A log post so i will split it. I've been pushed and prodded and have a lot more time at home these days so I thought it's time to evaluate where I am with an SOTC post. It's long and wordy and the pictures are crap so feel free to move on to the next topic!
I'll start with vintage - not my thing but a few on the box.
Appearance wise, nothing Omega make these days comes close to this, the 60s Constellation at 35mm. This is gold capped (so gold and steel) and has the most perfect dial I've seen. I hope one day to get a solid 18kt version but no hurry, I'd barely wear it anyway. This watch actually has its original Omega bracelet and I must get round to refitting it at some point as it changes the look dramatically.
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I love the story behind the Universal Geneve Polerouter being issued to SAS airline pilots to time their journeys across the Atlantic polar routes but I also know the smell of marketing when I get a whiff - hell, why not they're all at it! A lovely little watch at 34-35mm with an equally lovely microrotor movement sadly hidden behind the caseback. A recent trade, it's perhaps slightly too small for me to wear regularly.
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Is there a cheaper way into a classy and completely English watch? Probably not, this Smiths Everest is a great looking piece in 9kt plate with some real history behind it. If you don't have one, get one and remember when Britain was still great at making watches from the ground up! 'Made in England' on a watch, it just feels good!
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This is where it all began; the Breitling SuperOcean 1000m, my first ever mechanical watch. There was a sale on at Zurich airport as I passed through on my way to work in Tunisia... I was gobsmacked by the blue dial, the depth rating and just everything about the brand as I had releigiously collected the Breitling catalogues every year (and desperately wanted a Chronomat). For about a decade, it was the only watch I needed, then I bought a TAG Monza, then a Speedy and then it all went to pot. The crystal is scratched, the bezel loose, the bracelet stretched and the divers clasp epoxied shut. In modern terms it's quite magnificently awful but that dial is still beautiful and I won't part with it. It deserves a service and tidy up, perhaps the case fully brushed and then I'd wear it again. Maybe.
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I don't 'do' divers but still seem to have this; a Doxa 800ti. My eye was caught by the spec; full titanium case and bracelet, tritium tubes and all the orange-handed Dirk Pitt posturing you could shake a stick at. A great holiday watch but I don't go on holiday and if I did I'd probably take something else. I have an orange Isofrane for it and really should give that a try, maybe it'll have a summer renaissance.
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My 40th birthday present from Mrs Yeti and I believe the last watch ever to leave the Schuhren works, the 44mm Commander. Andy offered the last few on the forum before closing the doors and it's really superb quality for the money. In fact, it's be superb quality at 3 times the price. He engraved my birthday on the movement and '40' on the crown and I've recently started wearing it again as it's a lovely piece. Maybe one day I'll get an IWC Big Pilot but until then, this does me just fine.
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I bought this Yacht-Master from the original owner in a supermarket car park in Kent with bundles of £50 notes - those were the days. Then I needed the money for something else so sold it to Thom, who sold it to his mate, who sold it back to him. Thom traded it with a dealer for a Sub, and the dealer fully RSC serviced the YM before Thom bought it back again. Then he sold it to Mart, who sold it back to me without me knowing it was the same watch. And that's why we love tz! I've tried all of the stainless watches (except the GMT) and none of them stick around - I think this is the one though, at least for now. It's blingy enough for a west London cafe without being OTT, it's solid enough for a man who spends most of his time with a baby, changing nappies and crawling around the library. It's faultlessly accurate, the timing bezel is really useful and it doesn't make me feel I'm pretending to be a fictional spy, a 60s Pan-Am pilot, Sherpa Tensing or a deep sea diver. Just a man wearing a reliable and good looking watch (who doesn't have a yacht). If someone were to ask 'what's your daily?' I would answer with 'this one'.
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Many would disagree but I think a modern collection is incomplete without a Panerai; rightly or wrongly they have entered the collectors psyche. If you've small wrists, the Radiomir still works at 45mm; I've owned many PAMs from 44-47mm but they have all lead to this, the PAM 197 Radiomir 8 Days. For years I owned a 190, (the steel version of this) but wore it less and less as my watch tastes changed. Popular opinion isn't with me here judging by the great prices the steel watches fetch but this is so much more special for me; the Clou de Paris dial, the perfectly polished rose gold case and the Jaeger-LeCoultre twin-barrel 8 day movement with power reserve on the rear. As with all Panerai owners, I have a lot of straps from custom crocs to ammo pouch vintages. Currently enjoying this Watchboys alligator.
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Pointless trying to capture the beauty of any Moser in a photo but Tony's old pics of this watch almost do it justice. Last one in but won't be first out, the H.Moser & Cie Mayu, 38.8mm in white gold with the marrone dial. I wore this for three days straight when I first received it and still marvel at how perfect it is as a wristwatch. If anything, it defines it for me. Uncluttered, uncomplicated, almost unremarkable if you just catch a glimpse. The subtle beauty takes a while to sink in but once it's in, you can't unsee it. It's stunning, from the case shape with brushed and polished detail to the sides to the brown sunburst dial. The movement has a reserve of 65hrs and is decorated with the unique double 'Moser stripes', the entire escapement is designed to be removed and replaced at service, parts of the gear train are hardened solid gold and they make their own hairsprings, yet you'd guess none of this from looking at it. Pure subtlety, effortless class.
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A watch I wanted as soon as I saw it but simply couldn't see myself paying that money for a three hander no matter how historic the brand, how iconic the design or how amazing the movement. Eventually I caved and traded for one, the Vacheron Constantin Les Historiques 1920, after finding one with a dealer in Belgium and I was not disappointed. This is my undisputed dress watch. It's slim, it's unusual, time only and is really the only watch that people ask what's going on with it. Originally conceived in the 20s (so the story goes) as a driver's watch to be worn on the inside of the wrist, I wear it on the outside so I can stare at it more. The 4400 movement is an work of art as you'd expect and the cognoscenti seem to think it's the finest manual winder out there. I won't argue at the 65hr reserve or the silky smooth winding. Catch the black anodised gold hands in the light and it's a joy.
