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. . . .
As I said on the last post here is an introduction to the Traser Big Date Alarm Watch.
First thing to say it that it is a beautifully made watch, solid and perfectly formed stainless steel casing and bracelet make a very nicely finished combination.
Traser Big Date Alarm (Tritium) WatchFits a small wrist and the date is CLEAR to read
And whilst it looks big and solid it is actually very neat at only 40mm case diameter and around 12.5mm depth and sits very well on even a small wrist.
The Traser H3 Classic Alarm Big Date Steel Watch to give it it’s full title features a big date window, steel case and bezel, sapphire crystal, scratch resistant, alarm function plus unusually an illuminated small second hand with one of the 15 Traser tritium lights.
The big date is superb, making it very easy to see through the hard flat sapphire crystal and in contrast to the black face – as you see in the pic.
Solid stainless case & bracelet with double O ring crown
Powered by the very dependable Ronda 4120B 7j quartz battery movement it is safeguarded by a good water resistance of 100m and a push in crown with a double O ring seal.
Of course one of it’s best features are the luminous hands and numerals, which on this watch is produced in no small measure by the Tritium light source. It is quite simply amazing and for those unfamiliar with Tritium I should explain.
The Tritium light source requires no light power source unlike conventional luminous paints etc. and are guaranteed for 10 years. They’re sealed in tiny glass tubes under high pressure, resistant to water, oil or corrosive materials. You can see the little tubes neatly tucked away at each of the numerals in the little indents and also see the tiny tubes on the hands.
Whilst Tritium is a radio active compound – in this form it is entirely safe. The low energy electrons of tritium cannot escape the glass body of the mb-microtec Trigalight (tradename).
Even in the unlikely event of a rupture of one of the tubes and where Tritium gas would escape it would quickly disburse. A typical Traser® H3 watch contains anywhere from 15 to 20 mb-microtec trigalight for a total of no more than 25 millicuries.
In one year the wearer of the Traser might assume an exposure of 0.1 micro sievert, which is about equal to the increase the human body would absorb due to cosmic or random radiation by living approximately 12 inches above sea level, which is very small.
So the luminance is nothing short of spectacular and a I love the comments I get especially on holiday (I used to wear it on these action holidays) when at dusk or at night it really stands out – makes their “G” Shocks look dim!
So all in all a rather good watch and one of the nicer made watches I’ve come across. I’ve not mentioned the Alarm function, suffice to say it does what it says it does.
I’ve had this one for well over a year now and it’s perfect, good timekeeper and looks as good as it did when I bought it. And by the way it also features a quick set date and quick set alarm.
All plus points and no real negatives bar one – and no it’s not the price. And as a Tritium illuminated watch there are few better built than this one – BUT the fact it is a Tritium light source is perhaps the one negative.
Guaranteed light source is around 10 years for Tritium capsules and what happens after that? I’ll let you know if I still have it after that – yes?
March 2025 –
Well my fears were justified – I bought this in 2009 and after 12 years the light source was almost gone and today some 16 years later it is no longer luminous.
Not a trace – nothing!
I suppose I was hoping that the little capsules may have been embedded in or placed on, a luminous painted base underneath, but not so.
Still a lovely watch but today NOT any use in the dark.
Many of my watches from earlier have Super-luminova, which is not radio-active and still perform today – so what can I say. The idea may have been great at the time, but as for longevity – a non starter.
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.
LATEST>>>>>LATEST>>>>>>LATEST_______________________________________Well it had to happen! Didn’t it?
After about 2 weeks my lovely new watch developed a problem – suddenly! As I was winding it at 9am as I do every morning – the crown, winder and spindle assembly fell out of the watch and into my hand!
I was to put it mildly – mortified!
Immediately contacted the Dealer and arranged to send the watch back to them so they in turn could return it to J&T Windmills.
Then after about 6 weeks of what I have to say was pretty poor Dealer communication I was sent not the repaired watch but a brand new replacement watch.
Just one of those things? Made-in-England ?……or maybe more accurately – a Monday morning poorly assembled watch “perhaps” in England – I really don’t know, but it has certainly shaken my confidence in this particular “Made in England” watch.
And time will tell if this new replacment model (an earlier one according to it’s number) is going to be as it is supposed to be.
So far so good and it DOES feel better on winding than the first one which was in retrospect a little rough – so perhaps this one will last. It’s certainly much smoother and as reasonably accurate and I do like wearing it.
The J&T Windmills fortunately does have a 2 year Guarantee though I certainly hope not to have to use it yet again.
You may have noted that my next purchase was a German manufactured Swiss movment Quartz model, the Bruno Söhnle….I wonder if this was maybe a subliminal purchase – because out of all my quartz movement watches over the years I have NEVER had a faulty one –
But as for the mechanicals – well every so often……
Apart from my vintage Patek Philippe of course – which just goes on and on…………….Oh Yes!!
Mind you when it was made there were NO imported parts – it was all Swiss……And you know – it shows!
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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