You see that’s the trouble with deciding that “this” is the watch for you – or maybe “that’s” the watch…! It’s all about choices and maybe finding a watch you’d never seen before – then your fixed ideas can go right out the window!
Take this one for example –
Praetorian Swiss chrono
A Praetorian “Centurian”. A 44mm diameter black PVD coated stainless cased Swiss quartz Ronda-Startech 5040B chrono movement, with screw down crown and case back and 100m water resistance. The matching double locking bracelet is also PVD coated stainless and 22mm wide.
Great looking watch and with my favourite Swiss mb-mirotec Tritium illumination again giving super night vision. 12 marker is orange and the 11 others green as are the hour, minute and second hands.
Unusual too in this style of watch is the large double window date @12 making for very clear readability. And yes this is a chrono so has two extra pushers on the side and yes I know I said in my previous post that I didn’t need these – well – they seem to fit rather well on this model and are actually quite unobtrusive. What can I say?
The clear mineral glass is scratch resistant and the watch has a case diameter without crown of 44mm and only 12mm depth, which is pretty neat for a chrono such as this.
The chronograph functions are the central stop seconds hand, “3” second, “6” 1/10th second, “9” minute/hours after 30 seconds.
Tritium illuminated by Swiss Made mb-mirotecMagic of computer – Nato strap fitted
Image left –
Shows the tritium light system in action in a night shot
Image right
Shows magic of computers as I fit a Nato strap in place of the bracelet just to see how it will look.
So a new find for me and a watch I have never encountered before – and I like it!
In fact I like everything about it.
The dial has a nice clear and clean look to it, especially considering the superb double date window (which is a real plus I have to say) – it’s a good gents size without being too thick and cumbersome as so many often are.
Then it has that wonderful night vision capability with the Tritium light source, which I kid you not you really have to experience in comparison with the alternative “paint coated” systems – then to cap it all is the price – it is NOT very expensive.
So yet another one to add to my consideration list – which is growing by the minute – yet again!
Whilst I have quite a number of military watches, it is as you collect over the years that you see what you really want in a watch as opposed to thinking about what you might want. There is a difference!
For military I already have the multi-bezel 12 hour and 24 hour registers, the oversize crown guards and odd coloured dials, chronos and the like. So looking for something simpler but not simplistic (I already have both Nato and Mil spec watches) is actually not as simple as it sounds.
I would prefer no bezel (or if one must it should be relatively unobtrusive) and I like a single crown. It also must be strap changeable or in other words I don’t want a rubber/textile “special” affair that only fits that watch. And I must be able to see it at night.
Here’s one that comes to mind –
Swiss military Watch "Millicurie PVD"
This is the Swiss Military Watch company’s “Millicurie ” pvd coated stainless model. Complete with my favourite H3 technology light source lume – which is simply unbeatable.
The hands and numerals are Tritium tubes – orange for the 12 and green for the numerals and the hour & minute hands.
Slightly odd this one in that the hand tips also have Super-Luminova infills – though I can’t quite see the benefit of this when the hands themselves are Tritium tubed.
Note the image taken in the dark – whilst the Tritium hands and numerals glow brightly, the tips are pretty faint in comparison. What this does show however is the superiority of the self illuminating Tritium system as opposed to the ambient light charged Luminova coating. And this is especially noticeable if like me you wear your watch under your sleeves most of the day – the luminova will never see any light – and therefore will not glow too well.
The rest of the watch features are pretty good – a Swiss Ronda Quartz movement, red centre seconds and date@3. Nice clear black face, no distracting bezels, 100m water resistance with double O ringed crown. It’s also a nice size at a medium 40mm dia and 13mm depth, so not a monster. A 22mm strap completes the ensemble which is a nice “mans’ size and looks good on the wrist.
A 2 year guarantee on the watch and a 10 year guarantee on the “unchanged optical readability” of the H3 Trigalite illumination system.
All in all not a bad offering at all and it’s not expensive at around €180 (Euros) or $240.
H3 illumination
Image 2 Shows the H3 Tritium light source lume used on this model. Note the Orange horizontal marker @12makes for excellent readability.
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So any negatives?
Well the date maybe could be larger or clearer and the Luminova hand tips a bit of a waste of time, though in fairness the arrow heads are quite clear during the day against the black face so OK I’ll accept that.
