1960s Vintage Titoni ETARotor "Shimmer"

Introducing

Titoni ETARotor "Shimmer"

Citrca 1960s

Vintage watches have a timeless appeal, able to fit into any moment in past and present. This example is a classic case of fashion adaptability. Whether you're decked in office wear or tees for a sunny day out, Shimmer will be a suitable match for your outfit.

The nice domed acrylic crystal sets the stage for this elegant timepiece. It's got a good curve that magnifies the guilloche pattern of the dial ever so slightly. The shape of the dome is perhaps also what sets it in the place between dressy and casual - easy enough to fit under a cuff, large enough to catch the sun on an exposed wrist.

Moving along past the crystal, your gaze lands on the machined guilloche sunburst, emanating from the center of the dial outwards, with space enough to avoid cutting into the applied hour indexes. 

The beauty of guilloche on a vintage offering like this is the amount of patina and age that it gathers throughout the years. Being a used watch, the amount of artistic quality accorded by age will differ between each individual spacing, leaving for an art gallery of vintage charm for the loupe-carrying aficionado. 

And last but not least, there's the single shining jewel placed slightly above the applied 6'O marker, characteristic of Titoni watches. It fits snugly between the larger spacing of the guilloche pattern, and balances the dial against the Titoni logomark at 12'O,

The devil's in the details, and this guy has got it all. One of my favorites.

1960s Vintage Titoni ETARotor "Shimmer"

Hour, minute and seconds hands with date window

Manual date switching between 10'O and 12'O

Cream machine-cut guilloche dial

35mm stainless steel case

40mm lug-to-lug

18mm lug width

Titoni 23-jewel ETARotor movement @ 21,600vph

Acrylic crystal

Red aftermarket leather strap

*The manual winding for the movement is a little worn; 

won't wind well though automatic rotor still works*

S$200

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

###

1950s Vintage Wittnauer Longines Cal 9 Rope Bezel "Wrinkles"

Introducing

Wittnauer Longines Cal 9 Rope Bezel "Wrinkles"

Circa 1950s

Art deco watches are amazing. Their makers bring to many variations to the table that it's virtually impossible to have seen all of them. Lugs, bezel, dial, hands, hour markers and crystal go through so many permutations.

Wrinkles here is so-named because of his dial. For something from the 1950s, this guy has a pretty clean dial with a wrinkle-like texture. Take it into the sun or under the loupe and you've got yourself a conversation starter.

Because of the subtle dial texture, the rope bezel will be the one to catch your eye. People who love art deco timepieces are invariably searching for a particularity in certain pieces that make them stand out from the rest on the shelf. The rope bezel did it for me. 

Not too garish, and in small amounts, leaving the rest of the watch to be admired,

Also on the dial is a window-in-window effect given by the obviously planned out mini-seconds subdial. The bevelled edges of the tiny windows give loupe-lovers a little more to admire, as does the dew drop of a counter balance on the mini-seconds hand.

On the dial are tapered hour markers and arabic numerals, both applied. The Wittnauer logo sits at 12'O in place of numerals, which to me is always a nice touch given the little space accorded to the dial for decorations. 

Also the stick minute hand grazes the edges of the hour markers, something I always look out for because it shows consideration on the designer's' part (and also of it's original hands).

But the main event for Wrinkles has got to be the dial texture. Spreading out from the dial centre are curved lines that cross and mesh into an artistic display of rises and nooks. In my mind I imagine rope texture to be as such when scrutinized under a microscope, so that more or less completes the artistic interpretation of the watch's concept.

And as with all art deco watches, this guy is a great size delivered in a small package. Who needs large garish blocks on one's wrist anyway?

1950s Vintage Wittnauer Longines 

Cal 9 Rope Bezel "Wrinkles"

Hour, minute and mini-seconds hands

Gold dial with guilloche

23mm 10k gold-filled stainless steel case

32mm lug-to-lug

18mm lug-width

Cal. 9 WNG manual wind movement @ 18,000vph

Thick domed acrylic crystal

Black aftermarket leather strap

S$360

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

###

1960s Vintage Nivada Manual Wind "Indigo Blue"

Introducing

Nivida "Indigo Blue"

Circa 1960s

There's some mystery about the color blue when it comes to watches. To some it's a sporty hue -  a piece of the sky taken and placed in the space of the dial, a signal to adventure and a masculine choice in fashion. 

