Saw Steely Dan live not too long ago and this song has been bouncing around my brain since then. Don’t let the highly refined sounds fool you — this is one dark & paranoid mofo!
From 1976’s The Royal Scam, the Dan’s fifth studio album, “Don’t Take Me Alive” features the typcial tight musicianship, tricky song construction and world weary lyrics the group’s fans treasure so dearly. There’s also the requisite killer guitar solos, this time from studio ace Larry Carlton. Between his searing licks here and on “Kid Charlemagne” you can see why he was one of the most in demand session guitarists in his day. And with lyrics like “Got a case of dynamite/I could hold out here all night” the song is steeped in that creeping dread and burnt out neurosis so specific to the dystopian 70s. Is the protagonist a refugee from the Weather Underground making a last stand? A lone renegade fleeing familial discord under Shakespearean circumstances? Both and neither? Let your imagination fill in the blanks while Donald Fagan’s uniquely evocative singing voice dovetails with the elusive meaning as perfectly as on all the best Steely Dan tracks. Besides, once this song gets its hooks in you you’ll definitely want more than one listen to figure it all out for yourself.
It’s easy for the novice collector with a limited budget to get discouraged by the skyrocketing prices of elite vintage watches these days. But even if a Rolex Daytona, Omega pre-Moon Speedmaster or Universal Geneve Tri-Compax is not doable on your budget, there are still plenty of watches out there that can give you that little bit of vintage élan on the wrist without having to skip your mortgage payment. I’ve talked about vintage Longines & Tudor in the past as great options for the budget minded collector. And now I’ll throw the Eterna-Matic KonTiki 20 into that equation, as well.
Eterna is an old name in the Swiss watchmaking industry with roots back to the mid-1800s. In 1948 they came up with an innovative system for their automatic movements by mounting the oscillating weighted rotor on 5 steel ball bearings for reduced friction and balanced efficiency of winding. This innovation was so significant that the 5 ball bearings became the company’s logo, proudly applied to their dials. And this patented system also meant that Eterna could now upgrade any suitable ebauche with their own proprietary autowind system. The company had already received a huge publicity boost in 1947 when the famed Norwegian explorer Thor Hyerdahl wore one of their watches during his remarkable 5000 mile open ocean raft adventure. Hence, the Eterna KonTiki model name was born and with it the characteristic raft logo medallion seated on the back of these models, a marketing tie-in well poised to take full advantage of the technical innovation under the hood.
Meant to signify any of their water resistant watches, the KonTiki line soon blossomed with big, military-ready dive watches in the Submariner/Seamaster mode. But in the late 1950s & 60s Eterna also produced a plethora of simple, modestly sized “civilian” KonTikis with all-steel screw down cases and oversized crowns featuring a water resistance of 130 feet. That was no mean achievement and put these new versatile dress models, dubbed the “KonTiki 20”, right up there in Rolex Datejust territory in terms of WR. Eterna chose exceptionally robust ETA movements to power these watches, essentially the same calibers as found in Tudor’s Subs and dress models of this era but again with Eterna’s own modified rotor assembly.
So what they wound up producing with the KonTiki 20 is a handsome steel watch with sporty but classic looks, a semi-quicket date function, decent size at 36-37mm, excellent timekeeping performance and superior day-to-day water resistance. And how much will all that cost you today? Considerably less than a thousand dollars. In fact, almost always well under $800. While you might pay a premium for a blue, black or more exotic dials with red chapter ring or one with its original bracelet, generally speaking an Eterna-Matic KonTiki 20 in good shape should only set you back between $400 and $600 give or take. And with their nicely proportioned, all-steel sweeping-lug cases, stout and accurate movements and pleasing dial layouts that is some serious bang for the buck.
