Rover Haven Watches

Below, the Heuer CS3110.  What I love about this watch is the delicate dial and the fabulous Lemania caliber 1873 that drives it.  The size makes it nice for a lady's wrist.  I gave mine to my best gal, and you should too.  

The Heuer CS3110, a modern classic.  

The Sinn 103 traces its roots back to one of Sinn's earliest chronographs, the 101.  Although a larger watch, this piece doesn't feel like it, thanks to its titanium case.  This particular watch has a sapphire crystal, and super-yummy tritium dial.  The circle-Ar is the icing on the cake.  

Sinn 103 Ti Ar.

I love old, funky Hamilton chronographs.  These 7750-powered watches are affordable and relatively common. Hamilton also made it with non-contrasting sub-dials, but I like the anti-panda effect of these.  And that Jet Age Hamilton logo is super cool.  One is Obi Wan, the other Vader.  Who will win the eternal battle for wrist time?

Hamilton reference 9379 chronographs.

Any birders out there?  Remember in your copy of RT Peterson the confusing fall warblers page?  So similar, yet each different and distinct.  I have always liked 33 mm Hamilton hand winding field watches.  Just when I think I've seen every variety, I find a new one.  Cheap and fun to collect, each of these is powered by either an ETA 2750 or 2801, with one exception. Can you spot it?  

The Confusing Fall Warblers.

Hamilton sold this limited edition chronograph powered by the Lemania 5100 only in the Italian market, it appears.  Little is known about these watches, even among Hamilton and Lemania collectors.  The black dialed specimen is the separated-at-birth twin to the Sinn 156, itself a cousin of the Heuer 1550 SG, aka the Heuer Bund.  

Hamilton Lemania 5100 chronographs.

Simply one of the best modern watches I've ever owned, the Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial watch is a delight to wear and use, and the caliber 8400 movement is a horological marvel.  Some will disagree with a dive watch on a shell strap, but it is an irresistible draw for me, especially with this watch's vintage lines and personality.  Can't wait to wear it to the opening of Spectre.

Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial. 

I love Lemania chronographs, and here we have two of the most famous.  The 6BB Royal Air Force-issued watch is running the caliber 2220 and the Tg 195 Swedish military flyback utilizes a modified 2220 known as the 2225.  On the Tg 195, the pusher flies the seconds hand back to 12 and hacks the movement.  A true mechanical marvel.  

Lemania one button chronographs.

The Rodania Royal Canadian Air Force one button chronograph is a thing of beauty.  Probably the most common of the several suppliers of this watch, the beautiful blued hands and ivory colored dial never fail to make me pause.  Powered by a Venus 175, the watch is a delight to use and wear.  Just makes you want to the read the time.  

Rodania RCAF one button chronograph.

The Hamilton 9721 is a relatively common 2824-powered watch.  The LL Bean variant is uncommon, however, having been sold in one catalog only in the spring of 1991.  It has some subtle differences, no doubt so Bean could truthfully claim "designed exclusively for us by Hamilton Watch Co." or some such.  These 36 mm watches are very nice on the wrist, and come from a time when Hamilton was interested in accurate updates of some of their classic military pieces, the famous 6B in this case.  

Hamilton 9721's. 

The Seiko SARG011 must surely win the bang-for-buck award.  Handsome to look at and easy to read, this watch also has a sapphire crystal and hand-winding, hacking 6R15 movement.  And how can you not love that tomahawk font?  All for around $300... I call this a deal. 

The Seiko SARG011.

Alas, my Heuer Bund has joined the Pantheon of Watches Past, having been traded for a Lemania.  Something tells me there is another one of these fine flyback chronographs in my future.  C'est la vie.  

Heuer 1550 SG Bundeswehr.

I have a gravity-like attraction to British military-issued bicompax chronographs.  This CWC 1970's Re-Make Chronograph gets the dumbest-name-of-the-decade award, but it is a really dynamite little watch.  While the original utilized the Valjoux 7733, the re-issue makes use of a 7760, a reliable hand-winding movement no longer in production. 

CWC RAF chronographs, re-made and original.

The Fabulous Four: Hamilton, CWC, Newmark, and Precista British military-issued chronographs running Valjoux 7733 movements.  Very wearable and quite timeless in their design.  The Newmark and Precista are somewhat scarce, the Hamilton and CWC less so.  Only the Newmark has yet to be reissued, reimagined, or rereleased by its maker.  

You thought the Fabulous Four referred to a band?  For shame...

One day I woke up and  discovered what I'd been missing by not owning a Junghans.  Here are two of my favorites, the Max Bill Chronoscope and a Flieger Chronograph 1955 Limited Edition.  The former watch is a fantastic modern extrapolation of what Max Bill's classic three-handed watch might have looked like had he also designed it as a chronograph.  The latter piece, a scarce J88 re-issue running a Valjoux 7760.  The Chronoscope never fails to attract comments and compliments.  The J88 re-issue would too if anyone knew how rare it was.  

Junghans chronographs. 

This vintage Omega gentleman's stainless steel watch belonged to my father, a gift from my mother in about 1960.  The caliber 284 keeps excellent time and is beautiful to behold.  I remember my father winding the watch every morning.  I am so glad it has come into my care. 

This trio of Sinns are among my favorite daily wearers.  The 856 UTC is powered by an ETA 2892, the EZM 13 by a modified Valjoux 7750, and the 103 Ti Ar by a more garden variety 7750.  The EZM 13 has a very useful feature, a 60 minute chronograph.  The watch is also water resistant to a reasonable depth, making the chrono feature perfect for water sports events.  

A trio of Sinns. 

This Precista PRS-82 Royal Navy Diver's watch is an incredible value.  It is a re-issue of the Precista that was issued to British Royal Navy divers in 1982, and utilizes a NOS ETA 2783, the same movement the original watch employed.  The watch has fantastic lume and is very comfortable to wear. Another home run from Time Factors. 

Precista PRS-82.