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Thread: Dirty Dozen collection

  1. #1
    Master
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    Dirty Dozen collection

    Today I've finally completed the full set of the Dirty Dozen. I've had the IWC for about 10 years. The remaining 11 have taken me a year to collect. The last one was the Longines, which is also my favourite.

  2. #2
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
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    Very nice, my father is currently trying to collect all 12 and the last 3 are proving difficult to obtain in good condition (he is still looking for the Grana, Longines and JLC so not a tall order at all)!!!!
    The Lemaina and Timor are my favourite WWWs

  3. #3
    Master
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    Lovely. Well done on completing the set.

  4. #4
    Master Geralt's Avatar
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    Very well done. Can't have been easy - or cheap! They all look in great condition. Any chance of a shot without all the reflections?

  5. #5
    Grand Master Carlton-Browne's Avatar
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    Well done .

  6. #6
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    Fantastic collection :) wasn't aware of this dirty dozen but having just read the hondinkee article, that's an impressive accomplishment

  7. #7

    Welcome to the Club of dirty dozen!

    Quote Originally Posted by trident-7 View Post
    Today I've finally completed the full set of the Dirty Dozen. I've had the IWC for about 10 years. The remaining 11 have taken me a year to collect. The last one was the Longines, which is also my favourite.

  8. #8
    Congratulations!! I love it!! Where in the world did you find the grana? :) This must have been a lot of fun, putting it together.

  9. #9
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Fabulous.

  10. #10
    Master
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    Thanks for all the kind & positive comments.

    Quote Originally Posted by Geralt View Post
    Very well done. Can't have been easy - or cheap! They all look in great condition. Any chance of a shot without all the reflections?
    This is a bit better I think, but it's not easy getting 12 watches in one shot without any reflections.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by o u t a t i m e View Post
    Congratulations!! I love it!! Where in the world did you find the grana? :) This must have been a lot of fun, putting it together.
    I was very lucky finding that one. As you know it's the hardest to find because there were may have been as few as 1000 made (est. 1000-5000). Some of the others had 25000 examples.

    I think it was Bone Idol from this forum who pointed me in the direction of the MWR forum http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/forum.php. I joined & noticed that one of the members was selling his entire Dirty Dozen collection. His Grana was a particularly good example & I bought it straight away. I still haven't seen a better one. It was an expensive evening though :-/

  12. #12
    A job well done there Rob, I bet your wallet wishes I'd never told you about MWR

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by lewismark View Post
    A job well done there Rob, I bet your wallet wishes I'd never told you about MWR
    Ha ha, it's all your fault Mark aka Bone Idol ;-)

  14. #14
    Master RABbit's Avatar
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    Congratulations! Looks like a great set. It's been a few years since I got and then sold a Dirty Dozen set and values seem to have doubled in the last 2-3 years, so I hope you're well insured!
    Has the JLC been refinished? It looks amazingly good in your photo, usually the brass shows thought pretty badly. Likewise the Vertex.

  15. #15
    Grand Master Velorum's Avatar
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    A splendid collection sir - good work!

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by RABbit View Post
    Congratulations! Looks like a great set. It's been a few years since I got and then sold a Dirty Dozen set and values seem to have doubled in the last 2-3 years, so I hope you're well insured!
    Has the JLC been refinished? It looks amazingly good in your photo, usually the brass shows thought pretty badly. Likewise the Vertex.
    No the case is the original finish, it's mint. I showed the collection to John Senior who is a very well respected horologist specialising in military watches & he commented that the JLC Lemania Vertex & Record cases looked mint & that they are often well worn. The Buren shows a fair bit of brassing & maybe the one that stands out as being not as good a case as the others. I've already got another Buren lined up though. I thought when I got the twelve that that would be the end of it :-/

    The Timor is also particularly good. The Record & the Longines lug numbers also match the ones on the back of the case. This is quite rare because, when these watches had maintenance carried out by the R.E.M.E. the wrong backs were often put on wrong cases.
    Last edited by trident-7; 18th March 2017 at 11:04.

  17. #17
    Master Timelord's Avatar
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    Wow, that is really impressive. I have only got the Cyma and wish I had bought some of the others before the prices really started to increase.

  18. #18
    Master RABbit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trident-7 View Post
    No the case is the original finish, it's mint. I showed the collection to John Senior who is a very well respected horologist specialising in military watches & he commented that the JLC Lemania Vertex & Record cases looked mint & that they are often well worn. The Buren shows a fair bit of brassing & maybe the one that stands out as being not as good a case as the others. I've already got another Buren lined up though. I thought when I got the twelve that that would be the end of it :-/

    The Timor is also particularly good. The Record & the Longines lug numbers also match the ones on the back of the case. This is quite rare because, when these watches had maintenance carried out by the R.E.M.E. the wrong backs were often put on wrong cases.
    Well done on being patient and waiting to get such good examples, they do look fantastic. As you say, also hard to find matching lug and caseback numbers.
    Getting all 12 is not the end...I got distracted to finding "P" dialled examples, NATO dials (several variations)...go on, I dare you!