But the positives outweight the negatives by a long way – so it’s definitely under consideration.
Note – Check out “Watch of the week” above in the tabbed header.
Another of my vintage watches this time – the 1949 Longines President Fillmore 11 in a solid hallmarked 14ct gold case with lovely curled and fluted lugs.
Model President Fillmore 11
It has a satin silver finish dial with the hours marked with gold coloured batons and the Arabic number 12. The subsidiary seconds recessed dial can be seen @ 6 o’clock and the lovely elegant gold hands are in superb condition.
The case is 39 mm from lug to lug and 26 mm across excluding the crown and the watch is triple signed, dial, case and movement.
The watch has the Longines cal. 23Z movement with 17 jewels set in solid gold casings runs perfectly and keeps remarkably good time.
The movement serial number dates the watch to 1949. Note that the 23Z together with the 9L are two of the most rugged and reliable movements made by Longines and used in their watches from the 1940’s until the 1950’s. This particular watch was marketed in 1950 so this 1949 stock movement was fitted early in that year.
I’m really delighted with this one and it’s complimented by a fine quality lizard leather grain strap and the watch is just great to wear for that special occasion.
A very elegant and unusual timepiece of the Art Deco period and as the watch dimensions are quite generous for the period it looks just great on the wrist. It also generates a fair bit of interest wherever I go and I just love it.
Check out Watch of the week – on the tab at the top of the page – shows another of my vintage watches.
Next up – an affordable AstroAvia chronograph – with Nato?
Isn’t it funny how some watches lend themselves to bracelets and others to straps and often you are never sure which is best until you come to own them.
Never more true than one of my favourite watches – the Junkers G38 Titanium Alarm model (6296M-5) – This is a superb looking chronograph with an excellent 4 jewel Swiss ETA G10.791 Quartz movement (which in the case of this particular model is exceptionally accurate) – (for information – this watch takes the Renata 394 battery).
Alarm function, date window, very good luminescent hands and markers and a nice flat clear mineral crystal – all in a solid Titanium case, 42mm diameter and 11mm depth and with in this instance when I bought it – a solid link Titanium matching bracelet.
Ti Junkers & matching solid link bracelet
Now whilst it is a great looking watch and it was sold with either a leather strap OR a Titanium bracelet. I thought value for money the bracelet won hands down.
BUT – actually there was another option, not offered but which in fact put the whole combo into a different league – and that was the Nato strap.
Junkers in full Nato
Wow! Absolutely looks the business! And in my opinion what a transformation. From a rather smart chronograph to a military fighting machine!
The choice of colour here for the super Nato strap was picked to compliment the wonderful grey dial of this Junkers, so much more classy than the ubiquitous black faced divers, chronos and the like. This has that “something” to set it apart from the crowd and I just love it.
Junkers in Nat
Here I decided to use my little new Lumix T7 compact camera – hand held and it shows up pretty well the quality of this watch. I liked it so much I decided to take another picture ………….
Junkers & Nato showing Alarm set button
Pleased with this one as it does show that contrary to common opinion a Titanium cased watch (in this case solid Ti) and without any protective coatings and suchlike – doesn’t have to scratch and look as if its’ been chucked in a drawer full of nails for a year, and it can look as good as it was the day I bought it a couple of years ago.
I wear it quite often too – in fact for the last 2 weeks it’s been my daily beater with the Nato strap fitted and it does get a few looks too, from all sorts of folks.
But just like a car, certain models suit a certain colour. The very same with watches – some like leather, some like bracelets – but this baby LOVES NATO – and so do I.
Just on the subject of scratches and so on. It never fails to amaze me how many watches I see second hand, pre-owned, whatever, that are in terrible scratched condition. Cases almost wrecked, the crystals a maze of scratches so bad they’re opaque sometimes and all too often there’s even a hand missing – missing! I ask you!
I do have to wonder just what these owners DO with their watches and their wrists for that matter! Makes me wonder too what their car or their house is like – LOL.
This nice little 1935 art-deco rectangular Elgin model known as the Osler doctor’s watch. A little masterpiece in a 14ct gold filled case is in fact named after Sir William Osler, M.D. (1849-1919).
The Elgin “Osler” watch 1935
Called the “Doctor’s” watch was because many watches of this period either had no seconds hand or a small sub-dial seconds hand which was pretty small to see let alone use for pulse measurements. And this was where this model scored with the medical fraternity.
