Steinhart Nav B-Uhr II

A BIG Thank You goes out to Mr Gunter Steinhart for this piece.  In the last two pictures are two pilot watches, one uses a pattern from the British, while the other gets its design cues from Germany.  Both have remarkably similar elements (arabic dial, large readable hands, triangle marker in place of the number 12), yet they are also very different in style.

Another Speedmaster? Yep.

I seem to be in a Speedmaster mood.  There's probably a good reason, too :-)  These are awesome pictures from the interwebs of a 1978 Speedmaster Professional with an original 1171 bracelet.  The modern example of the bracelet uses push-pins as do most (if not all?) of Omega's current bracelets.  The original uses screws.

1969 Pre-Moon Speedmaster

Pie-pan dials are awesome.  This is a transitional dial with a painted an applied Omega logo, but it still retains the pie-pan minutes track.  These transitional dials were only on ca. 1968-1969 Speedmasters; perhaps as late as 1970/1.

New Shoes

I got a new black Hirsch Liberty strap with white cord stitching.  After mounting it on my DLC'd PAM 000, I decided to put it on my PAM 111.

Angkor Wat

One of my favorite films is Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love.  This final scene was inspired by the ending to William Wyler's Roman Holiday.

I'll be visiting Angkor Wat later this year if everything comes together.

Escape to Asia

Copyright © 2010 Steve Forney

I feel like hopping on a plane to South East Asia every time I look at this print in my living room.

The Omega Speedmaster Professional: NASA's Choice

In the mid-1960s, the Omega Speedmaster was secretly tested by NASA along with chronographs from Rolex, Bulova, Zenith, and others for qualification for manned space flight and extra-vehicular activity (EVA).  EVAs encompassed space walks and the eventual goal of a Moon walk.  After a battery of grueling tests involving heat, humidity, freezing, and centrifugal and centripetal forces, only the Speedmaster was still functioning as intended.  Only after passing these tests was it certified as "Flight Qualified" for all manned space missions and EVAs.  When Omega got wind of this around 1966, they added the text "Professional" to the Speedmaster's dial.

The Speedmaster Professional remains one of my favorite watches.

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

Bacon Saturday

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.

The Photogenic Base

The PAM 112 or Base looks good in photos as well as it does on the wrist.  A large stark black dial with clear, over-sized hour markers, no minutes or seconds indicators, and plain luminous baton hands makes for easy at-a-glance reading.  It's great for those with myopia :-)

Mmmmmm...Bacon!

The weekend is almost here and you know what that means for breakfast...

It's going to be a good Saturday morning :-)

The Lady Gaga of Chronographs

Unless you were living in a cave for the past month you know one of the most popular "new" watches presented at Basel this year was the Tudor Heritage Chronograph.  It's as flashy and just about as popular as Lady Gaga the singer...maybe.

The Heritage chronograph is basically a revamped version of the 1970s Tudor chronograph collector's have dubbed the "Homeplate" due to the shape of the hour markers.

What I find really interesting, is that this is the first time Tudor (and/or its parent Rolex) have offered a fabric strap as OEM on a watch since the milsubs of the 1970s.  If I were to get one, I would choose the grey dial with the fabric strap.

 Photo copyright © 2010 Jocke

Street Legal Rally Car

If I was in the market for a new car and I had the money I would love to get the 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STi SE.  And I would get it in the limited edition Alpine White color.

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.

My Daily Wear

My current daily wear is my new MkII Quad10.  This is one of the last ten Quad10 watches Bill Yao made before discontinuing the model.  The legibility of the dial and hands can't be beat.  The size is also just right.  I hesitated ordering a Quad10 years ago because of some of the past reviews/comments that the lugs were too long or that the watch itself was too big.  On my wrist at least those fears have proven unfounded.

The MkII Vantage in the background isn't bad either :-)  That was my previous daily wear before the Quad10 was delivered.  If you haven't owned, seen or handled MkII watches in person before, think of them as watches with Omega quality at a Hamilton price-point.  I was going to use Seiko to illustrate the price disparity, but both Seiko and MkII prices have gone up over the years ;-)

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(?)

