The Milgauss originally released in 1957, celebrates its 50th birthday in 2007, and as a result the Milgauss is given an update. The dial features a lightning bolt inspired seconds for his hand over a black dial. The hour markers are both white and orange with orange creating the minute numerals. A slight green tinted sapphire crystal highlights the dial. The watch is securely fasted to your wrist via a stainless steel Oyster bracelet. I was fortunate enough to get the watch many years ago.
I’m
The Rolex Milgauss was launched around the same time as the Rolex Green submariner
Green is the color for 2021 as many new watches were green.
GREENSBORO — After nearly 67 years, Uncle Norm's watch has come home to his family.
Red rust stains cloud the inside of the crystal on the stainless steel Rolex Oyster Datejust timepiece.
Erik Kirzinger wears the watch believed to belong to his uncle, Norman Schwartz, in Greensboro on Wednesday. Norman Schwartz was a CIA contract pilot killed during a 1952 mission over Manchuria.Bernadine Hernandez/News & Record
Its original leather wristband is gone, though band pins remained in place. The watch no longer tells time. But it tells quite a story. From 1952 to 2004, it had been buried in China where the plane flown by Norman A. Schwartz, a CIA contract pilot, and copilot Robert Snoddy was shot down during a 1952 mission. Schwartz and Snoddy were killed.
This month, the watch finally arrived via FedEx at the Rockingham County home of Schwartz's nephew, Erik Kirzinger. "A part of him has come home," said Kirzinger's sister, Tana Wirtz of Greensboro. As he held it for the first time, Kirzinger thought of his late mother, Betty, and aunt, Katherine Gordon, two of Norman's six siblings. "It was too bad that my mother and my aunt, who idolized Norman, weren’t there," he said. Since its discovery at the crash site in 2004, the watch had been stored in the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. There, scientists tried to determine whether Schwartz or Snoddy had owned it. Last month, they finally sent the watch to Kirzinger. Clues point to Schwartz as the watch's owner. "But in truth, there is no proof of ownership and doubtful there ever will be," Kirzinger said. He said he would give it up if evidence later surfaces proving that the watch belonged to Snoddy instead.Kirzinger wears it with a new leather band.
For Kirzinger, 67, the watch symbolizes his personal quest to learn what happened to his uncle.That led to a broader mission: ensuring that families of CIA Cold War contractors killed in action received recognition and closure for their lost loved one. In years past, Kirzinger fought fires for the U.S. Forest Service and worked as a logger in the Pacific Northwest and on a cattle ranch in Montana. After returning to the Triad, he started a sports marketing business and helped to develop a Chinese restaurant home-delivery franchise. He took care of his elderly parents, Betty and George Kirzinger of Madison, until their deaths in the last decade.
Since 1981, Kirzinger has spent thousands of volunteer hours on research, calls and meetings with government officials for the United States and foreign countries, pursuing his passion to help honor CIA operatives of yesteryear and their families.
His uncle was among them.
Erik Kirzinger’s uncle, Norman A. Schwartz, was a CIA contract pilot killed during a 1952 mission. Schwartz’s family was told that the men had crashed into the Sea of Japan on a routine flight from Tokyo to Seoul.
A dashing and adventurous pilot from Louisville, Ky., Norman A. Schwartz flew for the Marine Corps during World War II.
He then flew for an airline called Civil Air Transport, later bought secretly by the Central Intelligence Agency. Schwartz became a civilian contractor for the CIA.
When Kirzinger was just a year old, his mother received word that her brother was missing.
They didn't know that he was flying for the CIA.
To keep secret the CIA's clandestine actions in China during the Korean War, the families of Schwartz and Snoddy were told that the men had crashed into the Sea of Japan on a routine flight from Tokyo to Seoul.
"The loss had devastating effects on my grandparents, who went to their graves thinking that the cover story that his plane crashed into the sea of Japan was true," Kirzinger said. Betty Kirzinger spent years writing to presidents, former POWs, foreign leaders and the International Red Cross to learn more.
It would be 20 years before the government acknowledged the truth to Schwartz's family. On Nov. 29, 1952, Schwartz and Snoddy were flying a C-47 to Manchuria in northeast China to extract a spy. Two CIA intelligence officers on board, Richard Fecteau and Jack Downey, were there to orchestrate the maneuver. Chinese soldiers on the ground opened fire with a .50-caliber machine gun. The plane crash-landed. Fire consumed its cockpit and main body.
