No 225 - Rolex Yacht-Master 16622

I used to think the Yacht-Master was one of the weirdest watches Rolex ever came up with. It was so shiny and so round. No edges. I really didn’t understand it. It was ugly. I felt it was only addressing old men.

But in May 2014 all that changed. I was about to turn thirty and was putting together a playlist for an upcoming party. During the spring I’d been listening to a lot of 80’s soft rock like Hall & Oates, Toto, Bryan Adams, the solo albums by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, Doobie Brothers and similar bands like that. When putting together that list I came across a playlist called “Yacht Rock” and all my favorite songs just happened to be on that list. I had never heard the term before but I instantly pictured myself sitting on a big yacht in Miami, sunglasses on, hearing Don singing in the background about the Boys of Summer, a cocktail in my hand and a Yacht-Master dangling on my wrist. It all felt so right.

"Excuse me! Please repeat that last part! A Yacht-Master? Seriously?" Yes ladies and gentlemen, a Yacht-Master was what I saw in my vision and right there and then my mind had gone from hating it to loving it and I just had to have one.

#225 - The Rolex Yacht-Master, ref. 16622.

I got a hold of a full set from 2005 in an excellent condition. It was delivered with its original platinum dial, but Rolex had just announced their new upgraded version, the 116622 which had an incredible blue dial, and I managed to get a hold of a new blue dial for my watch. With the blue dial installed it just became so damn good! I loved it. I practically felt like a yacht owner just by wearing it.

With the new dial just installed.

But I knew the love wasn’t going to last forever. I knew that toolwatches is what turns me on and what I like the most and to me the Yacht-Master was the complete opposite from being a toolwatch. Perhaps if I was a rich yacht owner it could serve as a perfect beater but unfortunately I’m not. Not yet. But then I'll probably go for a solid gold version with MOP-dial.

Out having lunch with my wife, June 2014.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 224 - TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500 quartz

It was early summer in 2014 and vacation was coming up. My wife was five months pregnant so we decided to do something easy and relaxing and ended up going to the Greek island Crete. My plan was to bring my new blue Squale along but it was so polished without any marks at all and since I didn’t wanted to risk scratching it I saw that as the perfect excuse to find myself an appropriate vacation watch; a classic sign of the watch junkie syndrome.

The range of suitable used tool divers was of course scarce just because I was in a hurry finding one. But then there was this watch that kept popping up every once in a while that I first had discarded as a candidate, but as we got closer and closer to departure it seemed like it was going to be my only option so I finally decided to get it.

The watch was a blue TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500 quartz. I had had the automatic version in the past which made an unexpectedly good impression on me. Being cheaper because of the quartz movement, and having the rubber strap instead of the bracelet were actually two things a saw as advantages and made me like this watch even more than the automatic version. Details like the tapestry dial and the rubber inlay in the bezel really made this watch stand out. The rubber was both comfortable and good looking and even if it would never work as my everyday office watch it really did a great job as a vacation/beach/pool/sports watch. Just perfect!

#224 - The TAG Heuer Aquaracer 500, ref. WAJ1112.

Resting on a can of Greek beer.

Resting on a bottle of Desperados. Flashbacks to my younger days!

Relaxing in the sun with some inspiring reading material.

Found this guy lurking down in some shallow waters.

The Aquaracer got to explore the Mediterranean Sea for a week and got to go on a diving trip checking out old planes from WWII lying on the ocean floor. But what it did best was acting as my beer buddy during the stay. It could handle its liquor pretty good and never lost track of time even if I did sometimes. The Aquaracer 500 once more proved it was a worthy watch that deserves better credit than they are sometimes given. 

Goodbye my summer love!

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 223 - Squale 50atm Blue

It was love at first sight. It was spring back in 2014 and my feelings for Squale were at an all-time high. I think this blue version of the 50atm was released sometime in late 2013 in a collaboration together with Page & Cooper and I think it later became a permanent part of Squale’s official line-up due to its huge success. It was simply irresistible as Robert Palmer would have put it. The watch was already sold out when I found out about its existence and I was on a constant lookout for one during the first quarter of 2014. Then in April 2014 one suddenly popped up on eBay from a seller in the UK. I contacted the seller and he offered me a good deal outside of eBay and he had it sent to me with an overnight delivery. BOOM!

