Tag Archives: Collecting

The bike we want – The MO-05 Swiss Army Bike

Molen_Tot_Voordeel_en_Genoegen_legerfiets_Zwitserland-1MO-05-3

Military surplus is often an endless well of cool and unique stuff. Built with an eye towards efficiency, function and practicality, the designs of military products often end up being more beautiful than their civilian cousins, either in there stark simplicity or their necessary complexity, whichever happened to be called for in that particular instance. The MO-05 Swiss Army Bike embodies this complex beauty.

Starting back in 1905, the Swiss Armyย  maintained a bicycle infantry unit. Actually, they weren’t the only ones but that’s a different story. Bikes were used in the same way horses were, for patrols, etc. The Swiss Army still uses bikes today, although the infantry unit was disbanded in the early 2000’s.
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A (very) general hierarchy for vintage watches

Here are some very general guidelines on how to rank and compare vintage watches in a physical sense. Obviously, make and model have the most to do with the overall equation in terms of value but these physical characteristics can still give a collector a basic idea of the overall intrinsic value of a given wristwatch when compared against like examples.

  1. Case Type: A case with screwed back is generally more desirable than one with a snap/pressure fit back due to increased water resistance. Any given multi-piece case is usually preferable to a front loading “monocoque” one-piece case, a style which was popular in the early 1970s but is now out of fashion. A 3-piece case with back, midcase and separate bezel is generally considered superior to a 2-piece case with integrated/formed non-separate bezel. Continue reading →