More Vantage Pictures

Some more Vantage shots on a leather NATO.  Unfortunately, since the pictures were taken at noon, the hour hand obscured the MkII logo below the 12 o'clock marker.

This is a custom Vantage back when Bill still made watches to order.  Notice the yellow sweep seconds hand.  AFAIK, not many people chose this option.  I think it makes the watch pop.  The no-date dial with the "scientific" chapter ring is also uncommon among the Vantages I've seen online.
 

 

Vintage Tudor Prince

Here's my new-to-me vintage Tudor Prince ref. 7950.  At 34 mm in diameter with a 19 mm lug width it's one of the smallest watches I currently own.  But oh so comfortable after wearing 44 mm or 47 mm watches.

 
This is the first Rolex or Tudor watch I've owned that has a honeycomb dial.  How they got the micro-printing on these dials back in the day is a marvel.  This particular watch is dated III 57 on the inside of the case back or 3rd Quarter of 1957.

Seller's photo

  

It's in great condition for a 55 year-old watch!  The crown and crystal look to be modern Rolex factory replacements but the gilt dial with Rose logo, gilt hands, middle case, caseback, and of course the gilt Fleurier 390 movement are all vintage.

Seller's photo

 

As a bonus, the watch came with its vintage box which amazingly sports a honeycomb motif just like the dial!  Very cool.  I'm loving this stealth vintage Tudor a lot.

Seller's photo

Seller's photo

MkII Nassau

The MkII Nassau is the production version of the limited edition Kingston.  Both are homages to the Rolex Submariner ref. 6538, aka the Big Crown Submariner.

The Nassau sports a matte dial with silver hour and minute hands and a white sweep seconds hand.  Further, unlike the Kingston, the name of the model is not printed on the dial, but it uses the same case*, crystal, bracelet, bezel, and bezel insert as the Kingston.

A date model Nassau will be available in the future.

All Nassaus were originally supposed to be fitted with a 7 mm twin seal crown, but due to some manufacturing issues with the crowns these were delayed while Bill Yao (MkII owner and founder) sought remediation from the supplier.  A lucky few (25) returning Kingston customers were shipped the first batch of Nassau watches fitted with the 8 mm Kingston triple seal crowns.  Only these 25 will sport the 8 mm crowns as they were supposed to be exclusive to the LE Kingston model; with the logic being 25 examples would not dilute the Kingston exclusivity.

*According to Bill, the remaining Nassau watches will ship with the now-fixed 7mm crowns and slightly modified cases.  (It's not clear yet what changes there are between the older Kingston watch cases and the new Nassau cases).  The remaining Kingston cases are to be held in reserve for future servicing of the 300 Kingston watches.

My Nassau is one of the first 25 made with the 8mm Kingston crown and Kingston case.

On the wrist.

Vintage Airline Memorabilia

One of the most iconic airlines was Pan American World Airways.  Pan Am exemplified the glamor of air travel during the 1950s - 1960s and into the 70s.  Unfortunately, Pan Am declined during the 1980s and in 1991 they closed their cabin bay doors for the last time.

The GMT-Master will be forever linked to Pan Am since its creation was a collaboration between Pan Am and Rolex.

When I saw the picture below from an Antiquorum auction showing vintage Pan Am memorabilia along with a ref. 6542 GMT-Master I thought it was one of the coolest compositions for a watch photo.

One thing I noticed was the Pan Am branded cigarette lighter.  It was made by a Japanese company called Penguin in the 1960s.  I don't smoke...anymore.  I quit that bad habit almost ten years ago after 15 years of smoking!  However, I still love the design and look of these metal cigarette lighters - Zippo, Dupont, Penguin, etc.  Like mechanical watches they are wonderfully analog (archaic!), can still be used for their intended purpose (not just for decoration!), and can last for generations which is so refreshing in this digital, Moore's Law-dominated, throw-away world.

I was lucky enough to find a NOS example of the Penguin Pan Am lighter and took delivery today.  It came in its original packaging including the box in mint condition.  Now all I need is the 6542.  I'm working on it!

Paradive Super-Dry

It was a hot 98 F today.  Time for some ice cold Super-Dry!

 

The Bold and the 1016

The BB Bold on the left is my work "pager" circa 2010.  The one on the right is an all original Rolex ref. 1016 Explorer circa 1973.  Guess which one will last at least another 39 years?  LOL!

Travelling with the LRRP GMT 48

Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean from SFO enroute to Narita (Tokyo).

Reading up on the amenities of Business Class.

Close up of the time.

LRRP GMT 48 Has Arrived

This is the final iteration of the MkII LRRP.  Bill Yao, MkII's founder, calls this the LRRP GMT 48.  What's in a name?  Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP).  Next, GMT is obvious.  Finally, 48 denotes the forty-eight click bi-directional bezel.


This is my second LRRP.  The first one is the classic homage to the Rolex ref. 1655 Explorer Mark II from the 1970s.  That one came in the non-HRV (helium release valve) case and was fitted with a bracelet.  This version is a more modern homage (especially with the font on the bezel insert) to the Rolex ref. 16710 and 116710 GMT-Master II models.  It really looks awesome!


