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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Angelus Military-Style Chronograph w/Tropical Gilt Dial

Contact me here to make this special Angelus Chrono yours today

Up for sale is this large and beautiful circa 1940s-50s Angelus chronograph in 38mm all-stainless steel case with stunning dark brown tropical gilt dial, powered by the in-house Angelus cal. 215 movement. A famed maker of movements for others, Angelus came into their own in the middle of the twentieth century, when the demand for chronographs for military and civilian use reached a fever pitch. In addition to their famed Chronodato models, Angelus also produced aviator & military-style chronographs to meet the demand of the WWII and post-War era, like this one, which is exactly the same model as the “L.E.” marked Hungarian Air Force-issued version (for Légi Erő).

This example has no issue marks but is notable not only for the large and sought after 38mm case but the stunning original gilt dial with “big eye” sub-dials and original radium luminous Arabic numerals, the surface of which has also aged to a very beautiful and even deep brown tropical tone. This oversized Angelus military-style chrono represents beautifully on the wrist and the organic, even, warm dark chocolate tone is especially appealing.

Overall, this classic Angelus aviator’s chrono is in Excellent vintage condition with a stunning Excellent+ original gilt dial with complex, finely printed minute and tachymeter outer scales and luminous Arabic numeral layout. The case has some marks from age, as one would expect from a 70/80-year-old tool watch, but it still appears to retain its original brushed & polished finish and facets. The venerable Angelus cal. 215 movement was serviced last year and is operating well, ready for years’ more faithful service for its lucky new owner.

All in all, a very special mid-century aviator’s chronograph with loads of vintage charm and impressive wrist presence. Not the most uncommon vintage chrono out there but this is definitely one of the nicest examples you will see!

Contact me here to make this special Angelus Chrono yours today

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage 1960s Omega C-Shape Constellation w/Stunning BLUE VIGNETTE Dial

Contact me here to make this very special C-Shape Connie yours today!

On offer is this beautiful and uncommon circa 1968 all-stainless steel Omega C-Shape Constellation ref. 168.017 with original & ultra rare blue vignette/dégradé dial. For Omega, these vignette dials are primarily found in the later, small square Constellations of the early ’70s, and it is highly uncommon to find one in a C-Shape Connie.

This type of dial features a high gloss lacquer finish with a color tone beneath that grows darker the further it gets from the center, in this case a stunning blue colorway that transitions from bright cobalt to a deep navy at the edges. This example also features a very subtle, attractive but hard-to-see-without-a-loupe “spidering” or “ice crackle” effect when viewed from certain oblique angles, which is a common occurrence on these dials as the lacquer ages and contracts.

Accompanied by its long brick-link ref. 1040 bracelet, this is a very special steel Constellation for the sophisticated collector. And at a very ergonomic 34.5mm in diameter, it’s really suitable for any wrist size or gender, especially as the fashion trend in watches heads back to more modest dimensions. Overall, the watch is in Excellent vintage condition with a case that appears unpolished and the very special original Near Mint blue vignette dial being the most remarkable aspect. This Connie also features the highly regarded caliber 564 Chronometer movement with quickset date under the hood.

The star of the show on this Constellation is, of course, the quite rare vignette aka dégradé dial, with its hypnotic gradations of blue. It also features hand-riveted white gold bar markers, applied OMEGA and Omega logo, Connie star and faceted date window frame. This is a luminous dial with all the original tritium lume plots still intact and perfectly matching luminous hands, so it is correctly signed “T SWISS MADE T”. Featuring its original white printing, the only “flaw” one can ascribe to this beautiful dial is the aforementioned “crackling” of the glossy lacquer finish, which is only barely visible at certain angles with the naked eye and which a lot of collectors, including me, find quite handsome. Simply put, this is a gorgeous and endlessly appealing Constellation dial and if you are a fan of blue dial watches, as I am, this is about as good as it gets from an aesthetic perspective.

Contact me here to make this very special C-Shape Connie yours today!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Results & aftermath

Norris runs away from Verstappen from the start to take dominant win in Singapore; Verstappen still secures P2 but Piastri adds to McLaren points haul in P3

After taking pole by just two-tenths on Saturday, it wasn’t quite clear how much race pace McLaren’s Land Norris would have versus his closest rival, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, it quickly became apparent that the answer was more than enough to keep Verstappen, the season-long Drivers’ points leader, well and truly in the rearview mirrors. With the Flying Dutchman’s best chance a potential early overtake at the very start of the race at the ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, where passing is always at a premium, it was instead Norris who made the superior getaway when the lights went out. The young English contender quickly demonstrated just how much the McLaren MCL38 has overhauled the RB20 as the season has progressed, scampering away with relative ease and quickly gapping the pursuing Red Bull. With his main opponent on this day not Verstappen but the heat, humidity and his own fight for concentration in the face of fatigue, Norris had a few small moments and brushes with the wall. But he kept it clean enough to take a dominant win at the end of 62 grueling laps without a Safety Car or respite of any kind, to the tune of a nearly twenty-one-second advantage over Max. The only thing that stopped Norris from having an absolutely perfect weekend was the Red Bull sister team’s Daniel Ricciardo of RB Honda, who made a late stop for fresh Soft Pirellis and subsequently stole the fastest lap point away from Norris. It was nice bit of long game strategy from Red Bull in a tight championship and a suitably selfless gesture from Ricciardo, who ran his last race for RB on Sunday and possibly in Formula 1, the affable Aussie set to be replaced in the car when the teams unpack in Austin by promising rookie New Zealander, Liam Lawson.

Despite his recent surge in momentum, Norris has not been able to make much of a dent in Verstappen’s championship lead, as the Dutch master has proven superb at damage limitation in the face of the McLaren onslaught. As a team, however, McLaren have begun to pull away in the all important Constructors’ points, helped in no small part by having the superior dynamic duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri, who are both able to compete for victory on any given Sunday. Piastri did his part yet again in Singapore, fighting back from a P5 start on the grid to a valuable podium position and P3 by the time the checkers flew. Contrast that with Verstappen’s Red Bull stablemate, Sergio Perez, who saw his struggles continue after a heartbreaking DNF in Baku last weekend when the Mexican seemed assured of a podium. Perez only qualified P13 here at Marina Bay and then trudged his way to a solitary point with a P10 finish. Unfortunately for Checo, with both McLaren pilots firing on all cylinders week in and week out, it makes his lack of points performance all the more glaring.

Mercedes’ George Russell was able to hold off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a grueling, multi-lap defense to secure P4, exactly where Russell started. Teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started alongside Russell in P3 on the grid, was hamstrung by a curious decision to start the seven-time champ on Soft tires, while all the other contenders ran their first stint on the preferred Mediums. If the intent was to help Hamilton to a superior start and get up amongst Verstappen and Norris, it failed miserably and Hamilton not only had to pit prematurely but also ended up holding up teammate Russell in the first stanza of the race. Compromised as he was by the dubious strategy, Hamilton recovered as best he could but drifted to a desultory P6 finish. With Lecerc fighting hard to redeem his qualifying mistake that saw a good lap time deleted and a subsequent P9 start, the Monegasque worked himself up to that hard earned P5 result despite being unable to make the a final overtake on Russell. Teammate Sainz, who crashed out in quali and started P10, was also able to make up some ground and an OK P7 placing. Veteran overachievers Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg finished P8 and P9 for Aston Martin and Haas respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

62

1:40:52.571

25

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

62

+20.945s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

62

+41.823s

15

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

62

+61.040s

12

5

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

62

+62.430s

10

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

62

+85.248s

8

7

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

62

+96.039s

6

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

61

+1 lap

4

9

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas Ferrari

61

+1 lap

2

10

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

61

+1 lap

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a nearly a month’s time, as F1 returns to United States for the second of three races scheduled there this season, this time to the fantastic purpose built track that is the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The wide open straights and long, flowing Esses should be better suited to Red Bull’s strong points but McLaren is looking like the best car on any track at the moment. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Singapore — Qualifying results

Norris earns pole at Marina Bay in Red Flag-affected quali; Verstappen pips Hamilton for P2; Ferrari Q3 nightmare as Sainz crashes out, Leclerc time deleted

With Formula 1 entering the final third of its longest ever season and the Championship hunt as tight as it has been in several years, Saturday Qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix was as dramatic as it was potentially consequential. McLaren’s Lando Norris, desperate to close his gap to Red Bull’s points-leading Max Verstappen after a difficult weekend in Azerbaijan, was able to take the pole for Sunday’s race with a post-Red Flag one-lap flier late in Q3. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had crashed out midway through Q3 in bizarre fashion during a pre-hot lap warm up, bringing out the Red Flag to retrieve the Spaniard’s stricken Prancing Horse form the final corner’s Tecpro barriers.  With a little over 8 minutes remaining when the session restarted, McLaren opted to send both their cars out first amongst the remaining nine to set times and not wait around for any potential track improvement by the time the clock ran out. It worked well for Norris, who hooked up a lap good enough for P1 but less well for teammate Oscar Piastri. Piastri, last week’s winner at Baku, had been in the top spot before the Sainz stoppage but the young Aussie could not improve and was eventually relegated to P5 by the session’s end.

After a multi-race qualifying drought, Verstappen returned to his excellent form under the pressure of the one-lap shootout, besting Mercedes Lewis Hamilton for P2 in a car that had looked nowhere for most of the session. Lining up alongside Norris on the front row, this race could come down to which driver gets away better at the very start, as passing at Marina Bay Street Circuit can be extremely difficult. Hamilton was nonetheless pleased with his P3 effort, the team unlocking pace in the car overnight after some mediocre performances in Friday’s two practice sessions. Silver Arrows stablemate George Russell was slightly less pleased with the unpredictable performance of his Pirelli tires but still  managed to set the fourth fastest time to earn a spot alongside Hamilton on Row 2. Nico Hulkenberg far out-performed his mediocre Haas and set a stunning time good enough for P6. Aston Martin’s savvy Fernando Alonso pulled the same trick to take a solid P7. RB Honda’s Yuki Tsunoda earned P8, while Ferrari suffered the indignity of not only Sainz having to start the race from P10 due to his crash but also seeing Charles Leclerc’s decent final lap deleted for a track limits violation, dropping the Monegasque to P9 and making for a very unhappy fifth-row duo for the Scuderia.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Singapore GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.002

1:30.007

1:29.525

16

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:30.157

1:29.680

1:29.728

18

3

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:30.393

1:29.929

1:29.841

16

4

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:30.811

1:30.153

1:29.867

17

5

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:30.258

1:29.640

1:29.953

18

6

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas Ferrari

1:30.724

1:30.150

1:30.115

18

7

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:30.684

1:30.450

1:30.214

17

8

22

Yuki Tsunoda

RB Honda RBPT

1:30.716

1:30.289

1:30.354

17

9

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:30.786

1:29.747

DNF

19

10

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:30.670

1:30.108

DNS

16

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 8 am here in the States. With tensions mounting  and time running short in the hunt for glory in 2024, as well as a very tight circuit where overtaking is very difficult and Safety Cars are de rigueur, look for loads of close quarters action between the top contenders, several of whom are out of position, in a desperate scramble for maximum points. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Results & aftermath

Piastri shines, holds off Leclerc to take victory in scintillating Baku duel; Russell gifted P3 after Perez & Sainz crash each other out; Norris recovers to P6 ahead of Verstappen in P7

McLaren’s up and coming young ace Oscar Piastri withstood lap after lap of relentless pressure from Fearrri’s Charles Leclerc, holding off the hard charging Prancing Horse over the course of a long final tire stint at the always tricky Baku City Circuit to take victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. With those two drivers clearly the class of the field on the day, the 51-lap race came down to a two car duel for the win. As the laps wound down, Piastri was just able to hold off Leclerc despite the Monegasque’s best efforts, with both men struggling with aging Hard compound Pirelli tires after choosing the preferred one-stop strategy. Eventually, it was Leclerc’s tires that fell off the performance cliff after all that time spent in Piastri’s wake, and the young Aussie earned his second victory of the season and his career by a deceptively large ten-second margin. Leclerc started the Grand Prix from pole, the fourth of his career at Baku, but he has frustratingly yet to convert that one-lap mastery into a win. Still, his second place finish continued Leclerc’s excellent run of form that has seen him podium four races in a row and earn a monumental victory in Italy a fortnight ago.

