WATCHES: ORIS BIG CROWN POINTER DATE

Purchased this locally via ebay. It's an automatic with a rose gold coin bezel, silver guilloche dial with rose gold numerals and pointer date complication. Has luminous hands and dots below the numbers



I gave this to my Dad and it has proven itself to be waterproof. It was on my Dad's wrist when he had to abandon their home and swim across to the next door neighbor's second floor during typhoon Ondoy. Water was neck deep inside their home and sadly, this was one of the few things my folks were able to salvage. Dad was traumatized by the whole thing and initially didn't want to see the watch as it reminded him of his ordeal. Fortunately their lives are close to being back to normal and he now wears this to remind him to count his blessings, no matter how few they may seem to be.

WATCHES: MY TAG HEUER SERIES 4000 AUTOMATIC

 I've always been attracted to watches that look out of the ordinary. While my appetite for exotic looks and features could be met through the purchase of watches with extensive complications, alas my funding for my interest is limited and would have to be managed prudently. Still, there are a lot of not too expensive watches out there that fit the bill. Take this particular watch for instance.

I joined the banking industry in 1993 and I celebrated getting my first paycheck by buying this watch. This is a mid-size Tag Heuer series 4000 date automatic. It has a silver colored dial with luminous baton style hour markers and date aperture at 3 o'clock. Logo embosed on dial is in gold. All three hands are in gold and both hour and minute hands are luminous.



As this is a diver's watch it is rated up to a depth of 200 meters and features a rotatable unidirectional bi-colored bezel and a gold plated screw winding crown. The stainless steel bracelet has a locking clasp and has an extension clasp to allow wearing of the watch with a wet suit.

What makes this watch different is how the metal red colored Heuer logo in the bezel matches up and completes the logo design when it is aligned with the green colored Tag metal logo on the case. Most watches would be signed 5x. For this watch with the dial, bezel/case, caseback, crown, bracelet and movement all signed, that would make the watch sextuple (o.t. don't you just love saying that word) signed.

What I don't like about this watch is the green and red enamel paint on the bezel/case is easily chipped and the color fades off especially if you immerse this often in seawater. The bezel also is a weak spot; mine is no longer unidirectional and can only turn one way. My bezel also no longer has that level of resistance it had when it was new. It's starting to get lose and turns easily when the bezel rubs firmly against something. The luminous properties of the dial have also started to dim over time which is characteristic of tritium.

Another weak spot is the bracelet - one of my links broke lose and the watch almost fell. Luckily, I was wearing long sleeves which covered the watch at that time and prevented it from falling off my wrist. Getting a replacement link is next to impossible. The authorized Tag Heuer service center is Watchworks located at Ali Mall. While I enjoy going over there to flirt with the pretty receptionists at the counter, the procedure to get a replacement link requires you to leave your name and contact number. They will then order the part for you and give you a call when they get it. You can then bring the watch over and they will install it for you. However this watch is no longer manufactured and to date, Watchworks has not been able to secure the part. Fortunately there is the internet and a search led me to this guy who had a few links available for sale. I brought these over together with the watch and Watchworks installed it in a few minutes.

I use this as my beater watch. Aside from the weak spots I cited, I haven't had any trouble with it. It starts to tick after a few shakes and flicks on the wrist during those times when I don't use the watch for a long period. Keeps accurate time plus has that sentimental value of symbolizing the fruits of my labor.

RECOVERING FROM ONDOY AND MY FIRST POCKET WATCH

It's been a while since I last posted an entry. My parent's home was submerged by the flood waters of typhoon Ondoy in Sept last year. Water was neck deep inside their home which practically ruined all of the furniture and appliances in their home. My watch collecting of course had to take a back seat as my brother and I together with our relatives pitched in to try to get my folk's home to a semblance of being normal.

Both my Mom and Dad are safe and healthy although traumatized by the whole thing. Mom gets very emotional and nervous every time it starts to rain which is understandable considering that both she and my Dad had to be rescued from the roof of their home.

Thanks to the efforts of everyone, my parent's home has been repaired and refurnished. So all things considered despite these setbacks, there is still much to be thankful for.

I have once again resumed "hunting" for vintage Omega watches. I recently got this Omega 1910 cal 19 Lepine pocket watch. Movement serial number dates this to 1910. Features an art nouveau dial with fancy arabic numerals with blued steel Poire hands. The dial features an engraved central floral decoration in relief with Omega logo on a cartouche. Has 13 to 24 markings in outer track dial with zones with a floral motiff border and recessed small seconds.

 The best part is the watch is run by the famous cal 19, called the Omega caliber. Considered as the last word in watchmaking technology when it was first released in 1894, the movement was such a success that its name became the official company name in 1903.  Picture below of the Cal. 19 movement after being cleaned by the Omega Service Center:

 

Closer view of the dial's art work below:

 

The Omega techs who worked on the watch, examined the dial and under magnification saw:

- the cartouche on which the word OMEGA is printed on matches the same color of the dial, i.e. same  yellow/gold shade
- the rectangular cartouche where the OMEGA word is printed is also in relief over the floral relief pattern; i.e the rectangular shape is not painted but etched on the dial (hope I'm making sense and describing this correctly)

I posted about this watch in one of the international horological forums and one of the members raised an interesting point regarding the font used for the Omega appellation. He pointed out that the font style of the word, "Omega" was used much later than 1910.

I have a copy of Richon's, "Omega, A Journey Through Time" and pictures of the pocket watches shown for the early 1900s use a different font. This font type used during this period is the one found on the movement inside this particular pocket watch. Pictures of the ads from the early 1900s period also used a different font except for one 1908 Spanish ad which uses the font type found on the dial of this watch. Pictures in the book also showed that the font used on this pocket watch's dial is found in pocket watches from the 1930s period.

So it would seem that the bulk of the records on hand would tend to support the point raised by one of the members that the dial may possibly be from the 1930s.

Regarding the style of the dial, the pictures from the book showed that Omega did produce art nouveau dials in the early 1900s featuring engraved central decorations in relief. In Richon's book, I did find a picture of a 1929 wristwatch with a dial design that closely resembled the one found on my pocket watch.

So what we have on hand is the following data:

- Movement is an Omega Cal 19 from around 1910. This info was what was indicated in the service invoice that the Omega center gave me when they took in the watch for servicing.

- Chrome steel case with Omega hallmarks and case no. which would date this to around 1907

- Dial with Omega appellation using a font that was commonly applied in the 1930s.


It is possible that the original dial had to be replaced at a later period which would explain why a 1910 watch would have a 1930s dial.

It would be interesting to find out the provenance of this watch: Who was the original owner? How did it end up here in Manila? Why did the owner change the dial? How many owners hands did this watch pass through before finally ending up with me? Unfortunately we would never really know...