Blog Reboot

After an absence of more than 3 years I'm going to start-up this blog again.  First up is a name change from the original and elegant "Hesalite's Shatterproof Properties" to the more prosaic "Chronoarticle," along with the requisite update to the blog's url.

Long Lull In New Posts

I haven't posted in a while as I've been way too busy at work. But, I haven't been quiet on the watch front...I have a couple of new acquisitions. In short, bagged a few trophies, yet the hunt continues.

Hopefully more later.

MWR Mini-Meet

I recently attended an MWR Mini-Meet where I met some really cool MWR regulars. I had a great time talking about watches and our other interests. I also met Bill Yao of MkII fame for the first time. (Bill next time you're in the area we have to do this again.)

Here's a few photos from that night. Note Bill's MMT Blackwater with the Zodiac/JLC Amvox hands in the middle below. My Blackwater is on the left. If you look closely you'll see something different about one of the Blackwaters. I wonder if anyone can figure it out? :-)

I got to try on a Seiko Professional 300m Quartz for the first time. Despite its size, it really is quite comfortable. This one belonged to Bill Yao.

Unfortunately, many of my photos from that night turned out blurry and out of focus like the shot below. That's a MN Tudor on the right.

Here's the obligatory collection shot. A lot of these are really rare watches that I've never seen in-person before. Some of these examples are the grail watches for many collectors.

It was fun guys, let's do it again.

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.

Zen & the Art of Bracelet Removal

I just spent over an hour removing the bracelet from my Seamaster 300. You read that correctly, over an hour. You're probably thinking, "This guy doesn't know what he's doing." You may be right, but by now I've had over 6 years experience removing and fitting bracelets onto watches so that probably isn't the case. Well then you might ask, "Do you even have the right tools?" Yep. I've got a host of bracelet/strap removal tools and the one I use most often is the Bergeon 6111. The Bergeon gets the job done. Then why did it take me over an hour?

Single flange spring bars.

Take note, especially you watch companies out there: If the watch case does not have drilled through lugs, then use double flange spring bars...please!

It's also critical to remember not to remove a bracelet if you are angry, in a hurry, or in any state of mind other than that of pure, calm water. Remember, only after you clear your mind and body of all emotions are you in the right mental state to attempt such a procedure.

Finally, fer goodness sake, tape up those lugs! (Taping up the caseback couldn't hurt either.)

And just to let you know; I successfully removed the bracelet without damaging the watch. Whew.

This public service message brought to you by Hesalite.

"Not By Strength But By Guile"

I was reading the chapter in Combat Frogmen about the selection process for the various Special Forces combat swimmers. The training for volunteers of Britain's Special Boat Squadron shows that they are truly an elite group of individuals. The motto of the SBS: "Not by strength but by guile."

The picture above shows a SBS squaddie in dress uniform. The SBS wear the uniform of the Royal Marines. The steely look on his face says it all.

Combat Frogmen

Almost a month after ordering it, my copy of Combat Frogmen by Michael Welham finally arrived. Thanks to James K over on MWR for bringing attention to this out-of-print book. He scanned some photographs from the book and along with the help of a fellow MWRine posted them on the board. Subsequently, I did some searching and was able to locate a used copy in very fine condition and at a reasonable price sourced from all the way in the UK. Thank you Peter for a smooth and professional transaction. I'll be sure to choose the faster shipping method next time! :-)

This is a Swedish Ranger Combat Swimmer.

Too bad you can't really make out what watch he's wearing.

Unlike another more recent book on combat swimmers, Welham's book doesn't disrespectfully disregard ignore American and British frogmen. There should be no doubt which one I prefer (cough...this one...cough).

The section above talks about US Navy SEALs and UDTs. Time for some excellent reading.

Travelogues

Some of my favorite internet articles or forum posts involve watches, food, and travel. These travelogues are virtual trips showing us the different cultures, scenery, and people all over the world. One of the best I've read is Hans Zbinden's Colors of Asia tour where he travels to Hong Kong and Japan. Although it's a few years old it's a very enjoyable read and the photographs provide a lot of eye candy. You can view the full article here.