A tough pair to photograph

[Foggy]

Just wish I'd paid more attention to the dust on the black dialled version :cry:



Cheers

Foggy

[rfrazier]

That's a very nice matched pair, Foggy!

Best wishes,
Bob

[A.Pottinger]

Great Pair!

Lovely examples-good pic's.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Pottinger+ :)

[abraxas]

.
Very sweet. Mr and Mrs.

john

[davide]

Am I correct in thinking that the black dial a late 50s redialled version of the white?

They are lovely Foggy - I keep looking!

[Foggy]

Am I correct in thinking that the black dial a late 50s redialled version of the white?

Hi David

Yes, these are both recased versions of the earlier white dialled AM watches. Recased in 1956. The white dial escaped the redialler :wink:

Cheers

Foggy

[davide]

Thanks Foggy - it always amazes me how much prople know about such historical matters - is there a comprehensive resource for such information?

[rfrazier]

Frank recased the white dialed one, and Bill the black dialed one, no doubt. It looks like the white dialed one was done before lunch on a Thursday. It isn't so easy to tell with the black dialed one. ;)

Best wishes,
Bob

[davide]

Frank recased the white dialed one, and Bill the black dialed one, no doubt. It looks like the white dialed one was done before lunch on a Thursday. It isn't so easy to tell with the black dialed one. ;)

Best wishes,
Bob

Well Bob - I'm amazed - how did you know that it wasn't one of Bert's Monday morning jobs?

[Foggy]

Well Bob - I'm amazed - how did you know that it wasn't one of Bert's Monday morning jobs?

That's easy. Bert never worked Monday's - he always had a hangover :lol:

Cheers

Foggy

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Very Nice Sir
Must try and add some vintage Omega's to my collection some time - so many nice watches.......

[Crusader]

Beautiful and breathtaking, Foggy!

I visited Stowa yesterday, had a lengthy chat with the owner Jörg Schauer, and checked out their 40mm Marine (=navy) watch which comes close to the white-dialed 6b/159. Please note the hour and seconds hands:

[Gert]

That pair are indeed fantastic, Foggy. Congratulations :D

(@ Crusader: how did the Stowa Marine feel up close and personal??? Altmodish and/or functional and/or dressy?)

Cheers,
Gert

[Neil.C]

Great pic Fogster.

The white one is lovely.

[abraxas]

Beautiful and breathtaking, Foggy!

I visited Stowa yesterday, had a lengthy chat with the owner Jörg Schauer, and checked out their 40mm Marine (=navy) watch which comes close to the white-dialed 6b/159. Please note the hour and seconds hands:

.............

Did you happen to notice if the dateless version has become available and if it also has the blue hands, etc. I find that the date spoils the homogeneity of the dial. Also, the seconds doesn't appear to have the little tip at the back-end of the dateless. :(

john

[rfrazier]

I think that the Omega has a number of advantages over the Stowa. Consequently, it looks right, while the Stowa doesn't.

1. None of the minutes/seconds markers on the Omega go outside of the track, and the tracks are wider.
2. The font of the Omega is more appropriate for the fineness of the hands. Here is a first test: is the thickness of the main part of the minutes hand at least the thickness of the "1"? On the Omega it is. Too often I wind up with hands/makers unbalanced, and I've come to believe that this is just about the best test. Although, of course, one doesn't want to be dogmatic about it. It is a "ceteris paribus" test. (This is why I changed the thickness of the markers on Folly 3.)
3. The Omega's printing covers more of the area of the dial (or so it looks to me).

I'm not saying that the Omega is the end of the story with regard to this general pattern of dial. Rather, I am considering whether the dials hang together in their own right.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Crusader]

Did you happen to notice if the dateless version has become available and if it also has the blue hands, etc. I find that the date spoils the homogeneity of the dial. Also, the seconds doesn't appear to have the little tip at the back-end of the dateless. :(

This is the old second hand, painted black ... the current ones are the blued ones in the 6B/159 pattern. The dateless center-second Marine is going out of production, though. It was in the collection for years. There will be a dateless Marine with subseconds - a replica of the original deckwatch - this fall. It has impeccable specs (6498 with swan's neck and screwed balance) and a very attractive price at ? 690/750.

Gerd: with the polished finish the Marine is quite dressy, with the Flieger/Airman's matte finish (same case) it looks much better.

Exciting new developments for 2007 as well ... more about that later.

[Si]

Fantastic pic, Foggy!
Both great watches but if I had to pick one it would be the white dial.

[abraxas]

..................The dateless center-second Marine is going out of production, though. It was in the collection for years. .........

Where?

In the shop there is no dateless and the only place it appears, is at the bottom of this page:
http://www.stowa.com/Collection/Marine/marine.html

... with the words:

Another variation is the "Marine Automatik" which is also available in 40 diameter case.

