I could have written a list but it has to be My JLC perpetual calendar
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I could have written a list but it has to be My JLC perpetual calendar
Maybe. The last watch meeting that I went to in Bristol a chap there had lots of different versions . I like them as a watch but didn’t want the vintage original and so went for the re-issue without the prospex on the dial which is another thing that only a follower would note.
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Gotta be the Sinn, especially with the acrylic crystal
https://i.ibb.co/Hgdpnsc/IMG-5526.jpg
8 day winder?
https://i.postimg.cc/d3dZfTHX/IMG-1486.jpg
Which also has a LeCoultre movement inside - I never knew that Panerai used one, every day's a school day!
I don't like the 'Willard' case at all - the crown guard is a definite 'no' for me. As to the WISness, it could be argued that art was simply imitating life because the watches were, apparently, a popular choice for soldiers in Vietnam - as suggested in this piece https://www.fratellowatches.com/seik...e-lineup/#gref It also suggests it might have been better labelled the Uemura after the Japanese explorer.
https://i.imgur.com/Im4GvnH.jpg
It's not much to look at but it took me two years to try and get the seller to part with it.
(It's a Smiths Mk X, made in WW2 for the RAF and one of only about a dozen known to exist. The seller was the widow of a former Smiths employee and almost all the other extant examples have also come from Cheltenham.)
I agree on the case, I've got a similar Seiko and I don't wear that much because I don't like the case shape. I tried a 6105 homage a while ago, too, and didn't like it on that either.
Still not sure any watch nicknamed after a fictional character can really be a WIS watch, it's like an 'Arnie' or a 'Ripley', although I appreciate it was chosen for the film because it was supposedly popular with troops in 'Nam.
That said, I'm sure there's a case for saying anyone wearing a vintage watch (unless they're old enough to have worn it from new) is showing an unusual interest in watches, even if it was (as someone suggested) inherited.
I inherited my dad's roll film camera, but I still use a digital one for taking photos!
M
In truth, all of my watches are fairly niche but more than any, all the straps, spring bars and parts I keep give me away more than the watches!
Probably my Smiths Commando from TF.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b96ee00f_k.jpg
^^^ That's probably the best photo I've seen of one!
Oysterquartz and 60s Seikos. The average buyer would be confused by a quartz Rolex. And they'd just think 'cheap old Seiko', instead of seeing the charm of a vintage Omega and some of the cleanest, classic designs this side of a Patek Philippe, all for a few hundred quid. Not much chance of them importing it from Japan either.
Don't own one and never have but surely the ultimate WIS watch is the MM300. I'm amazed it's not been mentioned yet.
To me, to be an expert (or geek) on a topic is to understand why one person's bog-standard is worth the extra money it costs.
The MM300 looks to most like any other Seiko diver and the brand itself suggests to those same people that that's a £~50-100 watch.
Yet those who know, know. Everyone you speak to says it's as good as there is, bang for buck, and is worth the c. £3k it costs to get one new.
From a horological history point of view as to how the Waterbury Watch Co came to be, and the pure simplicity of the movement, it has to be this one. The fact that my Dad carried it with him throughout WW2 only adds to that....
https://i.imgur.com/1OilcjA.jpg
In terms of rarity, probably my Chronoswiss Kairos
https://i.imgur.com/iVWN96k.jpg
And as an out and out conversation piece....
https://i.imgur.com/t904Apa.jpg
it does so many things
https://i.imgur.com/enloCwR.jpg
Most of my collection is pretty generic bar these two, which I think are WIS watches.
BP FF Barakuda and GO 70s panorama date.
https://i.ibb.co/WxxkhKJ/418124eb-bb...2687f2259b.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/cTyHTpY/2935a9c9-22...d74ff71f7f.jpg
Probably my Tutima ZUZ, one of 30 (roughly) in the world, bought by myself directly from the Zoll Disposal Auctions
https://i.postimg.cc/WTBJXN2d/Commando.jpg
Or maybe this, the only Certina Ds Super I have ever seen like this, 1 of 1?
https://i.postimg.cc/w9CJpmvh/IMG-2164-ol.jpg
Or maybe this BBC Nero Lemania. Not many of these around, not many know Lemania, but it is an epic watch
https://i.postimg.cc/cxJw69Z9/BBC-Lemania.jpg
Or maybe my Snowflake. Not because it is are, it isn't, but because it took a lot of effort to get it back to looking like it should.
https://i.postimg.cc/ZJMs7TkK/IMG-0699-ol.jpg
Lot of sense here.
