My lucky run of quality vintage watches for August just keeps on coming up aces with this gorgeous circa 1950s Movado “Sport.” This watch was part of a jeweler’s deadstock that he inherited when he purchased the business and it is in near pristine condition. It features a stunning original eggshell silver dial with elegant partial Arabic numerals and closed minute track.
The beautifully designed 3-piece snap back all-steel case shows no signs of polish and the brushed and polished surfaces are pristine with razor sharp lugs. The outer caseback is marked for Stainless Steel and even has the original retailer’s price sticker on the back! This Sport is rather pleasingly over-engineered with an anti-magnetic dust cover protecting the movement. Can you imagine what a watch of this obvious build quality would go for if it said Patek on the dial instead of Movado?
Powering this vintage Sport is Movado’s high grade in-house Caliber 125 manual wind movement with 15 jewels and a nice oversized balance for greater accuracy. This is just an exceptionally well preserved watch with classic mid-20th century looks from one of the great houses of Switzerland. It all adds up to an uncommon opportunity to buy a time capsule sort of piece from 50+ years ago that you just can’t find every day. But if you act quickly you can make it yours and wear it everyday!
The love-as-a-drug metaphor doesn’t get anymore potent or direct than on the classic 1970s soul hit “Stoned Out Of My Mind” by the Chi-Lites. Led by the honey dripping tenor-falsetto of Eugene Record, who wrote most of their tunes, Chicago’s own sweet soulsters likened a bad relationship with a femme fatale to a drug or drinking binge. The results were a propulsive, horn-laden classic that made it to #2 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1973.
“Stoned” was such a quietly influential classic, in fact, that when Paul Weller was at the height of his Soul & R&B obsessions with The Jam he chose to cover it for the B-side to the band’s last single, “Beat Surrender,” in 1982. The result was a a more suave take on the original with Weller’s lowered pitch and cool to the point of almost lounge-y delivery giving the song a completely different yet pleasingly smooth vibe.
The Chi-Lites’ original has more grit and funk and The Jam’s cover more polish and finesse. Take your pick — either version is about as good of a “love is a drug” song as there is in the pop canon.
I promised more watch goodies for August and here’s another honey: a late 1940s Longines Special in all-steel “Sei Tacche” case. “Sei Tacche” is an Italian term that refers to the 6 notches for opening the screwed back just as “Tre Tacche”refers to water resistant Longines cases with only 3 notches. Both are highly coveted case styles for Longines watches.
Better yet though, in my opinion, is the drop dead gorgeous gloss black military style dial with wonderfully patinated Radium numerals, minute track and nicely delineated engine turned subsidiary seconds at “6.” Though I know of no military pedigree it is easy to imagine this dial was designed with sale to the armed forces in mind or at least certainly with the memory of Longines’ excellent WWII-era watches still echoing just a few short years later.
For in fact, I’ve already had written confirmation from Longines that this watch dates from 1948 and was originally sold in Sweden. It also features one of the great movements of that immediate post-War ear, the estimable in-house caliber 27M, no doubt a direct evolution of Longines’ vaunted 12L series.
Though not a big watch at around 33.5mm this Special is just that — true to its military forebears and an absolutely beautiful statement on the wrist with a primo engine under the hood. It’s got all the makings of a prime collectible. And one you can actually wear on a daily basis.
Summer may be gradually winding down but there are still some hot vintage watches to be had. Take this gorgeous mid-1960s Seamaster 600 for example. This classic manual winder from the great house of Omega features a stunning original silver sunburst dial and an elegant yet robust all-steel water resistant screw back case.
Inside that handsome packaging you’ll find another quality in-house movement from Omega, in this case the hand winding caliber 601 finely tuned with two positional adjustments. The connection between a manual watch and its owner can be a pleasurable one, reinforced as it is with the daily interaction of powering up the movement via turning the crown. And I predict a very happy symbiosis for this SM 600 and its new owner.
Whether you’re off to the office or out for a night on the town this classic Seamaster remains as timeless and versatile as when it was designed way back in 1965. Just strap it on and see what this stylish vintage Omega can do for you.
I blame that damn Volkswagen commercial with the nice old Irish lady and her family. Or maybe it’s a hangover from a certain Vermont senator’s 2016 campaign. But Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” has been absolutely stuck in my head for weeks now. And so I’m going to inflict it on you, as well, in an attempt to exorcise it from my ear canal
Obviously it’s a gorgeous 1960s classic redolent of complex youthful emotions, lyrics that effortlessly paint a detailed and profoundly human mise en scène and lifted skyward by those patented soaring S&G harmonies. There’s even a very George Harrison-like guitar sound in there rendered instead by Larry Knechtel’s Hammond organ, as well as Hal Blaine’s thundering drums, giving what could otherwise be a straight forward folk ballad complexity, texture and heft. Essentially it’s a perfect single where the words seamlessly dovetail with the music — “Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together” — and one that profoundly captures the troubled, fraying zeitgeist of 1968 America. I just hope that by finally posting it I’ll be rid of this masterpiece in my mind’s ear for a while. Sorry if it infects you in the process but it has to be done!
