It has been a little while since I have written an article on here, it feels good to be back.
A lot has happened in the past twelve months, settling into our new home and working routine getting back to normal- it's beginning to feel all too familiar! I feel this is a good opportunity to update you on my watch collecting journey and recent project before the summer season gets underway.
So, what’s new?
Naturally as this journey unfolds several pieces have left my collection, some have been replaced. I guess, thinking back, it has actually been quite a busy year with the bits and pieces arriving and departing. I won’t bore you with all the details but the big news is I was able to consolidate a few pieces to make way for a Vacheron Constantin Overseas 4500V. I have had ownership of it now for around a year and I can honestly tell you I have never had a piece so versatile and satisfying in my personal collection, I hope to write up a full review some time in the near future.
Unfortunately I couldn’t hold on to all of my collection, I traded my 5196R Calatrava back in September. This was one of those bittersweet moments in collecting, as amazing as it felt owning an icon from Patek, it never really got the time on wrist- as time passes I do miss having it as part of the collection, however I always endeavoured to own the WG version and the deal on the RG was just too much of an opportunity to give up on. You can’t have it all, maybe one day when the time feels right I will have the opportunity to own a Calatrava again.
Another notable update is that I have taken a keen interest in Universal Geneve, in particular the Polerouter and Compax references. I have always had a soft spot for vintage, the Polerouter is a great entry point coupled with close ties to Genta and aviation, what more could I wish for?! So I read up on various articles, got researching and jumped into the abyss, ending up with a couple of lovely Polerouter date examples from a wizard I got in touch with via instagram! As with anything, there is still so much to learn here, however I really enjoying wearing them and expanding my knowledge of UG. Stay tuned!
Project 16800
You are probably wondering what I’m talking about here! Late into last year I decided that instead of keeping a lookout for new additions, I wanted to faithfully ‘restore’ my late Grandfathers transitional Rolex Submariner 16800. This was undoubtably my horological highlight of the year, It was really satisfying and rewarding to get this watch back into shape after many years.
As I may have mentioned on here before, this was the particular piece that got me ‘into watches’, it was my first real encounter of a Swiss watch and of course has close ties back to my Grandfather, it is now a fully functioning working memory of him. As a child I distinctively remember him wearing it, sat at the end of the kitchen table smoking a pipe, and me, fascinated as to why his second hand was ‘swooping’. An odd and very observant memory, but a lovely one. It was a few years after he had passed that I was able to get hands on again with his beloved Submariner the memories came back and my interest in horology began.
(Before)
As years passed by, I imagine at some point he took his Submariner to Rolex for a service and they would have replaced parts as per Rolex policy- including the bezel, dial and handset. His watch was a 7mill serial and dated back to 1983. This would have most likely meant a matte dial, however after its overhaul it was now sporting a gloss dial with the white gold surrounds, a new shiny bezel and handset. After lots of digging through forums and reading up on articles its widely accepted that on this particular reference the transition from matte dial to gloss dial was around 1984/5 (8mil serial), it gets very nerdy very quickly here, however I was fairly certain that I needed to source a matte dial. After all, it would be period correct to the watch and restore it to former glory!
So straight to the market place I went, asking friends and dealers as well as scouring the internet on a regular basis for quite some time. It turned out this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought, the second hand market for dials and parts is an absolute mine field. Especially when trying to find a specific configuration that has been untouched and in original condition dating back nearly forty years. It even got to the point where
I was considering purchasing a 16800 matte dial Submariner, switching the dials out, then plan to move on watch with the service parts. Thankfully I held out and what appeared to be a perfect example cropped up, it was indeed the perfect example. After conversation and negotiation we finally settled a deal, a huge thank-you to Jonathan at JMP Watches&Parts, a fantastic guy with excellent inventory and perfect service. Another thank you has to go to my good friend Diogo, he played the part in obtaining the bezel which has a gorgeous tropical patina to it!
Once I was in possession of the parts, I headed down to my good friends at Assis&Sons where they were able to assist with the service and application of parts. A couple of weeks later the watch was ready to collect, I was over the moon with the results. It is now keeping perfect time, ready to wear and serves as a wonderful memory. This is what it's all about, being able to complete this little project was really enjoyable, learning along the way and we now have a working time capsule to remember our late Grandfather by! Let me know what you think of the final result!
Cheers and thanks for reading, Josh
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