Certina from the late 50's.

A fine example of a gentleman's watch.

Stainless Steel Certina Date Quick Set Manual Wind Mechanical

This piece became part of my collection sometime in 2006, one of me early acquisition. It's a Swiss Certina (late 1950's). This manual calibre 28-151 is encased in a 33mm stainless steel body.

Certina's history could be traced back until 1888 when its founders, the Kurth brothers, open shop selling watch movements. It was in 1938 (50 years after it was founded), that the present brand Certina was introduced.

Later in 1983, Certina became part of Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). This was during the time when Swiss watch companies face tough competition from Japanese quartz.

Now based in La Locle, Switzerland, Certina is active in the premier league of motorsports, being the timekeeper for MotoGP races since 1995 until today. 

Certina is also the official sponsor and timekeeper for the Sauber F1 team since 2005 (then it was called the Sauber Petronas F1 Team).

 

The sweeping second hand is the distinguishable  feature of this 50 year-old 28-151 cal. 

The even patina on the metal dial is beautiful, and makes this piece a very fine example of the 1950's Swiss engineering.

This fully hallmarked watch (dial, crown, case, backplate) is in perfect condition to be worn daily. 

Anyone interested with this classic timepiece can email me at khairudin (at) vintagekrono.com (PoA).


All photos taken by me using Canon 5DMk2 with the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro.

External references:
www.ranfft.de
wikipedia.org
www.certina.com

A Lanco Converted 'Aviator' Watch.

The Lanco pocket watches came from the Langendorf Watch Company in the town of Langendorf in Labern, Switzerland.

Started as the Uhrenfabrik Lagendorf SA in 1873, the family owned factory soon became on of the largest watch movement factory in Switzerland (and the world) before the turn of the century.

The business grew along with its reputation for reliability. Thus it was only natural that products coming from this company were issued to the fighting men in both world wars.

The Lanco brand came in just after the war. The brand was successful inheriting its legacy. As with many Swiss watch companies, not many survived the 70's quartz era.

In the early 70's, the company was absorbed into the Omega-Tissot group.

The piece you see here is converted pocket watch with an aviator dial that made LANCO famous with the German Luftwaffe.

The metal dial is new, as the original one did not survive the sands of time.





This 15 rubies hand wound mechanical timepiece is housed in a nickel chromed casing. As with any pocket watches of this era, the strong tic-toc sound can be heard clearly.

The Lanco name can be seen on the main gear, along with the 'Swiss Made' engraving next to it.


The back of the watch was nicely engraved, giving room for personal monogram to be placed on it.

The antique 'onion' crown wounds well, though a bit rough to today's standards.










The leather strap that came with the watch was a bit used. What I did was to get a new green Nato strap for it. It gave this vintage the rightful WW2 aviator feel to it.

Anyone interested with this can email me at khairudin (at) vintagekrono.com (PoA).


Sources:
wikipedia.org, thewatchforum.co.uk, watch-wiki.org.

Photos taken using iPhone4.

Omega Ultra-Thin Constellation from the early 70's.  

Automatic Calibre 711 Movement.

This is my second vintage Omega I acquired (the first was a 50's Seamaster (non-quickset)).

While the ultra-thins were around between the 1960's to the late 70's, this ultra-thin Constellations cal. 711s were issued between 1974-1975. Constellations were dress watches, naturally precious metals and stones were dominant in this Omega range. What is interesting with this Constellation is that this came from the only stainless steel range in the limited run cal. 711s (the more reason why I am keeping this :D). No doubt this model is not a limited edition series, but as this range did not last long, it is hard to come by.

Thin watches were the trend during that glory days of the 60's. The idea of a bulky wrist watch was not welcomed in the high society social circles. While you could get away with a Panerai under your tuxedo sleeve today, back then it was a no-no.

The watch did not scream for attention when you wear it, but the weight and feel was solid. It did not feel cheap despite the size.

The customary observation seal can be seen clearly in the picture referring to the origin of its name.

The movement is a solid automatic. It immediately starts to beat correctly as soon as you pick it up, no waiting-for-it-to-wind for it to give a reliable heartbeat. That was one of the features that I immediately noticed. The calibre 711 had also been used in the De Ville range before, so the reliability of the movement had already been proven before it was planted into this Connie.


