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.

Favre Leuba watch

Favre Leuba is the oldest watch brand in the world but went into passive mode for almost 30 years. It is a Swiss watch manufacturer with almost 300 years to its name.

Abraham Favre first learned the ins and outs of watchmaking back in 1718. It took a while but he officially established his own watchmaking company in 1737. One of the benchmarks of the company was its affliation with Jacques-Frédéric Hourriet, the father of Swiss chronometry. This collaboration led to watches of impeccable design and notable innovations. The company enjoyed an even bigger success when Favre welcomed the Leubas, a renowned family of watchmakers. The partnership resulted to international recognition having opened shops in United States, Bahrain, Chile, India, Lebanon, and Singapore.

By the 1960s, Favre-Leuba was releasing about 650,000 watches per year. The brand, at that time, was at its pinnacle. Bivouac was introduced in 1962 as a watch perfect for mountaineers with its altimeter and aneroid barometer. Only four years after, Favre-Leuba created Bathy, the first watch for divers with mechanical depth gauge and a mechanism indicating the dive-time.

After its golden years, Favre-Leuba experienced a dark age for almost 30 years. For some time, ownership of the company changed hand and not all of the owners were interested in returning the brand to its previous glory. It was not until 2006, when Clément Brunet-Moret relaunched the brand, that watch collectors can expect the same greatness from Favre-Leuba. The CEO was determined to relive the brand's distinguished past by releasing previous watches with timely innovations and by limiting the production to less than 2,000 per year. Through this, the brand becomes exclusive making it more appealing to collectors. However, owing to the financial crisis, the co went into closure again and the watch was never launched into the market. Only some small samples were made for the local distributor which were never distributed or sold..

http://www.favre-leuba.ch/#/en/collections/
http://www.swisstime.ch/pgs/rwi-pgs-actu-lgs-en-ida-1107.html


This watch has a special meaning as it was a gift from my company for the project Haiku.

Jaeger Lecoutlre Military watch

Recently, I am into collecting military watches.This is a 1940s miliary watch with subsidiary seconds made by JLC using JLC Military WWW, Cal. 479..

14K solid gold case cloisonne enamel dial Swiss watch

I have always love cloisonne enamel dial watches. This is a 14K solid gold case cloisonne enamel dial Swiss watch featuring a knight in a horse. I love the blue background as well as the details in the dial..

Rolex Army

Just bought another 1940s, Rolex Army from USA. The orginal owner was a captain in the US Army Air Corps Engineers. He served in India and flew aircraft over the hump to bomb Burma. Just a little history for you.

Rolex Cushion Precision "Army"

Rolex Explorer 1~~

Just bought the Rolex Explorer 1 as birthday present..

I have sent the watch to Rolex center for polishing..can't wait for it to return..