To some others it's a quiet protest against the institution. Hidden under the sleeve is a loud off-color that wouldn't be tolerated by the harsh emotionless corporates and their suits.

This charming Nivada could be the perfect undersleeve moray eel, ready to surprise should anyone be daring enough to peek.

The hour batons and the hands stand blocky and stark against the grainy blue dial, silver printed words marking the spaces on the dial outlined by a minute track.

This, complemented by the matching blue leather strap, gives an ideal reason to stretch out a little to expose the lurking rebellion amidst the routine humdrum of the work day.

1960s Vintage Nivada Manual Wind "Indigo Blue"

Hour, minute and seconds hands

Blue dial with grainy pattern

34mm stainless steel case

40mm lug-to-lug

18mm lug width

Swiss Made manual wind movement @ 18,800vph

Acrylic crystal

Off-market leather strap

S$150

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

###

1970s Vintage Gruen Precision N510SS Manual Wind "Jazz"

Introducing

Gruen Precision N510SS Manual Wind "Jazz"

Circa 1970s

Now this guy oozes class - the kind of timeless design that one can only grow to love more and more. 

Domed acrylic crystal, almost new shiny applied hour batons and arabic numerals, sharp alpha hands, and long sharp horns for lugs. Wow.

I'm not very well-read in the history of the Gruen Watch Company, but a little search on the internet will reap you a bit of information. 

What do I know and care about is that Jazz is just simply amazing. The dial is domed, slightly raised and delivered in a silver hue, complementing the polished hour batons and numerals at multiples of two perfectly. Short minute markers line the outside of the dial, increasing legibility and modern design to the watch.

The lume on the hands have long disintegrated to a powdery flake, some coming off of the minute hand. Though battered, I think the gentlemanly shape of the hands are what gives the watch the I-can't-look-away appeal. 

The lugs on the watch are a atypically longer, adding to the overall size of the watch and making it wear larger than it is. This is a good thing for this day and age though, so I'm not complaining. The lugs lead down to the polished case, a little roughed up from the years. 

But all in, Jazz is still a great watch, and with the addition of the micro-rotor automatic winding system, it combines a positive aesthetic appeal with a feature you'll be hard-pressed to find outside of haute horlogerie range.

1970s Vintage Gruen Precision N510SS Manual Wind "Jazz"

Hours, minute and sweeping seconds hands

Domed silver dial with polished indexes

33mm stainless steel case

40mm lug-to-lug

18mm lug width

Gruen in-house N510SS manual wind @ 21,600vph

Acrylic Crystal

Aftermarket leather strap

S$900

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

### 

1950s Vintage Vulcain Cricket

Introducing

Vulcain Cricket

Circa 1950s

Mechanical alarm watches strike a chord with me. It's an alarm clock on your wrist, made of more than 100 parts put together by skilled artisans, able to operate accurately on a daily basis, without battery change, for decades.

Isn't that just awesome?

The Vulcain Cricket was birth from its workshops in 1947 after five years of research. The challenge was to produce a wrist-sized movement that had a mechanical alarm function that is loud enough to wake someone up.

With an innovative winding system where one direction wound the watch barrel and the other powered the alarm barrel, the loud shrill of the Vulcain Cricket was so named because of its resemblance to the annoying twilight denizen. 

The watch then gained international fame as the President's Watch when one was presented to Harry S Truman, thus starting a tradition where each head of state was gifted with a Vulcain Cricket.

Whether to wake him up from a nap or to remind him of a meeting, the Vulcain Cricket had found a legendary place in the White House on the wrist of the most powerful man in the world. 

Believe it or not, this piece from my personal collection wasn't my first choice. The Vulcain that caught my fancy was actually a small seconds with date window - a lot dressier than this piece. 

Somehow, the characteristic piece stood out over time, and its multi-faceted dial called out. There's something about that inner ring; there's something about the raised applique arabic numerals, that red seconds hand, the sharp hour and minute hands sitting comfortably inside the gold-filled case.