What kept me from 'cycling' this piece is that it is not easy to get a complete stainless steel Omega Constellation. Finding a non-gold based Connie is not easy. This works well for me as being a Muslim man.

Presently, it's with the Omega Watch Co SA awaiting to be serviced. I am giving it a full factory service after deciding that it will be in my permanent collection.

A Frankie?

Chronometre Nidor dial with Pandow Watch Co Movement

I have another conversion piece dated from the 40's/50's. However I suspect this may be a war-era pieced-together frankestein watch.

It has 2 different known watch names on it. The dial and (I suspect) the solid silver case came from Chronometre Nidor (a known brand under Buser Freres & Co). The movement has Pandow Watch Co Suisse on it.

Chronometre Nidor came from the studios of Manufacture d'Horlogerie Buser Freres & Co., founded in 1916. Their speciality was pocket watches.


In time, after the first round of consolidation within the Swiss watch industry, Mssrs Buser Freres & Co joined the "Manufactures d'Horlogerie Suisses Reunies S.A." (M.S.R. Union of Swiss Watchmakers), which was a union with 3 other watch making houses; The Phoenix Watch Co, Thommen SA, and the Vulcain & Studio watch shops. The grouping which started in the early 60's intended to consolidate their expertise and market their products as a group which rationalize their production and marketing forces.

The dial was refinished marking the era it was originally born into. Large pocket watches were favoured to be converted as flight watches as they were large enough to be worn over the pilots' flight jacket's sleeve. Pocket watches also have large crowns, which was convenient as pilots during those time had gloves on.

The movement came from a lesser known Swiss Manufacture; the Pandow Watch Co. The United States Horological Trademark Index (book written by Kurtis Meyers) showed that the company had registered its trademark for use in the United States since 1923. 

The movement is a strong beating 17 Jeweled piece. The movement generates a strong audible tick-tock which you would not find in timepieces these days.

The watch is housed in a 45mm .800 proof double-lid solid silver case (57mm with the crown). The silver alone carries a third of its value.

I suspect that this watch was put together during the war from parts that were available during that time. 

This was not uncommon during those trying times.

The watch comes with a new 22mm leather strap.

The above unique timepiece is priced at RM950 (Malaysian shipping address). Another RM150 for EMS/DHL shipping & handling fee is applicable for non-Malaysian buyers. Box and papers are not supplied. Check our buying guide before purchase.


Click the Paypal 'Buy Now' button with the appropriate shipping option. 

Shipping Options

Malaysian Address RM950.00 MYR Others RM1,100.00 MYR

Favre-Leuba's Legacy

This is a 50-60's Swiss made Favre-Leuba Geneve Twin Power manual winding mechanical watch.

Favre-Leuba's origins could be traced back to the early 1700's, when Abraham Favre opened his shop. In 1814, a merger with another watchmaker Auguste Leuba, and it became what is know until today as Favre-Leuba. It was in 1898 when their HQ moved to Geneva, hence the label 'Geneve' was abled to be marked on their dials.

In 2011, the Titan Industries watch making company from the Tata group, took over the struggling Swiss company.

Even before the takeover in the 21st century, Asia was among their key markets, particularly India. Note the background illustration of Indian landscape and elephants in this advertisement from a newspaper.

Among of key innovation that came from this watch workshop was the FL251 movement dubbed the 'Twin Barrel' or 'Twin Power' calibre. 

What was normally the standard 24hour power reserve for a manual winding watch, this calibre doubled it to 48-50 hours.

The wrist watch in my collection is an immaculate edition of that. I estimate that this came from the mid to late 60's, as the movement came into being after 1962 and in the 70's the models were named Sea King's and Sea Chief's.

The 17 Jewel'ed movement is housed in this polished stainless steel casing. An exquisite example of the Swiss pioneer who dared to venture to Asia even before the rest of the Swiss watch industry.








The back of the this stainless steel watch shows the engraved logo of the watchmaker along with the serial number of the watch (81073-TL)


The military style dial is luminous and clearly tells the wearer the time even in low light condition.