The pilots were killed. Downey and Fecteau were captured, tried and imprisoned for 21 years and 19 years, respectively.
In 1998, Erik Kirzinger took up his family's quest for more information. His mother asked him to try to have his uncle's remains repatriated from China and buried next to their parents in Louisville, Ky. He wrote to then-CIA Director George Tenet.DNA tests end family’s quest for missing soldier. Kirzinger's letters and efforts set wheels in motion. In 1999, Tenet honored Schwartz and Snoddy with memorial stars at CIA headquarters in northern Virginia and with the agency's Distinguished Intelligence Cross, its highest medal for valor.
It would be another year before their mission was declassified and their names added to the CIA's Book of Honor at a 2000 ceremony.At that ceremony, vivid images filled Erik Kirzinger's mind as Tenet described how covert operatives had sacrificed their lives for the country. Kirzinger pictured each scene.
"The idea came to me that they should have an art collection of the milestone events in the CIA's past," Kirzinger said.
He set in motion a project to commission paintings for the CIA Museum.
They would depict missions dating from World War II, through the Cold War, to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan — missions declassified after decades of secrecy.Kirzinger recruited donors who would commission artists. He led the research to ensure accurate depictions of each scene. In 2017, Kirzinger spread those images into public view. He published a 2017 combination wall calendar and art book that reproduced 12 of the paintings and told the gripping stories behind them."Ambush in Manchuria" on November's page shows the downing of Schwartz's plane.
“Ambush in Manchuria,” by Dru Blair, is the March imhe painting shows Chinese Communist gunfire downing a Civil Air Transport C-47 on Nov. 29, 1952. The crew were unaware that their exfiltration mission had been compromised.
Joseph Rodriguez/News & Record
In 2018, he published two more calendars and a day planner, illustrated with more of the paintings. "It's just mind-boggling what he has been able to achieve from Rockingham County," Kirzinger's proud sister said. Wirtz doesn't recall having met her Uncle Norman. Like her brother, she was just a tot when he died.
The Chinese government initially denied knowing about Schwartz's final flight. But in 2002, it agreed to let members of the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory dig up wreckage believed to be Schwartz's plane. An elderly villager led searchers to a site where he said he buried the two Americans. Scientists found a few teeth and bone fragments, but determined through DNA that they belonged to Snoddy. They didn't know until years later that the bodies had been moved to another burial site, 500 yards north. In 2004, searchers also unearthed the Rolex watch.
The site in China where the plane piloted by Norman A. Schwartz was shot down on Nov. 29, 1952 during the Korean War.Photo courtesy of Erik Kirzinger
They delivered it to the Central Identification Laboratory. There it stayed for 15 years. The lab tried to determine whether the watch belonged to Schwartz or Snoddy. Both wore a Rolex Oyster Datejust.
The watch worn by Norman A. Schwartz resembles the Rolex Oyster Datejust that was later found where his plane was shot down in China during the Korean War.
Photos courtesy of Erik Kirzinger Kirzinger shows a photo in which his uncle wears a watch with a leather band and gold rim, resembling the one unearthed at the crash site. The found watch didn't have a band attached, although band pins had remained in place. Kirzinger believes that it had a leather band that burned in the fiery crash.
Another photo showed Snoddy wearing a Rolex with a stainless steel band — which would not have disintegrated underground, Kirzinger said. A later book by a friend of Snoddy's indicated that Snoddy had given it to his wife for safekeeping.
Schwartz's brother, Gene, recalled seeing Schwartz's Rolex watch when Schwartz was home on leave. He described scratches and a tiny dent on the back. Those remain.
Kirzinger wants to learn more. The serial number indicates that it was made in 1948. He wonders what time it stopped working. A former Christie's Auction House watch specialist suggested that the top Rolex expert examine it. The Rolex expert could decide whether the case can be opened.
