Careful What You Wish For, Geoffbot - Here's The Rest Of My Collection

[Teeritz]

Started off innocently enough. I did a post showing my Omega watches. Geoffbot saw it and gave me a warm welcome to the forum and then said; "How about some more pics of your watches? Looks like a nice diverse collection."

Well, you asked for it, Gb. Clear your schedule, put the kettle on (or pour yourself a stiff one), take a seat, and start scrolling.

1) Wyler Incaflex, circa 1969



My Dad's watch. Seen here with his old razor (1st quarter, 1961 Gillette 'FatBoy' adjustable) , glasses (I tried them on a few years ago and felt dizzy. Now I need them if I wanna thread a needle), and Registration card from when he arrived in Australia in the 1950s. The watch has the name of the jewellery store printed on the dial. I'm told this was a fairly common practice back in the Fifties and Sixties.
According to the watchmaker who restored this watch for me, it dates back to around 1969. It measures 33mm, which feels a tad small even on my 6.5 inch wrist. Must have looked positively miniscule on his. I don't really wear it very often. Usually on his birthday and the anniversary of his passing.
But this watch is going nowhere, kids. I have strong recollections of watching him wind it at around 10:20pm every night while a cup of coffee sat steaming on the kitchen table. He would slip the watch on (it was on an expanding Speidel-style bracelet), drink his coffee, and then head out to catch the 11:05 to Brunswick where he worked as a machinist at Peerless Mills.
Like I said, this watch is going nowhere.

2) Sinn 103 St Sa Chronograph, 2009



This was a grail piece. Originally, I had wanted a 156 Military, with the Lemania 5100 under the bonnet, but these had just been phased out and I found myself looking at the 103 more and more. Spent about four or five years thinking about this watch until finally, they became available in Australia and I was able to try one on. Love the look of this watch, and its features put some much more expensive similar chronos to shame. If I wear it on a (fake) alligator strap, it begins to remind me of the fantastic Breguet Type XX, if I leave it on its steel bracelet, I feel like a German anti-terrorist, circa 1978. To keep it ausgesprochen (real), I got it with the German day wheel. Took a little getting used to. By the way, today is Dienstag!
Oh yeah, Keef used that guuitar plectrum. True dat.

3) Tudor hand-wound, circa 1963(?)



My wife found this watch in an Op Shop (thrift store) for fifty bucks! Mind you, it was in dreadful condition. Crystal scratched to hell, crown tube threading stripped, and most of the case-back was caked in a dark brown plaster (man, I HOPE it was plaster!). Got it restored and was thrilled to find that the dial was in pristine condition. Hour hand has some discolouration due to water entry, but this thing is otherwise pretty nice. Whenever I put it on, I feel like George Smiley, working for The Circus. It's got a real 'leather briefcase, tortoise-shell spectacles, and grey raincoat' vibe.

4) Tudor Prince OysterDate, circa 1974



The eBay seller didn't tell me this was a re-dial. No real big deal, since it was cheap enough. I got ahold of a blue linen dial and took it to a watchmaker to get it swapped over. Whole process became a nightmare because the dial feet on the blue one were in a slightly different position to the original. Watchmaker managed to sort that out, but lost the original rotor in the process. I finally tracked down a genuine Tudor rotor for this ETA calibre-powered watch and I''ll get it installed at some point. Another snag is that there's a slight gap visible to the right of the date wheel and you can see the crown stem. Not sure if a generic date wheel off ebay will solve this. I'd really rather not think about it all, to be honest.

5) Tissot Visodate Heritage Automatic, 2010



"Mad Men" brought about a huge mania for all things mid-Century, although, there was already a large following for Eisenhower-Chic going around just before then. Tissot knocked it out of the park with this watch, managing to rework a design from it's archives of 1957. I knew nothing about this watch until a customer told me about it. A near-perfect design, marred only (IMHO) by its 40mm size (two mil less would have been great, three or four mil less would have been phenomenal), and the modern inclusion of a day wheel. In saying that, however, this watch has so many positives going for it that it's hard to argue with it. looks like a much more expensive watch than it is. Might have to look into the new Milanese/Milanais bracelet to change it up a little.

6) Lanco hand-wound, circa 1955-1962



I wanted something vintage with a sub-seconds dial. And it had to be cheap. This watch fit the bill. Unmarked dial, large 38mm in diameter (shame) and so old-school that it's not funny. Whenever I wear it, I feel like a pre-Castro tobacco plantation owner.

7) TAG Heuer Formula 1, 2008(I think?)



This is the gateway brand. I have seen many a customer come into my store to buy a TAG Heuer only to return a year or so later to buy another TAG or other watch in some other brand. This brand takes ordinary, decent, hardworking men and turns them into watch nuts (I don't use the term 'WIS'). Say what you will about TAG Heuer, but this brand almost keeps the entire industry supplied with new customers. And it makes some very nice watches too.
I thought it would be good to have one quartz watch in the collection to use as a beater and to help set the time on my mechanical watches. Problem is, this watch is too nice to use as a beater. So I wear it to the gym sometimes instead. Which would explain its near-new condition. It's a good travel watch. Just set-and-forget.

8) Seiko SKX 031, 2002



Speaking of beaters, this is the watch that I got for all the handyman jobs, gardening, and any other 'potential-for-damage' occasions and tasks. I met one customer who told me that he wears his two-tone Submariner for diving. Yes, yes, I know that they're meant to be worn, but that's just asking for trouble.

9) Seiko 7002, circa 1993, purchased 2009



I got this watch off eBay for $40. Then I spent about another $150 to get it looking like that. Then I realised that I'd Tommy Hilfigered the living hell out of it and decided to scale things back a little, so firstly, off came that strap. Might make a collar for my cat out of it. Although, I doubt even she would wear it.
Then, I had the blue dial removed (because no strap will match that colour) and put the black dial back on, but left the orange chapter ring. And I only got a steel Seiko bracelet for it about six months ago, so now I'd like to have the blue dial re-installed.
Mother warned me this would happen.
So now, it looks like this;



Great watch for bike riding.


...Holy cow, I can't upload this post because it's over 10,000 characters long! I still have another five watches to go.
Ahh well, Geoff, if you aren't sick to death of watches by now, let me know and I'll do the rest of them in another post.

Cheers, all.