Vietnam Era Watches

Photo credit a member of MWR (unfortunately I don't recall the exact poster's name).  In the photo are 2 x Benrus Type I Class A, 3 x Zodiac Seawolf, and a Rolex 5513!

Cool Watches In Japan

Japan is home to some incredible vintage and military watches.  These pictures are from a Japanese blog.  The owner is definitely a WIS.

Rolex UAE GMT-Master

Grail of grails?

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!

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!

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.

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.

 

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.

Rolex GMT-Master II Ref. 16760: The 1st GMT-Master II Model

The glossy dial on my 16760 is turning matte!  Gotta love those 80s Rolex gloss dials with their funky defects: You have the infamous "spider-web" dials and now these "gloss-to-matte" dials.  This is a 9-million serial number case that appears to be totally unpolished.  The case and lugs are nice and thick.

Some call this model the "Fat Lady", but I really hate that name.  I think it's really stupid.  I'd rather nick-name it the "GMT-Dweller" since its middle case is about the same thickness as its contemporary, the Sea-Dweller ref. 16660.

Different Shirt, Same Watch...Warning: GMT-Master Content!

Just because I love the Pepsi bezel insert...

 

Rolex GMT-Master Ref. 16700

I recently went to the Authorized Rolex Service Center in San Francisco and had a brand new BLRO (Pepsi) insert installed on my GMT-Master.  Unfortunately, a nasty aftermarket bezel insert was put on the watch by the seller--a well-known website.  They did send a genuine replacement insert, but it was scratched and chipped in places.

I met Giovanni, the owner and Rolex watchmaker at the SF RSC.  He's very friendly and he shared some really rare Rolex pieces with me.  We talked watches for half and hour or so and I had a great time.  He brought out the factory fresh insert and installed it while I waited.  The results speak for themselves and his prices are reasonable.  I plan on taking some of my other vintage Rolex watches that need a service to Giovanni.  If you're in the Bay Area and need to service your Rolex, I highly recommend the SF RSC.

MkII Quad10, MkII Vantage, a DLC'd PAM 000G, and Japanese Rolex books

Hong Kong & Rolex

Hong Kong and Rolex go together like peanut butter and jelly.  These are some old photos I took back in 2006.

Ref. 5513 Submariner

This is how I usually wear my ref. 5513 Submariner...on a one-piece U.S. milstrap.  This particular variety of strap comes in two basic colors: olive drab and black.  I prefer the olive drab which gives the Sub a more military look.

The 5513 is from circa 1967.  It's been fitted with a 1970s-era service dial that is pretty uncommon.  It's a so-called Type I Maxi dial.

An advantage that one-piece straps have is that they hold the watch securely to your wrist in the event one of the spring bars breaks or comes off.

It's very comfortable to wear especially in hot or humid weather.

One secret to wearing your watch on a fabric strap is to affix a plastic caseback sticker before you put the strap on the watch.  The sticker prevents the strap from damaging the caseback from the constant rubbing of the two surfaces.  You can buy these stickers in bulk at watch parts houses.

Basel 2010

Jocke and Tony made their annual pilgrimage to the Basel Watch Fair in Switzerland and brought back great photos of this year's offerings.  

One of the new novelties I really like is the new, larger 39 mm Explorer (ref. 214270) from Rolex.  The dial is matte black and the 3, 6, 9 quarter arabics are totally devoid of luminous making this model a new "Blackout" Explorer.

According to the specs the updated watch also uses a new movement; the cal. 3132 which is supposedly larger in diameter than the cal. 3130 used in the current Explorer.  The cal. 3132 also uses the Parachrom amagnetic balance spring and Paraflex shock protection, both of which are proprietary to Rolex.  The luminous on the dial and hands is Chromalight which Rolex is now using to replace Super Luminova.  Oddly, the hands used on the new Explorer appear to be the same hands used on the 36 mm ref. 114270.  That makes them a little too short to be used on this watch.  I hope Rolex makes the hands on the production models a little longer to better fit the increased dial size.

 Photo copyright © 2010 Jocke

You can view Jocke's and Tony's Basel trip here.

Not Ready For Primetime Orange-hand Explorer II

It appears that Rolex shelved the release of the new and updated Explorer II at this year's Basel Watch Fair.  A marketing video was posted that showed the new stainless steel Submariner with the Cerachrom bezel insert; the new 31mm Lady Datejust with a chocolate dial; the new 39mm Explorer, and snuck inside the middle, the new Explorer II.

What we can make out from the video the updated Explorer II has a white maxi dial with maxi hour, minute, and seconds hand.  The 24-hour hand has been changed from the red shaft with arrowhead to an orange hand reminiscent of the one on the ref.1655 Explorer II.  However, this time the entire hand is orange.  It also appears that the Explorer II uses a supercase, but retains a Twinlock crown (I think it's the same larger Twinlock as found in the Milgauss).  The bracelet and clasp look like they've been updated as well.  Finally, the words "Explorer II" are written in orange on the dial to match the 24-hour hand.

I really like this watch and I'm somewhat disappointed that Rolex didn't release it this year.  Rumor has it that it will be released next year.  This makes sense if you consider that 2011 marks the 40th anniversary since the Explorer II was originally launched.  Well, that gives me more than a year to save up for one ;-)

I applaud Rolex for their current trend of updating almost their entire lineup.  Rather than just adding more diamonds to a dial or bezel as we've seen in the past, they are really making some substantial changes.  

1971

 
2011(?)

Rolex Sea-Dweller in Action

The Sea-Dweller is probably my all-time favorite Rolex. For those of you who doubt that it's still a tool watch better think again. The 'Dweller hasn't forgotten its purpose. *Philip* on the BJSOnline Rolex forum posted photos of his friend's SD hitching a ride on an unmanned remotely operated vehicle (ROV) down to 1,200 meters, which by no coincidence is the maximum depth rating for the watch. The Sea-Dweller survived the journey no worse for wear. That's what it was made for anyway! Makes me want to go strap my Sea-Dweller on and call up the Choir.

Photo copyright © 2006 Pol Palacios
The picture above shows the Sea-Dweller at 1,200 meters. The mothership's cameras were focused on the watch during the dive!

Photo copyright © 2006 Pol Palacios
You can view the entire post here.