Ferrari were hoping for even bigger things on the day, as was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who looked poised for a rejuvenating P3 podium finish. But the second Prancing Horse of Carlos Sainz closed the gap on Perez late in the race, the Spaniard also looking keen on grabbing a spot on the podium. With Leclerc seeming to fall into Perez’s clutches and P2 possibly on for the much maligned Red Bull driver, Perez made a lunge on the leading Ferrari steaming into Turn 1 on the second to last lap. But Leclerc was able to hold off the Mexican and Sainz pounced on the Red Bull’s loss off momentum. As Leclerc scampered away from danger, Sainz and Perez were parallel speeding towards Turn 3, with Perez looking to regain his momentum and the position. But they both drifted into each other, touched rear wheels and were shunted into the wall. In shocking fashion, it was over for both drivers with only one lap left in a race that had looked so promising for both however their own personal battle might have turned out had they not made contact.

That contretemps really hurt both Ferrari and Red Bull in the Constructors’ Standings, while McLaren vaulted into the lead of that all important contest thanks not only to Piastri’s sweet victory but also Lando Norris overcoming a poor P15 start and persevering all the way up to a post-carnage P4 finish. Norris even made a late race overtake on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for that position on a day when Verstappen was clearly the slower of the two RB20s. It perfectly encapsulated two stark realities facing the Dutch three-time champion and team Red Bull: the car has undeniably lost pace to McLaren and to a lesser extent Ferrari; and Verstappen is now routinely struggling to extract performance from the car after being in perfect harmony with it to start the season. Things  could also get worse before they get better for Red Bull and their Dutch master, as the next race is in Singapore and the Marina Bay Street Circuit is a longtime bogey track for the team.

After the Sainz-Perez crash, the race eded under Virtual Safety car and George Russell ended up the lucky third place finisher on a day when Mercedes were really nowhere. Teammate Lewis Hamilton likewise benefitted from the double DNF ahead and leapt into the points in P9 after struggling all day outside the top ten due to starting from the pt lane after post-qualifying engine component changes. Aston Marin’s savvy vet Fernando Alonso was promoted to P6 after driving a really solid race in a middling car, while Williams’ Alexander Albon slotted into P7. Rookies Franco Colapinto for Williams and Oliver Bearman for Haas came home P8 and P10 respectively. Colapinto will finish out the season after Williams gave American Logan Sargeant the sack before Monza, the Argentinian youngster making the decision look good with a solid double-points day for the team after a very poised drive over the course of an extra-long second stint. Bearman’s equally impressive drive was likely a one-off, though, due to Haas’s regular pilot Kevin Magnussen serving a one-race ban here due to penalty points accumulation.

Top 10 finishers of the Azerbaijan GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

51

1:32:58.007

25

2

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

51

+10.910s

18

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

51

+31.328s

15

4

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

51

+36.143s

13

5

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

51

+77.098s

10

6

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

51

+85.468s

8

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

51

+87.396s

6

8

43

Franco Colapinto

Williams Mercedes

51

+89.541s

4

9

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

51

+92.401s

2

10

50

Oliver Bearman

Haas Ferrari

51

+93.127s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and it’s another tight and tricky track — Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit. A lot of very frustrated contending drivers will be looking to get back on form there, while Piastri and Leclerc will simply be looking to keep their mojo going. Hope to see you then for all the twists and turns that lie ahead at that spectacular night race!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan — Qualifying results

Leclerc claims pole in chaotic Baku qualifying; Piastri edges Sainz for P2 but Norris knocked out in Q1 shocker; Perez out-qualifies Verstappen for once, P4 to P6

On a fascinating and chaotic day of Saturday qualifying for the Azerbaijan Gran Prix at the always challenging Baku City Circuit it was Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc who carried the momentum from his dream win at Monza two weeks ago and converted it into pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Monegasque’s excellent run of qualifying form at Baku also continued, as he earned his fourth consecutive pole here. Leclerc, however, has never concerted those into wins in Azerbaijan, something he will be more than eager to do come race day tomorrow. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri slotted in alongside the lead Ferrari with a time good enough for P2, while Leclerc’s Scuderia stablemate Carlos Sainz laid down the third fastest lap in Q3. Unfortunately for McLaren and their highest placed driver, Lando Norris was unceremoniously bounced out of Q1 after some confusion over lifting for a yellow flag that appeared in actuality to be the “slow down” white flag. Starting from a lowly P16, Norris and his brain trust will have it all to do tomorrow to try and keep his points pursuit of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on track. The young English contender will likely need help from a Safety Car and /or Red Flag, plus some canny strategy calls from the pit wall to get a decent result.

Speaking of Red Bull and Verstappen, it was another bewildering day for the Dutch master, as teammate Sergio Perez firmly bested him in quali, P4 to P6. It was the first time this season that the Mexican veteran, who is fighting to stay in his Red Bull seat after a massive midseason slump, has out-qualified his championship-leading teammate. Mercedes’ George Russell split the Red Bull’s with the fifth fatstest time, clinching the season’s qualifying battle with his highly decorated teammate Lewis Hamilton, 13 to 4. Hamilton could only muster P7 on the day, though the seven-time World Champion has a habit of coming good in the races. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso over-performed his rather tepid mount to the tune of a P8 starting spot, while raw rookie Franco Colapinto go the better of his senior Williams teammate Alex Albon in only his second F1 effort, P9 to P10. Colapinto, who was drafted into the team to replace the struggling American Logan Seargeant at Monza, has looked impressive throughout the weekend at this rather daunting circuit. He was also helped by Albon not being able to get a final lap due to inexplicably leaving the pits with the airbox fan still attached. It remains to be seen if Albon will face any penalties for tomorrow’s race due to that obvious unsafe release.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Azerbaijan GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:42.775

1:42.056

1:41.365

20

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:43.033

1:42.598

1:41.686

19

3

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:43.357

1:42.503

1:41.805

23

4

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.213

1:42.263

1:41.813

15

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:43.139

1:42.329

1:41.874

20

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:43.097

1:42.042

1:42.023

20

7

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:43.089

1:42.765

1:42.289

22

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

1:43.472

1:42.426

1:42.369

19

9

43

Franco Colapinto

Williams Mercedes

1:43.138

1:42.473

1:42.530

20

10

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:42.899

1:42.840

1:42.859

19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race aires live on ESPN beginning at 7 am Eastern here in the States. With the grid jumbled and a lot of drivers out of position, it should be an action packed start that Leclerc and Piastri will look to stay ahead of in pursuit of victory. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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Watch Collector’s Notebook: Three Special Dial 1960s Omega Seamasters

Arguably more than any other of the great Swiss marques, Omega has always been daring, experimental and graphically innovative in their dial designs. And one could make a very strong case that they were at the peak of their powers in this regard in the 1960s. I first became aware of Omega’s penchant for creativity and purpose built “tool” dials on what would ordinarily have been standard dress models by way of having a Seamaster “Railmaster Official” passed down to me by my father. It, along with his Speedmaster Mark II racing dial, is what got me into vintage Omega, and ultimately vintage watches and watches more generally, in the first place.

Seamaster “Railmaster Official” ref. 165.002, cal. 550, 17 jewels, adjusted 3 positions, circa 1966:

I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced this with an heirloom-type watch, but I’ve always felt not only grateful to have it but also, I have to admit if I’m being honest, slightly constrained by the aesthetic. While Omega designed this watch (with no small copying of Ball’s famous layout) to sell to the very specific railroad worker market, as well as those who value maximum legibility at a glance (something I do appreciate more as I get older), this dial is not quite my personal style. In other words, if it hadn’t been in the family, I don’t think I would have sought it out and bought it on my own despite its very attractive glossy white “porcelain” finish and bold black enamel numerals.

So, I recently decided to acquire what are essentially the same models of Seamaster but with very different dials that are a bit more in my design wheelhouse. The first is the semi-famous “Speedy Companion”, which might more properly be called the “Soleil Companion”, due to the fact that it not only mimics the legendary Speedmaster Professional’s characteristic luminous plots but also the very uncommon lustrous blue-gray soleil/metallic dial finish very rarely found in certain highly desirable ’60s Speedys.

Seamaster “Speedy Companion” ref. 166.002, cal. 565 (quickset), 24 jewels, circa 1966:

Being a compulsive sort of collector, I was not only thrilled with the Speedy Companion but also left wanting one more from this special era of Seamaster dial designs. The scarce “Albino Technical” really spoke to me, with its hyper-attractive matte white dial, non-luminous black “Speedy” markings and punchy red crosshair and Omega logo. It kind of screams “NASA UNIVAC technician”, at least in my imagination.

Seamaster “Albino Technical” ref. 166.002, cal. 562, 24 jewels, circa 1966:

All three watches have pretty much the exact same, rapidly coming back into fashion 34.5mm cases and yet represent completely differently on the wrist, a delightful tribute to a time when creativity in the Swiss watch industry generally, and Omega in particular, was really at an impressive and perhaps all-time high.

I’ll always be proud and honored to have my father’s “Railmaster Official” and look forward to always keeping it in the family, as it has been for some 58-years and counting. But I’m also really pleased to have now added two other very special and distinct 1960s Seamasters that are truly reflective of my own personal tastes and my pleasure in Mid-century modern design language.

You never know where your collector’s journey will take you in this hobby. But it’s certainly a lot of fun following the various tributaries that spring from the main river of your passion!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Leclerc rides audacious one-stop strategy to take surprise victory at Monza for jubilant Ferrari; Piastri out-duels McLaren teammate Norris for P2

With McLaren looking the dominant team heading into the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, it was Ferrari that stunned Formula 1 by pushing their man Charles Leclerc to first place with an audacious, contrarian one-stop strategy and taking a sweet victory at the storied Scuderia’s home race. Lacking the outright pace of the McLaren’s, Ferrari nevertheless capitalized when the pole-sitting Lando Norris scrapped with his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap and was then passed by the young Aussie for the race lead heading into the second chicane. In that tussle, the Prancing Horse of Leclerc was also able to get by the recovering Norris, setting the wheels in motion on Ferrari’s pit wall to come up with a strategy that would enable Leclerc to fight it out with Piastri for the top step of the podium. But few would have guessed that when Leclerc was undercut by Norris on Lap 15 of this 53-lap contest at the ultra-fast Autodromo Nazionale Monza that the fabled team from Maranello would figure out a way to actually win. Leclerc himself was irate at his race engineer & strategist for losing a place to Norris when he stopped a lap later, both drivers making the switch off their opening set of Medium Pirellis onto the more durable Hard compound tires. It seemed more likely that McLaren had set up a duel between their two drivers for the win, with Piastri destined to re-inherit the race lead and Norris P2 after the opening round of pit stops were completed.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that expected McLaren 1-2. With all the front running teams appearing to run the two-stopper as the best way to finish the race, Piastri made his second pit stop from the lead on Lap 39 and Norris in P2 ran a bit longer to Lap 41. But both Leclerc and Sainz stayed out and it suddenly dawned on the paddock that Ferrari were going to run the risky one-stop strategy despite the waning performance from their aging Hard tires. Leclerc’s lead was such that he was more than full pit stop ahead of the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, meaning that the worst that could happen to Leclerc and Sainz if they absolutely had to bail in the race’s final few laps would be a likely third and fourth place finish respectively. On the other hand, now McLaren had to try to reclaim the top two spots by making overtakes on the Ferrari duo with time running out. Piastri did close down Sainz and passed the game Spaniard for P2 on Lap 45, with Norris managing the same feat three laps later. But Leclerc was able to maintain enough of a lead that the laps ran out before the desperate Piastri could even get into position to try for a pass. When the checkered flag flew, Leclerc came home some 2.66-seconds to the good of Piastri to the delight of the happily stunned tifosi in the stands, who happily stormed the field for the post-race ceremonies, as is tradition here. It was an emotional win for the Monegasque, who earlier in the season won his home race in Monaco and now has won for Ferrari at Monza, the dream of every Formula 1 driver who drives for the Prancing Horse. And it showed that the much maligned braintrust at the Scuderia could take a gamble that actually paid off for a change, leaving them still in the hunt for the Constructors’ Championship when many had already written them off this year.

