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Chuck Maddox Lives

Or at Least Chuck’s Terminology Does

Though I still have a sizeable chip on my shoulder with Antiquorum about the very questionable lots that went to sale in the Spring 2007 “Omegamania” thematic auction, another collector I know retains an interest in their latest upcoming action. Enough of an interest, in fact, to have planned a Martini-fueled auction-watch get together for that weekend, including the 5:00 AM session. Yes, apparently there are people who do such things. Should be a blast. :)

But anyway, though it’s typically not my penchant I took a look through Anitquorum’s online auction catalog, and in browsing through the listings I came across a few that really made me smile, though perhaps not for reasons that Antiquorum had intended. Take a gander at these lots in the upcoming Antiquorum Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches, Clocks & Horological Tools / Imperial Treasures auction on Nov. 15-16 2008:

LOT 458
“Anakin Skywalker” Omega, “Seamaster”, Ref. ST 145.0023. Made in the 1970’s. Fine and very rare, tonneau-shaped, water resistant, tungsten-bombarded “1200 Vickers” stainless steel wristwatch with round button chronograph, 12-hour and 30-minute registers, tachometer and a stainless steel Omega bracelet with deployant clasp. Accompanied by a recent Omega box.
LOT 459
Speedsonic “Lobster” Omega “Chronometer, Speedsonic, 300 Hz”, Ref. ST 188.0001 / 388.0800. Made circa 1975. Fine and rare stainless steel electronic wristwatch with square button chronograph, 12- hour and 30-minute registers, tachometer, day, date and Omega stainless steel “lobster” bracelet with deployant clasp. Accompanied by a recent Omega box.

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Posted in Omega Watches, Vintage Watches.

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By Rrryan – 04 November 2008

Watch Books: Zero Hour by William Schorr

Collectors new to military watches often ask for good books on the subject, and sadly there are relatively few. Among the most commonly recommended for those new to military watches is The Concise Guide to Military Timepieces 1880-1990 by Ziggy Wesolowski. Though concise as its title states, it provides an excellent overview of military watches from a variety of eras and some excellent photos.

Zero Hour by William Schorr. An experienced military watch collector himself, Schorr compiled photos and information about a vast number of both well-known and hard-to-find watches from a variety of sources (I was even able to make a small contribution). Though more of a photo compillation than informational reference, it contains brief informative descriptions as well.

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By Rrryan – 30 October 2008

Omega X-33 Group Purchases: Please Don’t Ask Unless You’re Qualified

Another frequent topic of pm and email inquiries to me concerns the Omega/Swatch USA Military Pilot Program described in my Omega X-33 Article. In short, Omega provides X-33 watches with custom caseback engravings to military pilots at a very deep discount (approx 70% off MSRP).

For reasons that continue to confuse me, irrationally optimistic internet forum readers frequently get it into their heads that despite an abject lack of qualifications they can simply form a group to make a purchase under a program for Military Pilots as if asking for free T-shirts. Somebody makes mention of it in a forum and suddenly there are 40-50 “Count me in!” and “Me too!” responses. The posts linger and are encountered in searches even months later. As can be expected the quest frequently leads them to me, and they’re often strangely maligned when I politely decline to provide the information indiscriminately.

The anonymity of the interwebs sometimes causes people to become very brave, setting aside normal constraints of tact and decorum. And frankly I’m getting a little sick of it. One inquirer recently tried to deceive me in his request, but made giveaway mistakes and misuses of jargon in his not-too-polite request. In subsequent messages he later accused me of lacking in patriotism by declining to provide the contact info to a stalwart patriot like himself. As a military veteran with service including combat deployments I found this odd, especially when the accuser was simply a collector and self-appointed expert on military memorabilia and equipment with no military service.

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Posted in Military Watches, Omega Watches, X-33.

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By Rrryan – 28 October 2008

Authentic “NATO”/G10 Military Watch Straps: Inquiry from the Mail Bag

Vu writes,

“Hi, Today I came across your post on TZ regarding the NATO strap. I am in the search for the best, genuine NATO strap available. May I have the information of the dealers that you have known? Best Regard, Vu”

I’ve received several inquiries about this topic in recent months, and its frequent recurrence is among the reasons I decided to create this blog. Apparently when searching for terms like “NATO strap” in various forums some of my old posts come up in which I had offered to send referrals to dealers by PM to skirt annoying anti-commercialization forum policies.

First, a minor point of semantics: though I was admittedly formerly among the offenders and the usage remains common among internet collectors, strictly speaking the “NATO strap” name is something of a misnomer. What is commonly known as the “NATO” design is more commonly referred to within the British military as the “G10,” a term used to describe a variety of issued personal kit items that are recorded on a form designated “G10.” In fact, the official UK Ministry of Defence Standard 66-47/2 that governs the strap spec even only refers to it somewhat unceremoniously as “Strap, Wrist Watch.” And so far as I’m aware no other nations (NATO-member or otherwise) use such a pattern officially and it remains unique to the UK, so “NATO” seems to be somewhat inaccurate or misleadingly vague. The “NATO” moniker became common in internet communities for reasons that really aren’t quite clear to me; some accounts rightly or wrongly attribute the assignment of name to Italian or Japanese collectors. The fact remains however that it is not known as a “NATO” even in its home country and the name is somewhat misapplied. “G10 strap” is greatly preferred in my opinion.

Second, to the heart of the question at hand: I don’t really know, at least not any more. My understanding and the landscape have changed considerably since those earlier forum postings. For one thing there no longer seems to be much of a consensus any more as to what exactly “official issue” or “authentic” straps are when it comes to custom colors and dimensions. In fact, strictly speaking, only 18mm or 20mm straps in the “Admiralty Grey” color can rightly be considered official. And to confuse things even further, according to some sources some suppliers who formerly supplied the MoD no longer do so or have ceased operations, so some formerly “official” channels are no longer available. And at least one supplier I used to habitually recommend is no longer considered reliable.

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Posted in Military Watches, Straps, X-33.

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By Rrryan – 26 October 2008

Welcome to my new Blog!

I’ve resisted the idea for a long time, but I’ve finally decided to establish a blog dedicated to one of my hobbies, collecting watches.

Although I learned much of what I know through various discussion forums around the intertubes, for various reasons I no longer frequent forums like I used to. But periodically either through the forums or my website I’ll get an inquiry, and while I’m usually glad to answer I wanted to be able to share the responses with a wider audience.

Enter the blog. The goals for right now are not too ambitious, and will likely center around publishing and sharing short little comments and responses to inquiries. I still prefer an article format for my writings though as they allow for greater depth and detail. At present I do not intend to commit to a rigourous timed publication cycle, so updates may be intermittent.

But then again, most of my writings about watches started out pretty unambitiously too, so we’ll see how it goes. ;)

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By Rrryan – 26 October 2008