But before Kirzinger takes further steps, he plans to attend the CIA's annual memorial ceremony on May 21 at its headquarters. He will wear the watch. And he'll think of his mother, who died in 2014."It's just too bad mother isn't around to be reconnected with her brother," he said
The following references are the true Rolex Big Bubbleback series. To qualify as a Big bubbleback, the watch must be 36mm in diameter and with either the A295 or A296 movements with date function. Basing on the information I have gathered, there are 13 references of the big bubbleback and I have managed to find 5 references. The Big bubbleback is much bigger than the normal bubbleback (36mm diameter versus 32mm) and is also fatter in the thickness of movements.
Rolex 4467( from year 1945-1949) caliber 745 only in solid gold, Rolex 5030 (solid gold)50315075, 6031(Steel and gold from year 1949 - 1950) start of the bi color steel gold watches
Rolex 6075 fluted bezel, 6074 smooth bezel (from year 1950 - 1953) Rolex 6104, 6105, 6155(modified A296，from year 1951 - 1953) Rolex 6304 , 6305 (A296，from year 1953 - 1956)
This afternoon, I was
fortunate as Cheong Gor’s shop was opened (his shop is often closed) plus I was also lucky enough to find the
ref 5031 big bubbleback from 1947. As this is quite a rare reference, I have
decided to part away my solid gold Rolex 3372 plus cash top up for the 5031.
The 5031 is
special as it has the earlier fully sealed bubbleback movement 封鉈芯; the calendar on
the dial also uses the early red display, and the calendar position is without
the gold frame. In addition, It still retains its straight lugs, the only two Pre-datejust cases that still
retain the horizontal end and the rolex oyster screw down winding crown, maintaining the enlarged
appearance of the watch. I was told that its production period is only one
year. I hope to find one ref 5075 and a 6075 or 74 soon to wrap up my quest for the Big
Bubbleback
Below photos showing Rolex 6105 versus 5031. Both watches are similar in size and thickness except that the 5031 has straight lugs. In addition, the 5031 has a full bubbleback movement while the 6105 has a semi bubbleback movement.
The Rolex 5031(right) has a straight lugs while the 6105 has a curve lugs.
The Rolex 5031 (Right) is much bigger than the normal bubbleback (center)
Since March 2021, I have realigned my watch collection focus to collect back vintage Rolex watches and in particular continuing my search for the Big Rolex
Bubbleback as I hope to build up my collection of the big bubbleback, which is getting harder to find. Following the 6105 footstep, I am in search of the Rolex 6031.
This is a
Rolex ref 6031 from 1947 using the all covered calibre 10 ½‘’’ in Homg Kong it is called 封鉈芯, 19 jewels, hour,
minute, second, date bubbleback movement. It has the unique straight lugs like those of the ref 5031 and looks similar to the early bubbleback. The watch is found in Germany and I am currently making arrangement with the purchase. Of all the Big bubbleback, the Rolex 5031, 5075, 6031 are the one with the straight sided lugs.
古董金鋼36mm大“棺材仔”十三劃K金外圈紅黑日歷密封鉈芯
In term of shape and look, the Rolex 6031 looks similar to the usual bubbleback (5015, 2940 etc) with straight lugs except that it is Bigger in size plus the mechanism has a date function. The standard size of the normal bubbleback is 32mm versus 36mm for the 6031.
In term of size, it is similar to the 6105 Big bubbleback except that the 6105 is using the semi bubbleback movement plus having a curve lugs.
Latest update:
I have managed to confirmed the deal this morning. Looking forward to receiving the watch soon...all the way from Germany.
The Reverso isTHEwatch that people think of when you say Jaeger-LeCoultre. First launched in 1931 the idea was that you could flip the watch face over and use the case back to protect the glass while playing polo. How often it has been used for this purpose, who knows! It was quite common to have the back engraved with your monogram. I have always want to get a Reverso but has very little luck.
This Duo-Face has the caliber 854 movement, which is very clever and makes the most of the Reverso design. Through one manually wound movement you can control two dials, one on each side, so not only can you have a different dial on each side but you can set each side to a different timezone, which will be very convenient when traveling overseas or for working in the bank that required trading with the US or Europe markets. Though it was never called the Day/Night officially, this is the moniker that is sometimes used as it features on the dial and not everyone knows the official name. The night dial is the black dial, as this has lume on the dial and hands. The white dial can be used during the day, or you can be a rebel and use them however you want!
I’m 