The watch was beautiful! The blue sunburst dial when hit by the sun was mesmerizing. Unfortunately this watch had a problem with the balance wheel when I received it. I contacted Page & Cooper who refused to help me just because I wasn’t the original owner, even though the watch was still under warranty, so I had to take it to a local watchmaker who helped me out.  Because this was a newer Squale it had that bloody engraving on the side of the case but I tried to put up with it because it was so great in general. OK, so that horrible milanese type mesh it came with was both ugly and uncomfortable and I had to wear it on a black Squale rubber, but aside from that it was great. This was supposed to be my watch for the summer but I ended up selling it after I got a hold of a blue Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500 (upcoming post).

Simply irresistible! Product image borrowed from www.squale.ch

The watch somehow ended up in my possession again later the same year (probably taken as a part trade) but then I had good plan for it. A little face-lift. I ordered a real shark mesh for it from Strapcode, that had a polished butterfly clasp instead of the traditional belt buckle type, and it turned out frakking amazing! A match made in heaven. 

#223 - The blue Squale 50atm.

I assume they thought that the engraving was going to look nice but god were they wrong.

On the new shark mesh together with the other two strap options it was delivered with.

Fantastic with the butterfly clasp!

I kept it for a while but it finally moved on to a new home in January 2015. I actually haven’t had any other Squale’s since then. Gnomon Watches have had a couple of limited editions that have looked interesting but not interesting enough. Recently though I was extremely close to purchase the limited edition 50atm Marina Militare that was a collaboration together with the Dutch company AWCO but I finally decided to pass on it. It looked really good but it was that damn engraving again that made me hesitate. Nowadays it seems like everyone who wants to make a limited edition Squale are allowed to do so. It’s quite boring when everyone who can pay up can put their brand on something, but looking back that’s exactly what Squale have been doing throughout their history so I guess that’s nothing new and nothing to be upset about. 

Look at that amazing blue tone!

 

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 221 - Deep Blue Daynight T100 OPS

Received this one in a trade for the Certina DS Multi-8 back in April 2014. One PVD watch for another. Deep Blue has completely flooded the market with dive watches in different color combinations. They used to be known as a micro builder but from what I can tell they seem to be running a pretty much full scale manufacturing process nowadays so I think they’ve lost their status as a micro builder. If that’s a good or bad thing I don’t know. Probably a good thing for the company which I assume is making more money but boring for the customers who in return receive a product a little less special and unique than it perhaps used to be.

Anyhow, on to the watch! What can I say? We’re talking about a 44mm diver with a 22mm lug width. I fitted it with a Yobokies waffle rubber which I think suited it rather well. It housed a Miyota 8215 movement; not my favorite but I guessed it worked fine and got the job done.  The cool thing about this watch, the actual reason why I even considered taking it as a trade, was its flat tritium tubes. It lit up like crazy in the dark! The tube at twelve o’clock and the hands were yellow while the rest of the indexes where green. I had had flat tubes on my Ball Skindiver so I already knew they had a strong glow to them but it was just fun to try them out again. I ended up flipping the watch though not too long after I got it so the tubes can't have been that fun anymore.

#221 - The Deep Blue Daynight T100 OPS PVD version.

I really have a hard time wrapping my head around the Deep Blue brand. Looking at the watches they have produced over time it feels like they have tried to create something new by recycling different pre-manufactured parts that haphazardly have been mixed together. Lately I saw that they had ripped of the old classic Seiko SKX-diver which didn't impress me very much. For what good reason did they do that? Come up with something new instead! I think that was a cheap move trying to squeeze out a little extra profit. No more Deep Blue watches for me.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 220 - Certina DS Multi-8 Carbon

Multifunction watches, you got to love them! I just couldn’t resist this PVD Multi-8 when I found it to a good deal back in March 2014. I knew right away it was going to feel too big with its 42mm and lack of bezel ring so this was strictly a test run and it was quickly sold after a few days. My biggest problem though wasn’t the size but the awful looking carbon style strap. I just can’t stand the look of that pattern. My favorite feature was the rather unusual display of week; a phenomenon not commonly used by many others except for a few European and Asian countries. This great feature was also used by Sjöö Sandström in their Skydiver watch (which I have had of course!) which is an awesome multifunction watch but more about that one later.