So again we see that a vintage watch doesn’t have to break the bank to give you happiness. Just as there are different levels of automobiles for different strata of buyers, not everyone can own a Ferrari right out of the gate. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the simple pleasures that a VW Bug can give. Likewise, there’s no point in envying someone else’s high priced vintage watch if you can’t swing it. Just spend a couple of hundred bucks on something like a KonTiki 20 and enjoy it for what it is — a well made, imminently wearable timepiece with that certain retro feeling a modern watch just can’t inspire. The joy of vintage watches is that there’s something for everyone at any level of the game if you just do a little research into what is and is not worth spending your money on. Along with classic entry-level Omegas, Longines and Tudors, Eterna Matic KonTiki 20s make an excellent purchase for the beginning or budget-minded collector. And once you strap on a quality vintage watch you’ll feel like you’ve spent your money well no matter how much — or how little — you paid for it.
For November, something stylish and oh-so-cool this way comes and just in time to dress up your holidays — an exceptional circa 1960s Longines with stunning silver sunburst dial in Near Mint original condition. With the stylized, elongated 12 & 6 Arabic numerals this hand-winding classic definitely has a real Mad Men feel on the wrist. And ticking away inside the American made all steel, front-loading Star Watch Case is Longines’ own caliber 285, the last of their legendary in house manual movements.
This beautiful dress watch with semi-quickset date is so sharp that it appears it’s barely been worn in its 50 years of existence. But as I’ve just had it fully serviced, that’s ready to be rectified by the lucky new owner. Not to mention that all this vintage style comes at a very attractive price. So what are you waiting for? Get your classy on, man!
As time passes, it becomes clearer that Peter Gabriel was a victim of his own massive success. After being a cult figure as leader of the pre-Phil Collins/pre-Top 40 Genesis, immediately after leaving the group he produced some of the more intriguing and idiosyncratic music of the late 1970s and early 1980s. His uniquely theatrical, art house style seemed to find its climax in the catchy but weird “Shock the Monkey” and its improbably popular video coming right at the dawn of the MTV revolution circa 1982. Surprisingly, though, Gabriel had something even bigger up his sleeves. Just a few years later, in 1986, he unleashed the bona fide mainstream smash hit album So, which featured a plethora of hit singles & videos, including the omnipresent all-time number one most-played MTV video, “Sledgehammer”. Produced by then-U2 helmsman du jour Daniel Lanois, it’s no hyperbole to say that So became a touchstone for a generation. Its pop culture impact was confirmed when a young John Cusack used the hyper-romantic “In Your Eyes” to woo Ione Skye via boombox in the archetypal 80s teen coming of age story, Say Anything. To the uninitiated it seemed an improbable success. But the cleverness of Gabriel was that he was perfectly attuned to the demands of MTV, having been an often-flamboyant performance art innovator for years with a penchant for the dramatic and offbeat that perfectly suited the new visual taste-setting medium. The fact that he was well ahead of the musical curve in terms of both digital production and the use of “world music” influences — see the incredible vocal solo by Senegalese singer Yousou N’dour on the aforementioned heart-melting “in Your Eyes”, for example — also seemed perfectly aligned to the prevailing zeitgeist in which David Byrne and Paul Simon were incorporating African and South American vibes into their standout 80s work, as well.
But all that radio/video play and overwhelming success led to burnout on Gabriel, as the once outside artist became a mainstream pop superstar. To be honest, I listened to so much Peter Gabriel back in the day that I took about fifteen years off from his music. But I’ve been coming back to it lately and damn if it doesn’t hold up well. And not only in that “old friend you haven’t seen in a long time” way either. No, it’s of its time for sure but definitely among the best of that time. So here are three pre-So tunes — since everyone’s heard every cut off that album so damn much — that I think are worth revisiting.
“Solsbury Hill” from Peter Gabriel I [Car] (1977):
All about Gabriel’s trepidation and hopes after splitting from Genesis, 1977’s “Solsbury Hill” from his debut solo album would have been his one-hit wonder… if he hadn’t gone on to have so many other big hits. The spiritual and optimistic tone of the lyrics highlight PG’s very good, slightly raspy Rock voice and the sterling musicianship in the service of the appealingly folksy-but-not-cloying song construction serve notice that this is a mega-capable songwriter. At the time it could have gone either way. But in retrospect the lovely, ultra-catchy “Solsbury Hill” was not a one-time flash but Gabriel’s opening salvo, laying down a marker that he was an artist to be reckoned with.