As an analyst/ researcher, I would like to suggest some principles that might mark a WIS watch
- not available on the High Street
- not available from mass online sellers (ie Amazon)
- From a perceived non- watchmaking country (ie Germany, France)
- Not on the bracelet/ strap that it was purchased on, particularly a NATO or ZULU
- Modified
- Worth more than a month's salary (you can probably exclude those that receive a bonus that is multiples of this)
- Obscure models from makers that would normally be unlikely to be WIS due to mass availability (ie Milgauss, Mk4.5 Speedy)
- An Orient
- Not available for sale in the resident country (ie JDM)
- Eddie's
- RLT
Hope that makes sense...
My most WIS watch would be my Gen 1 BM, which as a bezel from a different model, and is on a Super Engineer bracelet. Ticks a few boxes...
https://i.imgur.com/pPNk0Oh.jpg
A couple of my homemade examples tick quite a few of those boxes...
https://i.postimg.cc/hPGfFYB1/a-pair...21150264-o.jpg
... don't know why that didn't occur to me in my earlier post :confusion:
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I'd like to think this qualifies as well - who else but a WIS would wear a 1000m saturation diver the size of a small hockey puck, with the day wheel in Japanese, on a family grocery shop at the local Sainsbury's?!
https://i.imgur.com/EegkxMG.jpg
Any Lange pretty much
A lot of my watches are from well known brands actually, having read through this thread.
My closest to WIS status would be my Vostok Or my Bulova Accutron.
There’s always a monster of some sort…
https://i.ibb.co/hY796Rs/A362-B2-BA-...B5-F91-AB6.jpg
Lange 1 timezone
But my point originally is that almost any Lange would be WIS status confirmed. Almost nobody goes in to Lange without a ton of thought and appreciation. 90% choose Patek, Patek makes 10x more watches
If it weren’t Lange, I would choose FPJ or similar well known independent, but unfortunately that ship has sailed
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8bbfa7074b.jpg
SLA 017
If you know you know
There are SO many, but for today I'll submit this cherry example...
https://i.imgur.com/SDzMsVs.png
https://i.imgur.com/23NlNZC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4EgYdon.jpg
Some brilliant examples on here. I know mines not totally off the radar but still one that gets comments. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...2494b16811.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MgxjNYG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2R2ZYbd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4hpHTFf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/atMdBcH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/22HAOJJ.jpg
Honorable mentions based on comments made by other people:
5 digit
https://imgur.com/dmZV8jB
https://i.imgur.com/J2ABudk.jpg
That's very nice..
Perhaps that's what attracted me to this? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3514a54dd8.jpg
I think it was/is this one:
https://i.imgur.com/iUsueQ2h.jpg
Probably this one:
https://i.imgur.com/c1bmD0o.jpg
And if that isn't WIS enough, I also have a small vintage GS collection.
Pretty sure only watch nerds have a selection of Bubbleshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...48f58ba124.jpg
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Great thread.
Here's another WIS wonder:
https://i.imgur.com/gjWUkJP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bRgAKMv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oYPazdW.jpg
The only quartz watch ever made in the UK. 14 jewels, too.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...4e62592db0.jpg
Strangely, think I’m wearing my best shout today…
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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...9bb88c483c.jpg
Mebbe this however…
Off with Seiko for a service currently
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It does occur to me that unless you’re wearing an Apple Watch/Garmin etc, or some tatty quartz fashion watch then you’re probably in the minority already - probably 75% WIS!
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Zenith
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Probably this...
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fe62d57407.jpg
I think I could possibly bore to death most non-WIS about any of my remaining six watches but the one that possibly qualifies most (and I'd have most to say about) is the Damasko DC86. Love everything about this watch and the fact that non-WIS have never heard of Damasko.
https://i.imgur.com/INnNaeE.jpg
Just like Pupp, my immediate response to this thread was my Offshore Professional Field Engineer.
Here is no. 131 in all its glory
https://i.imgur.com/nF1ms3K.jpg
@Snowman: if another one ever comes up on SC my advice would be to grab it with both hands! They are stunning.
Simon
I would also place this 1675 into evidence...
https://i.imgur.com/gpEpuHT.jpg