With higher expectations after locking out the front row in qualifying, Piastri and Norris finished a somewhat disappointed P2 and P3 respectively, while Leclerc’s teammate Sainz claimed P4 after running a fine race of his own for himself and the team, especially in defense of Leclerc as the laps ran down. Hamilton ended up the highest placed Silver Arrow in P5 after teammate George Russell, who started from P3 on the grid, sustained opening lap damage to his front wing amidst the chaos that is the first chicane here, necessitating a premature and lengthy early pit stop for a wing change in addition to tires that set the young Briton on his back foot for the rest of the race. Russell rallied to finish P7 but it wasn’t the race he envisioned when he woke up on Sunday morning. Likewise, Hamilton was left hoping for more when the Mercedes W15 had looked so strong until the final quali session on Saturday. Team Red Bull were also more than happy to put Monza in the rearview, with points leader Max Verstappen only able to advance one spot from his starting position, finishing a relatively lowly P6, while Sergio Perez  was overtaken late by Russel and had to settle for P8. The team will be hoping that the very tricky and specific compromises needed to succeed at Monza were to blame rather than a lasting problem with the RB20’s development, as they uncharacteristically looked like merely the fourth quickest team here in Italy all weekend long.

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen also rode the one-stopper to some level of success and points, with Albon finishing P9 and Magnussen taking the final point in P10 despite a 10-second penalty for colliding with the RB of Yuki Tsunoda early in the race, which wound up ending the Japanese driver’s day.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

1:14:40.727

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

53

+2.664s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

53

+6.153s

16

4

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

53

+15.621s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

53

+22.820s

10

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+37.932s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+39.715s

6

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+54.148s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

53

+67.456s

2

10

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas Ferrari

53

+68.302s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the always exciting Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the challenging Baku City Circuit, so the teams will get a little breather after the back-to-back rounds coming out of the summer break. For Ferrari and Leclerc and all of Italy, it will mean an extra week to savor an improbable win. For the other contenders, it’ll be trying to figure out how to get back into victory lane in this highly unpredictable season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

McLaren mighty at Monza, lockout front row with Norris pole, Piastri P2; Russell P3 ahead of both Ferraris; Verstappen a shock P7

A week after taking the win at Zandvoort, Lando Norris and McLaren’s surge continued during Saturday qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the Temple of Speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza. On a beautiful day in Northern Italy at this fatstest of F1 circuits, Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri set an untouchable pace in Q3, with Norris taking pole over Piastri by nine-tenths of a second. McLaren is proving to be the primary challenger for both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles, something that was hard to envision earlier in the season when Max Verstappen and his Red Bull were laying waste to the entire Formula 1 field with ease. That all changed in Round 6, when Norris took the win in Miami and since then, the overall momentum has swung decidedly away from Red Bull and towards McLaren. As if to put an exclamation point on that fact, Red Bull were completely flummoxed by their lack of pace here in Italy, which saw them stumble to rather a lowly P7 qualifying effort for Verstappen and a P8 by struggling teammate Sergio Perez. It will be fascinating to see if Red Bull can somehow find a way to recover overnight and be able to work their way to the front come race day. But with the sheer amount of teams that look faster than them here, it certainly doesn’t look like that will happen tomorrow.

Looking like perhaps the fastest team overall heading into Q3, things did not exactly work out for mighty Mercedes when the fastest laps were set in Q3. While George Russell was able to vault himself up to P3 on the grid with a fine final effort, teammate Lewis Hamilton left a lot on the table and only qualified in P6, leaving the English seven-time champ furious with himself after the session. Russell did relegate the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to P4 and P5 respectively despite the ardent support of the always enthusiastic tifosi in the stands for the fabled Scuderia’s home race. The Williams of Alexander Albon in P9 and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in P10 rounded out the top ten qualifiers on the day.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:19.911

1:19.727

1:19.327

12

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:20.076

1:19.808

1:19.436

19

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:20.169

1:19.877

1:19.440

18

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:20.074

1:20.007

1:19.461

21

5

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:20.149

1:19.799

1:19.467

18

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:20.477

1:19.641

1:19.513

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:20.226

1:19.662

1:20.022

18

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:20.598

1:20.216

1:20.062

17

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:20.542

1:20.314

1:20.299

18

10

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas Ferrari

1:20.781

1:20.411

1:20.339

18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9 am Eastern here in the States. Can Red Bull and Max Verstappen get back in the fight with so many other teams looking much faster than them here at Monza? Will McLaren hold off the desperate to win Ferraris at their home track in front of the fanatical tifosi? Is it possible for Mercedes to reclaim the pace advantage they had going into Q3 and pull the upset? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands — Results & aftermath

Norris recovers from poor start to hammer Verstappen on home turf; Leclerc holds off Piastri for P3

In the halcyon days of Red Bull’s dominance, a bobble like the one McLaren’s pole-sitting Lando Norris made to start Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix would have relegated the young Briton to a second place start once Max Verstappen pounced to take the lead amidst the rolling dunes of Zandvoort. But such are the strides that McLaren and their young duo of drivers have made that Norris not only kept his cool after ceding the lead but then set himself to relentlessly closing down the race leading Red Bull in rather astonishingly rapid fashion. Proving that the pace advantage in Formula 1 no longer rests with Red Bull, McLaren’s main man hunted down Verstappen and re-passed the Dutchman in front of his home crowd with relative ease on Lap 18 of this 72-lap contest. Norris almost immediately scampered away out of DRS range and built enough of an advantage to withstand Verstappen’s attempt at an undercut on Lap 27, emerging from his only out stop of the race a lap later just under five-seconds ahead of the Flying Dutchman. After that, it was clear that the McLaren in Norris’s hands had the legs on Verstappen’s Red Bull, and Norris never faced a real challenge for the rest of the race. He subsequently earned his second F1 victory and second this season after breaking his duck in Miami, taking the checkered flag nearly 23-seconds ahead of the Red Bull runner-up.

Ferrari’s Chalres Leclerc exceeded expectations by making a very good getaway of his own to start the race and then undercutting the field on Lap 25 to get track position on the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Lecerc was then able to hold off Piastri in the final stanza of the race to claim P3 and earn the last step on the podium. But with Piastri still coming home a solid P4 while Perez drifted to a rather desultory P6 finish, and combined with Norris’s maximum 26-points haul for not only winning but setting the fastest lap of the day, McLaren closed ground on Red Bull in the all-important Constructors’ Standings to the tune of a mere thirty-point deficit. Norris also sliced into Verstappen’s lead in the Drivers’ points, closing to within seventy with nine races remaining on the calendar. In a twist few would have predicted after the opening rounds of the 2024 season, Red Bull are now the ones chasing McLaren and hoping they can do just enough to hold off the papaya orange menace filling up their rearview mirrors in both title hunts.

Leclerc’s Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz did well to come home ahead of Perez in P5 after being hampered by limited running in practice and starting down in P10. Mercedes had a step back here after their strong run of results heading into the summer break, leaving the team scratching their heads over their relative lack of pace that saw George Russell only finish P7 after starting from fourth on the grid. Teammate Lewis Hamilton at least recovered somewhat from his lowly P14 starting position and came home in P8, cold if any comfort for driver and team. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had another solid drive to take valuable points in P9 and Fernando Alonso was the lone Aston Martin to score in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Dutch GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

72

1:30:45.519

26

2

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

72

+22.896s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

72

+25.439s

15

4

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

72

+27.337s

12

5

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

72

+32.137s

10

6

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

72

+39.542s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

72

+44.617s

6

8

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

72

+49.599s

4

9

10

Pierre Gasly

Alpine Renault

71

+1 lap

2

10

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

71

+1 lap

1

Complete race results available via Formula.com.

The next tilt is in but a week’s time — the Italian Grand Prix from the Temple of Speed, Monza. While Ferrari would dearly like to take the honors for that race weekend, it’s now looking like a two team race between Red Bull and surging McLaren. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out on the fastest circuit in Formula 1!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Results & aftermath

Russell shockingly DQ’d from victory due to minimum weight violation after audacious one-stop strategy; teammate Hamilton elevated to win at Spa; Piastri P2, Norris P3 for McLaren; Verstappen recovers from P11 to P4

Mercedes’ George Russell appeared to ride an audacious one-stop tire strategy to victory over his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s action packed Belgian Grand Prix. But the daring young English pilot was stripped of his win after post-race scrutineering discovered that his car was under the weight limit specified by the F1 regulations by 1.5 kilograms when properly drained of fuel. Ironically, it may have been due to Russell’s running the one-stopper, contrary to all the other drivers in the field, that contributed to enough rubber loss on his final set of Pirelli Hard tires to bring the car in under the limit. Additionally, the fact that there is no cool down lap at Spa, the longest track on the F1 calendar, during which drivers usually deliberately add spent rubber “marbles” back onto their tires to add weight, could have been a contributing factor. Either way, it was a stunning blow to young George after his fantastic gamble appeared to pay off, as well as team Mercedes as whole, which must shoulder the blame for the car coming in underweight regardless of any mitigating circumstances. And despite Hamilton, who drove an outstanding race of his own, being elevated to the victory, it cost the Silver Arrows a very valuable 1-2 finish and will leave a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth back at Brackley as the they and all the teams head into the long summer break.

With blue skies and sunshine bathing the famed Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on Sunday after nothing but clouds and rain the previous two days, the teams were flying blind in terms of tire data heading into the Belgian Grand Prix. With all the teams projecting a two-stop race, the variables were which tires to start on and switch to and the major unknowns were the level of degradation over 44-laps with the track temps so much hotter than in practice and Qualifying.  The top ten runners all started on the Medium Pirellis except for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who chose the Hards to begin the race. P11 Max Verstappen, who was fastest in qualifying but was dropped ten places due to an engine component change, also started on Mediums and when the lights went out to start the Grand Prix, Verstappen shot himself up to P9 is short order, passing the Williams of Alexander Albon and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile at the front, the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc got away cleanly, while Hamilton dispatched the lead Red Bull of Sergio Perez to quickly nab second place. McLaren’s Lando Norris, starting in P3, ran wide heading into Turn 1 and dropped a wheel into the gravel, costing him several places and teammate and last week’s race winner Oscar Piastri inherited third as a result.

By Lap 3, Hamilton had already hunted down Leclerc and the Prancing Horse proved to be no match for the improved Silver Arrow in a straight line, the seven-time champion dispatching the Monegasque for the lead of the race while streaking down the Kemmel Straight. Things then settled down for a few laps as the teams calculated when to make their first stops for fresh rubber, with Verstappen and Russell diving to the pits on Lap 10 to try and make use of the powerful undercut strategy against their rivals, both drivers opting to doff their Mediums in favor of the Hard compound tires for the second stint. Hamilton pitted a lap later, along with P3 Piastri, handing the lead back to Leclerc briefly until Ferrari brought their point man in on Lap 12, all three contenders making the predicted Medium to Hard switch. Sainz then inherited the race lead from his teammate, with second place Norris making his stop on Lap 15, also swapping out his Mediums for Hards, while the Spaniard ran all the way to Lap 20 before finally making his first stop and utilizing the opposite strategy of Hards to Mediums.

The second stops came rather quickly for the most part, Perez pitting again on Lap 21 directly after being passed by Russell on track for P4. Leclerc ran to Lap 25 in an attempt to undercut Hamilton but he had a slightly slow 3.4-second stop while changing from Hards to Hards and when Hamilton came in a lap later, he made the same tire choice but cemented his advantage over Leclerc’s Ferrari thanks to a nifty 2.4-seconds spent stationary. The flurry of pit lane activity at the front continued, with both Verstappen and Sainz making their second stops on Lap 28, Sainz continuing to run the counter strategy by switching off his Mediums back onto Hards for the remainder of the race and Verstappen making the conventional Hard to Medium swap. Norris boxed a lap later, choosing another fresh set of Hards to finish out the race, while on track Perez let Verstappen by for P5 and a possible charge onto the podium for the Dutch Master. Piastri wound up being the last of the top ten to make his second stop on Lap 30 but the young Aussie almost ruined his race when he came into the box too hot and nearly knocked over his front jack man, who did fine work to absorb the impact, stay on his feet and hoist the car for service. The driver error resulted in a slow but not catastrophic 4.4 seconds stationary and he came back out in P5.