“Family Snapshot” from Peter Gabriel III [Melt] (1982):
After 1978’s perhaps overly arty and abstracted Peter Gabriel II [Scratch] failed to build upon the success of “Solsbury”, Gabriel really found something extra for his third studio effort in 1980. Nicknamed “Melt” for the disturbing Hipgnosis cover art, Peter Gabriel III is strong from beginning to end and features standout tracks with troubling psychological overtones like “Intruder”, “I Don’t Remember”, “No Self Control” and “Not One of Us”. Prefiguring Gabriel’s increasing human rights activism, an amazingly beautiful political anthem to slain South African civil rights leader Stephen Biko closes the album. “Games Without Frontiers” was the de facto hit, although in more of a cult fashion than a chart-topper. And perhaps its rather heavy handed metaphor about nations acting as children has not aged as well as the rest despite its undeniable angular catchiness. So for me the exceptionally creepy “Family Snapshot”, which not implausibly imagines a Lee Harvey Oswald-like character motivated by his loveless childhood, is the standout track. Continue reading →
This beauty by the great Chris Cornell popped up on my workout mix the other day at the gym and it’s been bouncing around my brain since then like it was brand new again.
Of course it’s not new… but it is still true. “Arms Around Your Love” comes off of the former Soundgarden front man’s 2007 solo effort, Carry On, which also featured his bruising Bond theme for Casino Royale, “You Know My Name”. It falls into that relatively rare subgenere of power ballad: the romantic advice song. It’s bloody good, though, and the hard-earned wisdom shines through every soaring note of Cornell’s preternaturally powerful voice. Play it once and you’re guaranteed to play it again. And also best to heed the man’s advice and tell your lady how much you think of her while you’re the one lucky enough to be holding her. You would’t want some other guy getting that honor, now would you?
The following article is an opinion piece and solely the personal opinion of the author. It should be read strictly as opinion and not as a blanket statement of fact.
This is a story about Nina Rindt, or more precisely the vintage watch that was named after her: a smallish, panda-dialed Universal Geneve 3-register “Compax” chronograph from the 1960s. And it’s about what this collectible chrono’s meteoric ascent tells us about how markets for vintage watches are made these days. The Valjoux 72-powered “Nina” was so dubbed by collectors because of pictures showing the wife of legendary Formula 1 driver Jochen Rindt wearing her UG chronograph at various racing events in the 1960s through the fateful year of 1970, when Jochen was killed at Monza and went on to become the first and only posthumous Formula 1 champion. Jochen Rindt also has a watch named in his honor because of his personal association with it, the Heuer Autavia 2446 with screw back. As with so many great vintage pieces, “branding” vintage watches with a celebrity’s name is nothing new. It certainly worked magic with the Paul Newman Daytona and its market value. So ever since, savvy dealers have been looking for links to the famous when selling their watches, often with mixed results (see the “Steve McQueen” Rolex 1655 Explorer II, a watch McQueen never actually wore).
Header photo via Yorktime.com; Nina Rindt photo unknown
The earliest reference I can find to the “Nina Rindt” nickname for the panda UG Compax is from back in 2012 in a Chronotrader ad. But it’s probably safe to say the term had been kicking around at least since shortly after this 2006 post on the main On The Dash Heuer Forum. OK, so we have a catchy nickname and established celebrity provenance. And we also have a genuinely uncommon watch, one that you are simply not going to see in most second hand watch stores or even find on eBay too often. Now what? Well, after a few years of steady increase, the “Nina” gradually rose to around an $8000 dollar watch as of the end of 2013. Which is not too shabby and probably a quadrupling of value in about 4 years give or take. I think this is well within the level of standard appreciation in the timeline of a desirable model getting more well known, talked about, shown on the internet and eventually having “Grail” status bestowed upon it by collectors of that specific brand or type of watch.
And then things got really nutty. In early 2014, watch enthusiast site extraordinaire Hodinkee published one of their ubiquitous “Found” articles on a very nice “Nina” with a lot of backstory on the watch and the entertaining account of the owner’s acquisition of it. Now blessed with Hodinkee’s unparalleled reach as the arbiter of what is hot and sexy in the vintage watch world, the “Nina” really took off. The other enthusiast/industry fluffing sites caught on and so, of course, did the collector forums, who are no dopes either. By the time Hodinkee made another mention of a nice “Nina” for sale in October of that year on their dealer booster feature, “Bring a Loupe”, the “Nina” had blown up to around $15k during the course of that red hot summer and early fall. But we still hadn’t seen anything yet.
