A standard theme repeatedly lined by (predominantly) male writers within the watch blogosphere is how their curiosity in watches was influenced and even triggered by their fathers and/or grandfathers and what they wore on their wrist(s). A number of on-line publications run common options alongside the traces of “How I Rescued/Restored my Father’s/Grandfather’s Watch” in addition to the favored “Reunited with my First Watch” theme – each of which I’ve additionally shared with Quill & Pad’s readers over the previous few years.
I by no means got down to acquire watches; I think that deep down I aspire to being a one-watch man. In reality, I’ve solely gone out and acquired myself a brand new watch on two events in my life. However, by way of a mixture of latest and used purchases, presents, hand-me-downs, and inherited items, I’ve managed to build up a number of watches that somewhat neatly spans eight consecutive many years of the 20 th and twenty-first centuries.
These are the watches that I put on frequently, preserve maintained and serviced, and haven’t any intention of promoting. I suppose that constitutes a set.
Forties: Ebel Automated (Caliber 93)
This Ebel Automated is my solely “costume watch.” It’s a treasured household heirloom that my grandfather purchased for my father on his twenty-first birthday as confirmed by the bill from Regent’s Jewellers, London, dated 1949.
Ebel Automated (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
At 36 mm it’s comparatively giant for the interval, and I discover the spacious dial structure notably engaging, even soothing to have a look at. The gold-plated case’s “Bombay” lugs add a twist of character, a function seen on some Rolex Oyster Perpetuals of the identical interval.
Ebel Automated (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
I’ve no recollection of my father ever sporting this watch, and there’s no signal of him sporting it in images from the Nineteen Fifties or Nineteen Sixties; I had no concept that it even existed till after he died. Which explains why it’s nonetheless in pristine situation greater than 70 years later.
The Ebel Caliber 93 contains a bumper rotor. I had it serviced a couple of years in the past by Bordeaux-based watchmaker Jean-Louis Strack, who enthused about it being an actual “mouvement de manufacture.”
1955: Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Formally Licensed Chronometer (Caliber 1030)
French journalist Jacques Seguela famously as soon as mentioned, “If you happen to haven’t obtained a Rolex by the point you’re 50, you’ve failed in life.” If that is true, then I arrived late to the social gathering. However higher to reach late than by no means.
Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
I handled myself to this, my first Rolex, three years in the past after peering right into a drawer stuffed with classic watches that I had picked up at flea markets over the previous few years and restored, realizing that though none of them had been notably precious, collectively they’d fetch a tidy sum.
A number of months later I had realized mentioned sum and managed to select up at public sale a barely sorry-looking 1955 Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date for, if not a track, a couple of snatches of a melody. Amongst different issues, the dial featured the partial thumbprint of a sweaty (most likely novice) watchmaker, and the motion floor to a halt after a month or so.
I handled the case and bracelet to an ultrasound cleansing, eliminated the sweaty thumbprint with Rodico and had the motion serviced and fitted with a brand new mainspring by an expert watchmaker. I gave the (reassuringly thick) crystal and its Cyclops date window a deep sanding and sharpening to eradicate each final scratch, and the watch now seems to be splendid, a timeless basic that appears nearly as good with a swimsuit and tie because it does with denims and a t-shirt.
The Oyster bracelet matches me advantageous within the winter however is only a bit tight in summer season, so I put on the watch on a home made leather-based Zulu strap or a Homosexual Frères bonklip bracelet.
1964: Black Dial Omega Constellation Formally Licensed Chronometer
This Omega Constellation is my hand-me-down piece – my father claimed to have purchased this watch in Singapore in 1964 and wore it constantly thereafter, finally placing it away in a drawer within the late Nineties after it floor to a halt. He gave it to me in 2001 and mentioned I might preserve it if I might get it going once more, which an area watchmaker duly did for the princely sum of £60, thereby triggering my discovery of the Omega boards and my subsequent descent into the horological rabbit gap.
Omega Constellation (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
Because the watch spent the primary ten years of its life within the jungles of Borneo and the deserts of Oman, the dial is genuinely “tropical,” having deteriorated into a lovely sample paying homage to a starry nighttime sky. Though I’ve a number of of my father’s watches, this Omega is certainly “the one” because it was ever-present all through my childhood.
Many would say {that a} classic Constellation must be on a beads-of-rice bracelet, however the straight-lug “disco volante” case design with its recessed crown may be very completely different from the usual Nineteen Fifties Constellation designs, so I put on it on a ZRC Jubilee bracelet or on a tan ostrich strap. Its Caliber 564 is extraordinarily correct (however undoubtedly due for its subsequent service).
Omega Constellation (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
Since we’re discussing the Nineteen Sixties right here, I’ve to say my first watch, purchased for me on my seventh birthday: my West Finish Watch Co. Sowar Prima with which I used to be reunited unexpectedly two years in the past. Not a part of my prime assortment as I don’t put on it a lot on account of its small measurement, however a treasured merchandise however.
1979: Seiko 7205 8212P, Daini manufacturing unit
This Seiko is the primary watch I purchased myself with my first paycheck after leaving faculty in 1979 for the princely sum of £29. With hindsight, I prefer to brag that I should have already had one thing of an “eye” for watches on the age of 17, selecting an automated, blue-dial, chrome steel sports activities watch.
Seiko 7205 8212P (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
I’ve worn it on and off over the past 40 years, notably taking a break when the receptionist on the agency I labored for in London’s Docklands instructed me that watches with blue dials “reminded her of outdated males in pubs.” Though rated not more than “waterproof,” I repeatedly wore it whereas swimming, windsurfing, and fishing till the 2000s, when it started to indicate indicators of condensation.