Long story short, I couldn't have made a better choice.

1950s Vintage Vulcain Cricket

Hour, minute and seconds hand

Multi-layered gold dial with gold appliqued numerals

32mm gold-filled stainless steel case

40mm lug-to-lug

18mm lug width

Vulcain Cricket calibre @ 18,800vph

Acrylic crystal

Aftermarket leather strap

Personal Collection

[SOLD] Vintage 1970s Vintage Rado 2789 Diastar Magic "Glitz"

Introducing

Rado 2789 Diastar Magic "Glitz"

Circa 1970s

When you design a small round dial in the middle of a chunky rectangular case, you're making a statement about the dial. 

Look at it.

Standing proudly is the brushed gold dial with the same symmetrical face characteristic of Rado watches, its edge decorated with a cut pyramid pattern leading into the embedded stones used as hour markers.

The gold hands complete the look, the only thing out of place in its shimmering visage the white and black day-date display.

But crack open the caseback and you'll be awed by the plated ETA2789 movement, ticking away at 21,600vph. 

This watch is as proud as they come - with signed dial, crown, caseback, bracelet, movement and rotor!

A stunning display of bold fashion forwardness, powered by a robust and durable swiss movement.

1970s Vintage Rado 2789 Diastar Magic "Glitz"

Hour, minute, and seconds hand with quickset day-date

Eng / Frn day display

Brushed gold dial

35mm stainless steel case

38 mm lug-to-lug

24 mm lug width

Signed ETA 2789 automatic @ 21,600vph

Acrylic glass crystal

Original Rado stainless steel bracelet

Signed crown

SOLD

Browse the catalogue for more vintage timepieces

1970s Vintage Mido NOS Multi Star "Emerald"

Introducing

Mido NOS Multi Star "Emerald"

Circa 1970s

So named because of the rich green dial, this new-old stock Mido is stunning to look at with its sharp edges and high polished shine. 

The most noticeable being the bracelet, its polished surface gleaming at every angle, making photography rather tedious. 

Like uncut stone, the bracelet presents itself in right angles and straight lines. The rock solid exterior might turn some off, calling it sharp and raw, but for those who look for the uncommon, the bracelet of the Emerald is quite hard to come by.

The green sunburst dial also comes as a surprise, a faint glow emanating from the centre of the dial, graduating into a deep green ring of color around enveloping the three-dimensional hour markers. 

The acrylic crystal domes slightly over the dial, encasing the gem alongside the tv-shaped stainless steel case.

1970s Vintage Mido NOS Multi Star "Emerald"

Hour, minute and seconds hands with quickset day-date

Eng / Arb day display

Green sunburst dial

36mm stainless steel case

45mm lug-to-lug

11/25mm proprietary lug width

ETA 2879 automatic @ 21,600vph

Acrylic crystal

Signed polished stainless steel bracelet

Signed crown

S$300

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

###

1970s Vintage Mido NOS Commander "Sea" and "Air"

Introducing

Mido NOS Commander "Sea" and "Air"

Circa 1970s

One has to guess why they named these very dressy wristwatches "Commander". 

Keeping along with theme, I've named them Sea and Air respective to the elements portrayed in their dials.

New old stock, with sticks still on, the Sea and Air come in a nice oversized cushion case, two-tiered dial depicting a vast emptiness in its center - kind of like what the sea and the air are like I guess.

Time telling would be an issue here, what with no visible hour markers besides the crosshair at 12, 3, 6, and 9'O.

What I get from these is a sense of emptiness, the plain dials the emphasis after the broad polished bracelet draws your attention. 

Get lost in time, your gaze upon its dial, hours and minutes lost.

1970s Vintage Mido NOS Commander "Sea" and "Air"

Hour, minute and seconds hands with quickset day-date

Eng / Arb day display

40mm stainless steel case

35mm lug-to-lug

20mm lug width

ETA 2790 automatic @ 28,800vph

Acrylic crystal

Signed polished stainless steel bracelet

Signed crown

S$300 each

Email

thevintageseiko@gmail.com

for orders or enquiry

Click here for ordering information

Visit the Catalogue for more selections

###