Meanwhile, Russell had inherited the lead after all was said and done and was insisting that his now 20-lap-old Hard tires could make it for the final fourteen circuits of the race. The Mercedes brain trust, to their credit, allowed the young Briton to execute the high risk gamble, perhaps feeling that running in clean air at the front might make up for any loss of performance due to tire degradation. His P2 teammate Hamilton looked to have the ultimate advantage on much fresher rubber, though, relentlessly closing up to within DRS range for the final five laps. Piastri, meanwhile, was closing in on both and looking to pick up any pieces as they squabbled, having dispatched Leclerc for P3 back on Lap 36. But Russell was able to hold off Hamilton’s best efforts and Lewis raced wisely enough not to throw away both their races with any desperate lunges for the lead. It all seemed like a dream finish when Russell came to the checkers still in first place and claim victory over his teammate and lead home a Mercedes 1-2. But the technical violation afterwards turned what was a great day into a nightmare and snatched away what was truly a gutsy drive and tactical decision by Russell. Mercedes will be looking into how they got their weight calculations wrong enough to cost their man a stellar victory but full credit to Russell and his outstanding efforts despite the painful DQ.

As a result of Russell’s exclusion, Hamilton not only was declared victor but Piastri was elevated to P2 and Leclerc was put on the podium in P3. Verstappen must have been pretty happy with his P4 considering where he started and the serious competition from Mercedes and McLaren, but Norris was less than thrilled with his eventual P5, in no small part feeling that his early lap bobble cost him against Verstappen and his teammate. Sainz, who has just been signed by Williams for the next two seasons, ended up P6 and Perez was classified P7, while also setting the race’s fastest lap after a late third pit stop for Softs. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took P8, Alpine’s Ocon grabbed P9 and the RB Honda of Daniel Ricciardo was promoted into the points in P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Belgian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

DQ

63

George Russell

Mercedes

44

1:19:57.040

0

1

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

44

+0.526s

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

44

+1.173s

18

3

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

44

+8.549s

15

4

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

44

+9.226s

12

5

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

44

+9.850s

10

6

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

44

+19.795s

8

7

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

44

+43.195s

7

8

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes

44

+49.963s

4

9

31

Esteban Ocon

Alpine Renault

44

+52.552s

2

10

3

Daniel Ricciardo

RB Honda RBPT

44

+54.926s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race weekend is nearly a month away — the Dutch Grand prix from the dunes of Zandvoort on August 23-25th. The season has really hotted up with a lot of uncertainty in the hunt for the Championships as McLaren and Mercedes relentlessly close the gap to Red Bull. So, the wait should be worth it when Formula 1 returns — hope to see you then to find out how things pick up after the hiatus!

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Miami — Results & aftermath

McLaren’s Norris earns maiden win in Miami with brilliant drive & a little luck; Verstappen relegated to rare P2 in fair fight, Leclerc P3 for Ferrari

McLaren’s Lando Norris drove the race of his life at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, using his ever improving skills as a driver, the new upgrades on his MCL38 chassis and little bit of Safety Car luck to earn his maiden win in Formula 1 in spectacular fashion. Having knocked on the door with seven podiums over the course of a F1 career that began in the middle of the 2018 season, the 24-year-old Briton finally kicked down that barrier to take the top step of the podium ahead of the usually imperious Red Bull of Max Verstappen by an impressive 7.612 seconds. After coming a cropper on the first lap of Saturday’s Sprint race, Norris excelled in Sunday’s GP, even though he started from back in P5 on the grid. With Verstappen looking fully in control and en route to another easy win midway through this 57-lap contest, and teammate Oscar Piastri actually seeming the quicker car in the early going, Norris made his own luck by running an extra-long first stint on his initial Medium Pirelli tires. While some contenders pitted under a brief Virtual Safety Car deployed on Lap 23 to retrieve a loose bollard from the chicane that Verstappen had knocked onto the track a few laps earlier, including Max himself, the two McLarens were not in position to take the risk of the VSC ending while in the pits and stayed out. It proved to be a prescient decision.

When the action resumed at the end of that lap, Verstappen had been shuffled back to P4, with Piastri now in the lead, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P2 and Norris in third. Piastri and Sainz then pitted under green flag conditions on Lap 28, both going from Mediums to Hards under the favored one-stop strategy, with Norris then inheriting the lead and presumably attempting a one-lap overcut strategy. But that plan paid even bigger dividends when the Haas of Kevin Magnussen came together with the Williams of local boy Logan Sargeant on the very same lap, spinning Sargent backwards into the barriers and disabling his car. A Safety Car to retrieve the stricken Williams was quickly deployed on Lap 29, enabling Norris to duck into the pits for the cheap stop under the full course yellow a lap later. Norris then reemerged still in the lead, setting up a showdown for the victory with Verstappen when the SC ended in the latter part of Lap 32. The pace in the McLaren being up to the challenge, Norris held off Verstappen with aplomb at the rolling the restart and then, to the capacity crowd’s astonishment, began pulling away from the flying Dutchman. With the tension and anticipation of something truly special unfolding as the laps wound down, Norris kept pulling away from Verstappen, who for once could do nothing to get back up to Norris and make a real challenge. Perhaps the Red Bull’s front wing was damaged from hitting that bollard or perhaps the McLaren in Norris’s hands truly had the legs on the RB20 on this day — or maybe little of both. But when the checkers flew it was an ecstatic Norris with that all important first Formula 1 victory to put McLaren back in the winners circle for the first time since 2021 and relegate the runaway championship favorite Verstappen to a wholly unaccustomed P2.

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage SS Longines ref. 6536-1 w/Breguet Numeral Dial & Bombé Lugs

 

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

On offer is this great looking circa 1950s Longines reference 6536-1 in a very cool all-stainless steel Bombé lug case and featuring a beautiful all-original Breguet numeral dial with wonderful eggshell patina and café au lait aged radium luminous. This great vintage Longines is in overall Excellent original condition and sports the terrific in-house caliber 19AS full rotor sweep seconds movement under the hood.

At 35 mm wide, this beautifully proportioned mens watch with attractive Breguet dial wears wonderfully well on the wrist and is a really fine example of mid-century Longines design. To my eyes, this case is like a hybrid of a Rolex Bombé with its twisted, sweeping lugs and then a Patek 565, with the very distinctive flat, “non-bezel” bezel.

Makes for some very interesting and eye-catching effects on the wrist, to be sure, and just a super pleasing case shape that works in wonderful harmony with that handsome ivory Breguet dial. Fully serviced in the middle of last year, this classic Longines is running well and ready to be enjoyed by the lucky new owner. Make it yours today!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Eska Valjoux 22 Spillman Chrono w/Stunning Gilt Sector Dial

NOW ON SALE!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS KILLER ESKA CHRONO

Click here for the full Ad over at the always awesome Omegaforums.net

On offer this month of March is this rare and beautiful circa 1940s-50s Eska chronograph in Spillman case with amazing gilt sector dial, powered by the famed Valjoux 22 movement. A rather unheralded brand, Eska was founded as S. Kocher in 1918 with “Eska” being a simple phonetic version of those initials for the purposes of branding. Like a lot of mid-century manufacturers, Eska made use of the contract oversize Spillman waterproof cases and Valjoux movements to create aviator & military-style chronographs to meet the demand of the WWII and post-War era.

This example is notable not only for the large and sought after 37mm screw back Spillman case and Valjoux 22 caliber with 45-minute counter under the hood but, of course, the obvious superstar is the stunning black gilt dial with super uncommon and beautiful sector dial layout. This is one of the most sought after chronograph layouts in vintage watches, as made famous by Patek Phillipe in several of their most coveted vintage references. While I wouldn’t call this Eska inexpensive, this special piece will certainly set you back a helluva lot less than a period Patek version would.

Overall, this classic Eska chrono is in Very Good vintage condition with a stunning Very Good+ original gilt dial with complex outer chronograph scales, minute track and interior Arabic numeral sector layout for the timekeeping. The case has some wear and the lugs appear to have been given a matte finish rather than the typical polished finish seen on most Spillman cases. The venerable Valjoux 22 movement was serviced recently and is operating well, ready for years’ more faithful service for its lucky new owner.

The all-original and absolutely stunning glossy black gilt dial features complex outer calibrated Tachymeter & Telemeter chronograph scales, followed concentrically by a minute track and Arabic numeral sector dial interior for the standard timekeeping. Engine-turned sub registers for constant seconds at “9” and the 45-minute recorder at “3”, also with gilt numerals. This Eska sector dial represents beautifully on the wrist, often brightly reflecting the light when you move, and the gilt sector dial layout is absolutely stunning aesthetically, not to mention incredibly hard to find in the wild unless on a modern homage. 

There are not a lot of Spillman cased, Valjoux 22 chronographs out there and even fewer with nice black gilt dials. But a gilt/gloss sector dial Spillman cased Valjoux 22 chronograph has got to be the rarest iteration around. Make this very special vintage Eska chrono yours today.

NOW ON SALE!

Click here for the full Ad over at the always awesome Omegaforums.net

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS KILLER ESKA CHRONO

 

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2024 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain — Results & aftermath

Verstappen opens ’24 campaign with dominant win in Bahrain, Perez P2 as Red Bull remain car to beat; Sainz out-duels Ferrari teammate Leclerc for P3

If there were any illusions remaining from the preseason that another team and driver could truly challenge the Red Bull/Max Verstappen era of dominance that was ushered in with the ground effects spec in 2022, they were quickly shattered in Round 1 of 2024. With the 2024 season starting in Bahrain on Saturday, Verstappen simply picked up where he left off last year when he had one of the most supreme seasons in F1 history. The flying Dutchman led the race’s opening lap from the pole, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into Turn 1, and then rapidly distanced the field in imperious fashion. By the time the 57 laps under the lights at Bahrain International Circuit were completed, he had led every lap, set the race’s fastest lap for the extra point and bested his second place teammate Sergio Perez by a whopping 22.457 seconds. With three consecutive Formula 1 World Championships under his belt, the smart money remains on Verstappen to rack up a fourth, which would tie Sebastian Vettel’s awesome title run with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. While obviously you’ve got to hand it to a driver who is so superior to the rest of the field and so perfectly matched to his vehicle, another season of Verstappen and Red Bull crushing everyone without breaking a sweat is probably not what the Formula 1 brass — or the millions of viewers — really want to see. Still, with a new formula not scheduled to debut until 2026, it’s highly probable that, barring any sort of previously unforeseen reliability issues, it’s going to be the Max Verstappen show on most weekends the majority of the time. Get ready to hear a lot of the Dutch national anthem.

The real battles occurred for the places not on the top step and Perez was able to hold off Ferrari’s very game Carlos Sainz to make it a perfect Red Bull one-two on the day. The veteran Mexican pilot recovered from a subpar P5 qualifying effort to take the fight to George Russell’s Mercedes and the two Prancing Horses of Sainz and Charles Leclerc ahead of him. Despite running his final stint on the more delicate if faster Soft compound Pirellis, Perez was able to nurse his tires to the end and keep the Hard-shod Sainz behind him to earn second place. Nevertheless, it was a strong effort by the Spaniard as he embarks on his final season with Ferrari after being unceremoniously dumped by the Scuderia in favor of Lewis Hamilton for next year. Perhaps driving with a bit of chip on his shoulder from that surprising turn of events, Sainz made a couple off very aggressive passes on his teammate Leclerc, no team orders required, to secure that last spot on the podium. Despite being edged into fourth by his stablemate, Leclerc still had a solid effort in the newly redesigned Ferrari SF-24, particularly as he was plagued by brake or brake bias issues all race long that resulted in multiple lockups. These issues seemed to ease up for the Monegasque when he was not in the hot air of traffic and he was able to catch up and hound Russell into a mistake on Lap 46, overtaking as the Briton’s Silver Arrow slid off track at Turn 11, thereby locking down that P4 for keeps and the valuable 3-4 for Ferrari on the day.