Kicking off summer and this most patriotic month I have a real sparkler of a vintage watch on offer — a beautiful pink gold capped C-shape Constellation. Dating from circa 1966 this Mad Men-esque beauty features Omega’s bold, sweeping lug design that ushered in a new stylistic era for their flagship Constellation line. And this pink gold capped version is surely one of the more uncommon iterations.
Furnished on its ultra-rare matching pink plated brick link bracelet, this Connie makes a stunning and refined impression on the wrist. Best of all all its various collector elements match perfectly: solid 14k pink gold smooth bezel, correct pink crown, solid pink gold Observatory medallion on the back, pink dial furniture and even a pink tension ring on the Omega-signed acrylic crystal! That sort of originality is pretty hard to come across in a 50-year-old watch.
This Connie also features its original and beautiful silver non-luminous dial and matching non-luminous stick hands. I am big fan of this elegantly slim, almost minimalist dial and hands combo and I think once you strap it on you will be, too. To make matters even sweeter, the exceptional 561 Chronometer caliber was serviced recently and so is ready for years’ more faithful service to its new owner. Accuracy, rarity and uniquely classy style all at an eminently reasonable price — what more could you ask for in a vintage dress watch?
The sad and shocking news that Chris Cornell, founder and frontman of both Soundgarden and Audioslave and one of the most gifted rock vocalists of his generation, has died at the age of 52 is still reverberating around the music world. He was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit on May 17th while on tour with his re-formed original band, the great grunge pioneers from Seattle, an apparent suicide. Cornell’s loss as an individual and his loss to rock music as a whole is hard to fully process. Our sincere condolences go out to his family and friends.
Searching With My Good Eye Closed – Badmotorfinger (1991)
Unlike their local peers Nirvana and Pearl Jam, with whom they are most closely grouped, Soundgarden was less true “grunge” than an extension of classic 70s hard rock, albeit with sophisticated lyrical themes and innovative musical techniques. While initially satirizing the over-the-top nature of metal at the time they began in the late 80s — see “Big Dumb Sex” for the apotheosis of this in-your-face, on the nose send-up of hardcore metal misogyny — Soundgarden quickly graduated to a more lyrically complex, more darkly psychedelic metal sound that was uniquely their own. Their real breakthrough was Badmotorfinger, one of the seminal albums of the ’90s in any genre. A borderline concept album, Badmotorfinger was inestimably weird and powerful, featuring guitarist Kim Thayil’s patented Drop D tuning on several hard-hitting classics like “Jesus Christ Pose,” “Outshined,” the soaring & ominous “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” and the punishing and mystical “Room A Thousand Years Wide.” Another track from this awesome album, “Mind Riot,” seemed to point in the direction that Cornell and the band would take in future: hard-edged, certainly, but with an almost ballad-like emotional intensity and strikingly original lyrics of searching strangeness and loss.
I was crying from my eye teeth and bleeding from my soul
And I sharpened my wits on a dead man’s skull
I built an elevator from his bones
Had climb to the top floor just to stamp out the coals (I’ve been caught in a mind riot)
Candle’s burning yesterday
Somebody’s best friend died
I’ve been caught in a mind riot
Mind Riot – Badmotorfinger (1991)
After the explosion of Grunge as a distinct genre onto the national scene, fueled by their own success and that of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the Screaming Trees among others, Soundgarden followed up Badmotorfinger with an even bigger hit, Superunknown. The new album was characterized by a subtle shift away from pure heavy metal and more emphasis on mystical guitar driven psychedelia. Propelled by the huge MTV hits “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman,” the album also featured other classics like the title track and the propulsive “My Wave.”
Superunknown – Superunknown (1994)
The band also honed their penchant for extreme pessimism with the beautiful downers “The Day I Tried To Live,” “Like Suicide” and the very heavy “Mailman” and “4th of July.” Continue reading →
The late, great Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli (1921-2003), head of Fiat for decades, eventual part owner of Ferrari and longtime chairman of the Juventus soccer club, is rightly regarded as a true men’s style icon. From his pioneering mix of high and low in his day-to-day fashion — work boots with a finely tailored suit, denim shirts and jeans with an ascot — to his signature wristwatch-over-the-cuff look, Agnelli was man of unique and cutting edge personal style.
Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that Gianni Agnelli began sporting the massive Omega Ploprof diving watch during his vacations and more casual moments in the 1970s. The very avant-garde asymmetrical case design must have appealed to the industrialist in him, as well as its eye-catchingly oversized dimensions. The Ploprof was also engineered to be a true “wrist machine” and not just another wristwatch so wearing one couldn’t help but make a statement, something Agnelli always like to do. A keen yachtsman, the Ploprof’s bona fides as a rugged professional dive watch and a timepiece of superior water resistance must have also appealed to Agnelli’s adventurous nature.
It’s definitely cool that such a patrician, elegant figure could rock a beast like the PloProf and so effortlessly, as well. I never would have thunk it but then these pics don’t lie. Chalk another one up to the maestro of bespoke personal fashion. He certainly anticipated our current culture’s fascination with high-low attire and bold personal statements. But maybe don’t try wearing your PloProf outside your shirt cuff. After all, there was only one Gianni Agnelli and no matter how much of his ingenious, seemingly effortless élan has worked its way into our current sense of fine gentlemanly style some of his signature moves remain impervious being copied. Simply put, you can borrow from Agnelli but you can’t be Agnelli. So rock your Ploprof, old or new, however you see fit and make it part of your own look. You’ll always know you’re in very good company.
Well it’s the merry month of May already so time to get in the spring swing with something special — an uncommon 1970s Breitling reference 7806 Navitimer from my personal collection. What makes this vintage Navitimer special, you ask, other than being a fine example of Breitling’s legendary aviator’s computing watch? Well, the 7806 has an unusual movement under the hood: a seldom seen Valjoux 7740 rather than the traditional Venus 178 of nearly all other earlier Navi models.
The manual wind 7740 is an odd duck in that it is essentially a Heuer/Breitling/Hamilton Chronomatic cal 11/12 but without the autowind mechanism (not sure how these wound up being branded “Valjoux 7740” but I guess that is a story for another day). Also unusual is the placement of the constant seconds sub-register hand at “6” while the hour counter is at “9” and the minute counter at “3,” as well as a small red date placed between “4” and “5,” another first for a Navitimer. My surmise is that the 7740 was tapped to be one of the replacements for the venerable Venus 178 in Breitling’s manual 3-register chronographs for some or other reason, along with the non-date Valjoux 7736, as you see these calibers start to appear with corresponding revised model references in the early 70s.
All that technical talk aside, this mid-1970s Navi features gorgeously patinated Tritium luminous figures on its “Big Eye” Twin Jet logo dial, colorful red slide rule accents and an oversized 41mm all-steel case in excellent condition. That gives this beautiful vintage watch great presence and panache, as well as a being a model you’re not likely to see on someone else’s wrist. It’s just the kind of interesting, low production piece that gets the attention of fellow watch collectors in general and vintage Breitling collectors in specific. Just back from a full overhaul, this is a functional tool watch for timing fast feats on land or air and from a vintage marque I actually think is underrated considering the prices being fetched by more obscure brands. So take a good look and see of you don’t want to add this classic reverse panda chrono to your collection. With this beautiful and uncommon Breitling Navitimer on your wrist, the sky’s the limit!
All that intriguing history aside, this fine neo-vintage chronograph is definitely a stunner in the here and now. Faithful in nearly every way to the original versions, this all-steel screw back watch features the classic Carrera-sized 36mm wide case with its iconic long, angled lugs. The black dial — these 1964 Re-Editions also came in silver but the black is the sexier version, IMO — features fine white contrast printing for the decimal track and engine-turned black sub-registers, as well as an inverted pie pan outer silver minute track. The original Tritium luminous has acquired a lovely ivory patina through the years on both the dial and the perfectly matching, uniquely Heuer-shaped hands.
Under the hood is the legendary Lemania cal. 1873 chronograph movement — essentially the same movement that has powered Omega’s Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch from 1968 on — beautifully finished by Heuer with what appears to be rhodium plating and sporting 18 jewels. This robust caliber is a worthy successor to the venerable Valjoux 72 movement that powered the original 1960s three-register Carreras and all chrono functions are super crisp with timekeeping and power reserve excellent. Complimenting this racing-inspired watch beautifully is a modern shell cordovan rally strap, which also has this model’s genuine Heuer-signed “B” buckle installed.
Running like a top and costing a fraction of what an original vintage black manual Carrera would run you these days, this CS3111 Re-Edition is top quality genuine 60s style at an affordable price. Snap it up, strap it on… and go!
