Gratuitous Lume Shot:
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