Mercedes also had some technical issues related to overheating that dogged them early in the race in tight quarters but abated somewhat in clean air. Russell was able to keep Lando Norris’s McLaren behind him after Leclerc got by and came home a decent P5. Teammate Hamilton battled one or two gremlins of his own but improved on his poor P9 qualifying by two spots to take P7. Norris secured P6 and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri slotted in behind Hamilton in P8, essentially confirming that, with Red Bull not really in reach, the battle for second in the Constructors’ points will likely be a three-way battle between Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. At least in this earliest of going, it looks like Aston Martin will not really be privy to that elite competition. After their blistering start to last year, the team plateaued around midway through 2023 and seem to have failed to develop during the offseason. Despite looking fairly quick in pre-season testing and the first qualifying effort of the year on Friday, Fernando Alonso could only muster a fairly distant P9 result, with teammate Lance Stroll backstopping him in P10. Stroll does deserve special mention for that otherwise pedestrian result because he not only started from twelfth on the grid but also need up facing the wrong way on the opening lap after tangling with the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg. So, a good recovery drive from the young Canadian but still, a 9-10 is not exactly where Aston dreamed they’d be today.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 1:31:44.742 26
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 57 +22.457s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 57 +25.110s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 57 +39.669s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 57 +46.788s 10
6 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +48.458s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 57 +50.324s 6
8 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 57 +56.082s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +74.887s 2
10 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 57 +93.216s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time and it’ll be another Friday qualifying/Saturday race in Saudi Arabia to accommodate the upcoming Ramadan holiday. There won’t be any time to really upgrade the cars so, look for Red Bull & Verstappen to have another romp when the action in Round 2 gets underway, though the much tighter Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit could provide some more incidents than we saw in today’s Safety Car-free running. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

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2023 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Verstappen caps historic season with easy victory in Abu Dhabi; wins 19 out of 22 races in 2023; first driver to lead 1000 laps; Leclerc P2 but Russell’s elevation to third after Perez penalty plus Hamilton’s P9 finish earn Mercedes second in Constructors’

Red Bull’s supreme ace Max Verstappen ended his historically dominant 2023 campaign in Abu Dhabi the way he started it way back in early March in Bahrain — with a commanding and effortless win. Under the bright and colorful lights of the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen cruised from pole to the win in Sunday’s final Grand Prix of the year, with no other car and driver able to challenge the pace of the RB19 in his hands. Having already won his third consecutive title on a Sprint Saturday in Qatar six races ago, the flying Dutchman nevertheless put his foot down to storm his way to a remarkable 19 victories from 22 Grand Prix run this season. Only his teammate Sergio Perez, with two early season wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Singapore, were able to claim any other top steps on the podium this year. If all that’s not enough of a fitting symbol of his absolute dominance, Verstappen became the first driver in Formula 1 to lead 1000 total laps in a single season. Truly, superlatives get worn thin when describing the amazing year Max and Red Bull have had in 2023, and it will go down as one of the greatest by any team or driver in the sport’s history. It is certainly in the conversation with Lewis Hamilton’s glory days at Mercedes, Michael Schumacher at Ferrari, Jim Clark at Lotus, Jackie Stewart at Terrell and Sebastian Vettel at this very same Red Bull team.

With the top spot on the podium essentially conceded once Verstappen nabbed pole for the race on Saturday, the real dramas took place behind the lead Red Bull. Chief among those was the battle between Ferrari and Mercedes for second place in the all-important Constructors’ standings. Continue reading

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Favre-Leuba Square Steel BLUE Daymatic “Cioccolatone”

SOLD

Up for sale is this very cool and highly uncommon vintage Favre-Leuba Daymatic with beautiful blue dial and impressive square “Cioccolatone”-style all steel water resistant case. Like most rectangular and square watches, this wonderful late-1960s/early-1970s model wears larger than its 33 x 37mm dimensions might indicate and delivers great wrist presence, as you can see from the photo of it on my 7-inch wrist. The rather heavy and ingeniously engineered steel case features wide, downward sloping beveled edges for a distinctly muscular feel not unlike a smaller version of Heuer’s famous Monaco.

I haven’t seen more than a handful of these “Cioccolatone” Daymatic models and never with this exact case design or a blue dial, making it highly unlikely that you will run into anyone else wearing this watch in the wild. The stunning vertically brushed cobalt blue dial with original luminous also happens to be in Mint condition.

The watch itself appears unpolished and is in Very Good to Excellent overall vintage condition, showing honest wear commensurate with having been worn and enjoyed for most of its long life. The rather over-engineered and quite substantial case design features, I believe, some sort of split-crown method for removing the dial, movement and back from the top case in one piece once the locking ring has been unscrewed and thereby gaining potential access to the movement.

In addition to the signed dial, case and crown, this sporty yet elegant Favre-Leuba also comes with its likely original and period correct signed steel buckle, a nice bonus for the attentive collector. Though increasingly difficult to find, there are still some vintage watches out there where you don’t have to spend crazy money to get a ton of style on your wrist. I’d say this striking Daymatic “Cioccolatone” is proof of that.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME ABOUT THIS SUPER COOL FAVRE-LEUBA DAYMATIC

SOLD

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RIP Mark Lanegan, 1964-2022

I’ve frankly struggled to process the death of the great rock vocalist Mark Lanegan since his passing at the age of 57 this past February. When someone has essentially been your musical spirit animal for 30-odd years it’s very difficult to say goodbye, particularly as Mark’s passing was just the latest in a numerous and dispiriting series of deaths of all-time greats in the music world. It wasn’t the extreme gut punch of Chris Cornell’s painful and unexpected suicide back in 2017; or the shock of Prince’s sad and seemingly pointless OD in 2016; or the extreme melancholy of a stoic David Bowie succumbing to liver cancer that same year. Lanegan was, by his own admission, a long-time hardcore drug and alcohol abuser, as well as a chain smoker, even if he had been reportedly sober for some years now. Then, he also had an extremely nasty case of COVID that put him in the hospital and even into an induced coma for far too long a spell in 2021. (A true artist, Mark wrote two emotionally honest, raw and well-received autobiographical books about those horrible experiences of addiction and illness, Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir and Devil In A Coma.)

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Borracho

A standout track from just his second solo effort, 1994’s Whiskey For the Holy Ghost , the barn burning “Borracho” shows a young artist already nearly fully formed. 

So, hearing he had died suddenly in late winter of ’22 was not exactly a complete surprise. A total bummer, yes, but one couldn’t be surprised that his extreme lifestyle, born out of a brutally unhappy childhood in rural Washington, had caught up with him and that the bill had finally come due. It wasn’t really any more surprising than Kurt Cobain cashing his check back in 1994. Mark Lanegan was every bit the self-destructive rock poet Cobain was and at least he beat the curse of 27 by about 30 years, not to mention somehow outliving his other doomed contemporaries, Andrew Wood, Layne Staley, Scott Weiland and Cornell. Though that time still seems far too brief now that he’s passed, he put it to astonishingly good use. His longevity and prolific output of exceedingly high quality material, as well as his unflinching honesty as an artist and aversion to self-indulgence, make him one of the towering if woefully underappreciated figures in Rock history. While he was often primarily noted for his work as the Screaming Trees frontman way back in the ’90s, or compared as a solo artist to Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen in a facile, shorthand way, the long view shows many more similarities with Jim Morrison (and even Rimbaud), from the brooding, almost unfathomably deep and textured baritone that could all at once rise to a banshee’s wail, to that craving for riding to the very edge of self-destruction in search of some sort of twisted enlightenment and then — for a long while, at least — returning to tell the tale as only a debauched survivor can.

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Because of This

An 8-minute, raga-inflected mini-epic from his third solo album, 1998’s Scraps at Midnight, shows Lanegan’s virtuosic understanding of dynamics in songwriting and within his own vocal range.

Lanegan put his time on this earth and his haunting and beautiful instrument to good use. If you only know Mark Lanegan from Screaming Trees or even just the hit single “Nearly Lost You” then you are really missing out. To get first things out of the way first, though, Screaming Trees themselves were way more than that one big hit from the Singles soundtrack, no matter that Mark held little fondness for his first band. They started well before most of their grunge brethren, back in the mid-1980s, and were key pioneers of that Seattle scene even if never quite fully a part of it. Their earlier recordings are well worth seeking out and show a band rapidly evolving into a semi-psychedelic hard rock powerhouse, with 1991’s Uncle Anesthesia being a particularly tight precursor to their big breakthrough, Sweet Oblivion.

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Dollar Bill

Not “Nearly Lost You” — one of the many ‘hidden gems’ hiding in plain site on Oblivion.

Oblivion, which featured “Nearly Lost You” as its breakthrough hit, is a total ass-kicker from opening to closing track. But the toxic band dynamics and the record label’s condescending view of the Trees as “inferior” to their labelmates, Alice in Chains (perhaps the Trees were not really “Grunge” enough), squelched any momentum they should’ve had. The fantastic, technically impressive follow-up four years on, Dust, failed to build any kind of commercial momentum. Continue reading

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1970s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak JUMBO 5402ST B-Series

SOLD

Up for sale, a watch that needs no introduction — Gerald Genta’s all time design classic, the original, legendary all-steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo reference 5402ST. This coveted and rare Royal Oak is from the second B-series produced in the mid-1970s and is in Excellent vintage condition overall with a stunning original deep gray Petite Tapisserie dial in absolute Near Mint condition. Featuring all its original case parts as far as I can tell, this Royal Oak 5402 still has its correct second generation signed bracelet clasp, correct unsigned octagonal crown, correct original date wheel and original matching Tritium slim paddle hands. The amazing integrated bracelet has minimal stretch for its age and will fit up to a 7 1/4” wrist comfortably.

This ultimate cult Royal Oak features AP’s revolutionary JLC-derived caliber 2121 ultra-thin automatic-winding calendar movement, a technical marvel with recessed rotor that enables the brilliantly engineered case to remain so thin. This magical caliber was also used in the original Patek Phillipe Nautilus 3700 and the Vacheron Contsantin 222 among others. I had wanted to send this watch to AP for a service but their new policy is to make any 5402 “like new” cosmetically, replacing crown, hands, etc and thereby destroying the vintage originality for us true collectors. So you know going forward unmolested examples like this one are going to become harder and harder to come by. In any event, instead I just had this Royal Oak fully overhauled by my watchmaker, including the installation of a new mainspring, while allowing no other cosmetic work. 

While not a safe queen, the case of this Royal Oak still has sharp chamfers & bevels that appear to me to be unpolished, while the bezel has either softened from years of cuff wear or has been lightly polished at some point in the past (never by me). The watch shows minor wear commensurate with semi-regular use over its nearly 50 years of life, though it’s still in Excellent vintage condition. To my mind, that means you don’t have to worry about babying it and can just strap it on and go when the mood strikes, which is what I’ve done for the eight or so years that I’ve owned this beauty.

The star of the show is the magnificent original Petite Tapesserie dial, which has not gone tropical as so many have and retains its original deep metallic charcoal gray color, with notes of blue in the sun. There are a few very subtle speckles showing in places from the brass beneath under magnification, an effect more noticeable by far in these macro photos than to the naked eye. The original slim hands match the dial perfectly and the appearance is absolutely stunning, looking just about like it came out of the factory yesterday save the pleasingly warm lume patina and the slight “sparkle” effect.

On the wrist, this classic ultra-slim Royal Oak is simply magic. You’ll understand all the hype once you’ve put one on and they don’t come up for sale in this sort of condition too often. Think about making this piece of watchmaking history yours today!

SOLD

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Heuer Camaro 7220NT Exotic CHOCOLATE Dial

Up for sale is this absolutely stunning vintage Heuer reference 7220NT Camaro chronograph featuring a beautiful Near Mint+ Third Execution Exotic pure Chocolate dial with stunning red Tachy track and orange chrono hands. This example is in overall Excellent original vintage condition for a 50+-year-old watch and, along with its pristine dial, also retains its original brushed sunburst finish on the top of the iconic cushion-shaped Camaro case.

 SOLD

This 7220 Camaro, which Heuer heads more knowledgeable than I have dubbed the 7220NT Third Execution Exotic, has the correct 174,xxx case serial number for this specific iteration of brown dial, which was only made for a very short time.

I have also just had its famed Valjoux 72 column wheel movement fully overhauled for the convenience of the next owner, including replacement of the mainspring, so it’s good to go with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating as they should.

Everyone seems to rave about the Panda versions of Camaros as the ne plus ultra but having owned both, this stunning and uniformly “tropical” brown dial blows them away, IMO. In fact, the dials on these are not actually “tropical” per se, as the consensus opinion of the experts is that these were born brown… and I’d have to agree!