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by RABbit View Post
    Well done on being patient and waiting to get such good examples, they do look fantastic. As you say, also hard to find matching lug and caseback numbers.
    Getting all 12 is not the end...I got distracted to finding "P" dialled examples, NATO dials (several variations)...go on, I dare you!
    Actually I'm already on the slippery slope. It's a Baker's Dozen. I've also got a NATO-dialed Record

  20. #20
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    Congratulations. It pleases me that you've arranged them in alphabetical order.

    So... what's the next challenge?

  21. #21
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    Ha ha, that's probably something to do with why I like to switch the shower on & off 7 times before I get out :-/

    Good question. I feel like I've satisfied an itch for now. I like British Military watches though. Maybe the Fab Four? http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showt...-Fab-quot-Four
    Last edited by trident-7; 18th March 2017 at 22:13.

  22. #22
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    Welcome to the club!

  23. #23
    Master RABbit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trident-7
    Maybe the Fab Four?
    Exactly what I did! Managed to complete the group last year after about 4 years of looking. I found the Newmark easily and the Precista eluded me for ages.


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  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by RABbit View Post
    Exactly what I did! Managed to complete the group last year after about 4 years of looking. I found the Newmark easily and the Precista eluded me for ages.


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    Nice one. If it was too easy it wouldn't be so much fun

  25. #25
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    Congrats. A fine looking collection. Very even lume across the board.

    I wont be collecting the lot but I just bought a Cyma WWW fully serviced for £560. Was that too much? Not bothered really but would like to get an understanding of their price range.

  26. #26
    Grand Master Carlton-Browne's Avatar
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    I think that, these days, £560 for one that you know is properly serviced is quite a good price. They seemed to average about £350-400 on the crapshoot that is Ebay until about a year ago and now it appears to be open season - if that's not mixing my metaphors too much.

  27. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grandsire View Post
    Congrats. A fine looking collection. Very even lume across the board.

    I wont be collecting the lot but I just bought a Cyma WWW fully serviced for £560. Was that too much? Not bothered really but would like to get an understanding of their price range.
    It's not a bad price at all. I paid similar for mine. £580 but then I had it serviced by John Senior for £95. The Cyma is a good choice because it's one of the best looking of the 12, has a SS case, is a decent size, & isn't mega bucks like some of the others

  28. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by trident-7 View Post
    It's not a bad price at all. I paid similar for mine. £580 but then I had it serviced by John Senior for £95. The Cyma is a good choice because it's one of the best looking of the 12, has a SS case, is a decent size, & isn't mega bucks like some of the others
    Thanks for answers guys. Wasn't completely sure. It's a fine price (two year warranty) but in five years time it'll probably be a steal. will try not to get into the DD too much, I'm more of a 6b kind of guy.

  29. #29
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    Congrats on this awesome collection. Guess it wasn't easy to get by all of them. :)

  30. #30
    Master Timelord's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trident-7 View Post
    Ha ha, that's probably something to do with why I like to switch the shower on & off 7 times before I get out :-/

    Good question. I feel like I've satisfied an itch for now. I like British Military watches though. Maybe the Fab Four? http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showt...-Fab-quot-Four
    Another option is the Precista Magnificent 7.

  31. #31
    Grand Master Andyg's Avatar
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    Proper WIS. Well done on a lovely collection.

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
    Friedrich Nietzsche


  32. #32
    Grand Master Wallasey Runner's Avatar
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    A lovely collection, well done on putting it together. Out of interest, when a set is put together do they tend to stay as sets, one person selling a full set to someone else or do the sets ever get broken up or do collectors just keep hold of them once they have them.

  33. #33
    Master
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    Thanks. I think most would end up getting sold piecemeal. Three of mine came from another set, including the rarest. I don't think I'd sell mine as a complete set because I would want to keep at least two of my favourites, the Longines & the IWC.

    It's more fun to collect them one by one. I saw a full set for sale when I had only just started to collect them but it almost felt like cheating.

  34. #34
    Craftsman Cyclone's Avatar
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    Very nice collection


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  35. #35
    Master
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    Nice collection, no stunning.
    I am short of 2 to complete my dozen.
    Last edited by Horologos; 10th April 2017 at 07:28.

  36. #36
    Craftsman
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    Some breath-takingly nice examples there.
    Congratulations on completing the full set!

  37. #37
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    Amazing! They look beautiful.

  38. #38
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    Very nice collection!

    I only just found out that my late Grandfather's watch may well have been a WWW, and my father is looking for it amongst his belongings. If it is, it's a Vertex model. I'm very excited to see it!

  39. #39
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    Well done!!

    I gave up half way and so did my wallet!! I ended up sticking with my favourite the Cyma!!

    FairPlay for sticking at it and well done for being able to complete it in a year?!?!??!?

    Chris

  40. #40
    Master Yorkshiremadmick's Avatar
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    WoW
    Thanks for sharing these.
    Never seen a Dirty Dozen like this.


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