Firstly, having a centre sweep seconds hand was a plus but secondly and probably of more importance, was the addition of a printed seconds graduated chapter ring making it much easier to read. Just tick off the first 15 seconds then multiply by four and pretty much still how to read your pulse today. The centre seconds hand on this model sometimes had a red marker on it just prior to the arrow head of the pointer, though this one is plain.
A nice sized 14ct Gold filled watch at 39mm x 22mm it features a neatly recessed crown and a clear slightly domed glass. Such a sensible size in comparison with some of the monster watches of today…
Inside is the hi grade 522 manual wind, 15 jewel early and fairly rare Elgin signed movement, which is ticking away as good now as it was the day it was made over 70 years ago!
Elgin movement 15 jewel 522 hi-grade – 1935
Of course one of the benefits of these old watches is that you can quickly snap off the back and expose the movement quite easily (water resistance wasn’t much in evidence at that time) and you can easily adjust for accuracy.
To the right you can see the actual movement and the nice solid crown winder at the side. At the top the adjustment lever is easily accessible and surprisingly large compared to many more modern watches and the the serial number at the foot equates to a 1935 manufacture.
And I have to say that this particular one is amazingly accurate and certainly within around 50 seconds in 24 hours!
I also noticed that the stem/crown mechanism is actually superior to many a modern day watch in regards strength – it is superb and provides a very definite and strong winding action.
So a little departure from the watches I usually feature here, but I thought I’d share one from my “vintage” collector box as often they are so much more interesting than some of the modern offerings around.
I’m also quietly confident that these will not only still be ticking along fine many years from now, but will probably attract rather good prices.
Addendum –
Today (February 2024) it’s worth upwards of £700 – isn’t that nice?
Well after a few weeks with this latest watch I have to report that any reservations I had or indeed criticism of it are utterly unfounded!
I have not had this watch OFF my wrist since! It is working flawlessly and to my surprise is keeping VERY good time indeed – in fact much better than I initially thought would be the case with a relatively low priced Far Eastern mechanical automatic movement.
In the luminous department, whilst it is better than the whole face lighting of the last Aeromatic, it’s about average, but the contrast is better in daylight.
So all in all I am VERY pleased with this model and for the price it is difficult to see how it can be beaten!
My next review is a Quartz Eco watch which took my fancy some time ago and for the smaller wrist it is pretty good.
Another Aeromatic 1912 model but this time a model A1027 which is a “sextant” inspired aviation style from this German “maker”.
Model A1027
A little more conventional than the last model and without the all luminous dial feature. Instead here we have the traditional numerals and hand luminous painted. However the numerals are painted glossy which I don’t think does it justice. Matt is for me far better and clearer. That said the watch is still quite clear to read and the luminous hands do stand out from the dial with far better contrast than the luminous dial version. The dial face is in dark gray which gives reasonable contrast to the white markers.
The crystal on this one is very slightly domed (and very well fitted I have to say) and the crown is the more standard non-onion style. It fits well to the wrist and overall at 40mm diameter it’s a nice size. The case is a very smooth satin finish stainless and the stainless steel back has a crystal to see the innards at work, which are identical as far as I can make out to the previous model I posted.
Looks good on the wrist.
The watch keeps pretty good time and is as accurate as one should expect from the jeweled automatic Asian mechanical movement.
Finished off and complimented by a nice quality leather strap it sits very well on the wrist, and I have to say it’s actually as good if not better to wear than the previous one – but this is a marginal thing.
Suffice to say I like it as a good solid looking, neat and practical watch. It’ll manage a good downpour pretty well but like me – swimming is probably out!
Overall – Whilst it maybe has to compete with some of the “practical” Seiko and Citizen quartz watches that are out there – and as a well made mechanical non quartz watch, it’s both well priced and better value than many of them – so a good choice in my opinion. I can see it being a good companion for many years to come.
Aeromatic 1912 owned by Rainer Bettner of Frankfurt, Germany. As often the case the “manufacturer” title may be misleading and perhaps more a case of assembly with alterations of what appear to be Asian designs found in the Million Smart Enterprises; website catalog – then perhaps re-badged Aeromatic 1912 or perhaps Tauchmeister. So very much Asian in origin they use Lioning, Shanghai and SeaGull mechanical movements and various quartz ones such as, Miyota and probably Swiss Ronda too.