:arrow: Look forward to it!

john

[abraxas]

... is the thickness of the main part of the minutes hand at least the thickness of the "1"? ...

Best wishes,
Bob

Good observation. I still think the Marine is a fine looking piece considering its price.

I bet you could make a better looking one. You could also put 'Made In England' at the bottom of the dial. :wink: :roll:

john

[rfrazier]

I bet you could make a better looking one. You could also put 'Made In England' at the bottom of the dial. :wink: :roll:

john

I've been experimenting with lettering using Bezier curves (a way of treating letters as curves, so that they can follow the curve of the dial) for printing at the bottom. In general, I'm not keen on it, however. It wouldn't be "Made in England", but, rather, just "Albion". (I would leave out the "perfidious" bit. ;))

Best wishes,
Bob

[Crusader]

I think that the Omega has a number of advantages over the Stowa. Consequently, it looks right, while the Stowa doesn't.

Bob, you are taking me too seriously. The Stowa was never meant as replica of the 6B/159, but is a homage to the navy watches produced by Stowa in WWII. If anything, it goes to show how close the watch face designs of the enemy sides could come, as with the ATPs and DHs. :wink:

[Crusader]

..................The dateless center-second Marine is going out of production, though. It was in the collection for years. .........

Where?

In the shop there is no dateless and the only place it appears, is at the bottom of this page:
http://www.stowa.com/Collection/Marine/marine.html

... with the words:

Another variation is the "Marine Automatik" which is also available in 40 diameter case.

:arrow: Look forward to it!

john

The Stowa shop is updated almost daily, the main website isn't. My info re the discontinuation of the dateless Marine earlier this year is as per the company owner, 22 hours ago. Its availablility would have been indicated on the drop-down Marine menu in the shop when it was still an option.

I believe the phasing out of the dateless variant coincided with the introduction of the new blued second hand. At the time, Jörg was saying on a German language forum that he still had two or three dateless Marines, but with the old-style black second hand.

[abraxas]

I bet you could make a better looking one. You could also put 'Made In England' at the bottom of the dial. :wink: :roll:

john

I've been experimenting with lettering using Bezier curves (a way of treating letters as curves, so that they can follow the curve of the dial) for printing at the bottom. In general, I'm not keen on it, however. It wouldn't be "Made in England", but, rather, just "Albion". (I would leave out the "perfidious" bit. ;))

Best wishes,
Bob

Is that due to the white* dial? I also like term term 'Albiona' (I've read my Graves :wink: ) perhaps for the ladies version.

john


* To those not in the know ... has the same root as, albino.

[abraxas]

........................

I believe the phasing out of the dateless variant coincided with the introduction of the new blued second hand. At the time, Jörg was saying on a German language forum that he still had two or three dateless Marines, but with the old-style black second hand.

Again strangely enough, when you click on the picture of 'the dated' on the front page of the Marine:
http://www.stowa.com/Collection/Marine/marine.html

You get a picture of 'the dateless':
http://www.stowa.com/Collection/Marine/w6_marine.jpg

Which if you compare with the new 'dated' from the shop:
http://stowa.de/shop/pix/a/g/1141078279-20701.jpg

A number of issues arise. The main being that the old hands were thicker (a point which falls within the debate we were having with Bob). As it happens, I prefer the new 'thin' hands as they look more (period) 'instrumental' (so much for having to match the thickness of the indice numbers :roll: ). The second issue is the thickness of the hand-sleeves ... the new ones are wider and suit the dial better ... the new seconds-hand is divine ... and I love the way the minute hand is bang in the centre of the minute chapter. 8)

I don't know how long I will able to resist getting one.

john

[Crusader]

A number of issues arise. The main being that the old hands were thicker (a point which falls within the debate we were having with Bob). As it happens, I prefer the new 'thin' hands as they look more (period) 'instrumental' (so much for having to match the thickness of the indice numbers :roll: ). The second issue is the thickness of the hand-sleeves ... the new ones are wider and suit the dial better ... the new seconds-hand is divine ... and I love the way the minute hand is bang in the centre of the minute chapter. 8)

The problem was that with 36 and 40mm versions, and with and without date, and with the Flieger, Marine and Antea, (not to mention blued vs. black hands) the small Stowa company had a zillion different models, so the collection was culled. You are correct in noting - and I should have said so earlier - that not only was a new blued second hand introduced, but the hour and minute hands were redesigned as well. The new hour hand is much fatter. So the thing to do if you desire a dateless Marine is to buy one second hand (unless Jörg still has one or two lying around), and have the new handset mounted. With the availablility of the new handwound Unitas-model, there'll be many owners putting their dateless Marines up for sale, I imagine.

In either case, make sure to get the matte finish, not the stock polish for the Marine. :)

BTW, new hands means that Jörg Schauer pays for the tooling ... they do not come from a catalog. The hands on the new handwound Unitas will be much better, still ...