Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: May 2023

Wednesday 31 May 2023

Vintage RECORD DATOFIX - Triple Calendar Moon Phase 34.6mm circa 1950

This is a Vintage RECORD DATOFIX - Triple Calendar Moon Phase 34.6mm circa 1950. Datofix proudly showcases a constellation of elusive complications: a pointer-date calendar, a moon-phase indicator, a set of day and date displays, and – the cherry on top – a neat small seconds display at 6 o’clock. The dagger indices and slender sword hands tie the impressive composition together, lending the watch an aggressive aspect.

Founded circa 1903, the company later banded with a few other watchmakers to form Record Dreadnought Watch Co. In 1961, Longines bought a majority share of Record and used some of their movements in their own timepieces as well. Unfortunately, Record fell victim to the quartz crisis and never fully recovered. It eventually ceased production in 1991,

What made this watch unique is that most moon phase window is at 6 o'clock position but Record Watch placed it at the 12 o'clock position instead. Powering the watch is the in-house manual-winding Calibre 106 with quickset pushers to set the day, date, month and moonphase indications. I am on a nostalgia trip as I have started to recollect some of the timepieces I used to own. One must be careful not to damange the watch mvement and the only consideration to take note of is not to change the triple date and moonphase indications when the hands are between 10 o’clock and two o’clock.

Monday 22 May 2023

Rolex Daytona Ref 116523 (from the year 2000)

Rolex released the Daytona ref. 116523 in the year 2000 as part of the new-generation Daytona collection equipped with the new in-house Caliber 4130 automatic movement. The previous Daytona watches ran on caliber 4030, which was a modified Zenith El Primero automatic movement. Before that, they were powered by hand-wound movements valjoux 72 movement for Rolex 6239,6262, 6264 etc.

The Rolex Caliber 4130 was significant because it was the very first in-house automatic chronograph movement. Like all modern Rolex Daytona watches, the Daytona ref. 116523 sports a 40mm Oyster case, which I think it’s the ideal size for Rolex Sports model; screw down chronograph pushers, and a screw-down winding crown.

As a Rolesor model (Rolex’s term for two-tone watches), it features a mix of stainless steel and 18k yellow gold throughout the watch, both of which are forged in Rolex’s own foundry using the finest ore available. There is the yellow gold engraved tachymeter bezel on the stainless steel case and the yellow gold center links framed by steel links on the Oyster bracelet.

The Daytona ref. 116523 comes with several dial color namely black, silver, grey and hour marker options. However, they all include the trio of registers at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. The reference 116523 is a coveted collector’s item among many motorsport enthusiasts as its prices are still reasonable. Previously, only the steel Daytona are popular among the collectors especially the model using El Primero movement Ref 16520. However, these gold & steel Daytona and the gold Daytona has gained popularity among the newer and younger collectors.

Strangely, in terms of Pricing for the Steel Rolex Daytona Ref 16520 commands higher prices then the model that of the ref 116520 that come after. For the Gold and Steel models, the newer model ref 116523 actually commands higher prices than the ref 16523. I have never seriously hunt for the Daytona as the prices are quite high to start with. Nevertheless, as part of my efforts to reduce the quantities of watches, I have traded a Rolex 18k rose gold1503 & bi colour 1601 plus cash top up for this.

The Daytona ref. 116523, was discontinued and replaced with the new Daytona ref. 116503 in 2016. The new two-tone Daytona is almost identical in appearance to the previous one except for a redesigned bezel. The bezel now includes fatter fonts and triangular markings instead of circular ones. The updated bezel also features a slightly different orientation of the Tachymeter scale with the numerals circling in a curve around the bezel instead of positioned perpendicular with the hour markers as seen on reference 116523. Additionally, the hash marks between the 60 to 100 graduations are now underlined by a bold black line, whereas the bezel on ref. 116523 embraces more of a minimalist design with smaller numerals and markers.

As this is still a Neo Vintage watch, I have sent the watch to Rolex center for waterproof and maintenance since Rolex Centers still have spare parts for this discontinued model.

Latest Update:

My Rolex Daytona has finally been completely serviced and now that watch is fully waterproofed again.

Sunday 21 May 2023

Vintage IWC ref R881AD (1811)Yacht club with blue dial

The IWC Yacht club was introduced at the Basel Fair in 1967. It was IWC's attempt to create an all-weather, dressy-casual watch that could be worn in various environments. Following the success of the IWC Yacht club, IWC also introduced he Polo Club and the Golf club series, which were less successful than the former. Personally, I think the IWC Yacht club has a timeless design plus the watch with heavy steel case is a perfectly proportioned 36mm X 44mm and is relevant even for today's usage.

As part of my efforts to form a small collection of the IWC Yacht club series, I have added another. This is another Vintage IWC ref R881AD (1811)Yacht club with nice blue dial plus original Gay Frères metal bracelet. It is interesting to note that Blue dial made during the 1970s tend to flak especially around the dial luminous areas. I have seen these flaking in Rolex blue dial and Iwc blue dial too.

This is my second or third attempt to form an IWC watch collection as several years ago, I have tried to start a collection with the Caliber 8541 on Feb 2020 but failed as I have sold those blue dials IWC away for some reasons. The 8541 comes with several watch cases such as the TV shape, oval shape and C shape etc..