What is interesting is that this timepiece and its label is in my opinion under valued. Typically this swiss precision watch is valued around USD80-150.



The above timepiece could be bought for RM500 (Malaysian shipping address). Another RM100 for EMS/DHL shipping & handling fee is applicable for non-Malaysian buyers. Box and papers are not supplied.


Click the Paypal 'Buy Now' button with the appropriate shipping option. 

Shipping Location

Malaysian Address RM500.00 MYR Others RM600.00 MYR

 

SOLD

OMEGA from the 1930's; PORCELAIN DIAL with SWEEPING seconds hand.

SOLD

This is a rare find; a 1930's Omega with on original porcelain dial with its original case and movement.

This timepiece features an original elegant white porcelain dial is in VERY GOOD condition, with no chips, have one small crack, no restoration (please look at the pictures), with original antique hands and a sunken seconds dial with “sweep” seconds hand. Signed "OMEGA" in black enameled lettering below the 12.

The lugs are in great condition while the original pristine winding crown is in very good shape and operates properly.

DOUBLE HINGED original case is in very good condition. Converted from pocket watch. The inside of the outer case lid is signed OMEGA with Omega symbol,  and #8441744 case reference number. This serial number repeat on the inner case lid.

Lifting this second lid reveals a routinely serviced and high quality,15 Fifteen Jewel manual wind, screwed settings lever escapement movement with red Ruby jewel. Signed "Omega" with serial number #7647782. A check with a renown Omega enthusiast website (http://chronomaddox.com/omega_serial_numbers.html) indicates that the movement dates between 1929-1935.

This beautiful wristwatch has the Original movement in an excellent state which was very well saved, considering age of this watch. Mechanism has been recently serviced to ensure it winds and sets smoothly while keeping great, accurate time. 

This classic OMEGA is priced at MYR1,899, more then 90% off from a brand new OMEGA at your high street dealer.

SOLD

SWISS 'ALPINA' PRE-WW1 SILVER CASE POCKET WATCH CONVERSION

SOLD

This is a unique piece from 'Union Horlogère' under their trade mark 'ALPINA'.

This is an exquisite example of an antique timepiece which belongs approximately to the 1910’s.

It has a working manual winding movement in a solid silver case, with a porcelain dial.

This admirable men’s timepiece features an original white porcelain dial. Despite being more than 100 years old, the dial appears in almost good condition!

The original open face features a 60 minute outer track border, black Arabic numerals, beautiful Louis XVI filigree hands and a slightly sunken sub-second’s dial. 

The beautiful dial is stamped ‘ALPINA’.
 The silver four-piece, double-hinged case matches very well with this elegant dial.

This is a silver case watch with a set of antique silver hallmarks.

The inside of the case lid is stamped 0.800. Denoting the 80% solid silver used as the material of the case.

There is also Swiss (Wood Grouse) and German (Crescent Moon/Crown) silver hallmarks and logo of the master, which are used in conjunction with a maker's mark and a decimal silver standard.

‘Alpina’ was founded in 1883 by a group of Swiss Watchmakers who joined together to produce high quality Swiss mechanical watches at a reasonable price. A group called themselves affectionately the "Alpinists", and they all shared the same target: the success of the ‘Alpina’ watch. Different members of the group in Geneva, Germany, Eastern and Northern Europe manufactured various parts of the watch. 

In 1901 the trade name ‘Alpina’ was officially registered.  The name ‘Alpina’ refers to the Swiss Alps where the company was located.
From the beginning, ‘Alpina’ watches were manufactured with high quality components, amongst others Brequet spirals, balance wheels with gold screws and heavy gold cases.


In 1909 for participation in the German watch-manufacturing base, Alpina Union Horlogère founded the "Präcisions-Uhrenfabrik Alpina" in Glashütte. The Union's factories were now located in Geneva, Bienne, Besançon and Glashütte. "Alpina Glashütte" watches gained ground.

This elegant silver timepiece can be yours for MYR1,500. A 30-day warranty is provided for watch. A flat fee insured shipping is provided. 

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