Time to get up

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I went out recently to have dinner with a good friend and her family. We were chatting after polishing off a rather nice dessert when she disappeared from the table, coming back a couple of minutes later with a small leather pouch in her hand. “Here you are, call it a wedding present”, she said.

I took my present out of the pouch, and it turned out to be a 1950’s Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox travel clock, in a lovely stainless steel and brass case with a folding cover/stand. It has two signed JLC crowns and is about 37mm x 46mm in size. We tested the alarm, which functions perfectly, and it took just a couple of small winds for it to spring into life.

The clock belonged to my friends father, who died in 1962. He’d had it for a few years by then, since which time it’s sat in a drawer, never being wound or used until now.

Mark I!

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What a stroke of luck to find a NOS, Mark I Submariner 16610LV, which arrived today still stickered up and with a clasp that has clearly barely been opened. It’s absolutely like new, and being a genuinely collectible version I couldn’t have asked for more. Stickers are now off and the watch is on my wrist.

What’s a Mark I, then? The characteristics of the Mark I are…

Plain rehault, oval “O” on Rolex and correctly aligned font

Flat 4 insert

“5 ticks”

Anyway, I’m really delighted. This is my third LV and what I’ve learnt is that it really is my perfect modern diver. Consequently, mistakes of the past will not be repeated! And here’s a few more shots…

A fitting tribute

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I nearly bought this watch months ago. I wasn’t quite at the point where I was ready to say yes back then, and instead went on a quest to find an original vintage from 1959 without success, and then any vintage Memovox in similar style. All came to nought (not many around and too expensive anyway) and a week or two ago I made the decision to try and land this one again – the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea.

Aside from the fact that I’m a massive JLC fan, I’ve admired this watch since its issue a year or so. Its been something of a long haul, but I got there in the end!

NOS + NOS

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Seiko 6309-7290 on correct period S-Y035 bracelet – some luck and a lot of hard work to marry a NOS head with an equally NOS bracelet, but it was well worth the effort!

Old watch, new bracelet

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I posted a while back about a NOS 6309-7920 that I managed to pick up from the SCWF. When it arrived it was on a rather old/worn GL381 rubber and although I liked the look it was (as usual for Seiko rubber straps) too long. To cut a long story short, I actually bought two bracelets to try on the watch; one of them (a NOS Seiko S-Y035 with Y035E end links – is on route from the States and due any time, but the other is now mounted and looking pretty good.

It’s a Yobokies Hammer with SKX end links, and these fit the 729X series cases perfectly too. It’s actually really comfortable, due in part to the micro adjustment on the clasp, and is an extremely well-made piece of kit, down to the concealed divers extension and button release. All in all, I’m very pleased with it, although I suspect that the correct period Seiko bracelet will end up on the watch pretty much permanently.

The venerable Riseman

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I’ve had about a dozen G-Shocks at a conservative estimate. Square and round, modern and retro, including the much-revered GW-500-1JF. In some ways I liked them all and in the case of a few I really liked them a lot. But for some reason, the only G that has ever stuck with me is the Riseman.

I’m not entirely sure why that is, but the case seems to wear relatively small on the wrist, and also sits very flat. It has all the functions you’d ever need, but the buttons and the sensor don’t shout out at you as they do on some models (the Mudman springs to mind). Even though it looks kind of lary, it’s anything but that when you wear it. For me, its the perfect G.

I’ve had both the “standard” and the men in Smokey Grey..

The grey and orange combination on the case was actually quite beautiful, but try as I might I can’t get on with reverse displays and I ended up sticking with the classic GW-9200, and it’s never let me down. It’s seen more than a few miles pounding the pavement, many DIY jobs around the house, and a smattering quiet weekends, just because…

Old watch, new look

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Perfection

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25 years young

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I’ve enjoyed some fantastic vintage Seiko watches, from a 1960’s GS to some near-perfect iconic dive watches from the seventies. However, when it comes to divers I think this has to be the nicest I’ve had yet.

I picked it up as NOS, and being a 6309-7290 it has the slimmer case than the better known 704X series. I think that makes it very, very wearable and for a 1987 watch it’s really quite a contemporary style (well let’s face it, it’s not all that different from the SKX’s).

I really am very pleased indeed, and you can probably see why…

Pronounced…

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“Zhey-Zher Lecooltr” (yep, really)

Camera shy

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Black is the new black

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Time traveler

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GO PanomaticVenue

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Words fail me…

Summer

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That time of year

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Leather, canvas & steel

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Seiko time capsule

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A rare visit to the Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum a week or so ago, and the first watch that caught my eye was this virtually-NOS 6309-7290 from 1987… still wearing some of its case back sticker, in fact, and now looking very nice indeed on a black Zulu strap.

I do have a GL831 for it, but as it’s a bit long for me I’ll keep that one in the box. It’ll probably end up on the Yobokies hammer bracelet that’s just arrived, but for now I like it just as it is. Can there be a nicer one, anywhere?

The Aerospace

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There’s something very special about this watch. Really.

Playing with light

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