A requested collection update

[learningtofly]

I posted this (in similar form) elsewhere a few days ago, and it was suggested that I should do so here as well. Any excuse for some pictures of watches, right? Anyway...

Sight of some lovely SOTC's of late got me thinking about the watches I have in my own box at the moment, and I realised that it wasn't all that long ago that the collection looked very different. There have been quite a few changes of late, with some rather nice watches going one way through the door whilst a couple of really special pieces came in this direction.

Gone then are a Seiko Spring Drive Moon Phase, Rolex LV, GO PanomaticVenue, Rolex Oysterquartz, Breitling Aerospace and Zenith DeLuca. Four of these went to fund a splurge on a couple of really iconic vintage pieces, one went because a friend wanted to trade GO for GO (bless him) and one went simply because it wasn't fitting in with the watches I had/wanted to own. So, without further ado here's a quick run-down...

1984 McQueen/Orange Hand/Freccione Explorer - this is one of the most collectible of all Rolex watches, of course. I wasn't really lusting after one at the time this became available but to get a complete set (including the original purchase receipt) with such a great example was too good a chance to pass up on. The funny thing is, I know two other people that own the 1655 and - like me - they really only appreciated the beauty of it once they had it on their wrists. It has the most amazing wrist presence and I'm totally in love with the strange little thing!





1972 Mk IV Red Submariner 1680 - now, this one was landed after more than a year of near misses, and it's a watch that I had set my sights on fairly and squarely. It's a beautiful example too, although there's no papers, just the green striped box. It's really quite amazing what a splash of colour on the dial can do - it changes the appearance completely, looking quite different to the white 1680. The fact that it's much more collectible is also a nice thing.



1967 metres first Submariner 5513 - if you asked 100 "real" Submariner fans which reference they thought was the one to have, I'm pretty sure a sizeable majority would say the 5513. It's a genuine horological icon and until such time as Rolex introduced the WGS on the dial I think it was the perfect watch. Even then it was probably perfect, although if you're going to go for the newer WGS version you may as well get a 14060. (IMO, of course.)

Anyway, I've seen a few 5513's in my time, but this is the best I've seen by far... metres first, amazing puffy lume, the cleanest dial and matching hands with a wonderful patina, and a case to die for. All in all, perfection in a watch.



1963 GMT 1675 - this one is REALLY special, and seems to have become lusted after across the world of the watch forums. The perfect, gloss black dial with crisp and clear gilt font really needs to be seen to be believed; that and the pointed crown guards just make it a hugely collectible piece because - aside from the fact that it's genuinely beautiful - there really are very, very few gloss PCG's around in anything like this condition.

There's some slight tritium loss on the 6 marker, and a little corrosion on the the hands; to me, though, that just makes it even more unique and even more special. It has a character all of it's own.



Okay, that's the vintage out of the way, which leaves...

JLC Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea - I was after a vintage Memovox for bloody ages, without success. However, I loved the European version of this watch the moment it was released a year of two ago, and I was in touch with the seller of this one for months before finally making the decision to buy it. It was effectively NIB when it arrived, and I do enjoy wearing it a lot - albeit it feels quite big at 42mm compared to most of my others. This is also one watch where "aged" lume really does work, in my opinion.



Glashutte Original Senator Lunar Reserve de Marche - I was quite happy with my GO PanomaticVenue, to the extent that it was fast becoming one of my favourite watches. However, I'd been after a traditional-style moon phase for months (another case of fruitless searches in the vintage world, in fact) and a friend had the bright idea of swapping our respective GO's as he wanted a dual time.

I wasn't really sure whether it was a good idea or not but the man's persistent if nothing else. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed when this one arrived and I like it as much as I did the Venue. And I now have a moon phase!



Grand Seiko SBGR061 - I'm a big fan of GS, and of course I had a beauty dating back to 1965 until not that long ago. I'd been looking for the rather beautiful anniversary addition released last year, but they're few and far between. Then, someone on TZ offered to bring me back a GS of my choice when he returned from a trip to the Far East, and this is the one I opted for as I like the ivory dial and clean look.

In the event, it transpired that he couldn't get mine for me, but fortunately he not only chose the same one for himself but he then decided to move it on almost immediately he got back to the UK. It's a lovely watch, and looks as great with jeans as it does with a suit.



JLC Reserve de Marche - Last one, then, and another of my favourites. I love JLC and this is one of their classics, and it's hard to describe just how nice it is on the wrist, how comfortable it is, and how well it suits anything and everything it's worn with.

Aside from that, JLC has such a great heritage, and makes such great movements, that it's almost a sin not to have something with their name on the dial. I like the Master Compressor series a lot but they're a tad big; fortunately, there are more than enough gorgeous Master Control models to be spoilt for choice. One day, I'll be wearing their Perpetual Calendar 8 Days on my wrist, though...



Right then - that's about it, unless you want to see a photo of the G-Shock I use for running. Not bad, really, and I'm particularly pleased with the two new ones. I know that I've said it before, but I'm really done for a while now. The watches I want to add are all far too expensive to be thinking about for a good while, in any event