This time round, I have managed to find an IWC Yacht Club in rare Green marble dial and a nice blue dial. I hope to find one more blue marble dial and perhaps a black one too. I think there is one with steel and gold bezel and a full solid gold one too. Lets see how many can I ultinately collect..

Blue dial with blue date disc

Fish logo winding crown

Crew back case

Gay Frères bracelet

When collecting the IWC Yacht Club, one needs to pay attention to the details:

Left looks like the C shape Omega Constellation

There are several variations:

Photo from the internet

18k solid gold case and Back

14 k gold case with steel back

Friday 19 May 2023

Vintage IWC ref R881AD (1811)Yacht club with green marble dail

I have been rather quiet lately due to work. Last night, I have finally managed to find a special vintage IWC yacht club with green marble dial from Sofia, Bulgaria. I have previously found an IWC ref 815A using Cal 8541 with special blue marble dial in Feb, 2020.

For a collector, having at least one of the vintage IWC Yacht Club is a must. It is one of the last representatives of the golden age of mechanical wrist watches right before the quartz crisis. The design of this watch is like Omega’s C-line case, which does not get caught on the shirt, and it has a unique luster and “sex appeal”. The crown has a fish-marked crown, indicating the water-resistant case of the time. The IWC yacht club is slightly thicker and looks bigger and more robust then the IWC ref 815A. It is well suited for a formal occasion as well as casual.

The most distinctive feature of this watch is the green marble dial which is a rather rare dial. In addition to the green marble, there is also a blue one. There is a little bit of military like camo pattern, but the design is not too assertive, including the indexes giving it a subtle look. It is interesting that the calendar date disc has the same color deign finishing as well. There is no documentation of such marble dials, but I suspect these are made specially for the Japan market as there are several Japanese websites who has sold these watches.

Besides having green marble dial and blue marble dial, there are also blue dial, black dial, silver and gold dial and gray dial. There are also some marble dial in other IWC automatc 815A models (non Yacht club series) I simply love these unique design dial like the Jaeger Lecoulte memovox lapis dial.

The movement is Cal.8541B with automatic winding. It is the improved version of Cal.8541 that added the date display based on Cal.854. The Pellaton movement is also very reliable because it winds the spring efficiently and has few failures among the vintage models. The Pellaton system is a self-winding mechanism developed in the 1950s by Albert Pellaton, a watchmaker who was the head of IWC’s design department. It is the final form of a perfected mechanical system, so perfected that the basic design is the same from the first cal. 85 to the final cal. 854.

I am hunting for an old IWC bracelet for this watch as well as hunt for an IWC blue marble Yacht Club.

- Finally a post for this duo IWC Yacht Club with special dial (watchprosite.com)

Watchprosite - Official WatchProSite Reviews of luxury Wristwatches for Collectors & buyers

Similar watches can be found :

https://timeanagram.com/en/products/7495

https://timeanagram.com/en/collections/iwc/products/15620

https://timeanagram.com/en/collections/iwc/products/7678

https://www.phillips.com/detail/iwc/CH080121/45

Most importantly, these watches appeared in Philips Auction Geneva 8-9 May 2021

Manufacturer: IWC
Year: 1970
Reference No: 1811
Movement No: 1’918’624
Case No: 1’929’159
Model Name: Yacht Club
Material: Stainless steel
Calibre: Automatic, cal. 8542, 25 jewels
Bracelet/Strap: Leather strap
Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel pin buckle
Dimensions: 36.5mm. Diameter
Signed: Case, dial and movement signed
Accessories: Accompanied by IWC Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch and its subsequent sale on September 22, 1970
Catalogue Essay
In 1967, IWC launched the “Yacht Club” model. The classical dress watches and military timepieces for pilots the brand was best known for at the time, the model wanted to offer a casual chic proposition. The name says in fact it all: it is a watch that can be worn in the suave atmosphere of a yacht club while sipping champagne and admiring a Sardinian sunset, but robust and reliable enough to be worn during the preceding regatta.

This philosophy was in fact light years ahead of its time, and it has more than one shared trait with the mindset that brought to life - less than a decade later - the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus.

The present timepiece is a unique specimen of this landmark watch: in depth research discloses that it was sold in Hong Kong in September 1970. Unfortunately, IWC archives do not provide detail on watch dials, but accurate examination of both sides of the dial and the fact that even the date ring has been realized in the same particular tonality prompted us to believe in the absolute originality of the timepieces. In order to dispel any possible doubt, the watch - together with its blue sibling (preceding lot) - was physically sent to IWC. After in depth examination, they concluded that the dial is a 100% original IWC product, and was most probably originally fitted on this timepiece. While the absence of a dial record prevented IWC from mentioning the dial on the Extract, David Seyffer - Heritage director of IWC - was kind enough to provide this comment:

"The two dials are highly rare; They are a design experiment from IWCs dial supplier. Only a few dials of the two variants exist. They were available in green and blue. Additionally, there was the corresponding date disc in the same colour. Officially, Yacht Club watches with these dials were never advertised. This makes the two pieces really very special.”