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Great pics, great read. I love to see these two Explorers side by side. The same watches, but oh so different when you look closely.
Thanks for sharing.
Menno
I have been meaning to do this for a while but just haven't had the time, I know vintage is not everyone's cup of tea so please look away now.
I sold this Omega 33.3 a couple of weeks ago but though I would share it with the forum, I had only ever seen one other watch like this but it didn't have the same dial, I have a feeling it was a one off with this dial. It was a beautiful watch but too fragile for me to wear.
While dropping the 33.3 off in Milan the buyer told me about a antique fair in Parma which is around 2 hours away by train, I went the next day and picked up this gorgeous 1940s Omega over sized watch with scientific dial, I have never seen another like it, the dial is original, I have taken a picture along side my speedmaster just to show the size of the watch, this watch will be a nice reminder of my trip.
My 105.002-62 speedmaster was a watch I sold around five years ago, I regretted that decision nearly everyday but got the chance to buy it back a couple of months ago.
I have never had a speedmaster as beautiful and I've had a few, I'm not sure how many were made so if any Omega experts can shed some light on this I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Having seen a 1016 explorer in person I knew I had to have one, this little gem came up on eBay, the sellers pictures were very blurred so I took a punt and won the auction, I was over the moon when a 1966 gilt dial 1016 came through the letter box, the dial on this watch is knock out, I have since had it serviced at William Rice and wear it quite often.
My other 1966 explorer is a bit of a on going research adventure. This was sold in a small local auction by the sister of Allan Gill the polar explorer who was one of the first men to walk to the North pole in 1969 along with team leader Sir Wally Herbert. The Rolex paperwork confirms its serial number and is also addressed to Sir Wally Herbert but the history of this watch is quite unknown, I'm not sure yet if this watch was actually worn on the expedition by Allan or Sir Wally, I'm not sure if this watch belonged to Sir Wally and then he gifted it to Allan, this I need to find out. Sir Wally asked Rolex to engrave the watch in 2005 so my thinking is that he got this done to give to Allan but I cannot be sure yet, I have asked Sir Wally's daughter Kari by email if she could shed some light on this for me but have not heard back as yet.
I have met Allan's sister though who is a lovely lady, she gave me quite a few things which belonged to Allan like vintage cameras and even on of his books he used to read about explorers as a child. Anyway hope you enjoy the pictures.
Cheers Mick
Last edited by Michael E; 5th January 2014 at 20:04.
Great pics, great read. I love to see these two Explorers side by side. The same watches, but oh so different when you look closely.
Thanks for sharing.
Menno
Lovely collection mate, with a great story behind the Explorer as well. Let us know if you find out whether your watch made it to the Pole.
Stunning! Thanks for sharing. All great, but I love your Explorers.
Very nice collection, thanks for sharing.
I will let you know what I find out. The only pictures I can find are of Sir Wally wearing what looks like a Rolex explorer as yet. Allan wearing a watch is a hard picture to find as yet and I'm not sure where I will find one apart from google images.Originally Posted by therooster
Cheers Mick
Wow, I love the explorers. I cant decide which I like best.
Thank you for posting, it's always nice to see these unusual pieces.
I never get tired of seeing pictures of 1016s despite having one on my wrist. The gilt dial is lovely but Allan Gill's is something extra special.
Do you have any more information on the scientific dial Omega?
You have a very nice collection, a triumph of quality over quantity. Every time I see an antique Speedmaster with original hands I like them more and more.
Thanks for your comments.
I have ordered a archive from Omega but they very rarely give much information regarding pieces of this age.
Here are some more pictures. Let me know your thoughts please.
Here are some close ups of the Rolex paperwork with the Allan Gill watch too.
Cheers Mick
Nice pics, great watches, and a brilliant bit of history to go with the Explorer. Good luck in getting the full story!
Fantastic, best collection I've seen here.
Great collection, all nice watches but I particularly like your 1940s Omega, the dial is very interesting and looks great with the blue hands. Plus it doesn't seem to be too small for a watch of that period.
Very nice indeed
Now, that's a nice addition to a formal letter! The letter's tone of voice oozes formality but this sentence tells me (us) that Rolex loved it trying to find out this watch' history.And so the jigsaw seems complete
Menno
Congratulations on a fantastic collection with some really interesting provenance.
I love the Explorers. I want a 1016 now.
What a fantastic story.
What a lovely and interesting collection.
Cheers,
Neil.
Looking good. Enjoy sir!
Thanks for the comments everyone.
I'm struggling a bit regarding more history of the Allan Gill explorer, most of the people who would know have sadly passed with the exception of Allans sister Muriel Shackleton and Sir Wally's relatives but don't want to make too much of a pain of myself in that department.
Muriel (Allan's sister) has been great, I really enjoyed meeting her and her husband Ernest, I found it pretty amazing she lived under a mile from where I grew up, Allan was also from Wibsey in Bradford where I lived for a few years. I will keep trying to find more info about this and if anyone can help me out I would be greatful.
Cheers Mick
great to see some quality on the forum
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Great watches - love them Explorers. Polar watches are nearly a field of its own in terms of watch collecting.
Your Speedmaster is just lovely - thank You for sharing
regards
Terje
Loving that Omega dial. Very special.
A fun little read. Thanks for the post.
Me too! I would love to know more about the watch, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw it.
Cheers Mick
Now that is a collection.
I particularly like the Hammond/Gill Explorer story, which adds real provenance to the watch.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Regards
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Nice to see the Alan Gill Explorer again,hope you have some luck with the research on it
Yours john
Brilliant story and history and a very nice collection too. Thanks and good luck with the research , Gerry
Loving the scientific dial Omega. A really fortunate find!