#220 - The Certina DS Multi-8 Carbon, ref. C020.419.16.052.00.

Nice blue lume and backlight. And the display of week was incredibly convenient for a Swede like myself.

The Certina Multi-8 is a great watch feature-wise but I find its aesthetical appeal to be quite boring. One detail I found extra disappointing was the PVD-coating they used for this model. The watch I got a hold of was quite new but already had some scratches in the surface of the coating so I highly doubt the material they use is holding up to any Sinn standards.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 218 - Mido Commander

This watch had never been something I’d been searching for. Hell, I didn't even know it existed before I found it for sale. It obviously wasn’t a dive watch but the monocoque case design has always fascinated me so I decided to take a closer look. OK, so the size was also pretty interesting; 39mm instead of the regular 36mm dress size. Then it had this integrated bracelet which also looked neat and well designed and it even housed an ETA 2836-2 movement. When all those features combined were taken into consideration together with the price of $200 I could only come up with one conclusion; it had to be tested! It was impossible it was going to be a crappy watch.

#218 - The Mido Commander, ref. M8425.4.18.1.

And it for sure wasn’t bad. No it was really cool. A perfect office beater I would say for the ones who don’t want to go with a classic Rolex Datejust or the ultra-boring Omega SMP. I was really glad I gave this one a chance. It definitely brought something new to the table and I loved its dark gray sunburst dial. I’ve seen Mido has come up with a few real dive watches, like their 42mm All Dial 200m Diver with the inner rotating bezel, and after trying the Commander I wouldn’t hesitate to give Mido another go. Also their new Baroncelli dress watch has a really interesting dial structure that looks promising. 

The Commander turned out to be impossible to sell within Sweden. I don’t think Mido has big fan base here. It finally had to cross the Baltic Sea over to Finland to find a new home.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 217 & 251 - Adanac Navigator

Adanac Navigator was the predecessor of the more well-known Marathon Navigator that was issued to the soldiers of operation Desert Storm in the early 90’s. The Wein Brothers (who later were to become Marathon Watches) contracted the historic watchmaker Gallet & Co to manufacture the watches. Whilst the Marathon version of the Navigator was equipped with tritium tubes, the Adanac had regular painted tritium markings. The Navigator that Marathon have for sale today is made of a composite material with a push pull crown and is water resistant to 60m but the old steel cased watches made by Gallet & Co had a screw down crown which gave them higher grade of water resistance. I’ve read they were tested to 660ft (200m) but on the case back from my second Navigator it has “10 ATM” engraved so I’m not so sure about the 200m rating.

The first Navigators were manufactured and issued during 1986. My first one was from the second batch of watches manufactured in 1988. The tritium wasn’t quite as yellow as I’ve seen on many others. For starters it has one of my favorite case designs of all time and with the added features of fixed spring bars and screw down crown in combination with a quartz movement makes it a really great beater. A true warrior! The only downside is the non-screw down case back. Otherwise this watch would have been irresistible to me.

#217 - The Adanac Navigator.

From April 1988.

My second one was not from any of the issued batches. The case back didn't say Gallet & Co like my first one did and I have no clue if the hand set were original or if they had been changed during the years. I just bought it because I got it cheap and thought I might have the hands exchanged to the ladder type like on the original. The watch somehow ended up lying in the bottom of my drawer and I totally forgot about. I sold it when I found it because I was no longer in the mood to have it modified. I've seen Navigator's with Marathon dials that were manufactured in 1989 so I'm not entirely sure when this one could have been made.

#251 - My second Adanac. Non-issued.