However such is the quality of Asian movements (the better known ones actually have quality control – the cheaper ones YOU are the quality control!), these are quite good watches and certainly for the price pretty well unmatched. So an Aeromatic mechanical watch purchase will probably not let you down and in fact may well be a very good “daily beater” in comparison with anything else out there. That has to be good – yes!
Update January 2014– Just a word on the luminosity of this particular watch. Certainly not as good as Seiko Lumibrite or SuperLuminova, it is maybe the older Luminova or some other compound used here. Consequently once light charged it does tend to fade quite rapidly and after a few hours of darkness it is maybe just visible. So OK perhaps but certainly could be better.
A new watch this month from German “maker” Aeromatic 1912 – a military style automatic with 1942-2 modified Japanese or maybe a Chinese automatic movement with 22 jewels (40 h Power-Reserve).
Aeromatic model A1322
Comes in a nice silver tin with both the Tauchmeister 1937 name and Aerospace 1912 on the lid. Obviously German owned but assembled Asian watch designs I would say. However notwithstanding – a good looking watch it is too and not as big as some of these “sextant” style watches go. This one is an all stainless steel satin finished case at 40mm diameter, 12mm height plus a solid 7mm sharply defined “onion” crown. A central second hand and a date window @3 and unusually a fully luminous dial and hands (the dial glows a greenish color and the hands somewhat brighter and almost white). ……see image….
All luminous dial & hands
Very clear and pretty much non reflective mineral glass, 5atm water resistance and a really heavy duty high quality leather strap make up the rest of the specification. The back of the watch has a glass insert in the screwed base where the movement can be clearly seen. The luminous image shown here by the way was unlike many you see where the photographer has put the watch under a bright light prior to taking the image. Here it was simply moved from one not terribly well lit room into a dark hall, on my wrist, and taken hand held. Pretty good really. The dial numerals on this model suit me better than the more accurately copied ww11 sextant style watches in that the inner numbers are shown 1 – 12 the right way round. The sextant models tend to have this done as in a mirror – which is OK for a sextant and mirror, but not a lot of good for me. I actually like this set up as I use the inner ring for the hours and the outer one for quickly timing things just at a glance. Really quite a nice arrangement. One of the other models also has 24hr time marker numerals which is even better. All bases covered as it were.
Screwed back with glass insert
This image shows the back arrangement and the movement is clearly seen with it’s quite plain rotor winding system. Note the 6 tool locators for easy removal – unlike so many I’ve seen. One of the things I like about this watch is the fact that it is nice and clean looking – simple – and without any extra bits and bobs that are mostly superfluous anyway. Here what you see is what you get. It’s also very comfortable to wear – an important point believe me. It’s amazing how many of these more substantial watches can have sharp bracelets, lugs that dig into you – and not forgetting that crown – but this one you don’t even feel!
Easy wearing even on small wrists as here
As you see above it is a nice clear watch and “wears small” as they say – my wrists are 170mm so on the smaller side and this watch does not look big at all. So all in all a nice item, complete with a 24 month Guarantee, a Dealer certificate and not forgetting that “tin” box (it’s rather a good one as it happens!). So all in all I’m very pleased with it and a nice addition to my collection. Any down sides? Well so far none at all – it keeps remarkably good time and it’s easily 40hrs+ power reserve means that you only need to wear it around 6 – 8 hours a day (many folks like to take the watch off at night) and it’ll hold that max power in reserve. So what next? – At the end of the month (that’s the plan but it’s been delayed) I hope to have my new true German Big Date watch. I’ll post it up as soon as it arrives.
No it’s not a board game nor is it a type of wood – it is in fact a rather smart and minimalist watch called the Obaku Harmony. I liked the look of it and though it might go well in my collection.
Harmony V119GBBRB from Obaku
After all I have always thought about buying a Skagen watch – you know the Scandinavian modernist design watch that was all the rage a few years ago. Well maybe that great popularity was what held me back and I never did take the plunge until now with the appearance, not of the Skagen, but another Scandinavian designed watch that looks pretty smart.