Wonderful....Love that Speedmaster !!
Wow, that is a fantastic collection of amazing watches. Love both the Omega's and the explorers, I hope you find out the information you seek on them.
I doubt you will get much information back from omega as there early records are renowned for being not very well documented.
A stunning collection.
What an enjoyable read. My heart always drops a beat when I see a 1016. But the 1940's over sized Omega was also quite a treat. What a find!!
Stunning pieces, I'd be happy to own any one of them....but that 33.3 is the icing on the cake. I don't think I could have sold that.
If it was Omega and Milan..it must have been Roberto I guess? What a nice man.
I did the same journey a few months ago with a 2998 FAP, ended up hand carrying a rather expensive piece back for a UK collector.
Funny old game this watch collecting!
Colin.
Thanks for posting. Very nice collection indeed.
The two Omegas in pic 2 - just fantastic. What do you want for the pair?!
Hi. Thanks but they are not for sale sorry.
Cheers Mick
Hi Colin.
Delivered to Milan but not to Roberto but he could end up with it I'm not sure. I know I will never get another like it but cannot justify keeping a watch that I dare not wear, I wish I could afford to stash it away but I cannot.
Cheers Mick
Excellent attitude about buying to wear. Although that gorgeous chrono must have been painful to part with, good find on the Speedy. I normally hesitate to use the "C"-word, but that's an outstanding collection.
Thanks Mick for such an interesting post, not only for the fascinating and attractive watches - one cannot go wrong with Explorers and Speedies - but also for mentioning the polar expeditions of Sir Wally Herbert and Allan Gill. This has prompted me to read further and I found the following web page which details their considerable achievements and will hopefully be of interest to the membership.
http://www.polarworld.co.uk/sirwally_history.htm
Regards,
David
David
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
thats a brilliant collection.. i love the explorers.
What an interesting collection and post - many thanks.
A beautiful collection of watches, inspirational stuff.
The jewel is to have a watch from such a great man like gill. It's brilliant to be able to hold such a piece of history with a link to a modern hero. Thanks for sharing and please keep us updated with the research, its just this kind of thing that fires me up.
Absolutely fantastic collection! Congratulations. Lovely, well considered pieces.
Just to update this thread regarding my Allan Gill Rolex explorer, I know a couple of people were interested in a update.
With the help of a Canadian member on another watch forum I have managed to contact the only surviving member of the trans Artic expedition of 1968-69.
Dr Ken Hedges was kind enough to respond to my email regarding the watch with some information of its history. A big thank you to tick talk (Dean) for his help and also DrF (John) for his interest and help also.
I sent a email to Ken, just a test email really to see if the address still existed as I was told by Dean it was quite a old email address. To my delight Ken responded within a hour with the following>
Good evening Michael
I can confirm that I was a member of the four-man crossing party of the "British Trans Arctic Expedition" of 1989-1969 and am now sadly the only one of the four of us still living...Allan having past away three years ago.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to let me know a little about yourself and of your interests in Polar exploration?
With kind regards and compliments of the season.
Ken Hedges
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I explained to Ken that I am trying to find the history of my 1016 Explorer engraved "Allan Gill North Pole 6th April 1969", and if all the team were issued with one.
Ken Replied with the following>
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Good day Michael, and thank you for your further Email and most interesting background. What a fascinating interest you have in collecting watches...and gathering the stories attached to them.
Yes, each of the four members of the crossing party was issued with one of those Rolex watches. The story of the one in your possession is of interest. It had been worn by me until a point during the winter of 1968 when Allan, our navigator, somehow lost his in the snow. he was the only one who elected to sleep outside in an unheated tent throughout the winter while the remaining three elected the relative luxury of our much more comfortable insulated tent which provided out winter quarters. Somewhere between Al's tent and the Winter Quarters, the watch was lost. On Wally Herbert's directions, I gave my watch to Allan who of course needed a watch to perform his activity as navigator...and in fact this instrument is not simply a watch, but a chronometer. So the chronometer in your possession was worn by two members of the four-man party! It was the instrument used to guide us to the North Pole and subsequently on to the Svalbard archipelago where Allan and I scrambled ashore on 29 May 1969 to complete the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean. (The North Pole was a secondary target which happened to be en route to our final destination).
I carried a backup watch which I wore slung on a piece of parachute cord around my neck. It is a Seiko which I still have and which had previously accompanied me during operations in the jungles of Borneo and deserts of what is now Yemen and Libya during my tours of duty as Regimental Medical Officer with the Special Air Service (S.A.S.)
I chuckled to see one of the pictures you had kindly included. It shows the four of us looking rather intently to our left and downwards...We were visiting the facilities of the U.S. Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Point Barrow Alaska...and been shown a Wolverine which had been left to run free on the floor. These animals have a dreadful reputation as a predator for bringing down virtually any size prey and I remember being quite apprehensive!
Thank you for your interest and very best wishes to you and your family for the coming year.
Dr. Ken Hedges
Honorary Colonel / Colonel honoraire
Royal Canadian Medical Service / le Service de santé royal canadien
Canadian Forces Health Services Training Centre /
Centre d'instruction des Services de santé des Forces canadiennes.
I'm pretty chuffed about finally getting more info on the watch and its history.
Cheers Mick
Brilliant collection, The history behind it all, adding a further, more demanding yet extremely satisfying, dynamic to this hobby. Gives me ideas to be even more selective and not be in such a rush to the next incoming.
Thanks for the update,love the watches you own.
What a fantastic conclusion to the story!
And yes, I now want a gilt-dialled 1016, can't believe I sold mine...
Great collection, but even better history ! Wow!
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