Mickey mouse watch

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Chinese Soviet joint cooperation watch

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Rolex big bubble back ref 6031

There are a few versions of the big bubblback using the full bubble movements. I have always love the bubble back for it's fat round back. Here is a very rare watch. This is a 1950s Rolex datejust know as the "Ovettone" Model number 6031. It is crafted entirely out of 18K pink gold. Diameter is 36mm and 44mm long with 20mm between lugs.



























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Location:Lorong Chuan,,Singapore

Longines comet

I have always wanted to look for The Longines Comet, a short-lived mystery dial from the seventies. It is an unusual watch, featuring a broad arrow for hours and an orbiting dot for minutes. Both are on revolving discs, making them appear to move without being connected to the dial, hence the term 'mystery dial'.

The indication 'T Swiss Made T' on the bottom of the dial means that the watch contains a certain quantity of tritium that emits less than 227 MBq (7,5 mCi). The watch is considered to be uncommon, as the design was deemed too avant-garde for tastes at the time, so comparatively few were sold. Red is the most rare colour, followed by yellow, the most common colour being blue. It was also produced in black and white, and in brown and green variations. I have managed to find the yellow one..cheers

Rolex Royal vintage 1950s

I went down to an antique shop which has a few vintage watches this afternoon and I have managed to find this 1950s vintage Rolex Royal. The dial is unusual as it has the "tear drop" markers instead of the usual straight markers. The dial has aged gracefully and despite having a few marks, I love it's natural aging process and the slight yellowish colour. The vintage Royal used to be so common (during the late 80s, but it seems to be getting rarer.

This watch will always remind me of my rely days when I first started to collect vintage watches! Happy new year

Marine Chronometer

I was offered the Overseas scholarship by the Navy. However, my parents were not very keen for me to join the navy. As such, I have always wanted to look for a Marine chronometer and to have a small Navy item that can accompany me in my workplace.

Marine Chronometers are highly accurate clocks kept aboard ships to aid in navigation. The chronometer is set to Greenwich time. When the time of this clock is compared with the local time at sea a ship's navigator can determine the longitude at that position. As a result, it is important that such clocks keep accurate time amid variations in temperature, humidity and the motions of the sea.) and during my business trip to Taipei, I have finally managed to find one vintage Hamilton World War II Marine clock used by the US Navy.

Background:
At the outbreak of W.W. II the United States Navy required high quality chronometers in large quantities at a time when very few chronometers were being manufactured in the country. The Hamilton Watch Company was the only firm able to meet the challenge by designing and producing an innovative marine chronometer in a period of about 18 months. Hamilton was able to produce the unit in sufficient numbers to meet U.S. wartime demand. Further, the model 21 and later type 22 is technically probably one of the greatest achievements in the history of horology. The balance and hairspring assembly represented a radical departure from traditional chronometer design and resulted in phenomenal time keeping rates. Hamilton made 11,239 of these chronometers during the War.

The Hamilton Model 22 is a legendary watch, hurridly designed when the USA was entering WWII, along with the far more complicated Model 21 marine chronometer; both are considered amongst the finest of their type. The 22 was even produced in the boxed-and-gymbaled format, so it was thought reliable enough to serve as a ship's primary timekeeper! The case is 70mm across, of plated and matted brass, and features a wonderful guarded crown and button to prevent inadvertent setting. Although the mainspring's power reserve is some 60 hours, and the dial indicates up to 48, it was intended that the watch would be wound each day at the same time for nearly perfect isochronism

This is a lucky clock as it has survuved the omslaught of the WWII battle..

http://www.nawcc.org/museum/nwcm/galleries/marine/marine.htm

Some other facts:

In 1939, the US Navy entreated the eight best American manufacturers to make it marine chronometers. In 1941, Hamilton was contracted to produce 337 of them, taking over from Ulysse Nardin who was the main supplier.


On receipt of the first two chronometers, their commissioners leapt with joy: they were excellent. Suddenly, Hamilton was asked to make not 337 but 1,000 pieces. The warships, heavy cruisers and submarines were swiftly supplied with several Hamilton gimbal chronometers stored in their chests.
So pleased were the Americans that demand grew and grew. President Roosevelt, the recipient of a Hamilton marine chronometer, promised in writing that he would take care of it and keep it at the White House until the end of the war, afterwards finding a place for it in his library in Hyde Park. Hamilton met with universal approval, especially since the US Navy had approached Elgin and Roth Brothers and found that their chronometers were not up to the task.
On the other hand, Elgin was developing a diver's watch at the same time as Hamilton. It was a waterproof version of the General Purpose Wrist Watch, featuring a waterproof cabochon winding crown, held by a chain. Hamilton would produce no fewer than 8,902 watches for Uncle Sam's Marines, plus 898 for the Maritime Commission and others. The Hamilton watches of the marine riflemen were engraved with the letters US MC and were, of course, part of their kit. The Germans of the Kriegsmarine had Berg, Alpina, Siegerin and a few Panerai watches, which had a white dial marked KM. The Royal Navy used Jaeger-LeCoultre, Hamilton, Omega, Longines while the Japanese Imperial Navy was supplied by Seiko.

http://www.worldtempus.com/en/encyclopedia/index-encyclopedia/watches-and-clocks/military-watches/

Rolex Explorer 1~~ Ref 1016

After months of waiting, my newly serviced and overhaul vintage Rolex Explorer 1 Ref 1016 has finally returned from the service center. I could have changed a new dial and hands but i have decided to keep the original dial in order to keep its original look!

Today, watches like the Submariner, GMT Master, Explorer and Turnograph are known as sports models. However, when they were introduced over some 50 years ago, they were created for specific professions and famously known as the TOOLWATCH.

The origin of the Explorer dates back to the early 1950s, when Rolex began to test the durability of its bubbleback models as a utility watch. Starting from Ref: 6098 and 6150 which were given to mountaineers and expedition members including members of the British Himalayas expedition who conquered Mount Everest in 1953 and subsequently the name EXLORER was adopted. The watch saw numerous changes over the years, and many models namely 6610, 5500, 5504 and 1016 were introduced. The vintage Rolex Explorer 1 is a simple watch with the famous 369 markers but it has its unique appeal for its simple look without date.