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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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!