Colin Alexander Smith fishing with the Seiko 7205 8212P (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
I had the watch serviced as soon as within the mid-Nineties and serviced it once more myself two years in the past. The 7025 motion runs at a gentle +/- one second per day, outperforming my Rolex and Omega licensed chronometers.
Seiko 7205 8212P (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
I prefer to name it my “Grand Seiko” partly as a result of the motion is so correct and likewise as a result of it sports activities the basic 44GS case and was made by the Seiko Daini manufacturing unit. Based on Seiko historians David Flett and Pedro Mendes, “Initially Daini had been requested to provide Grand Seiko due to one notably correct King Seiko mannequin. The manually wound 44KS was powered by the 4402 motion, which was fittingly a improvement of Daini’s unique Caliber 54 created a few years earlier as a solution to Suwa’s personal Marvel. The Daini 4402 motion was so good that Daini had been requested to make use of it to create a Grand Seiko, the 44GS, now appreciated as one of many all-time nice classic Seikos.”
Not unhealthy for £29 . . .
1989: Sector ADV1000 Quartz
Though I purchased this Sector in 1993, I think about it to be my basic Nineteen Eighties piece. And it’s the solely different new watch I’ve purchased myself, partly in response to my abovementioned “blue dial” disaster and partly to have fun the start of my daughter. You’ll be able to learn the complete story about my acquisition of this watch right here.
Sector ADV1000 (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
Sector as a model subsequently went downhill after abandoning Swiss-made watches within the pursuit of brash designs and a low-cost, Invicta type. However to this present day it stays one in all my favourite watches just because it’s solidly constructed and I just like the look of it. And it’s useful to have at the very least one quartz watch ticking away within the drawer, which I can simply choose up and put on with out winding or setting.
I additionally discover I’m more and more in want of a day-date operate as Wednesdays and Thursdays often blur right into a form of mid-week haze. The Ronda 706 five-jewel motion contains a moon section indicator at 6 o’clock, which Sector changed with a pointer dial, a refreshing change from the usual buttocks-shaped moon section window with deranged halfwit half-moon face grinning out at you.
1997: Tissot PR100 automated
This Tissot PR100 automated is one other inheritance piece, being the final “correct” watch my father purchased himself in 1997 (most likely across the time of the demise of his Omega Constellation). Aside from trying extremely good with its crisp white “Buckley” dial and dodecagonal bezel, as a watch it ticks just about each field you’ll be able to consider: automated ETA 2892-2 motion working at 28,800 vph, hacking seconds, day and date, screw-down crown, crown guards, handsomely engraved case again, very stable Jubilee-style bracelet with safety clasp, sapphire crystal, and 100 m water resistance.
Tissot PR100 automated (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
This mannequin additionally got here in a two-tone chronograph model with a Valjoux 7750 motion and is the predecessor of Tissot’s present PR100 Powermatic 80 vary, wherein the motion has been slowed all the way down to 21,600 vph to supply an 80-hour energy reserve. The PR100 was additionally accessible in an formally C.O.S.C.-certified model – this one isn’t, however clearly aspires to it because it runs at a gentle +/- three seconds per day.
2001: Oris Artelier
On a household vacation to Dubai in 2001, my spouse returned from one in all her common air-conditioned shopping center sorties bearing this Oris Artelier for me as a shock present. It initially got here on a thin snakeskin strap, and I didn’t actually bond with it till I paired it with this flat-link metal bracelet by Orient, which I had picked up in a batch of used bracelets on eBay, making it a wonderful candidate for Royal Oak-style twinkly wrist rolls.
Oris Artelier (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
It’s a super summer season watch because the case is a super-slim 8 mm due to the ETA 2892-2 motion (identical as within the Tissot) and I feel this bracelet offers it a sportier look. However what I like most about it’s the absence of a second hand (which additionally made it potential to cut back the case peak).
Generally it’s good to have the ability to examine the time with out being reminded of its relentless passing!
2008: Seiko SKX013 with Pepsi bezel
This Seiko SKX013 is the newest acquisition that has really stayed in my assortment, picked up on a whim a couple of years in the past on France’s Craigslist, Leboncoin, for €100. The SKX013 usually comes with a black bezel, so I think somebody swapped this out with a Pepsi to make it appear like a SKX015.
Seiko SKX013 with Pepsi bezel (photograph courtesy Colin Alexander Smith)
The SKX013/015 divers match my wrist higher than the ever-present SKX007, so I used to be happy to seek out one in all these earlier than Seiko stopped producing them and second-hand costs started to rise sharply, partially on account of robust demand from Seiko modders, for whom these watches are a staple.
The motion is the 7S26, broadly just like the 7025 in my 1979 Seiko, and after servicing and regulating it I’ve obtained it working much better than the +/-45 seconds marketed by Seiko.
I’ve really used this watch whereas diving, which you’ll examine right here.
So what’s subsequent?
As for the way forward for my assortment, I’m torn in two very completely different instructions: in search of out a hand-wound Cartier (or Should de Cartier) Tank or a 36 mm Tudor Submariner. That is most likely an expression of some form of late middle-age horological id disaster.
The Tudor is prone to win out: as fellow Quill & Pad contributor Martin Inexperienced would most likely level out, I must begin dressing like a gentleman to have the ability to carry off the Cartier convincingly.
You might also get pleasure from:
Tracing The Historical past Of My Grandfather’s Pocket Watch And Delving Into English Watchmaking
Gerontohorologyphobia: A Younger Man’s Concern Of Being Seen Sporting An Previous Man’s Watch
Depth-Testing My Seiko SKX013 Dive Watch: Leaping In At The Deep Finish
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