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Watches to wear with your flight jackets...

Arthur

Member
Another GMT. These are very easy to change time and time zones. Owned one of these with a Blue dial several years ago, couldn’t love the Blue but missed the watch so this one came up early this year and I added it to my collection.
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Arthur

Member
And finally (for now) a real pilots watch. The Longines Lindberg Hour Angle. Longines reintroduced this watch in several models. This is the mid size, the original size reintroduction is a huge 47.5mm. One big minus with this watch is it is not at all water resistant. Certainly not a wear to the pool watch. !
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DJS48

Active Member
Officer Dibley,

Would you be able to send some info regarding the Hamilton watch in the picture you posted?
Regards,
Don
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
torgoen has some nice flight watches with a feel for the "vintage" look. and, they are currently running a sale. i ended up purchasing a cream face t-41, and a blue face t-25. high quality at an affordable price.
 

33-1729

Well-Known Member
Another GMT. These are very easy to change time and time zones. Owned one of these with a Blue dial several years ago, couldn’t love the Blue but missed the watch so this one came up early this year and I added it to my collection.

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I had a 42.7mm Ulysse Nardin Acqua Perpetual for a long time (this one) and wore it around the world a few times. The only mechanical perpetual watch that can be set forwards AND backwards, so perfect for travel, and tough as any Rolex I've owned. (Okay, I destroyed my first two Submariners but the others fared much better.) Only got rid of it to get a smaller case watch. If they made the Acqua Perpetual in a 40mm or less, I'd buy another. The already place the same movement in a different 38mm Au/Pt model, so I know it is possible.

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Pilot

Well-Known Member
I had a 42.7mm Ulysse Nardin Acqua Perpetual for a long time (this one) and wore it around the world a few times. The only mechanical perpetual watch that can be set forwards AND backwards, so perfect for travel, and tough as any Rolex I've owned. (Okay, I destroyed my first two Submariners but the others fared much better.) Only got rid of it to get a smaller case watch. If they made the Acqua Perpetual in a 40mm or less, I'd buy another. The already place the same movement in a different 38mm Au/Pt model, so I know it is possible.

View attachment 11343
Nice watch the UN.
How did you destroy two Submariners ? Never read nor heard about anyone destroying any Rolex and surely no Sub.
My DeepSea went trough a lawnmower in August...still looks like out of the box.
 

33-1729

Well-Known Member
Nice watch the UN.
How did you destroy two Submariners ? Never read nor heard about anyone destroying any Rolex and surely no Sub.
My DeepSea went trough a lawnmower in August...still looks like out of the box.

I'd like to say by some impressive James Bond type feats, but I'm just a klutz. I started buying them a long time ago as the other watches I was buying lasted weeks. And while they were much tougher than many watches at the time the latter ones, like your DeepSea, are in an entirely different league (just like the 911).

The first two Subs had acrylic lenses and they got really torn up and I ripped off a number of Cyclops lenses too. One just died and I forgot why, but the bill was almost a new watch when I got it back from Rolex. I got a Sea-Dweller hoping the lack of a Cyclops lens would help save the crystal. It kind of worked, but the acrylic lens Sea-Dweller was very thick and had a tendency to get whacked about and become unreadable (I used to polish the acrylic lenses with tin oxide to bring them back). They started making the sapphire lenses in 1981(?) and they were much better, with the Sea-Dweller quite a bit tougher than the Subs. I whacked more than a few Cyclops lenses off or partially off on the other Subs, even on the sapphire lens versions. (My wife cleaved the Cyclops lens off her sapphire-crystal Rolex watch once, so it's not just me.)

Besides the crystal(s) and movement, I also broke a bracelet on one of the first two Subs. Now the crystals are much better sapphire, the steel is much tougher 904L, and the bracelets are stronger too. Don't know how many Subs and Sea-Dwellers I had, but it was a few. They're all worth a lot now, for the current owners. If I only kept them ...

On a similar note, I learned the importance of a clutch on the automatic winding system on a non-Rolex watch. Forgot the make, but heard a loud ping while wearing the watch and looked down to see the hands moving around a hundred miles per hour. I just tossed it.
 

Arthur

Member
Another problem with the older Rolex watches with acrylic lenses, you could get a pressure crack in the acrylic lens way down at the base, and you can’t see it unless you really look close. I got moisture inside my old 1665 Seadweller, must have hit it on something. Wasn’t aware of a crack until I submerged it about 6 inches deep in a outdoor fountain. Few minutes later the crystal fogged. It had a replacement Rolex “superdome” crystal that only on my watch for a few years. Problem was those old crystals are 40+ years old and are really brittle. I replaced the crystal, there was no moisture in the movement, but it doesn’t get near water anymore!


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Arthur

Member
I had a 42.7mm Ulysse Nardin Acqua Perpetual for a long time (this one) and wore it around the world a few times. The only mechanical perpetual watch that can be set forwards AND backwards, so perfect for travel, and tough as any Rolex I've owned. (Okay, I destroyed my first two Submariners but the others fared much better.) Only got rid of it to get a smaller case watch. If they made the Acqua Perpetual in a 40mm or less, I'd buy another. The already place the same movement in a different 38mm Au/Pt model, so I know it is possible.

View attachment 11343

That is a beautiful watch, but the size would be a stretch for me. My UN GMT +/- is 40mm, which is perfect for me.


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Pilot

Well-Known Member
BTW...this is the most sturdy watch I ever "experienced"..
Had a war game in Korea in Feb. 2018...lost the Speedy during some funny muddy moving arround...Koreans are honest and straight forward People.. No stealing or theafting...Got it back after at least a few vehicles run over it ...in soft muddy ground ..(broken Hesalit glass, spring bar and metal bracelet)...) ...Aftermath...via Omega BASEL ..187 Euro for the Hesalit cristal.. 69 Euro for the repaired spring bar and bracelet...80,--Euro for the polishing of the scratches... 87 Euro for the return shipping...Full stopp...the Speedy is like new and no battle damage signs.
 
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Pilot

Well-Known Member
Hello to all PM´ing me for my Military watches...
First thanks a lot...very pleased an honored for your trust and contacting me.
Secondly, I do not list my sales here since this is a vintage jacket forum and not an expert Military WW2 watch Forum.
Last but not least...WW2 Military watches are something very unique and precious, with a real investment value ( a vintage leather jacket forum may not really appreciate this fact ..sorry for that..)...Real military unmessed watches never ever loose value...Jackets do...
In other words...I dont list my WW2 Military watches here....since not the right place.....but if you are realy keeen and interested ( and happy to invest and value......happy to assist and help...please feel free to PM...but pleeaase no more 100 or 150 US$ queries anymore...thx..)
 
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