Tropical Dial, PCG 7928 Tudor Submariner

Tropical-Dial-Tudor-Submariner-7928

There’s a point where patina ceases to be on a watch and becomes the soul of the watch. This 7928 has blown past that point. An early gilt PCG example, this Submariner went from a semigloss black dial to something you’d get at starbucks. It’s a Sub that’s gotten better with time, but way asymmetrically,…

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Tropical Dial 6263 Rolex Daytona

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There is nothing like a tropical manual Daytona. The ageing process which has so beautifully crafted these subdials is somehow even more proudly and vividly displayed when contrasted directly against a silvered-white sunburst panda dial. I’ve said this before, but I like to imagine tropical dials as God’s way of saying ‘Wear your damn watches’.…

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Tropical Dial A384 Zenith El Primero

Zenith-A384-El-Primero-Tropical-Dial

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…

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Tropical Dial, Square Crown Guard 7928 Tudor Submariner

7928-Tudor-Submariner-Square-Crown-Guard

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…

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Tropical Dial 1680/8 Rolex Submariner

Tropical-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…

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Tropical Dial ‘US 6th Fleet’ 105.003-65 Omega Speedmaster

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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…

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Tropical Dial 1665 ‘Double Red’ Rolex Sea-Dweller

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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…

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Tropical Dial ‘Thunderbird’ 1625 Rolex Datejust

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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…

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Tropical 1016 Rolex Explorer

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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.…

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