The Hodinkee – Analog/Shift “Nina” that lit the fuse (Photo via Analog/Shift)
Let’s unpack this a little bit, shall we? So we have the Analog/Shift “Nina” — presumably the same example highlighted in that earlier “Found” installment — being sold at silent auction for a reported $23k. Continue reading →
On offer this month is this wonderful consignment piece, a beautiful and rare Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Triple Date full calendar automatic. One of the earliest of these model 25807STs produced circa 1996 and still mounted on its original long bracelet with butterfly clasp, this neo-vintage AP ROO is unique not only because of the complications but also due to is size. Whereas nearly all Offshores are 44mm or larger, this Triple Date model measures only around 40mm across to the crown guards and 37mm across the bezel. That means you don’t have to have a wrist like an NBA power forward to pull it off.
Featuring the tank-like construction that you’d expect from an Offshore with those cool visible gaskets, this all steel midsize version has the very highly regarded Jaeger-LeCoultre derived automatic Triple Date caliber 2127/2827 purring away under the hood. It was recently fully overhauled in May of 2014 so the new owner will know it’s good to go for years to come and comes with the documentation to prove it.
No safe queen, this AP ROO is decidedly unpolished, charmingly showing its nearly 20 years of consistent use, and suits the collector who simply wants to strap on his watch and get out amongst it, no babying required. Of course, with all that untouched metal a fresh polish would also look great if that’s what’s desired — it really depends upon personal aesthetics and AP do a killer job of refinishing if that’s the choice you make.
With a minty Tritium dial highlighted by the Royal Oak’s patented “grand tapisserie” (aka “waffle iron”) gullioché finish in stunning triple calendar layout this is a robust, super cool but not gigantic Sports watch you won’t see on many other wrists. And with legendary Audemars Piguet style and quality, you’re guaranteed to make an impact wherever you go while wearing this beautiful timepiece. Priced attractively for such an elite piece, I don’t think it’ll last. Grab it while you can and join the Royal Oak Offshore club!
Well, August is surely winding down to a close. But there’s still time for one more cool vintage watch to be offered up for your sartorial pleasure. It’s another classic 1960s Omega Semaster De Ville, this time the yin to the black dialed version’s yang with a stunning original silver sunburst dial in top Near Mint condition.
Again unpolished and again all original, this timeless De Ville “unishell” is running strong and is pure class on the wrist. And heck, if you buy both this one and his black sibling you’ll have an instant, Mad Men-style wrist wardrobe just like that! Not too shabby, Alonso.
Ever since I flew back from vacation a few weeks ago and killed some time with the obligatory viewing of The Big Lebowski, this song has been rattling around my brain. You know the one — the psychedelic side of Kenny “The Gambler” Rogers? Who knew, right? Works on a few levels — period pop, ironic delight, its permalink with a cult classic movie. And, oh that Coen Brothers “video”!
Summer may be gradually winding down but the good oscillations keep on coming with stylish and affordable vintage watches just waiting to make their way on to your wrist. Just in, this drop dead gorgeous Omega Seamaster De Ville from the late 1960s, real Mad Men material if I dare say so. What makes this fine vintage dress Omega a bit better than the rest is the beautiful original Near Mint gloss black dial.
During this period Omega simply didn’t produce many dress models with black dials — they’re almost all silver or white. So finding a survivor with its original black lacquer dial in such great shape is a real coup for Omega aficionados. There’s even a hint of tropical brown peeking through under bright light.
With a classic front loading “unishell” all-steel case in unpolished condition, this De Ville is a versatile and durable stunner. And with the redoubtable in-house Omega automatic caliber 552 under the hood you’ve got accurate timekeeping covered too. So whether you’re headed to pitch a new client or out for cocktails with that special someone, you’re guaranteed to arrive in impressive style.