Personally, I call this one King Camaro and I think when you peruse the pictures in different lighting conditions you’ll see why I do. After all, you find Panda dials on Carreras and Autavias but nothing as unique as this. There is just something so appropriate to the funky Camaro case shape and the late-60s/early-70s ethos that makes a deep brown dial with a red Tachy track and orange chrono hands totally work. And I know the lucky next owner will enjoy the one-of-a-kind style of this cool brown beauty as much as I have. 

 SOLD

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Men’s Cologne — Pasha de Cartier by Cartier

Pasha de Cartier is a very interesting, reasonably daring but, at its core, classic and conservative men’s fragrance. Created in 1992 by famed nose Jacques Cavallier, auteur of such varied artistic and commercial successes as Bvlgari’s Aqva Pour Homme, L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme and a yin-yang duo for Yves Saint Laurent, the archetypal male oriental, Opium Pour Homme, and the throwback wet-shaver fougère, Rive Gauche Pour Homme (among many others), Pasha is variously listed as a Woody or Fresh Aromatic but is more of a typical fougère top grafted onto a somewhat Oriental-style heart and base. That twist is where the interest lies for this yellow juice in the ornate, ribbed, bullet-shaped flaçon. As others more knowledgeable than I have noted, Pasha seems like a kind of bridge between old school barbershop scents and the last gasp of pre-aquatic, spicy masculine semi-but-not-really-powerhouses like the boozy Ungaro pour L’Homme III and the spice-rack-in-a-bottle that is Halston’s Catalyst. Pasha is frequently compared to YSL’s much admired Jazz from 1988 and I can see that — they both share a very classic citric/lavender opening zipped up by spices. But Pasha is altogether sharper, with Cavallier favoring a more focused and pared down offering of mint and mandarin orange to mate to the bracing lavender, as opposed to Jazz’s very busy mix of bergamot, artemisia and basil plus several more culinary spices like coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The spices in Pasha are also not so well behaved and gentile as they are in Jazz, with caraway seed paired with anise giving a hint of licorice skank playing just below the surface of the brighter top notes for a classic dirty-clean trick of the nose. I also get just a hint of the notorious Kouros in the far dry down for what that’s worth, which may be due to a still-present oakmoss note laying down the bass for those aforementioned high notes. But Pasha is definitely more well behaved and user friendly than the famously difficult and iconoclastic Kouros, so no need to steel yourself for decidedly mixed reactions to that extent when you apply the Cartier.

I also hear Pasha described as sweet an awful lot but I don’t really get that in any honey or fruity sense of the word. In fact, there is a bit of austere dryness to the heart of aromatic rosewood and coriander that seems to suck out any of the juiciness of that initial burst of mandarin orange rather rapidly, leaving just the more bitter and oily peel. By the time this fine eau de toilette evolves into its base of labdanum and a creamy but not cloying sandalwood, buttressed by rather faint hints of patchouli and that fizzy and genuine-smelling oakmoss, you’ve experienced the sort of pleasant olfactory journey of something akin to a good amaro, with pronounced natural citrus fruit and sharp mint melded to slightly funky herbal-spice-woody accords. Pasha also gets compared frequently to Van Cleef & Arpel’s formerly cheap but now discontinued and coveted classic, 1989’s very forest green Tsar, perhaps due to both scents’ perceived “soapiness”. But that seems like more than a stretch to me, as there are no evergreen notes in Pasha whatsoever and it is far more refined and less in-your-face than the rather prickly, pine-juniper/oakmoss bomb that is Tsar. I’d say a more apt analog would be Dunhill’s Edition, which mines a similar hybrid aromatic fougére vein to Pasha in the way they meld traditional bright lavender-citric tops with heavy doses of spiciness, nutmeg and clove in Edition’s case, caraway, anise & coriander in Pasha’s. So, if you like the style of Edition you’ll probably also enjoy Pasha.

Pasha is strong but it’s not loud, screechy or overbearing by any means a la today’s Sauvage EDT, which could actually be considered a descendent if you squint real hard. Somewhat laughably, the famed Leffingwell/H&R Geneology chart of masculine perfumes puts Pasha in the “Fresh Fougére” category in essentially the same column as the key exemplar of that style, Drakkar Noir. Maybe in 1992 Pasha could register as “fresh” compared to, say, bruising chypres like Anteaus, Yatagan and the original, ominous Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. But nobody in 2022 is going to think you smell particularly fresh per se when you’re sporting Pasha. Well-groomed certainly, but Pasha completely eschews any airy aldehydes, florals or really any green, forest notes whatsoever, not even coumarin, which is how you know you’re dealing with an unusual take on a fougère. In fact, it’s a little challenging to contemporary tastes upon the first few wearings, the well blended but diverse notes a bit difficult to get a handle on, not to mention its rather unsmiling and all-business manner. But the quality of the ingredients, the refined nature of its composition and its overall hearkening back to classic masculine tropes in perfumery with a creative twist should win over anyone not solely addicted to ambroxan or vanilla-laden modern “freshies” or ” blue” scents.

There’s none of that contemporary style in Pasha and it definitely skews more old school formal regarding the situations where one might wear it, be that at the office or for a fancier night out at a fine restaurant. But I also feel it works particularly well in cool weather and in outdoor situations due to the bracing nature of its overall citric spiciness and warm, creamy woodiness, both of which frankly make it unsuitable for warm weather. As mentioned above and as with so many iconic men’s fragrances, one definitely can get a “soapy” vibe off of Pasha, which perhaps is where the misguided comparisons to Tsar come into play. But for me, Pasha is the sort of luxury soap found in a fine English hotel; Tsar is a pine resin soap at a lumberjack’s camp. Both have their merits but they’re really nothing alike. Wear time is quite impressive on my skin at a solid eight-plus hours with, like Edition, notable development throughout. Projection is moderate but its subtle sillage is certainly consistently noticeable from about two feet away at its peak and you will get wafts of this from beneath your shirt until the bitter end. At the price point, about $85 on the secondary market for the larger 3.3-ounce bottle, Cartier’s Pasha is not cheap but you get what you pay for quality-wise and it’s pretty much a no brainer for the fan of traditional men’s fougères with just a bit more going on than simply lavender-bergemot-coumarin-oakmoss. While I haven’t tried any of the myriad flankers, I don’t think you can go wrong sampling the original. Pasha is a bit of an acquired taste in today’s world but one that many mature and secure guys will have no problem getting into, even if it should take a little time to do so. The potential rewards from Pasha are essentially too good to pass up giving it a few cool weather wearings to see if you can connect with it.

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” Gloss BLACK Radial Dial

SOLD

Newly on offer — and now newly REDUCED — is this handsome and uncommon late-1940s/early-1950s Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” manual winder with wonderful original gloss black dial in classically sized 34mm all-steel FB/Taubert et Fils case.

This lovely midcentury Mido is powered by their high quality caliber 1200A. This cool Multifort “Extra-Flat” also features an all-stainless steel screwed case manufactured by the famed case makers, FB/Taubert et Fils, which also made cases during this era for Patek Phillipe, Vacheron and Movado.

But the main attraction is the glossy black sub-seconds dial with “copper gilt” print and original radium radially positioned Arabic numerals showing lovely patina. Overall, this great little Mido is in Very Good unpolished vintage condition with a black dial that really pops on the wrist and a wearable size that a lot of vintage Midos don’t possess (it’s the same diameter as a Rolex Date for comparison).

A really nice bit of genuine vintage style & quality for not a lot of money in today’s market. Jump on it now before its gone!

 SOLD

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tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1961 Omega Speedmaster ref. 2998-3 cal. 321

The time has come to let go of a very special part of my collection, as this beauty just doesn’t get the wrist time it so richly deserves anymore.  SOLD

Up for sale is this all-time classic early 1960s ref. 2998-3 Omega pre-professional Speedmaster powered by the famed Lemania-based manual wind caliber 321 chronograph movement. This is the model refereed to as the First Omega in Space, as a 2998 was on the wrist of Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra during his Sigma 7 flight in 1962, a few years prior to the Speedmaster being officially approved by NASA for all manned space missions to follow. According to the official Omega Extract from the Archives, which obviously will be passed along to the new owner, this Speedy left the factory in 1961 and was delivered to Switzerland at that time. 

This is an exceptional example of the classic and historically important Speedmaster reference 2998, with a well worn but unpolished case and a gorgeous original Radium stepped dial in absolutely Near Mint condition. The original luminous has developed a pleasing dark caramel patina, as has the matching lume of the original Alpha handset. This 2998-3 also features the correct & desirable dagger subdial hands, as well as the straight, non-luminous chrono sweep seconds. Another highlight is the original DON Tachy bezel, which shows wear commensurate to the rest of the watch with some ghosting and wonderful wabi-sabi. 

Overall, the watch is in Very Good vintage condition and it comes on a slightly later (1963) 7912 flat-link bracelet with very hard to come by number “6” end links correct for the 19mm lug width of this straight, no-crown guards case. (If for some reason you don’t want the bracelet, I’m sure we can work out an appropriate discount for the head onIy.) I have also just had the movement preemptively overhauled for the enjoyment of the next owner, so it is ready to wear with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating well.

Continue reading

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Men’s Cologne — Explorer by Montblanc

First off, let’s discuss the elephant in the room when it comes to Montblanc’s Explorer, namely that it is widely considered one of the best “clones” of Creed’s genre-defining blockbuster, Aventus. That’s certainly part of the reason I bought it blind: because I wanted something more economical than Aventus. I enjoy that high-end fragrance but seeing as Aventus retails for somewhere north of four hundred bucks for 100 ml and Explorer can be had for around $100 (and often less than that via discounters like Fragrancenet.com) it seemed like a no brainer to give the Montblanc a tumble. But now having tried them both, applying the Aventus clone label to Explorer seems a bit damning with faint praise in a snobby kind of way. Yes, there are certainly similarities between Explorer (created 2019) and Aventus (2010). But there are enough differences for me to say that Explorer is not so much of a clone per se but rather a designer offering that utilizes the same modern and somewhat minimalist style that has essentially redefined masculine perfumery the way the inexpensive Davidoff Cool Water and the pricey Creed Green Irish Tweed did for the “aromatic aquatic”/”fresh fougere” in the late 1980s (although those two really do smell virtually identical).

From the Montblanc Explorer ad campaign

Instead of the rather heady and photorealistic sweet pineapple top notes of Creed’s Aventus, Explorer opens with a more astringent but still slightly sweet bergamot note which is much more fleeting than the lush tropical fruit of the Creed. It is paired with that ubiquitous pink peppercorn note now found in virtually all flagship masculines like Bleu de Chanel and Dunhill’s Icon, putting Explorer firmly in the same easy to reach for, easy to wear category as those two modern classics. They say there’s clary sage at the top, as well, but I don’t really get a lot of that and Explorer will never be mistaken for classic sage-heavy ballbusters like Antaeus and Maxim’s Pour Homme. Rather, Explorer is always a very polite and office friendly offering. Some have even claimed that it’s a more versatile cologne than Aventus, since it lacks the smoky birch tar/incense note that certain batches of that endlessly fetishized juice seem to emphasize more than others (trust me, you don’t want or need to go down that rabbit hole of Aventus batch micro-analysis — that’s its own weirdly obsessive demimonde). Instead Montblanc and the trio of perfumers who apparently worked by committee to develop this Eau de Parfum opt for a very pleasing vetiver in the heart to pair with the rather seductively salty ambroxan/Ambrofix/ambergris note that also makes Aventus such a joy to wear and such a consistent compliment getter. In some ways, I actually prefer the vetiver-ambergris pas de deux in Explorer, as it comes across like a real exotic beach experience with both the smell of the ocean and the fizz of Haitian vetiver — the coming together of the sea and the land — complimenting each other marvelously. So kudos to the creative team at Montblanc for pairing these two classic notes and blending them so well.