I specifically wanted the HRV case with the thick screw bar lugs.  My intention is to wear this one on nothing but one piece straps (NATOs and the mil-straps) all throughout my trip to humid and steamy South East Asia.  In addition to the black Maratac NATO that came with watch I'm packing spare Olive Drab and Desert Tan Maratac NATOs plus a Grey and Olive Drab milstrap with PVD'd hardware.

New shoes for the Quad10

I fitted my MkII Quad10 with a leather NATO strap.  I got these off of ebay for a reasonable price.  Unfortunately, one of the colors (light tan) was out of stock so I could only buy the ones in dark brown and black colors.

The hardware on these aren't massive which I like.  I can't stand the overblown metal rings on Zulus and their like.  The leather is smooth on one side and soft and rough on the other.  Most leather NATO straps I've seen have a buffalo skin texture.  I prefer the smooth leather.

 

Here are more pics of the watch on the strap.

 

Bronze Nipple Dial Ref. 16753 GMT-Master II

I love the two-tone Bronze GMTs.  Clint Eastwood wore this exact reference (16753) in this configuration (Jubilee bracelet and bi-color bezel) in the movie Firefox!

This is one of the "transitional" references, 1675x, the only GMT-Master IIs with the quick-set date.  Later, in the reference 1671x the date became semi-quick-set with the advent of the jumping hour hand.

Bronze Nipple Dial, Jubilee bracelet, yellow gold and stainless steel.  It doesn't get any better.

 

All the MKIIs in one place

From L-R:  Kingston, LRRP, Quad10, Vantage.

The movements used in each are ETA 2836, 2893-2, 2824-2, and 2824-2, respectively.

Function-wise it's non-date, date + GMT, date, and non-date, respectively.

 

Seiko Gen 2 RAF Chronograph

I previously owned a Seiko (generation) Gen 1 RAF chronograph from the early/mid 80s, but this is the first time I've ever owned a Gen 2 version.  It's been said that both the Gen 1 and 2 watches were issued to RAF helicopter pilots.  The Gen 2s came into service in the 90s after the Gen 1s were phased out.  The Gen 1s had a different movement (15-jeweled high-end Seiko quartz).  These Gen 2s have a no-jewel Seiko quartz movt.

There's a more rare non-luminous dial and hands version of the Gen 2 chronograph that has been linked to RN nuclear submarine crews.  The lack of (radioactive) luminous supposedly does not interfere with the radiation detectors on the boat.  These non-luminous versions lack the circle-P on the dial and have non-framed hands.  (The circle-P denotes Promethium-47 as the radioactive isotope used in the luminous material of the dial and hands).

Finally, there's even a civilian version of the Gen 2 (without issue marks).

All in all this is a very clean piece with some serious wabi in the form of some strap burn.  Gotta luv it!

Mine is from 1997 as you can see from the MOD issue engraving.

MkII Vantage on a US milstrap

I got tired of the OEM rubber strap so I decided to try a one-piece strap on my Vantage.  The NATO didn't look right as there was too much hardware on the strap.  They work best with watches with rotating bezels.  This US milstrap fits so much better.  Very lean and clean.  The military look suits the watch IMHO.

The Vantage is MkII's homage to the ref. 1016 Explorer.  Mine is a custom-made job with a matte-yellow sweep hand and scientific 369 dial.


At 39 mm in diameter it's the same size as the new ref. 214270 Explorer.

 

MkII Kingston

I finally got around to sizing the bracelet on my Kingston and it was not for the faint-of-heart or impatient!  The faux-rivet style looks great, but some of these tiny "rivets" are actually screws.  Not only are they small, 1.2 mm in width, but you need to hold the opposite screw head while turning the other one since they are screwed onto each other.  This usually takes 3 hands...

So on Saturday I spent 2, yes two, hours sizing the bracelet.  Six links on each side.  After wearing the watch on Sunday, I found that it didn't balance correctly on my wrist so tonight I spent another hour resizing it; actually rearranging the links so that it is now 5 links on the six o'clock side and 7 links on the 12 o'clock side.  Much better balance with this configuration.


For those that are wondering, the Kingston is MkII's homage to the Rolex Submariner ref. 6538. 

Enough with the talk.  Here's the lates iPhone 3GS "grainy-style" pic.

The Kingston Has Landed

After two years (wow!) my MkII Kingston has finally arrived.  I put in my deposit as a "plank owner" in January 2009 and in February 2011 she's finally in the flesh or should I say steel?

The Big Crown, gloss-gilt dial, and gilt hands really rock.

This is a teaser pic as I still have to size the bracelet.

Two Americans

Two US military watches separated by almost 40 years.  Similarities show the bloodlines.  Benrus Type II Class A from November 1976 and Marathon GSAR February 2010 issue.

 

More Pics of the Marathon GSAR

Fresh pics of the GSAR.

Marathon GSAR

I finally got around to getting one of these modern Marathon dive watches.  This is the GSAR or Government Search And Rescue dive watch.  It uses tritium gas tubes for illumination.  The dial style is based on the classic Type II arabic 12/24 hour dial.  I got mine from CountyComm.

 

Benrus Type II Class A

A 1976 issue Benrus Type Class A has just arrived to join my stable.  These were issued to the US Army, Navy SEALs, and CIA Maritime units from the early 70s to around 1980.