I truly love the issued Navigator’s no matter whether it’s Adanac or Marathon. I think they are super interesting. It feels like they have so much history. Who knows what they have witnessed during their years of service?

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

No 216 - Armida A8

Bronze and brass watches. Yeah, the hype has been crazy. Almost every micro builder has come up with at least one bronze/brass watch in their line-up the last couple of years. The alloys are quite similar in appearance where bronze is the more expensive of the two due to its higher content of copper. I can’t say I’m a big fan of the bronze look but when I found this Armida A8 (made out of brass) it felt like a good watch to give a try just to get a feel of what this material was all about.

The previous owner had apparently kept the watch in a bag of hardboiled eggs, which rapidly had got the whole aging process going, and I remember unscrewing the lid of the tube, which the watch was delivered in, and how the strong smell hit me. What. The. Fuck?

#216 - The Armida A8.

Was it the zinc in the brass that caused this? It might be me who had an extreme sensitive sense of smell but I just couldn’t stand it while others, who I asked to smell the watch, told me they could smell it but not that strong and it didn’t bother them in any way. I almost felt sick because of it. So even though the watch was quite cool and had a really spectacular patina it had to go. 

During the day I wore it worked great. The NH35A movement (manufactured by Seiko) worked fine and the overall build quality felt very high in comparison to the low price. The look-a-like Isofrane rubber it came with was of a good quality and looked really good on the watch. OK, so it’s an obvious Submariner homage but the brass added another dimension to it which toned down that whole rip off feeling quite a lot. It measured 42mm excl. crown and had 22mm lug width. Water resistant to 300m. The crown for some reason wasn't made out of brass which I think looked odd.

Looking at the rest of the watches in the Armida line-up didn’t excite me very much and I’m pretty sure that this was my only one from the brand unless they come up with something a little more creative.

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.

Watches #101-150

Wow! My passion for watches is back and it’s stronger than ever. As a matter of fact I’m sitting here today with a new piece on my wrist that has been on my WTB-list since forever. Two days ago I acquired the legendary Omega Ploprof 600. I had to give up two watches I really liked for the trade to happen (because I couldn’t come up with the cash) but what the hell. This is a true icon and looking at it just gives me a happy sensation inside that only a few special watches have the ability to call forth.

It was actually quite a while ago since I bought such an expensive watch like the Ploprof. I’m currently so bored with Rolex's and other luxury brands, that have appealed to me in the past, and I have pretty much gone back to my roots which means playing around with <$500 is what I do. That is also what I like to do the most. This Omega though set me off track a little but I don’t think it’s going to affect my orientation in general. Seiko is still the brand I enjoy the most that I always will go back to when feeling lost or uninspired. Somehow that brand keeps finding new ways to reawaken my interest.

#317 - My latest addition. The Omega Ploprof 600, ref. 166.077.

An unexpected brand that has boosted my passion a lot lately have been Doxa. I really thought I was done with them but then suddenly I got a huge Doxa revival and picked up two pieces that I’ve wanted to try out for a long time. My sight is currently set on their new re-issue of the SUB 300T that will be released later this year. It sure does look promising! I’ve even start to glance at their vintage watches a little but I’m not really there yet. The Ploprof though could very well be the vintage watch that pushes me over the edge into the world of mold and rust.

So what about the last fifty watches? What have we seen? It’s been dive watches for the most part of course but also plenty of chronographs. The Tutima really was a heck of a timepiece and the two Tudor’s were also really great. We’ve also seen a couple of dress watches like the JLC Reverso,  Sjöö Sandström Royal Steel, Longines Heritage Conquest, Hamilton Thin-O-Matic and Tissot Visodate. Looking at the list of watches to come there’s hardly any dress watches so it seems like my priorities were set straight. Apart from that I don’t think that there’s been that many Seiko’s and that the mix in general has been quite diversified. Most of the watches have given me something worth writing about but every now and then a watch pops up that didn’t leave any impression whatsoever which makes it almost impossible to squeeze out any interesting words about it.

So far 238 watches (150 different models) have been presented to you. I estimate to have reached a minimum of at least 350 watches by the time I reach present day. Something is added to my WTB-list every week and at the moment I have no plans to stop adding new interesting objects to that list. 



