Mondaine Classic Swiss Railway Eco Quartz

Today I'm wearing my Mondaine Swiss Railway watch model 94122. The design is the same as the railway clocks found throughout Switzerland which were designed by Hans Hilfiker in the 1940s. The design is trademarked, and in 1986 Mondaine got (or bought, I suppose) the rights to use the design on wristwatches. It lends itself very well to a watch dial as it is extremely legible. I also find it very attractive, and it's interesting to note that while I've seen many clocks with a very similar design to this one, none but the Swiss railway clocks (or licensed versions) have this exact design. The watch is mid-sized at 33mm with a chrome-plated case made from recycled brass. The "recycle" logo is displayed on the crown. It uses a ETA quartz movement which would keep very good time if the battery wasn't dead. The strap is leather and very comfortable, with a nice design that is neither too dressy nor overly bulky. Overall a very nice watch that sees very little wrist time. Being quartz is part of the problem, the smallish size is another. Mondaine does make a newer automatic version of this watch in a 40mm size which I will have to keep an eye out for.

Hamilton Viewmatic

Today I'm wearing one of my older "modern" Hamiltons, a Viewmatic most likely from the late 1990s. I'm not sure of the specific name nor model number of this watch, but it looks very similar to a Linwood. The Viewmatic name comes from the "view" (or exhibition) caseback and the fact that it's automatic. One of the reasons I picked this one up (other than it being relatively cheap, a Hamilton, and me being in need of a dress watch) was that it came on a very nice maroon crocodile strap with a gold-tone Hamilton deployant. Of course, that was before I realized that any time I'm dressed up enough to wear this watch I'm typically wearing black, gray or blue, I don't even own a pair of brown or maroon dress shoes. So the very nice crocodile strap stays in storage with my other extra straps, and I wear this one (very infrequently I might add) on a rather plain black leather strap. The basic black actually works well on this watch as it matches the black hands, which I actually find a bit heavy most of the time and would probably prefer gold-tone hands. The black strap tends to make the hands look a bit less out of place. It is Swiss made and houses an ETA cal. 2824-2 in its 37mm case. It's an attractive watch but doesn't draw attention to itself. An excellent alternative to quartz dress watches for low-key dressy occasions, but I'm sure for many it would also make an excellent everyday watch.

Luminox 3005 Diver

Today I wore my Luminox 3005. Specifically, I put it on to take the wrist shot below then put it back in its case. But it was the only watch I had on my wrist today. It's the stock version of my "Super Stealth" Luminox. I specifically bought more than one of these so I could modify some and keep some stock, but since I have enough other yellow watches I've never worn this one. Everything about this one is the same as the one linked above, except the dial. It's Swiss made, has a Ronda quartz movement, 43mm carbon reinforced resin case, one-way rotating bezel, resin strap, stainless back, 200m water resistance and tritium illumination. I actually just noticed that the current 3005 has a yellow chapter ring instead of the black, so this would be a much better model to start with if you wanted to add a MKII dial. I guess some people like the "Navy Seals" text on the dial and some don't, it never bothered me. The "night" photo below was taken with my usual point-and-shoot camera at my office today. Not bad for having very poor light control and no tripod. The resin strap on this is actually pretty nice; decent width and thickness with a nice brushed stainless Luminox buckle. I'll probably put the standard strap back on my other one soon. Since it's still brand new, I'm going to sell it soon before I get the itch to actually wear it. I have my eye on a few other (much pricier) watches, so I think I'll try to clear out the watches that I have never worn before I decide to get rid of anything from my "active" collection.

Vintage Bulova

Today I'm wearing this vintage Bulova. It's from 1960 and the case and screw-in caseback are stainless steel. It's pretty nice with an interesting pattern on the dial. It looks like the dial has been defaced by some felt pen or the like, as it has black marks on the hour markers and some other places, but I don't know what happened to it.

Vintage Wyler Incaflex

Today I'm wearing this vintage Wyler from the 1950s or early 1960s. The "Incaflex" on the dial might or might not be the model name, but it definitely refers to the balance wheel anti-shock system used within. From an interview with Jean-Claude Biver: (a 30+ year watch industry executive who's primarily responsible for the exciting rebirth of the brand as "Wyler Geneve")

"Wyler became well-known in the past because of their invention of the Incaflex balance wheel with flexible arms that could help absorb horizontal shocks. This they used in conjunction with the more commonly used Incabloc shock that absorbed shock on a vertical axis. Now, when you have something that can deform on both the vertical and horizontal axis in the car industry, they call this variable geometry. Only Wyler had this because they had the patent on the Incaflex balance wheel. In 1956, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this system, Wyler took the watch to the top of the Eiffel Tower, placed it in a special container, and threw it off. When they opened the container, the watch was still working…"

More recently, Wyler drove a car over one watch and dropped another one from a height of 10 meters for the brand's launch in Taiwan. Wyler Geneve is definitely a brand to watch with exciting designs and impressive innovations. Unfortunately, they have equally impressive prices, so this might be the only Wyler I ever own. This watch seems to be typical of vintage Wylers with the Incaflex system, a mid-size case (about 30mm) and a stainless steel "waterproof" case. The design is quite understated, appealing more as a practical "tool watch" than a decorative accessory. This one has a unique stainless steel mesh band with stainless steel links that slide over it, and the two ends of the band overlap as you can see in the pictures below. This is most likely an aftermarket band. I wasn't really familiar with the Wyler watch brand before I saw this one (which my dad bought sometime in the last few years) but I'm glad to have it. The company has some interesting history and some exciting models now and coming in the future.

Vintage Gruen Curvex

Today I'm wearing a vintage Gruen Curvex that I got from my father. I'm certainly no expert on these but I'll pass along what knowledge I have. The Curvex was so named because the movement was specially designed to fit inside a case curved to fit the wearer's wrist. The problem with making a long, narrow, curving watch case is that a normal full-sized movement will be too large. This watch is 48mm long but less than 21mm wide. One way to fix this is to fit a smaller movement in the case which was done by Gruen (before the Curvex) as well as some other manufacturers. Gruen developed a series of movements that were full-sized but had the necessary curvature on the dial side and clearance on the back for a heavily curved case. Here's a comparison diagram from a vintage Gruen advertisement. This watch contains the original Curvex movement, the calibre 311, which was released in 1935. I don't know for how long the 311 was produced, but in 1937 the calibre 330 was released which was thinner and more curved. I haven't found a source for Gruen serial numbers that makes sense to me so I can't put an exact date on this watch, but based on the movement it's probably from between 1935 and 1940. It's an exceedingly attractive design, slender but masculine, simple but with very nice details on the dial and bevels on the case, and with a slightly domed crystal that serves to accentuate the curve of the dial and case. It is truly an iconic art deco design. Some great information about Gruen can be found here. This particular watch has been serviced throughout its lifetime, but not recently. As a result, it only runs sporadically and is definitely in need of a good cleaning. This will go on my list of watches that will be taken to my watchmaker the next time I go.