That is seriously cool! What else do you have in your boxes!?
Way cooler than mine I think.
Digging around in some old boxes and I found this watch, that I thought I had sold a few years ago. It was a pleasant surprise. There were a copuple of other things in the box which i was also delighted to find. More on those later.
This is a rarely seen Lemania watch. It is a circa 1979 Lemania Benthos 1000 m. It is virtually identical to the more commonly seen Aquastar Benthos, specs are the same and so is the movement. It could use a new mesh bracelet. It has a nice chunky case at 42 mm and 15 mm thick. I have not had the case apart, but I understand the movement is an AS Schild AS2162. The movement is of course automatic and is modified to incorporate a 60 minute dive timer, activated by the button at 5 on the case. It resets immediately without stopping first, so probably not them most secure timer. The bezel backup would be needed when using this for diving.
That is seriously cool! What else do you have in your boxes!?
Way cooler than mine I think.
That looks yummy. Never seen one before. It would look great on Omega mesh, Is it 22mm lug size?
Thanks - unfortuantely the lug size is a bit small at 20 mm, I dont think you can get an Omega mesh to fit 20 mm, may need to look for a generic replacementOriginally Posted by michalko82
Wow!
Gimmee that box anyday 8)
Daddel.
Got a new watch, divers watch it is, had to drown the bastard to get it!
I like yours, there is a difference in the bezel. The Lemania has more of a gloss look like you find an a vintage Seamster 300. The Aquastar has a nicer looking matt bezelOriginally Posted by Fredrik (Swe)
Very nice, wish I had some 'boxes' which I'd forgotten with great watches hidden within. Lucky man
What a great find :)
Gray
Lovely watch ... I had one years ago and sold it to a good friend at one point when funds were needed .
If you ever feel the urge to let this one go please let me know ,
All the best,
Vic :)
How could you forget you had that :?: :D
It's a beauty :drunken:
This is only the 2nd I've seen of the Lemania ones. I like the bezel better on the Lemania: it's the one with lume in the numerals, like some of the Squale's have.Originally Posted by clockwatcher
What a fantastic find. :D it is virtually identical to the Aqustar Benthos I, which is rare. However, the Lemania is even more rare.
Coincidentally, there has been a spate of Lemania Benthos II examples on eBay recently. However, these are quartz and do not have the dive timer.
I have been looking for one of these for ages and thought they must have all disappeared - although the unearthing of the Lemania Benthos II on ebay and the price it achieved brought another two out of hiding.
Just like putting you hand in your jeans pocket and fishing out a £20 note that you never knew about, only better.
Yes it has the lume numerals on the bezel, whcih is still pretty brightOriginally Posted by Filip
:D That is stunning, what a thing to lose in a box.
Just gorgeous, and rare doesn't even come close to how vanishingly small the numbers of these are.Originally Posted by clockwatcher
I am very jealous, you have a lovely watch there. I hope you don't mind but the fact that it remained undiscovered in a box hidden away is just a bit odd for me, I know I would never forget i had one of those......
This model always fascinated me. Lemania are of course well known for centre-minute timers, so what on earth were they doing modifying an AS movement to achieve this functionality.
Maybe that's one of the reasons it is so rare.....
Dave
Amazing how you can suddenly dislike somebody..
Jammy sod!
I hope you appreciate it and enjoy it now.. and dont forget about it! :mrgreen:
Originally Posted by Timelord
I have tried to google those sales but can't find them, how much did they go for approximately?
I want one if only to check for myself that the Benthos 1000m case is the same as the Tag Heuer Superprofessional which I'm convinced it is ( apart from the cosmetic differences, bezel, small difference in crown guard, the chrono version a bit different with the pusher of course ).