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No 213, 244, 265, 269, 301, 302, 318, 338, 346 & 355 - Seiko 7C43-70XX Professional Diver's

When I recently gave you the story about all my Seiko 7548’s I also couldn’t help expressing my feelings about how good all the things from the early 80’s were. But as a matter of fact the second half of that century only got better. I know, it’s insane!

Because during the late 80’s was when my favorite G.I.JOE characters were introduced, the NES was released in Sweden and Guns n’ Roses recorded Appetite for Destruction. Those are just a few important details that are responsible for shaping me into the person that I am today. But during this era something else  highly important was created, something I didn't get to discover until thirty years later, and that was Seiko's becoming legend; the 7C43 Professional Diver, which basically was a 7548 but with an upgraded movement and with a 200m depth rating thanks to the new solution of the screw down crystal. The 7C43 is therefore even a little more heavy duty than its predecessor. What makes the 7C43 extra special is its unique black and white hand-set which is a rather small change but it gives the whole watch a new appearance. The toolness-factor of this watch is going through the roof and if I’m not mistaken I actually think that the case of the 7C43 might be a little beefier compared to the 7548 which only adds more points to the already high tool feeling. The first time I saw the 7C43 was probably sometime around 2010/2011 when I was browsing through Molle’s old homepage about his mind blowing Seiko collection. That’s when I found this amazing 7C43-700A (the pepsi version) on a jubilee bracelet. It just looked so damn good. I knew right there and then that this was a watch that was something I just had to have one day.

But it wasn’t until February 2014 when I finally got my first 7C43. Unfortunately it wasn’t the pepsi version but I had to start somewhere. It was purchased together with my second 7548 (#212) from a well-known seller in the US and I was lucky to get a good deal when I bought both of them. I knew nothing about the 7C43’s and this particular reference turned out to be manufactured in Korea and the dial print had a more burgundy red color compared to the Japanese version which has a more orange tone. To my big disappointment I never took any pictures of the case back so I’m not sure about the exact reference but from what I have read it probably just was a regular 7C43-7000 but made in Korea. Anyhow, it felt really cool to finally own one of these legendary often talked about watches. But from what people told me I realized the Korean version wasn't very sought after and that the Japanese version was the one that was rarer of the two so I ended up selling mine trying to find one made in Japan instead. I’ve later heard the opposite but I’m not sure which statement is true.

#213 - My first 7C43 that was made in Korea in July 1988.

My second one was the 7C43-700B and was bought about a year later in February 2015. Can’t seem to remember where I got from though. It was made in Japan and had the cleaner looking “Professional only” dial with less text. I mostly wore it on a 22mm Isofrane rubber. What I really can’t figure out though is its reference number. From what I have learned the 700B-version are supposed to have the rare white dial but apparently that can’t be correct unless I had a modified version with service dial.

#244 - A mysterious ref. 7C43-700B.

Manufactured in April 1988.

Worn on an original Isofrane rubber.

Waiting for the subway train to arrive.

The third one was in good shape but it had an aftermarket bezel insert. Got it in October 2015 from a seller in Hong Kong.  The dial was pretty nice but some of the print was beginning to fade. One day I noticed some fog on the inside of the crystal but Magnus helped me out replacing all the old gaskets making it waterproof again.

#265 - A Japanese made 7C43-7000 from November 1987.

On the jubilee from a SKX diver. Perfect fit!

At Magnus's for a gasket service.

The fourth one was probably the nicest one of all the ones I’ve had. It was all original and the bezel insert had a beautiful even patina. The print on the dial was great and the luminous indexes and hands were all white and flawless. Not a single mark! The only thing that didn’t make it 100% perfect was a small dent on the side of the case but apart from that it was stunning. This really was one of those watches I never should have sold. God I want this baby back!

#269 - The fourth one and my favorite. A 7C43-7000 manufactured in February 1988.

The dent on the side of the case between 9 and 10.