Where Explorer is decidedly inferior to Aventus is in terms of performance. While it gets knocked a lot for smelling “synthetic,” this is a facile criticism to make because Explorer proudly touts the use of artificial scent molecules like Ambrofix and Akigalwood. In fact, Explorer smells just as “natural” as the Creed icon and is never screechy or loud in the vein of another ambroxan-laden poster boy, Dior’s polarizing Sauvage. But frankly Explorer could use a bit more of Sauvage’s swagger because, while it is altogether classier and easier to wear, this “eau de parfum” concentration struggles to perform like even a decent eau de toilette. It could be the way it wears on my skin or perhaps I become anosmic to its scent molecules but I get only about four hours of noticeable wear time and the latter half of that is pretty much entirely as a skin scent. The promised patchouli-Akigalwood base sadly never really materializes, at least from the brand new bottle I have, making this purported “woody aromatic” actually fit the mode of an aquatic aromatic instead with a slightly soapy a very faint finish. I don’t think it is peculiar to me, though, as I can’t really smell it in on my clothes the following day when my nose has been refreshed, a test nearly all colognes that I’ve owned usually pass with flying colors.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Explorer. I think it’s not so clone-like that if you already have Aventus you would never need or want the Montblanc, especially if you’re particularly fond of this modern style of men’s scent but don’t feel like burning through the high end Creed quite so rapidly. But Aventus thrashes Explorer in terms of longevity and sillage, as do such other modern pillars of perfumery like the aforementioned Bleu de Chanel and Terre d’ Hermès. And while the price is easy enough to afford a backup bottle since you’re going to need to reapply a couple times of day if you want it to stick around, that’s still disappointing. For something that should be an ideal work or casual scent, good in all weather except the very coldest and a definite compliment getter, the poor performance really lets this juice down in the end. I keep waiting for the aeration of the recently acquired bottle — which is a really beautiful flaçon, by the way — to bring a little more punch and power to Explorer, much as time seems to benefit Aventus’s complexity and performance. But I have my doubts. Maybe you’ll have better luck, though, and on just pure wearability and enjoyment of the overall fragrance I still have to highly recommend Explorer to any guy out there looking for a can’t miss crowd pleaser at a fair price. The brief top and heart is so pleasing and frankly addictive you’ll probably forgive Explorer’s rather anticlimactic disappearing act.

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Men’s Cologne — Invasion Barbare by MDCI Parfums

I don’t often write outright negative reviews — what’s the point in that there is usually something to enjoy in most offerings out there so why take time to dwell on the negative? But for Invasion Barbare, I’ll make an exception. Because anything both this hyped and this expensive should be exceptionally good and it just isn’t to my nose. I’m not even going to go with the damning with faint praise “it’s solid but nothing special.” I’m saying that I do not like the way Invasion Barbare smells at all. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this reaction places me in the extreme minority of opinions about this highly regarded niche fragrance from the very lux MDCI Parfums. Perhaps swayed by the retail price of $250 per 75ml via Lucky Scent ($375 if you spring for the over-the-top Roman bust flaçon) or grand guru of perfume reviewers Luca Turin’s 5-star rave, people can’t seem to help gushing about this 2006-created “oriental fougère.” But I really don’t like it. For all the talk about the incredible blending of ultra-natural ingredients, IB smells highly synthetic to my nose, as well as unbalanced and flabbily “spicy” until the reasonably pleasant woody dry down. There is a notable lack of greenness in the composition with a lavender that is barely there, subsumed by violet, ginger, cardamom and vanilla notes that provide an almost oppressive warmth and sweetness. I suppose this is what makes Invasion Barbare skew “oriental” but simply put this is not how I like my fougères.

Invasion Barbare starts out with a very heavy violet accord — a note I don’t dislike at all in a many classic men’s scents from Grey Flannel to Morabito’s Or Black — but here it is somewhat flaccid/withered and paired pretty much instantly with ginger, cardamom and a very persistent vanilla, which I admit is a note I usually don’t love and I certainly don’t love it in this. If this parfum-strength juice did actually have more of that promised lavender — or more kick and brightness from the very fleeting grapefruit/bergamot top notes — it might rescue it from the claustrophobic feel I get when wearing it. But the “sharpness,” such as it is, comes from a kind of cedar note buzzing in the background through the dry down, which is pleasant enough on its own, paired with a very realistic but incongruous thyme that just adds to the overall sense of a construction out of balance. It’s also not helped by an utterly generic musk in the base that, paired with the persistent vanilla, really clings to the skin for hours on end for a kind of clean laundry meets woodsy-spiciness plus powder effect. How anyone could perceive these accords as “ultra-natural” and “of the highest quality” is beyond me. Frankly, they smell cheap and artificial and that’s with trying it in winter, undoubtably showing this fragrance in its best light. In warm weather I think it could well be unwearable.

If you want something in this vein but one hundred times better and more distinctive (again, my opinion only) search out an original bottle of vintage Gucci Pour Homme. Yes, the cedar, patchouli and general pencil shavings feel that it shares with Invasion Barbare are dialed up way higher in the lamentably discontinued Gucci PH, perhaps due to a greater concentration of Iso E Super (an ingredient I would bet is also in IB in some quantity). But that is a good thing as it doesn’t allow the ginger that they also share to become so stiflingly prominent and more patchouli would, in fact, have really helped Invasion Barbare to counterbalance its cloying vanilla/musk base notes. At least Guccci Pour Homme has a real masculine personality and doesn’t come across like it was designed by committee out of the most clichéd and synthetic aroma chemicals available after being planned on a white board in some conference room, as well as containing no unisex vanilla. Sure, Gucci Pour Homme may also be nearly as expensive on the secondary market as a brand new bottle of IB but I will take the vintage, out-of-print designer frag over this over-hyped niche offering any day of the week. For a more economical analog you could go with the original Burberry for Men, although in its current formulation it is undoubtedly less refined, more minty and less bold than either the Gucci or the IB, but does share a lot of the same general vibe and can be had for very little money.

So there it is — I don’t like Invasion Barbare. A lot of people do, however, and will praise it to the skies as one of the best fougères in the modern firmament. For me it is neither “fresh” enough or “fougère” (i.e., green) enough to be a pleasant wearing experience, much less deserving of a full bottle purchase at that extremely high price point. Worst of all, it lacks cojones and is altogether generic smelling. Your mileage may vary, of course, so I suggest sampling before you buy, as you probably should with any cologne, especially an expensive one like this. You may well like it a lot, as most reviewers seem to, and find it one of the best, most masculine, most gentlemanly scents out there. For me, it served as a fine motivation to have a vigorous workout so I could justify a second shower on the day to wash it off. So I suppose it wasn’t a total loss after all.

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Men’s Cologne — Ungaro pour L’Homme I by Emanuel Ungaro

Ungaro pour L’Homme I was the first of three Emanuel Ungaro masculine fragrances released in successive years between 1991 and 1993. Of the three, only the unapologetically macho and boozy Ungaro III is still in production, which is a pity as I and II have plenty to offer the omnivorous frag-head. That said, it’s not hard to see why the first two Ungaro pour L’Hommes were discontinued rather abruptly shortly after Salvatore Ferragamo acquired the brand from Chanel. This first one is described as an Oriental Fougere, a term that seems somewhat like an oxymoron but I suppose because there is a bit of lavender, bergamot and lemon in the composition that is the justification for this hybrid categorization and it is placed close to the infamous Zino from Davidoff on the definitive H&R Genealogy of Masculine Fragrances chart, which makes sense both conceptually and in terms of their similar styles. Like Zino, Ungaro I is primarily an Oriental scent, though it is thankfully much less musty/heavy than Zino. What you get with Ungaro is a heady rose/pathcouli/oakmoss blend with a hard to pin down musk in a base that mainly features sandalwood with hints of amber, tonka and honey. Perhaps because the bottle I have is likely from the early-to-mid-’90s (though not the first batch since it has the Roman numeral on it to distinguish it from it’s successors) I don’t really get a lot of the bright citrus top notes originally listed, though there is definitely some cool lavender up front. Mainly this is one of the most rose-forward men’s fragrances I’ve ever come across, much more so than another ostensible rose powerhouse, Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. The Ungaro is altogether brighter than the gloomy VC&A Pour Homme with an almost photo-realistic rose accord as opposed to Van Cleef’s impression, which is submerged in massive amounts of oakmoss, spices, woody notes and leather. Sure, the oakmoss is quite prominent in Ungaro I, and since this is a vintage potion I assume it’s the real stuff, but here it seems to be dancing a pas de deux with the rose and not overwhelming it. There is a touch of sage, artemisia and pine giving this juice a forested if not really a green feel and I also get some sort of cedar-like woodiness that doesn’t seem to be in the notes. But these heart notes are fairly fleeting and quickly become submissive to a rather impressive and refined patchouli that emerges to the fore in the dry down alongside a pleasantly creamy but subtle sandalwood and just enough amber and honey to keep Ungaro I from getting overly somber.

Now, as you can probably tell from that description, the original Ungaro pour L’Homme can be a tricky scent for the uninitiated and there is something definitely throwback-gentlemanly about it that will make a younger guy raised on aquatics and sport scents run screaming for the hills at first sniff. This is a man’s eau de toilette and specifically a rather well dressed and even formal man. I wore this on New Year’s Eve and I think those sorts of special occasions are where it shines most brightly. You’d be hard pressed to pull off Ungaro I in jeans and a T-shirt or a casual meet-up for brunch with friends. This is essentially a nocturnal scent and not suitable for the office unless you are the boss and want to make a power statement to strike fear into the hearts of the millennials who work for you. It’s not even doable for your average date night unless you happen to be going to a fancy French restaurant that still has a dress code and a wine list like an encyclopedia. Undoubtedly one of the main reasons for its short time in production was that this first Ungaro pour L’Homme was asking a question that was becoming increasingly irrelevant in the ’90s when it debuted and certainly even less so as we progressed into the 2000s and beyond. That would be: What should the well-dressed man wear during some of life’s more formal occasions? There just aren’t enough of these sorts of black tie events in most people’s lives to justify something as over-the-top conservative slash dandified as Ungaro I. I enjoy wearing it but this is no one’s idea of a signature scent — it’s simply not versatile enough for that — and I probably reach for it a mere handful of times in any given year. I’m fairly sure my 3.5 oz bottle will last longer than I will. In fact, it almost feels more 1890s than 1990s and you could easily see Sean Connery’s suave, cigar smoking, ruffle-shirted rogue in The Great Train Robbery wearing this rather majestically anachronistic masculine concoction.

Ungaro pour L’Homme I does smell very, very good and if you have acquired the taste for a dominant rose note in your colognes it’s definitely worth sampling. The problem being, however, that it is discontinued as mentioned and the prices on the secondary market are quite high, like well into the $200s for full size bottles. You can find somewhat pricey decanted mini-samples on eBay from time to time, so that might be the best route to try before you really buy and spend niche money on what was always just a very good quality designer frag. Alternatively, I don’t see the comparison anywhere else but to my nose Ungaro I smells reasonably similar to Guerlain’s Heritage, at least to the latter’s current EDT formulation. For me the two share a similar bright rose note with fizzy oakmoss/patchouli/sandalwood vibes, though there isn’t any of the famed “Guerlainade” vanillin base of Heritage in the Ungaro. Heritage is also somehow more versatile even if still an acquired taste for most modern men and lends itself to casual as well as formal situations once you’ve gotten into a groove with it. But the original Ungaro pour L’Homme is simply too jarringly out of time for that kind of everyday wear. While I don’t find it as gloomy or overly dark as many people seem to and I think comparisons with animalic ball breakers like Salvador Dali Pour Homme and Balenciaga Pour Homme are misguided — de la Renta’s brooding Pour Loui this is definitely not — this eau de toilette performs more like a parfum, projecting quite strongly for the first four hours or so and then settling down to a still potent moderate phase where the patchouli really kicks in until dying down to a pleasant skin scent at around the 8-9 hour mark. I’d say it’s for a relatively mature man who is secure in his own skin, as this one will perplex most men and women under 35, if not 45. It’s definitely masculine and a borderline powerhouse but has a classiness that pulls it back from the brink of loud and uncomfortable. Given the right occasion, Ungaro pour L’Homme I is a rather stunning addition to one’s gentlemanly presentation. It’s just that finding such an occasion and an appreciative audience for this fascinating and rare out-of-print Oriental Fougere can be more of a challenge than actually finding a bottle.

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RIP Sir Sean Connery, 1930-2020

As if 2020 wasn’t already a rotten enough year, legendary Scottish actor and screen icon Sean Connery passed away on October 31 at the ripe old age of 90. The New York Times obituary is here.

