rare watches..and not so rare..

[AlexGmail]

I am trully enjoying this forum..so here it goes..some of my non rolex rare watches..

I do have a few nice collectibles, BUT unfortunately I don't have photos of all of them here with me (traveling).

Here are a few I have with me on my laptop.

I am a sailor, so the marine environment type watches is in my likings.

Enjoy..

My favorite watch is this very rare 18K pink gold Ulysse Nardin chronograph moon phase full perpetual calendar, ref 536-22 back, with a cal. Valjoux 88 movement.

UN went through a lot of problems and in the 80's and one day, a gent named Rolf Schnyder took over the company in 1983.

It was a real hard times for the (then) small company. Rolf Schnyder tried to build up a reputation of fine watchmaking as quickly as possible.

Part of his strategy was the use of very rare, very limited number movements, ( I believe less than 100 Cal. Valjoux were 88 ever made), with very old and heavily refined chronograph movements in timeless designed watches. The same movement is also found on some limited Breguet watches.

At the time UN, had very few watches to offer, and besides the rare rattrapante chronos with Venus movements, there was also a very small series of this attractive full-calendar chronograph, using a Valjoux 88 movement.

According to Ulysse Nardin, (yes its registered there), less than 20 pieces were made in pink gold, the whole series not exceeding 50 pieces.

Later on, UN offered a similarly nice chronograph, equipped with a Lemania movement with full calendar complication. This one could be found at some dealers still some years ago.

so here..enjoy..its a very rare watch, and I think one of the most beautifully I have ever seen..get this..I use it regularly!








I have always been a sucker for UN...this next one is a limited number 1846 Marine UN Power reserve.

It has seen better days, BUT its used a lot..it is indeed a pretty watch, and an eye catcher as well.

the 1846 has a history as well..the 1846 was introduced to commemorate the foundation of UN in ..you guessed it 1846..UN was until then a Marine Chronograph maker, so its Nautical roots are well present in the UN range







Another watch I have, (alto ugh this is not the photo of mine) is also a very rare Corum, Admiral's Cup Full Chronograph. retro second movement for 5 minutes.

Only 999 were made, and I was lucky to have received one of them from my wife as a birthday gift, almost 10 years ago..

This is indeed a heavy watch, BUT one of the most beautiful ones I have ever owned..thie watch is actually a fully functional Regatta watch, and if it was not for the fear of losing it..I'd use it when racing my boat.



Another pride and joy of my collection, is a watch that is not even made in Switzerland..BUT not far..It's made in Glashuette, Germany.

It's a Glashuette Senator Full chronograph (you can tell I have a thing for chronographs now huh??).

It is a very "German" designed look with silver dial and hour and minute hands. Its an interesting design and has a very interesting characteristic. The case is wider at the base, than at the besel, to give you an effect of lost perspective and make the watch look balanced! Cool huh?

The beauty about this watch and one of the reasons I own one, is that not only they are rare, the hour, minute and second hands are almost invisible, at a first glance, but there when you need to look at them..an interesting effect achieved with the angle of the hand's faces.

This factory also has a very interesting history, and Glashuette is considered (yes even by me) as the manufacturer of the best watches in the World..

This one has a sapphire back to allow the observation of the white gold and yellow 21K gold, 51 Rubi movement..one particular interesting feature as well is that this watch only winds ion one direction..so the automatic winders used for it need to be programmable.











and finally, one of my favorite watches is this simple, cheaper Omega, that was recently stolen from me at a Hotel. It was my day to day watch..used for combat, it could take some serious abuse..! :D

BUT a replacement is coming..

Until then, I'll just use my nice GMT II, that brought me to this site, where people seem rather nice. And now I am happy to know its a real deal...(I wasn't much into Rolex..sorry)..I promise to be from now on..:D




I do have a lot more interesting watches..just no photos..another thing is I am always afraid of thieves, so I limit what I show publicly..maybe next time...

There hope you enjoyed these..albeit being on a Rolex forum!

Thanks for watching

Alex