In June 2016 I came across my fifth one. This was the 7C43-7010. Up until then I hadn’t cared very much for the “Professional only” dial but I’ve actually ended up liking this dial version just as much. Just like the fourth one it also happened to be in a great condition. This one eventually ended up in my watch buddy Stefan’s fantastic Seiko collection.

#301 - My only 7C43-7010.

Manufactured in November 1986.

Together with my lovely wave patterned fleece jacket from Patagonia. Great Seiko vibe going on!

The last one I had, number six, was purchased on eBay. I’d missed out on so many 7C43’s up for auction that I had completely given up hope ever finding one on eBay without being ripped off. But then suddenly, a Monday morning in June 2016 on my way to work, it was there; a 7C43-700A to a reasonable price with the buy-it-now option. It even had the make-an-offer option! I began to read the description “all original, recently serviced…” and the list went on. Everything was just perfect! Was this too good to be true? OK, it was really quite worn but that just looked cool, and the rubber it came on wasn’t original but what the hell. I was going to put it on a Bonetto 284 rubber anyway. I was hesitating. Why? All I had to do was to click it home! Finally I decided to make an offer. Said and done. I put the phone in my pocket and tried to think of something else. Impossible! What the hell was I doing? Was I going to miss out again because I was too cheap to pay the buy-it-now price and let someone else steal it right in front of my nose? Hell no! I yanked my phone out of my pocket and tapped the buy-it-now button. Relief washed over me in an awesome wave. The pepsi version of the 7C43 was mine at last.

#302 - The long sought after 7C43-700A.

Manufactured in February 1988.

The 7C43-700A turned out to be not as cool as I had hoped for. My expectations had been built up over so many years that it just couldn’t live up to them. But finding it and getting it home was important to me. That was satisfaction enough.

To sum it all up; the Seiko 7C43’s are just awesome. Plain, simple and heavy duty. You can still get them to a reasonable price which makes them fun to keep searching for.



UPDATE - October 6th 2016.

Gah! I came across this perfect 7C43-7010 from April 1991 and I just couldn't say no. I wasn't searching, I swear, it pretty much fell into my hands so what could I do? The only defect was its bezel that didn't click so I had to purchase a set of spare click balls and a spring. Ended up trading it for a Seiko SBDJ013.

#318 - My seventh - a 7C43-7010.

From April 1991.

With the IDF paracord.

Outside Mall of Scandinavia after a long day of shopping.

UPDATE - January 12th 2017.

Stumbled upon another 7C43-700A in the beginning of this year. This time located in Romania. Lots of patina but still looked very nice. Impossible to resist. Wore it a few days before flipping it away. Everything was good about it except for the crown which was pretty hard to turn. Probably something with the gasket. It ended up crossing the border and ended up in a Norwegian collection.

#338 - My eight 7C43 and the second 700A. From July 1987.

Have I had enough yet? Nope, don't think so!



UPDATE - October 12th 2017.

This might be my longest blog post and I can't really see an end coming to it. I guess I will just keep updating it as long as new 7C43's keep coming in. The two I'm adding this time were two stellar specimens that stayed with me for a longer period of time than any other 7C43 have done in the past. First I managed to get a hold of another Korean version which I had serviced with new gaskets and battery. It was in a fantastic condition and was worn on an all brushed jubilee. Then a third Pepsi version came into my hands and I set it up with an all brushed jubilee as well. Its dial had an almost purple tone which looked amazing in the sun. I switched back and forth between those two watches a lot during the winter and spring of 2017. It took a while to sell them because this time I decided I wasn't going to part with them unless I got paid what I felt they were actually worth. 

#346 - My ninth 7C43 and finally another beautiful Korean. Photographed down at the docks next to the Stockholm City Hall i mid March 2017.

Manufactured in July '88.

I'm not going to tell you have many pairs of Star Wars Slip-on Vans I bought...

#355 - My tenth 7C43 and third of the Pepsi version 7C43-700A.

Manufactured in February '88.

That dial color was beautiful but don't forget about that bezel insert. I mean WOW!

© All pictures by a Watch Flipper's Diary unless noted.