Rolex & Tudor

Vintage Breguet Type 20

The Vintage Breguet Type XX was commissioned by a famous French military in the 1950s used by the French Air Force, Flight Testing Center and Naval Air Alarm.

The Type 20 had a number of features that apparently were military specifications. The case was relatively large for a military watch at 38mm, with black dial, luminous Arabic numerals and hands, a sweep second center column chronograph hand, and 2 subdials at 3 and 9 o'clock. The subdial at 9 was a small seconds indicator. The chronograph elapsed time subdial at 3 had special markings for 3, 6 and 9 minutes. The bezel rotated, in order to keep track of elapsed time.

For more details, please visit:

http://www.classicwatch.com/asp/articles/type20.asp

My Grandfather's watch

This watch belonged to my late grandfather. Even though its not a branded watch, it has tremendous sentimental values!

Moonphase watches

These are vintage moonphase watches from the 1950s..

Rolex with unique dials

Rolex has produced several watches with special dials in the past.

I have managed to find three: Two semi bubbleback with rare

8 Star dials & Peacork and another full Rolex bubbleback wih 9 Rolex crowns!

There is one more Rolex Oysters which is with the 6 crowns missing from my collection....

James Bond Rolex 6536 (with no crown guard)

Detail from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolex_Submariner

Early Submariners (1953-1967)
The Submariner model went into production in 1953, and was showcased at the Basel watch fair in 1954. The assigned case reference number of this first Submariner was either 6204 or 6205. It is unclear which model came first and, in any event, the two watches are nearly identical. Neither has the distinctive "cathedral" or "Mercedes" hands now so strongly associated with the Submariner line. Rather, both of these early submariners have straight "pencil" style hands.
Few if any of the 6205 watches bear the name "Submariner" on the dial, a major distinction with modern submariners. Some 6204 models have the Submariner logo printed below the center pinion, while others have the logo blacked out. It is believed that there were unexpected trademark issues connected with the name "Submariner" at the time the 6204 and 6205 were released which account for the inconsistent use of the Submariner mark on these early Submariners. Trademark irregularities notwithstanding, both the 6204 and 6205 are designated Submariner models in the Rolex product literature of the time.

In 1954, Rolex also produced a small number of ref. 6200 Submariners. This was the first Submariner (although not the first Rolex) to make use of the Mercedes hand set ( a feature of all subsequent Submariners). The 6200 also featured an oversized winding crown (compared with the 6204 and 6205 models).

Within a few years, Rolex revised its Submariner line, producing the 6536 (small crown) and 6538 (oversized crown) models. These watches had "improved" movements (the cal. 1030), including a chronometer version in some 6536 models (designated 6536/1), the now-familiar Mercedes hands, along with the Submariner logo and depth rating printed on the dial.

By the early 1960s, these models gave way to the 5508 (small crown) and 5510 (large crown) models. All of these early Submariners used either gilt (6200, 6204, 6205) or gilt/silver gilt (6536, 6538) printing on glossy black dials. Radium paint was used for the luminous indices.

The next wave of Submariners, the 5512 (chronometer version) and 5513 (non-chronometer) marked a significant change in the appearance of the popular Rolex design. "Shoulders" were added to the crown side of the case to provide protection for the winding/setting mechanism. In early watches -- perhaps until 1964 or so -- these shoulders were pyramid-shaped, ending in points. Later watches were manufactured with rounded shoulders. In addition, the 5512 and 5513 were both fitted with the oversized crown, which became a standard feature of the Submariner line thereafter. Sometime in the early 1960s, Rolex discontinued the use of radium paint for the luminous indices, switching to the comparatively safer Tritium-infused paint. In 1965-1966, Rolex discontinued use of gilt/silver gilt dials on the Submariner watches, switching to white printing. A final important change came with the introduction of the 1680 model in the late 1960s. The 1680 was the first Submariner to be equipped with a date complication, marking the completion of the transition of the Submariner line from specialist tool watch to mass market fashion accessory. While many professional and military divers used -- and continue to use -- Submariners in the most demanding underwater environments, by the late '60s the watch had undeniably become a mass market product, as well. Throughout the next 40 years, the Submariner was updated with improved water resistance, new movements, and numerous small cosmetic changes. Nonetheless, the modern Submariner of today bears a very strong resemblance to the 5512 or 5513 of the early 1960s, and is an unmistakable descendant of the very first Submariners introduced more than fifty years ago.

In 2003, Rolex celebrated the Submariner's 50th anniversary by launching the Rolex Submariner anniversary edition ( 16610 LV) . Its distinguishing features were the green bezel and Maxi dial.

http://www.chrono24.com/web/us/suchen/u/index.htm?myfunction=&myadcode=&do_suche=1&statbrand=0&debug=&BRAND_ID=0&MODEL=rolex+6536&SEARCH_PRICECURRENCY=USD&SEARCH_PMIN=0&SEARCH_PMAX=0&SUCH_MATERIAL_ID=0&LOCCOUNTRY_ID=&SEARCH_REGION_ID=&ENTERDATE=&SORTORDER=1

Rolex Big Bubbleback Ovettone

This is a rare ROLEX OYSTER DATE , aka "big bubblebacks" or called Ovettone by Rolex .
Thi s is a s/steel & gold oyster case & band , auto date , cal.740 , super oyster crown
red & black date [ so called roulette date ] ref.6031 [ 36 m/m dia. case ] c1951
signed case , dial , movement , band [ orig. later added steel & gold band ]

There are two version of the vintage Big bubbleback, the Rolex Ref 6031 using the real and thicker bubbleback movement, and the dial wording Rolex Oyster perpetual; and the later Model ref 6105 and 6305 Ovettone, with dial Rolex Oyster perpetual DATEJUST , using the slightly flatter semi bubbleback movement. Produced in less than 1000 examples from 1950-1952.

I have stopped actively collecting vintage watches for nearly 2 years asI was pre-occupied with my vintage hifi equipment. Latley, I have managed to come across a nice Big bubbleback 6031 and the desire to try to add in the big bubbleback to my bubbleback collection grew. I have managed to find the small bubbleback, the medium size bubbleback, the semi bubbleback but not the Big bubbleback Ovettone. Now, I am eagerly waiting for the arrival of my Ovettone! The bracelet is a later Rolex bracelet..