This shouldn't be surprising really as Heuer was owned by Lemania during that period.
regards
siggy
EBay Germany, items 300634681867 and 230701978409. €955 and €1266 respectively.Originally Posted by siggy
Regards
Dave
I'm sure someone posted the Aquastar version on here recently that was 'found in a drawer' i think if i had watches like those i would know exactly where they are at all times :lol: :shock:
Me too - on my wrist!Originally Posted by rasputin10
Stunning watch
Thank you. The story is this: In the past I used to collect pocket watches, which I gave up collecting 10 or 12 years ago. I also used to collect Lemania military watches, which then extended to all Lemania watches that were a sports or utility type watch. I had the pocket watches stored safely in 2 boxes. I decided to sort them out with a view to selling them. In the box, I found some other watches including this one that I thought I had sold as I had not seen them for years. If you know my collecting habits, you will know why I had forgotten about this watch. At the stage I think I probably had about 20 odd Lemania watches. the Lemania's made up a small part of my collection. Sadly most of the Lemania's are now sold :( but I do have a few left including this oneOriginally Posted by sweets
Fantastic find. Wish I was so lucky!
These 70s watches really are great...so much more simple, straightforward and characterful that the modern equivalents.
Enjoy :D
thanks for those,Originally Posted by sweets
regards
siggy
unfortunately not found in a drawer, but here is my Aquastar for comparison. Love your Lemania, very much my kind of watch!
That truly is a beauty, and an iconic classic. I can't help but wish it was mine... :albino:
Here is my Aquastar Benthos 500 that I could never forget I own I just don't know how in the hell you could forget you own that great looking watch Lemania benthos 1000m
Very nice, my old man is into Lemania and you don't see many in the wild.
hm I like that!
i really wouldn't mind if mr Platts would make something that looks a bit simular to that :D
cheers,
Gregor
IndeedOriginally Posted by benny.c
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
hmm....I am beginning to wish that I had never mentioned that I had forgotten about it, I am getting the impression that people are thinking I am a numbskull :lol: At one stage, I had over 100 watches in my private collection. When I bought it, it was not expensive like the Aquastars are today. So to misplace a couple seemed like it was no big deal to me, I thought I had sold it when I culled some of the collection.
Well for my part, I have no intention of insinuating or suggesting you are a numbskull.
I perfectly understand that it's possible to mislay stuff in a collection considerably smaller than 100 watches.
I have to admit that I have had a couple of moments like that myself, but they are (unfortunately) restricted to discovering that I still have a strap or two that I thought I had sold attached to a watch that I had moved on.
So, having re-discovered it, are you re-bonding with it, or are you tempted to move it on, considering that you didn't think you still had it?
Dave
What a find!
And I can't believe that nobody has said "I wanna get in your drawers" yet :lol:
I had no idea lemania did a benthos.. I've always liked the aquastar one, but I think I prefer the bezel on yours.
It could be done, but realistically only a quartz version unfortunately. A dive timer with a central minute counter could be achieved by taking an ETA 251.262 movement (see the PRS-17 or Dave Sweeting's excellent Tutima Pacific chronograph on Sales Corner) or an ETA 251.232 (for super quartz) and removing the subdials as Sinn did with the iconic EZM-1. Of course, a suitable dial and case would need to be made.Originally Posted by gregor
Since the demise of the Lemania 5100, the only automatic chronograph movements with centralised minute counters are either a) modular, such as the Dubois Depraz 2070/2073 that sits on an ETA 2892 for the Tag Heuer Aquagraph and Sinn 142 II; b) high end, such as the reworked Lemania 1340/1341 used by Breguet or c) exclusive, such as the reworked Valjoux 7750, i.e. Sinn SZ01 movement used by Sinn in the new EZM10 and also by Damasko. All 3 of these options are prohibitably expensive, thus quartz would be the way to go for an Aquastar/Lemania Benthos homage.
I am re-bonding wthin it no end at the moment :DOriginally Posted by sweets
Lovely find, rare as hens teeth but in such lovely condition too. Fantastic to see it.
I presume the Schild movement worked the dive counter hand by simply linking it to the minute hand wheel when activated and returning it when not - simpler than having a full-blown chrono movement. Clever.
Beautiful anyway.
It's very surprising that Lemania didn't use a Lemania movement in a chronograph that bears its own name.Originally Posted by andy111s
Why I don't find these kind of things in my old boxes ? :roll:Originally Posted by clockwatcher
stunning piece!