Martijn Bonthond emailed me a link to his article called ‘Collecting IWC watches with pellaton winding system’. The article by Martijn has been published very recently on the official IWC website. It describes how the IWC watches with the Pellaton winding system became a theme in his collection.

Click here to read the article (Published in PDF, you might need to download the Acrobat PDF reader).

The German watch portal watchlounche.com has a number of brand forums (i.e. IWC, AP, Panerai, Omega, Sinn, Rolex and more). One thread in the Rolex forum caught my eye. A forum visitor by the name of ‘Prof. Rolex’ describes the history of the Explorer II ref.1655 from 1971 till 1984. It is in German ofcourse, but you might be able to translate the text with the help of babelfish! Click here to read the original post.

I guess you really have to save up for these vintage beauties! Have seen several of them with a price tag of 12500 Euro and more…

Btw, the ref.1655 Explorer II is also refered to as the Steve McQueen Rolex

Browsing the forums at WatchUseek, I decided to click the Seiko/Citizen/Orient forum for a change. I noticed all these posts with subjects which look like total jibberish to me. Weird feeling, because I was under the impression that after almost 10 years of this watch crazyness, I could identify most watch descriptions. Anyway, a good way to start was to click a thread called ‘Pics of your current Seiko collection’ where WuS visitors are being asked to participate by showing their Japanese watch collection. Pictured below is the Seiko Gyro Marvel watch with automatic movement cal.290 dated ca 1959. Owner Robert has a bunch of Seikos in his collection and shows them with pride!

By the way, I don’t have an opinion on Japanese watches I just prefer Swiss or German watches. Having said, I really do like my Casio G-Shock limited edition (20th anniversary on the original G-Shock DW 5000 dating 1983) I bought in 2003.

Ming Thein is known amongst watch collectors on the internet as a great photographer! This weekend, he clearly demonstrated his skills again, by photographing the A.Lange & Söhne Tourbograph. Click the link and enjoy!

About two weeks ago, I ordered ‘The Watch’ written by Gene Stone. There is an interview with the author on TimeZone and that triggered me to order my own copy at Amazon.com. I was a bit sceptical towards this book, because I have quite some books about the subject, but they are either too much entry level or too high-tech…  Anyway, I received the book last week and I was more than impressed. This book covers a lot of brands, history of brands, watch collecting, a watch dictionary, interviews with watch collectors, tips on collecting and buying watch and last but certainly not least… superb photographs. This book would be a nice present to ask/give for christmas! If I would have known the book was this nice, I would have put it on top of my wish list. I am impressed!!!

A quick post to some links I found over at YouTube that cover wrist watches! Some are better than others, especially in terms of screen resolution. Try them!

Ruegger.ch’s introduction/promo to diving watches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wtwIZdt3SM

Inside a Rolex watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGNu8-ZXOK4

Operating the IWC GST diver’s bezel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsMNOG05AYo

CBS Morning show on watches
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kbUMJrePnk

Corum Artisan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNANplNeUJ4

Vacheron et Constantin movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzITSL_rWuc

IWC Ingenieur
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FoJdNjaY7U

Tumduhduhdumtuhduhduhduhtumduhduhdum… (James Bond tune)

The watchismo blog posted a nice overview of all watches that were on the wrist of James Bond a.k.a 007. Rolex Submariner, Breitling TopTime, Pulsar LED, several Seiko’s and various Omega Seamaster Pro models have been used during 5 decades of ‘Bond’ movies. If I am not mistaken - I never read the original novels by Ian Flemming - the books describe the watch as a Rolex Oyster Perpetual, and not specifically a Submariner.

Click here to go to the article over at the watchismo blog.

Picture of Bond and Bond-girl Ursula Andress by OysterInfo.de

My Speedmaster Professional (ref.145.012-67) has returned. It came back from a repair and restoration. The chronograph secondhand has been replaced, because the original one was a little rusty. The main spring has been replaced, because it broke down. The authorized Omega dealer had some struggle to get the correct parts on this one, because the caliber 321 movement is a bit dated and parts are hard to get as it seems. Anyway, after almost 2 months of waiting, the watch returned in crisp condition. Working smoothly again, and with the fresh chronograph secondhand on it, it looks like new! Yesterday evening, I exchanged the ref.1450 bracelet for a nice Officina Italia Bros Dakota series strap and couldn’t stop staring at the watch…  After months of almost non-stop Panerai and Rolex wearing, it is time to give this beauty some serious wrist time again.

A big thank you for the German authorized dealer who took such great care of it. Their in house watchmaker did a very nice job!

Ikepod, a brand of watches designed by Marc Newson, is back. After financial issues in the past, they are working on a re-entry on the watch market. According to sources on WatchRap.com and Coolhunting, probably at the end of this year. I am very curious about their strategy for the relaunch of the brand, as it is seems to be clear that they cannot start from where they had left.. Poor marketing and distribution are words that come to mind when I think of the time that they were still in business. Let’s hope for the best, because a number of models of their ‘previous’ collection were great in my opinion. If you are ready for something really special and unique in your collection, you can get one of the old models via Chrono24. They start at approx. 2000 euro on the used market.

Hannes posted a photo of his Rolex Daytona (ref.16520) on a Rolex Jubilee bracelet at ‘Das Rolex Forum’. Although I prefer a Rolex sportswatch on an Oyster bracelet, it seems to be suitable for the more formal dress code

Click here for more pictures.

Just recently, all German watch magazines started to cover the new beauties from Ebel: the 1911 BTR collection, based on the 1911 series. Especially the chronograph is of my personal interest! I always liked the Zenith El Primero driven Ebel chronograph, as worn by Don Johnson a.k.a Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice in the 1980s. The new 1911 BTR chronograph features an in house movement by Ebel, caliber 137. The case is 44.5mm in diameter and can either be choosen with a stainless steel or rubber bezel. The 1911 BTR also comes in a GMT model (caliber 240) and a perpetual model (caliber 288). Prices start at 3500 euro for the GMT with leather strap.

I think that this step could bring Ebel back into business by a lot of purists.. Let’s hope so.

The official promotion site for the 1911 BTR can be found at www.1911btr.com.