Posts by Erik Gustafson
Comex 16800 Rolex Submariner
In retrospect, the 16800 was one of the last great Rolex tool watches; push just a little bit further, and we’re into Hermés-ified luxury territory. The 16800 presided over a flash of production which is a bit of a sweet spot for Rolex heads: sapphire crystal and a tritium dial before white gold surrounds. To…
Read MoreOman Khanjar Dial 19018 Rolex Oysterquartz
The Oysterquartz is more adored today than it ever has been historically. However, if you’re looking for the one Oysterquartz that encapsulates late-70s opulence, this has to be it. The halo product Day-Date version of the Oysterquartz, ref. 19018. It was given its own interpretation of the President bracelet, still integrated. But this is a…
Read MoreDB16 De Bethune Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar
It is universally understood that De Bethune make spaceships for the wrist. Except, they haven’t always. In fact, the first decade was largely extremely classical with Roman or Breguet-like numerals, pomme or feuille hands, and remarkably normal cases. Collectors are starting to talk about early De Bethune with the kind of hard-line separation that Journe…
Read MoreGrey Ghost Dial 1803 Rolex Day-Date, Pink Gold
This looks like your average common or garden 1803 Day-Date at a glance, but it really isn’t. First, it’s in pink gold. No one knows exactly the fraction, but we know pink gold was but a fraction of overall production (something like 1 in every 100 examples or less). Pink was a slow seller, so…
Read More2447SN Heuer Carrera
The early Carrera has always been every bit the watch a 6239 Daytona or 105.012 Speedmaster is (perhaps just a hair less to the Speedy for the 321). However, it’s always been the odd one out, a sort of third-musketeer. Yet, in quality of design and fulfilling its role as a racing chronograph, the Carrera…
Read MoreSalmon Dial NSO Cartier Crash
If ever a special order Cartier client got it right, this salmon white gold NSO Crash is it. This is traditionally Swiss aesthetic spice on a deeply French dish in London. If you love watches, I promise that should make sense. The salmon dial craze of 2020 has come and past. As someone who quite…
Read MoreOnyx Dial 16018 Rolex Datejust
Onyx might not look like this in nature, but it does in Datejust. And that’s enough. Stone dials have had a rough time of late, but the OGs are as index-less and lovely as they’ve ever been. Normally, I would always slightly preference a Day-Date, everything else being equal. But in stone dials, Datejusts really…
Read More2471 Omega Cosmic Complete Calendar Moonphase
In 1947, this was the height of the Omega catalogue. Man hadn’t stepped on the moon, limited editions hadn’t been invented, and Ploprof was still just what you said when you sneezed. But post-war economic buzz was strong and this was Omega’s halo product. Known today as the Cosmic Complete (or Triple) Calendar Moonphase, this…
Read MoreHoneycomb Dial 6609 Rolex Turn-O-Graph ‘Thunderbird’
The 6609, widely known by its nickname the ‘Thunderbird’, is one of the most important Rolexes to not be famous whatsoever. The Turn-O-Graph was the first Rolex with a rotating bezel, but it’s not even in production anymore. This 6609 is amongst the very earliest rotating bezel Datejusts, before the name Turn-O-Graph was on every…
Read More6087 Vacheron Constantin Cornes de Vache Chronograph
This ref. 6087 was Vacheron Constantin’s answer to the water resistant 1463 ‘Tasti Tondi’, though released considerably after. Even in the mid-century Vacheron were the slowest moving of the holy trinity. However, where they landed is so expressive that it has stood the test of time as one of the most artful case shapes ever…
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