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An impulse buy but one of my better ones; as an edition of 25 I doubt I'll see another one. The Glashutte Original Senator Tourbillon 'Alfred Helwig'. Helwig invented the flying Tourbillon in the city of Glashutte where he was a watchmaking tutor and the watch rather nicely commemorates that. It's a delicate 38mm of lightly brushed gold and on closer inspection the quality of the watch is peerless - in fact only my other GO can match it in my opinion, this is another pre-Swatch piece. Rather than using rubies as end stones for the tourbillon, there are two rose cut diamonds instead, no expense has been spared with the manufacture of this watch. The unusual guilloche of the dial is very Art Deco and the retrograde date snaps back at the end of the month. It's a little piece of perfection on a custom Camille Fournet.
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- - - Updated - - -
The Chronographs
Chronographs used to be the main focus of my collection, the vast majority have been sold as tastes move on. A few remain though.
A CWC hand winder; bought on SC, never worn, too cute to sell. One day perhaps I'll wear it for some reason. In the meantime, I'll just fiddle with it every now and again and marvel at what can be had for the money.
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The Breitling Aerospace in 40mm. Try as I might, I don't seem to be able to keep one of these out of the box so I have given up trying. This is my fourth and is identical to my first which I rather like. It's my 'beater' I suppose in that I wear it cycling or to exercise, or for anything where I need a countdown, stopwatch and alarm. It rarely happens but when it does, there is only one watch. It's slim, it's light, it's handsome, it's the ultimate ana-dig although my head was almost turned by the Omega X-33. But not at that price for a beater.
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A recent impulse buy from the SC, the Girard Perregaux 'Vintage 60s'; after a few years of production, GP changed the name to Vintage 70s and let's face it, that makes far more sense... It's a 38mm thing of beauty with a tall but elegant cushion case and in terms of looking like it cost more than it does, nothing I have come close - the quality of both case, dial and hands is wonderful. If you catch it right showing the rose gold hands offsetting the blued steel ones, it might be the loveliest watch I own. Chronograph is a 60 minute type with both minutes and seconds on the central pinion like a Lemania 5100. I know it's a modular chrono, I suspect ETA base but whatever it is it's crisp, legible and does its job extremely well. The case is a wonder of polished and brushed surfaces and I very much enjoy wearing it for a weekender. It's fitted with a very appropriate Camille Fournet lizard strap which I think looks great even though I didn't choose it ;)
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One of 50 with the ice blue dial, the Kobold Polar Surveyour, 40mm in steel. 300m water resistance, you could use this for anything. I wanted this from the day I saw a picture of it and the Ranulph Fiennes connection just made me want it more. I saw it on the Friday thread and did a deal for it, I barely wear it but have no intention of passing it on. It's heavy, it's cumbersome, it's from a brand that elicits smirks from some collectors but I really don't care. It's almost deserving of the term 'awesome'. Just because. It's a modified 7750 but is a unique application using as eighth hand as a 24hr day / night indicator on the same subdial as the running seconds. Rather clever and I really could have used this when I worked in the arctic - I at least understand what it's for even if I no longer need it!
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The Daytona; it's not for everyone. Too small, too expensive, no date, hard to read. That's why I sold my steel one, but after a while I missed it and was wearing smaller, slimmer watches. I was actually looking for a white gold Submariner when this white gold version came up and it solved two wants in one watch, plus it made FAR more sense to me having a slim gold chrono rather than a thick gold dive watch. The red hands improve the legibility ten fold, the weight makes it feel special every time and the 4130 movement is one of the greats, certainly not out of place in this case. 72hrs reserve, smooth winding and pushers you start, stop and reset just because it feels good to use them. I wear this far more often than I thought I would, which is nice.
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A bit of a step up, the Patel Philippe Nautilus 5980 in steel. It has the glorious and unique blue fading to black dial, the effect being created with the application of heat. The overall effect is stunning and I spend more time staring at this on my wrist than most other things. The chronograph has a flyback mechanism and there is no running seconds on the watch so generally the chrono is (and was designed to be) running all the time - the flyback makes sense in those terms. I compared this to a departed Royal Oak chrono and it was closer than PP would like I'm sure, but this stayed and the RO went. I think it really is the ultimate luxury 'sports' chono and the fully in-house chronograph was actually Patek's first one, hard to believe in this day and age. I get a buzz whenever I wear it.
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My flagship chronograph, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre a Chronographe, 42mm in rose gold. This was the first use of JLC's Dual Wing concept, two mainsprings regulated by the same escapement. The idea behind it was that starting, stopping and running a chronograph interferes with the amplitude of a watch and therefore the accuracy is compromised. Theoretically true I'm sure, innovative certainly (it had the CEO and marketing manager at Chopard shaking their heads in wonder when I showed it to them), beautiful to look at through the back, without a doubt. The movement plate is German silver so it's changed colour in my ownership and will continue to develop a unique patina. It's gorgeous. The pattern is the Cote du Soleil reserved for their finest pieces and when I was shown it in the Haute Horologie room at the Le Sentier manufacture, I thought 'one day if I win the lottery'. In fact when I found out the cost, I sold half my collection and bought it. No regrets, I don't wear it as often as I'd like as 42mm with a white face and small bezel is big on me, but it's too special to part with. Where else will you find a watch with 9 hands, a foudroyante, a spatiograph and two power reserves?
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