The iconic incarnation of Bond…James Bond but also so much more.

While it’s only natural that the majority of tributes for this great man focused on his career and character-defining creation of James Bond on the big screen — a role that he will forever be linked with through his singular excellence even though he had not played the part in 37 years — Connery was at best ambivalent about this seminal pop culture cinematic contribution. He worked hard both during and after his time as 007 to establish a screen persona distinct from the debonair and dangerous secret agent. While Bond was undoubtedly his ticket to the big time, as early as 1964 Connery was looking to expand his horizons as an actor with his intriguingly complex role as Mark Rutland in Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964) breaking down a neurotic and sexy Tippi Hedren. Even as his career-defining work as Bond turned him into a 1960s pop culture icon on a level with the Beatles, Connery bristled at the confining nature and potential career cul de sac of such a monolithic character. Indeed, he was right to worry that his entire career would be defined by Bond and he would never be able to be perceived or accepted by the public in any other manner. Famously unhappy during location filming in Japan for 1967’s You Only Live Twice and the suffocating and hysterical adulation of his fans and paparazzi there, Connery shockingly renounced the role and passed on making the next film in the series, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. While 1969’s OHMSS is actually one of the greatest Bond movies in terms of plot, featuring complexities of character that wouldn’t be plumbed again until Timothy Dalton’s brief, unsuccessful tenure in the late ’80s and then the rampaging success of Daniel Craig’s current edgy and penetrating portrayal, and one-off Bond George Lazenby did a perfectly capable job, one still wonders what kind of special performance Connery might have given in that final scene mourning the death of his new bride Tracy (the lovely, late Diana Rigg), a victim of Blofeld’s vengeful drive-by shooting.

Alongside Michael Caine getting carried away with their success in John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King

After Lazenby self-destructed, Saltzman & Broccoli lured Connery back into the EON Bond fold by means of the then-unheard of amount of $1.25 million dollars for the somewhat tacky but enjoyable Vegas romp, Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Pocketing his money like any good Scotsman, Connery bid adieu to Bond and the requisite toupee for the remainder of the 1970s, embarking on a career no longer entirely beholden to the super spy. With his receding hairline a near declaration of liberation, Connery built on the grittier realism of Bond-concurrent performances in The Molly Maguires (1970) and especially Sidney Lumet’s excellent The Anderson Tapes (1971), to craft an equally charismatic but much more jaded and cynical character on screen, particularly the latter’s swaggering, unrepentant thief at large in 1970s New York City. Sure, Connery was still bigger than life, as witness his game participation in the bonkers sci-fi of Zardoz (1974) running around in only a red loincloth for most of the picture; the fantastic Kipling-derived adventure of John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King (1975), finding the perfect partner for fortune hunting in Michael Caine but getting fatally carried away as a pretend god; and a very Scottish Berber bedeviling Theodore Roosevelt from afar in The Wind and the Lion (1975). But his finely crafted performances, natural as ever, now revealed men with serious flaws and character defects that made them all the more interesting, most notably delusions of grandeur and a true and sometimes self destructive soft spot for the ladies (unlike Bond’s love ’em and leave ’em ethos).

With the beautiful Audrey Hepburn as aging legends in Richard Lester’s poignant Robin and Marian

Connery embraced his middle age with Robin and Marian (1976), Richard Lester’s touching and elegiac reimagining of a post-Crusades Robin Hood returning to find Maid Marian, played by the wonderful Audrey Hepburn, a devoted nun and Nottingham unacceptably under the thumb of his old foe, the Sheriff, played by the always compelling Robert Shaw. Shaw was that rare match in equalling Connery’s natural machismo and toughness, as he had been back in the From Russia With Love days when he was a homicidal defector trained by the Russians to kill Bond. Sir Sean was back at his lighter, mischievous best in Michael Crichton’s excellent 19th Century heist extravaganza, The Great Train Robbery (1979), wonderfully paired with the always unique and equally roguish Donald Sutherland as two particularly brilliant and stylish thieves. After notable cameos in the star studded but bloated A Bridge Too Far (1977), one of several possible suspects for Poirot to consider in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and the very trippy and enjoyable 1981 Terry Gilliam opus, Time Bandits, where he was perfectly cast as a fatherly Agamemnon, Connery gave another terrific lead performance in the criminally underrated space “western” Outland (1981), laying down the law against long odds Gary Cooper-style, only with a mining station orbiting  Jupiter as the scene of the showdown instead of a dusty frontier town. In 1983 he gave in to the siren song of a return to Bond in the “unauthorized’, non-EON Never Say Never Again, a remake of Thunderball, the rights of which were not controlled by the Fleming estate. While the film and Connery’s return as an aging but still peerless Bond have their undeniable pleasures, not least of the them very worthy opponents in Klaus Maria Brandauer’s flamboyant Largo, a lethal, leather-clad Barbara Carrera as femme fatale Fatima Blush and a delectable Kim Basinger as Domino, it was a strange lateral and some might say spiteful move by Connery. By making a Bond movie in direct competition with not only his old mates Broccoli & Saltzman but also then-current Bond, Roger Moore, it may have satisfied audiences for a double dose of 007 but it did nothing for his reputation as a somewhat irascible star prone to view producers as rip-off artists — certainly with some justification — and to cling to long-held resentments even against those who had helped launch his amazing career.

As a seasoned Irish cop instructing Kevin Costner’s green Eliot Ness on The Chicago Way in The Untouchables

Never Say Never Again was the last time Connery would revisit Bond and not only was he truly done with the legendary character but he embarked on an arguably greater chapter in his career, embracing his age to evolve into a kind of grand old man of Hollywood complete with gravitas and prestige to deliver to any larger than life role. After a fun, swashbucking turn in the silly but enjoyable fantasy of Highlander (1984) — as a Spanish swordsman, no less — Connery found the greatest critical success of his already highly accomplished career as the veteran Irish cop Jim Malone, teaching Kevin Costner’s green Eliot Ness “The Chicago Way” in order to hunt down Al Capone in Brian De Palma’s mega-hit The Untouchables (1987). The role, which the great film critic David Thomson noted culminates with his character “dying a samurai death,” won Connery that year’s supporting actor Oscar, his first and only Academy Award. It also opened up the floodgates of terrific parts to close out the ’80s and provided serious momentum well into the ’90s. He was Indiana Jones’s amusingly cantankerous dad in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), a skillful Soviet submarine commander matching wits with Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan in the smash hit The Hunt for Red October (1990) and a British publisher involved in Cold War intrigue and wooing Michelle Pfeiffer in the smart and intricate film version of Le Carré’s The Russia House (1990). As if that wasn’t enough of a third act, Connery also starred in and was executive producer on 1993’s Rising Sun, schooling Wesley Snipes in the ways of the Yakuza; likewise star and executive producer of the Simpson/Bruckheimer/Michael Bay summer blockbuster extravaganza The Rock (1996), as a long-imprisoned British commando freed to team up with Nicholas Cage to stop a group of rogue soldiers from turning Alcatraz into ground zero for a biological terror attack; and showing a lithe, cat-suited Catherine Zeta-Jones the ropes as a suave veteran thief planning a very high concept — and very high! — skyscraper robbery in Entrapment (1999). Even his last real film role, 2003’s very promising but troubled The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, offered a treat for Connery fans with his resonant portrayal of legendary adventurer Alan Quartermaine in twilight.

Connery’s cunning Soviet sub commander matches wits with Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October

So Sir Sean Connery’s passing offers us an opportunity not only to mourn the man who defined James Bond for decades of enchanted fans but also an actor of great daring and bravery who was not content to be solely pigeon-holed by Bond and actively worked to slip the potential trap of such a career-making role. That he succeeded so brilliantly is all the more proof that he was a film actor and a true movie star of the highest order, one of the last of that rare breed who was able to dominate cinema for a multi-decade span by the strength of a very fixed but adaptable screen persona. To revisit the Connery Bond films is always a pleasure and a delight of almost childlike enjoyment; to revisit his other great roles is to see the craft and skill of the mature actor whose joy in more complex parts was always evident on screen and therefore contagious to the audience, a multi-generational audience that never seemed to get enough of the great Scotsman. Godspeed, Sir Sean, and thank you for a lifetime of special performances. While we won’t see your like again we will always have your wonderful films and those many magnificent moments on screen to remember you by.

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Rolex Collector’s Notebook: The mystery of the “Neat Fonts” matte meters-first 5512 Submariner dial

Grateful thanks for this article go to timlua and HQ Milton for kindly contributing their dials and data. Thank you, gentlemen! I’m also especially indebted to the great collector & Man’s Fine Life contributor Beaumont Miller II, not only for sharing his watch photos but also for his invaluable insights about the “Neat Fonts” dial, its place in matte dial chronology and particularly his excellent observations on its similarity to the mid-1960s gilt Sub dials. My heartfelt appreciation for sharing your expertise, my friend — couldn’t have done this without you!

One of the things that makes collecting vintage watches so interesting, and Vintage Rolex in particular, is trying to decode the subtle changes that took place in ostensibly “identical” watches those many years ago. We see evolutions in movements, in cases but most intriguingly we see variations in dial layouts and typography. And just when you think you’ve figured out a dial sequence and its logical chronology, something else out of the ordinary comes along and makes you look at things with fresh eyes.

timlua's 5512 from the VRF Dial Archive -- the watch that put me on the hunt

timlua’s 5512 from the VRF Dial Archive — the watch that put me on the hunt.

Such is the case with what I call the “Neat Fonts” matte meters-first 5512 dial. I first saw this interesting dial several years ago, when a Vintage Rolex Forum member named timlua submitted his mid-1960s 5512 for the Dial Archive. I knew I had to have one… and it took me 8 more years to hunt one down. As you can clearly see and what struck me right away, the printing on this dial is not at all like what we normally see on the first generation of matte meters-first 551x dials.

A standard matte meters-frist dial -- courtesy HQ Milton

A standard matte meters-first dial — courtesy HQ Milton

Those first gen matte dials for the Submariner have always had a particularly “first draft” quality to my eye, with rather scraggly fonts and slightly uneven printing. And it makes sense that Singer, undertaking their first try at this new matte-style of dial manufacture and departing their tried and true gilt/gloss method of dial printing, might have had some teething issues with their printing techniques. But not so the “Neat Fonts” 5512 dial. You can already see the clean typography that would become a hallmark of the later 1960s and early 1970s Singer dials: nicely proportioned, flat-ish bottom Coronet with a small “mouth”; SUBMARINER text very clean with a distinctive snake-like “S”; and the depth rating pretty level with minimal jump to the numbers and open 6s.

5512MetersFirst-dial-edit

In fact, the “Neat Fonts” dial does not resemble the Mark I meters-first Sub dials at all. It actually resembles the pre-Bart gilt/gloss dials of the middle 1960s with their high standards of printing and execution. So much so that aside from the application of the SWISS – T<25 you might even think that Singer used the same dial dye for the process. Perhaps they did after figuring out how to utilize that gilt-era dye/tampon, which featured a reverse printing method, and apply it to the paint-on-top method of the matte dials. But more likely they returned to it as a template for the new matte-style dye and that is why they are so similar if not quite identical.

5513gilt-coronet 5512MetersFirst-coronet

5513gilt-depth 5512MetersFirst-depth

It also shares some characteristics with the Mark III Red Submariner dial, particularly the fonts for the depth rating, the SCOC text and the odd little feature of the dash in the “SWISS – T<25” not quite being centered over the “30” tick.

Photo courtesy Beaumont Miller II

Photo courtesy of Beaumont Miller II

5512MetersFirst-depth_SCOC

Photo derived from Vintage Rolex Forum's Classic "Everything Red Sub" by Mark Lerman

Photo derived from Vintage Rolex Forum’s Classic “Everything Red Sub” by Mark Lerman

(If you visit the great site DoubleRedSeaDweller.com you can also see that the SCOC text on the Neat Fonts and Mark III Red Sub is highly similar in format/style to the Mark I 1665 Double Red Sea-Dweller, indicating another connection there.)

Making this iteration even more interesting is that unlike just about every no-date Sub Rolex ever made, the “Neat Fonts” dial is always to the best of my knowledge found only in 5512s and never 5513s. Continue reading