Posts Tagged ‘Tropical Dial’
Tropical Dial A384 Zenith El Primero
Zenith in 1969 was firing on more than all creative cylinders. They went up to 11, 12, and then 36,000. The cases went for pure revolution over evolution. Gay Frères invented a new, very summery, and very 70s bracelet. Wether the calibre 3019 PHC was the first automatic chronograph or not, it was certainly the…
Read MoreTropical Dial 25730ST Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Dual Time
The Extract of Archive on this 25730ST states that this is a blue dial. Think of the quantity of life this Dual Time has experienced on wrist to be so caramel. The 25730 and 26120 Royal Oak Dual Times have been fascinating me lately, partly for how shortly they were produced and largely for just…
Read MoreTropical Dial, Square Crown Guard 7928 Tudor Submariner
Minutia in Rolex is really the name of the game, it’s a lifetime’s learning. The dial on this 7928 is spectacular, but it’s not even the most impressive part of this Sub and that’s where the minutia comes in. The very earliest Submariners, big crown and small, lacked crown guards. We will all be familiar…
Read MoreTropical Dial 1680/8 Rolex Submariner
Nothing on Earth says ‘F-you money’ like a gold Sub. In much the same way that an S-Class wafts past in total opulence, the 1680/8 wears with similar imperious grandeur. Except this particular example, it’s a bit different. One of the primary joys of vintage is that two watches, which on paper may be identical, look…
Read MoreTropical Dial ‘US 6th Fleet’ 105.003-65 Omega Speedmaster
The Speedmaster has no shortage of nuance. Its ardent supporters will not let you forget. But arguably, the clearest delineation in the pre-moon time, when this was just a chronograph aimed at racing, was its lugs. Straight lugs became lyre lugs directly after this, the 105.003 better known as the ‘Ed White’ for its time…
Read MoreTropical Dial 1665 ‘Double Red’ Rolex Sea-Dweller
There is nothing like the appeal of an honest, down-to-Earth, bare bones tool watch. I view the 1665 Sea-Dweller as a Red Sub turned up to 11. It’s a little more technical, a little more appealing to some for its lack of cyclops, and just a little more nuanced. The RMs, LVMH, and Bivers of…
Read MoreTropical Dial ‘Thunderbird’ 1625 Rolex Datejust
No one knows precisely how the Turn-O-Graph bezel wound up on the wrists of the USAF Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds. Lore holds that one pilot previously bought one for himself on his wedding, and, after discovering how useful the rotating bezel was, the US government placed an order for his team. Others…
Read MoreTropical 1016 Rolex Explorer
There are a handful of watches so desperately attractive and simultaneously difficult to attain that any number of players have been known to attempt to reproduce them with generic components and a liberal interpretation of intellectual property. These players will go unnamed save to say that one starts with M and ends in assena Lab.…
Read MoreTropical Sigma Dial 3700J Patek Philippe Nautilus
Watch media, collectors, and enthusiasts often speak about the Nautilus as if it’s one thing. After all, we often write ‘the’ Nautilus, as opposed ‘a’ Nautilus. Simultaneous, we more often talk about Submariners, not the sub, because we acknowledge that sub is a broad church. But both are slow evolving objects, not static. Language often…
Read MoreTropical, ‘Tulip’ 4-Line Dial 5512 Rolex Submariner
Unless you’ve spent your entire life studying vintage Rolex, you probably won’t have heard of a tulip dial. Even if you have, you probably won’t have seen one with four lines. Yes, we’re back in the realm of obscure Wilsdorf details again, but this one is even more anorak than most. Have you ever looked…
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