A fusion of cultures according to the blurb, minimalist, simple, serene yet modern and elegant – with quite a decent stab at quality I have to say. One of the benefits or maybe a curse to a manufacturer is that when a watch comes along that has very simple lines, any faults show up very easily and obviously. So it is an absolute requirement that quality has to be very good indeed to resist the close scrutiny that is so easily achieved even to the casual looker.
The Obaku Harmony is slim at 7.5mm depth
This model is called the “Harmony” – deep philosophy going on here and is the brainchild of not one but two designers.
Lan Liengard Ruge and Christian Mikklelsen from Denmark are responsible for the surprisingly diverse range of both ladies and gents models.
Clean lines, simple design and with everything aligning together in peace and “harmony” – more than just telling the time, but an expression of ones inner peace perhaps.
Minimalist, black & modern
At 42mm diameter this is a decent sized watch and with a depth of only 7.5mm a very slim watch indeed for the diameter, but not too much as to look odd. It is just about perfect. The case is black stainless steel and has 12 stainless steel studs set around the bezel which are basically the minute markers, as the black face itself is entirely without batons. The hour and minute hands are bright white colour for 3/4 of their length and the centre second sweep hand has a nice white tip. The hands otherwise are black like the face, so the time indication and seconds count is very clear.
On this model there is also a date window @6 with a nice white contrasting date wheel underneath showing though.
The glass on the Harmony is rather unique in the watch world as it’s made of Titan Glass, a product over 10 times more crack resistant that either mineral or sapphire – quite exclusive to Obaku I understand. The case too is not just 316 stainless but is additionally coated with Titanium.
The case back is also black, stainless and marked with the usual information plus the designer’s name – in this instance the first of the two mentioned above.
The crown is quite unobtrusive @3 and has nicely wide defined knurl marks so is easy to use and set.
Titanium & stainless mesh adjustable braceletSleek black performer
The bracelet is a very fine and smooth stainless mesh style with a locking clasp and full adjustment – very easy to set and adjusts for my small wrist with no trouble at all.
On this version apart from the Obaku Harmony name on the dial face there is also reference to “by Ingersoll” who market the watch I understand.
Movement wise not much information apart from the web site specification detail saying that they use a high quality Japanese Quartz movement and the watch overall has a Water Resistance rating of 3ATM – so not really for swimming.
One other noteworthy point is that the battery is probably a SPhon Mercury/Lead free Silver Oxide which is also fairly unique and another philosophy statement in that it will save the planet – maybe! Once it’s dead (the battery, not the planet) you can simply use a standard battery – so no problems there. The bracelet is also a suitable width to match the watch nicely at 22mm.
So there you have it – another nice addition to my collection and very nice it looks too. Finally managed to get my Scandinavian design watch after all and not a run of the mill, but one that’s just that little bit special perhaps.
And as to wearing, well the bracelet and the watch itself as a team is so incredibly smooth and comfortable, I simply don’t realise it’s there. It is a most lovely watch to wear without a doubt.
It is also very clear to read which firmly ticks my clarity issue box that I have with all watches – maybe because I’m getting older and the old eyesight is not what it was.
Oh I almost forgot – this watch has a lifetime Guarantee (yes that’s lifetime!), so that can’t be bad – and it comes in a Zen like white box with full instruction book.
So any downsides?
Well yes as it happens – these lovely clear hands completely disappear at night in the dark as they are not coated with any luminous material at all! Nada, nothing – so forget the time when you go to bed (use the old bed side clock).
But there again – why worry – maybe this is part of the design philosophy of the “Harmony” – don’t worry about the time – now – it’ll still be there in the morning – is that cool or what?
Update – 31st January 2011 – Check out my “watch of the Week” page – I feature this watch again with more info. . . .
Some time ago and in a previous post I waxed lyrical about the Bruno Söhnle watch I bought and this is simply a confirmation that it has been a wonderful purchase.
In fact so delighted I have been with this one that I am definitely buying another – when I get it I will of course feature it here.
But before I do I intend to feature one of my older watches which has proved to have been a great buy – especially if you’re in the market for a Tritium light source watch.
Traser H4 Tritium
The Traser H3 Classic Alarm Big Date – an outstanding and very well made Ronda 5040.B Swiss Quartz model.
The bracelet is a very fine and smooth stainless mesh style with a locking clasp and full adjustment – very easy to set and adjusts for my small wrist with no trouble at all.
Watch space 
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