 |
PM |  | |
Quote | | |
Reply | | |
Full Topic | |
| Joined: | Sat Oct 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | London, United Kingdom |
| Posts: | 63 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
I had 2 Doxa arrive last week that I managed to snag just after the holidays and thought you all might want to see some pictures (well, I wanted to show you! :)). With one exception these will be my last Doxa I think, but to me they are both quite special.
First up is a 300T re-issue Seahunter from 2002. I've been after one of these for a while but they rarely seem to become available. Whenever I've seen pictures of this watch I've always been struck by the blue block on the seconds hand - quite unusual but IMO works really well against the orange dial.
The watch really is in mint condition. It doesn't look like it's been worn at all. No scratches at all to the bezel or case, and even the bracelet clasp is free from swirlies. Came with the original box & tube, screwdrivers, LE Doxa strap and all paperwork.
The bracelet will take a bit of getting used to I think - it's very strange to see my wrist through it. I can imagine it will look really great when I have a tan, but at the moment I'm all pasty and white due to the British winter and no holiday since last summer :( . The watch is actually bigger than I expected - although the dial is a little smaller than the 750T dial the case is taller. Wears very comfortably.
All in all I'm very pleased with this. This is only my second orange Doxa after the 5000T Pro, so nice to have some traditional orange in my collection.
The second one is a bit older - a vintage 300T Searambler. I have always liked vintage Doxa and Searamblers are my favourites, so it seemed perfect when I saw it.
Those of you taking notice will have spotted there is no makers mark on the dial. I have no reason to believe it's anything other than genuine, but I personally haven't seen another without Doxa on the dial. Speaking to a couple of people I know that collect vintage Doxa the general consensus seems to be it's an original dial, but actually even if it was a re-dial it would have been good value.
As for condtion, well it's very good for it's age (which I'm told is late 60's, but I'm trying to confirm the exact year). The back of the case is engraved with the serial number and 11899 4 - which I'm told means it's one of the first 300T watches produced.
It's obviously be worn and shows some marks on the case and bezel, and there is no lume to speak of, but no scratches on the crystal or bad dings anywhere. It did come with the original BOR bracelet, but missing some links and no end pieces, so I've put it on a grey Nato and love it. I may try it on a mesh, but for now the Nato is perfect. It's only a little smaller than the 750T as this comparison will show.
So all in all I'm a very happy boy, but (with one exception) I can't see me buying another Doxa for a while. I think I have enough to be getting on with for now :)
Number three arrived last Thursday, all the way from Australia. I had a 20mm mesh ready in expectation of the arrival, and so a few minutes after opening the package it was on my wrist. I just love it. :)
This Omega Seamaster Chronograph has a 22 jewel cal 1040 Lemania movement - the first self-winding movement used by Omega, and dates to the ealry 1970's. It has a date indicator with quick change, a constant seconds subdial at "9" (with a really cool arrow indicating 24 hour time on it :) ), and the chronograph function has seconds and minute hands and an hour subdial at "6".
The case is pretty big and very 1970's - square shape and 42mm x 49mm (and 15mm thick). It would originally have come with either a bracelet or a leather strap, but IMO looks perfect on the mesh. I was wearing it most of yesterday afternoon and it is very comfortable to wear.
The case has some dings on it, the lumes all but gone and the chapter ring is a little faded, but it's working fine and has been recently serviced. My plan was to buy this and immediately send it to Bienne for restoration, but now I've seen it I'm not sure the condition warrants it. Sure, it's not minty, and Bienne would bring it up to pristine again, but it's nowhere near bad enough that I can't appreciate wearing it the way it is, so I think I'm just going to enjoy it as it is, for a while at least. :)
Now the 4th watch and the second Omega also arrived Thursday, and it is something I thought long and hard about before pulling the trigger. TBH I've wanted one of these ever since I started buying watches, but there are so many fakes arond that I had never found one I felt confident about. I'd all but given up on having one of these, and then my Speedmaster MkII came back from Bienne and it got me thinking.
I was surprised by how much Bienne had replaced on my Speedmaster during the restoration. Apart from the case and movement everything was replaced (and they had re-finished the case, and by the look of the returned parts replaced half the movement as well :shock:), . So...
This Seamaster 300 is NOS. To be more precise it's an original cal 565 24 jewel automatic movement which has been serviced and regulated, and then a watch has been built around it using genuine Omega NOS parts. Now I know some people might be thinking this is a bit of a cheat, but at least I know the movement is correct for this watch (you'd be amazed how many have the wrong movement), and I'm very happy with it, so I don't care.:P
To be fair this is really a new watch, but IMO it has so much more character than a modern day Omega Seamaster. I should have done this years ago
The pictures will speak for themselves (apologies if it seems like I've overdone the lume shots, but the lume on this is so bright it's actually hard not to. This is probably the only watch I've owned to rival a Seiko Monsters lume :) )
and now for the lume shot I actually intended :D
Rich