Watch Time magazine recently published an interview with Omega CEO Stephen Urqhart, which you can read here.
Omega CEO Stephen Urqhart
In the months leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, of course much of the focus is on Omega’s ongoing commitment to timing the Olympic events, and agreement that was recently extended to 2020. An interesting point Urqhart makes was that it’s likely in the best interest of the IOC as Omega is more than a corporate sponsor and has become an integral part of the process:
If we weren’t there, they would have to create a whole new structure. They’d need three, four, five other companies to time the games. It’s not like they could just find a new sponsor, like Burger King or something. They know our technique, they know our expertise; frankly, we’ve had a pretty faultless track record, thank God.
Lot 374: Rolex COMEX Submariner, Ref. 168000, 1986. Photo: Paul Boutros for Timezone
Next week Antiquorum will hold another auction of Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, Pocket Watches & Clocks on December 9 in New York. The Antiquorum-owned Timezone.com has its its customary preview of the Antiquorum auction with photos up for the curious that’s well worth a look.
As might be expected, the catalog contains some very interesting and notable watches in the Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin arenas, as well as some seriously significant Rolex Submariners and Sea-Dwellers including a ref. 5514 and even an already rare Double Red Sea-Dweller from COMEX with very interesting provenance.
Lot 375: Rolex COMEX Double Red Sea-Dweller from Physalie VI experiment. Photo: Paul Boutros for Timezone
Astronaut Don Pettit repairs his Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 aboard the International Space Station, Nov 2002-May 2003.
This video was taken in orbit aboard the International Space Station by Astronaut Don Pettit during the Expedition 6 mission on the ISS, Nov. 23, 2002 to May 3, 2003. During the mission Pettit logged 161 days in space, including over 13 EVA hours during the 5-1/2 months aboard the ISS.
In free time aboard the ISS (and there was a lot of free time after the Columbia disaster when shuttle flights were suspended) Pettit filmed a series of informal experiments and demonstrations about living and working in space the astronauts called “Saturday Morning Science,” as they were typically afforded a few hours of unstructured time on Saturday mornings aboard the ISS. This video was meant to demonstrate that fine motor work in space is still very possible with some special planning and adaptation for the low-gravity environment. The improvisation of a piece of 100-mph tape for a zero-G watchmaker’s bench is certainly clever, and it’s quite certain that Pettit was more than used to dealing with this problem by this point. His watchmaker’s tools:
“We always use the right tool for the job, which on the frontier is any tool you can find that you can use to get the job done.”
"Who Dares Wins" winged sword of damocles insignia of the British SAS.
The names and insignia of military units and organizations are usually considered government property, and as such are typically regarded as being in the public domain in most modern nations. makes it easy for companies like Graham to piggyback on the honor of some organizations.
And why not? Luminox pretty much made a name for itself with an implied “Navy SEALs” association which was pretty tenuous at best. Graham has upped the ante by adding a camouflage dial and the “Who Dares Wins” emblem of the UK’s Special Air Service (SAS), and slapping a price tag on it that some sellers claim is as high as $12,800, as much as a small car.
And with the namesakes SAS heavily involved in conflicts in places like Afghanistan these days, one would like to think that Graham could at least donate a portion of that $12,800 to a military charity in the UK or such. Yet their website seems to make no mention of any such charitable intention though it might seem like an obvious place to make mention of such when they take pains to point out their racing sponsorships. They’re content to simply borrow the name and insignia for free. Honor, it seems, is cheap these days.
Waltham A-11 Navigation (Hack) Watch manual from 1945
I came across this a while back and finally got around to putting it online over the weekend. It’s a complete scan of the original 1945 USAAF, USN, and RAF use and service manual for the Waltham A-11 Navigation watches, also known as hack watches for the then-novel feature of being able to stop the second hand to “hack” the time setting with a common time source.
The manual covers the operation, use, and even service of the Waltham A-11. The A-11 was perhaps the most commonly issued US military watch of the WWII era. It was most commonly issued to pilots and aircrew for air navigation use, and was also provided to the British Royal Air Force and even the Soviet Red Army under lend-lease and military aid programs during the war.
As the manufactureres used various movements and case components, there are separate publication for covering A-11s by Waltham, Hamilton, Elgin, etc. This particular addresses the Walthams only.
Placeholder in the onlince catalog for one of the many withdrawn lots.
In less than an hour bidding is scheduled to begin on the Patrizzi & Co. Auctioneers “IMPORTANT COLLECTORS’ POCKET WATCHES, WRISTWATCHES AND CLOCKS & ONE OWNER COLLECTION OF VINTAGE HEUER WRISTWATCHES” Auction. The catalog consists mainly of a collection of vintage Heuer (using the term loosely) watches that formerly belonged to a single collector in Europe.
However, the collection included a number of pieces with varying authenticity problems, leading one to speculate that the original collector had either been prone to creating personalized custom “Frankenwatches” to suit to his own whims, or else had been given some very bad advice along the way. Continued…
Again, it’s that time of year, that time when many major publications release special holiday watch features leading up to the holiday shopping season.
There are a fehttps://ialreadyhaveawatch.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpw good ones out this year, my favorite of which is in Financial Times.
The New York Times/International Herald Tribune also had some yesterday. Although they don’t seem to have a dedicated landing page, there are several good articles centered around watches and watchmaking. Some of my favorites are linked below.
Yes, like it or not it’s that time of year again. Tomorrow marks Black Friday™, that semi-official holiday marking the occasion of a mass orgy of rampant consumer retail spending on the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
Below is a capture from Google Trends showing a rough history of queries to the search engine for the term “watches.” There is a clear and distinct spike in search traffic for “watches” right about this time of year.
Snip from Google Trends for the search term "watches." Note the cyclic spike late in every year.
The distinct spike at the end of the year in search traffic perhaps comes as little surprise, as the wristwatch has become perhaps one of very few opportunities to display sentimentality and uniqueness in modern men’s fashion, and like neckties watches have long been especially popular gifts for men. As well, online outlets have become increasingly popular, even if only for information with specific regard to Swiss luxury brands that eschew online sales as part of maintaining an exclusive brand images.
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