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Titanic, waterproof ?
You just have to wonder what they were thinking when they designed this watch with that wording on the dial. Honestly, it feels a little like mockery. And no, the watch isn’t older than the ship. It dates from the 1950s, so it’s about 40 years younger. But it is beautiful. Every bit as elegant…
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Jaeger-LeCoultre Gaslight Clock. Full service of the movement. Part1
Gaslight Clock or Lamp Post Clock. It’s known by both names. But JLC called it Gaslight Clock in their first ad in 1959. This is a treat. And I’m really jealous of my friend that owns this clock. It says LeCoultre on the dial. But that was a US marketing strategy. Trust me. This is…
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Lemac with a Valjoux 7750 in the machine room
So, Christmas Eve 2021. The best thing I could think of was to service a watch. I got up before the sun had made its entrance. Coffee and a couple of ham sandwiches, and then I felt ready for a watch. And today it got to be a special one. The movement in this Lemac…
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Girard-Perregaux – and what a beauty it is
Girard-Perregaux can trace its roots all the way back to 1791. But it was a marriage in 1854 that became the real starting point. That was when Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux, both from watchmaking families. Constant came from La Chaux-de-Fonds and Marie from Le Locle—two incredibly important Swiss watchmaking towns. In 1856, they founded…
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Omega Railmaster from 1957
One of Omega’s bit of a sales flops. But that’s actually the whole point. There simply aren’t that many of them around. But if we’re going to mention their real sales flop, then the Ranchero is definitely at the top of the list. But that will be a story for another post. The year was…
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Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle, the GPS of its time
Most people probably know who Charles Lindbergh was. A nonstop transatlantic flight by plane. But probably fewer people know that he was also behind a watch being made. But first, a bit about the flight. The journey went between New York and Paris. It lasted 33.5 hours and covered 5,800 km. It wasn’t the first…
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Zodiac Sea Wolf, an iconic diver
I once had a Zodiac. It was a Glorious. But I gave it away to a really good friend of mine who’s a really good watchmaker. It used to bug me a little that he never wore a watch. At some point he mentioned he could see himself with a vintage Zodiac or Eterna. So…
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Genfa Buren, This watch might be 80 years old
A watch from the 50’s with a Buren 463 inside.
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Eterna, the “barn find”
It’s true. This watch is actually a genuine “barn find”. The current owners stumbled upon it while tearing down an old garage on their property. And there it was, sitting right under the floorboards in the dirt. No one knows exactly how long it had been lying there, but definitely over 18 years, since that’s…
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An 85 year old Omega
Disassembly of an old Omega from 1941 (for Sofi)
bring your Zen into watchmaking