I’m an Omega-lover to my core… not sure why, but over the few years I’ve been collecting, Omega has consistently excited and invited me without putting me off with odd designs and frou-frou styling. I wear my Seamaster Pro Chrono daily, rarely swapping it for other watches, and until it breaks or pulls me to the bottom of the ocean, that probably won’t change.

That said, I also like my Speedmaster Triple Calendar. I’ve had it for about a year now and didn’t write it up simply because I’m too lazy. However, it’s a real charmer.

This model, known as Speedmaster Day Date (I can’t find the official designation), came from the late 1990s/early 2000s. It has a grey face and dual colored two-hour dial along with a day-month register at 12 o’clock and a fourth hand that indicates the day of the month. It’s not a perpetual calendar, so it gets a little wonky in February. It runs a modified version of the Valjoux 7751 movement without the moonphase.

The scale around the edge is pushed down, strangely enough, unlike the standard Speedmasters. This gives the entire watch a dome-shape. It has a sapphire crystal and solid back along with two pushers for the chronometer, a three position crown, and a little button at 11 o’clock to set the day of week.

Setting this watch is actually quite easy. First, you hit the right month, then the right day, then the day of week. It all changes at the 31st, so if the month is shorter you have to manually move things back or forward as necessary. I keep this watch on a winder because I never want to have to set it again.

Aesthetically, I like this style over the new, coaxial version of this watch. The newer versions stick to the traditional black/white Speedmaster coloration and, although they come in other colors, I think this coloration AND the new black/white are about tied for elegance if not legibility.

Why don’t I wear this watch every day? I’m worried I’ll break it, for one. While the Seamaster has lots of wide, curved surfaces, this watch is all bezels and corners. A few nicks in the wrong spot and you’ve got an 80% watch rather than a 95%. The clasp is also kind of chintzy. It’s a push-button mechanism hidden under an Omega symbol on the band. I had this watch very loose for a while, but I just tightened it and it feels lightly better, but it’s still not my favorite.

Overall, the Speedmaster Day Date is a great way to get cool complications at a not too shabby price. I’ve seen these fellows go for about $2000 and the movement is a real classic, offering lots of functionality on a readable dial. It’s a mid-sized watch, not huge, and this particular model is an odd tribute to the psychedelia of the 1970s while still maintaining some sense of decorum. It’s not my absolute favorite, but it’s good friend.

“The Centigraphe Souverain from F.P. Journe. An in-house designed and manufactured fully-integrated chronograph, beating at 21,600 bph AND able to record elapsed time down to a mechanically nanoscopic 1/100 of a second! Combined with the tachometer scales, being able to measure intervals of 1/100th second makes it theoretically possible to time something moving at 360,000 km/hr.”

Wait, what?
Centigraphe Souverain by F. P. Journe [THE WATCHISMO TIMES]

War, Rolexi, and classice movies. Quite a combo.

A 1940s Rolex chronograph that belonged to a British prisoner of war at the Stalag Luft III camp in Nazi Germany is coming up for sale at Antiquorum in Geneva on May 13 and 14. With it is the logbook Corporal Clive Nutting of the Royal Corps of Signals kept during his wartime captivity. It’s a collection of unpublished cartoons, illustrations and photographs revealing a new insight into camp life and the mass breakout of 76 POWs made famous in the movie, The Great Escape.

POW Rolex Part 1 – TimeZone

This is the first I’ve heard of Formex, but it looks fairly cool. It’s got a strange coloration with a crazy camo band, so it might be good for nights in the brush. And I do love me a bullhead.

The classic pilot watch from the AS1500 series is now for sale in a black version and as a “limited edition,” in a camouflage battledress style. These watches come with a beige or green face and, in addition to the usual titanium and silicone bracelet, with a fabric strap in the matching colour.

Formex Camouflage Pilot Watch [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]

I’m not quite sure what’s going on here, but this watch helps you take out folks at 1000 meters, which is a great help to those in that line of work. Clearly, there is more to this than I can fathom, but it allows you to enter various pieces of shooting data in order to line up and blow away just about anyone.

Calculate point of impact by inputting critical variables that determine elevation and wind adjustments. Works on all MILDOT, TMOA, SMOA and clicking rifle scopes. Punch in data about the ammunition you are shooting and the conditions you are shooting in and the watch will display the appropriate hold over for a sure hit… It’s that simple. This enhances a shooter’s confidence to engage targets out to 1,000 meters with “whenever/wherever” portability. Data is easy to enter – even through gloves – with the most critical information arranged for fast change and access. Accuracy on your wrist!

Product Page [Telford]

Bovet is all but unknown here but it’s quite popular in China. This is a fascinating piece, their version of a sports watch, which is pretty hot no matter what language you speak.

Made in 2001. Self-winding, water-resistant, asymmetric, diamond-set stainless steel gentleman’s wristwatch with Chinese Dial, square button chronograph at 11 and 1 o’clock, registers, date and a stainless steel Bovet deployant clasp. Three-body case, polished and brushed, screwed-down transparent case back, rounded polished band, brushed inclined bezel, asymmetric “Vendôme” type lugs with screwed bars at 6, extended mobile geometrical-shaped pendant and winding-crown at 12, square chronograph buttons at 11 and 1. Dial: Mother-of-pearl with blue enameled Chinese characters for the hours, subsidiary sunk dials for the seconds, 12-hour and 30-minute register dials with unusual numeration, double aperture for the date at 12 with Arabic numerals. Blued steel skeletonized “bâton” hands.

Bovet Fleurier Sportster

I never got into Oakley, but they seem to be going nuts now with the Swiss quartz beasties. This has a stop watch and big date and looks like something a robot brontosaurus pooped out.

Oakley Judge Stealth Black [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]

A big to do about Steinhart over at WuS today. Steinhart sells “homages,” watches that look strikingly similar to well known brands but have enough subtle differences to stand as their own brand. I can support their efforts, but I’m kind of tired of the homages to Rolex and Panerai I see. I think there are plenty of odd, little houses out there that deserve our cash rather than some junk dealers who traffic in Chinese-made crap. Sorry. Ranting.

Product Page

2 new Steinharts arrived – Watchuseek Watch Forums

Mmmm… tasty. A new B&R. This is an ETA base caliber, probably a 7750, with 42 hour power reserve. It costs about $3,500, which actually isn’t that bad, and looks like a monster.

TimeZone: Industry News: N E W M o d e l – Bell & Ross Chronograph Aeronavale [TimeZone]

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Looks like Harry has made a nice diver chrono in honor of Andre Agassi. Yep, that’s right. Good old Andre. It sold at auction for $110,000. They better include all of Andre’s hair in that little package.

Harry Winston Ocean Diver [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]