Hamilton Lloyd Automatic

Today I'm wearing my Hamilton Lloyd automatic. This is another of my seldom-worn dress watches, mainly because I get dressed up only rarely. It actually works as a casual watch as well since it has a funky look to it and is a decent size. Because it's square and has relatively long lugs, it wears bigger than the 36mm width would imply. The dial and crystal are really stunning. The engraved pattern of repeating vertical lines on the dial make it change color (depending on the light and viewing angle) from black to silver and various levels of gray in between. The applied silver-tone numerals are very attractive, as are the heavily domed sapphire crystal and heavy stainless case. I've heard some people describe this watch as having "screws" on the bezel, but the details on the corners are actually just machined indentations, perhaps to mimic the look of screws or diamonds/gemstones. I find the whole package very attractive and I will make an effort to wear it more often (either on non-workdays or once I run out of watches for this blog, of course.) I believe this watch is no longer in production, as Hamilton currently only lists the quartz Lloyd chronograph on their site. The Lloyd automatic is still available from many retailers, so if you like it and see one available you might want to buy it while you have the chance.

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.

Vintage Bulova Automatic

I'm wearing another vintage piece today, a Bulova from 1953. One of the reasons I'm doing this blog is to catalog my watches, including a number that my father collected over the years. Many of the watches that used to be my father's I haven't even taken a good look at yet. I was very surprised when I pulled this one out as it's a little different than many of the other vintage watches you see here. First off, it's automatic. It's something that we kind of take for granted today, but I believe this would have been a more expensive watch than many of my similar handwind models from this era. Second, the case seems to be all stainless (including the screw-in caseback) with gold plating. This means the case has stood up very well over time. Where a regular gold filled case would probably have pitting or heavy wear on the elaborate lugs this has little to none. The ends the lugs are still pointy, and the lines down the sides are still well defined. Since it's from 1953, I believe it's my earliest watch with these relatively advanced features. Not to mention it's still a very nice looking watch. I might have to think about getting a nice leather strap for this one as I think it's a keeper and the expanding bracelet is a bit unattractive and mundane.

Hamilton Dodson Automatic

Today I'm wearing my Hamilton Dodson automatic (model number H27415733.) It's dressier than the watches I normally wear, and I feel a little weird wearing it in the daytime during the Summer, but I'm getting down to a handful of watches and had to pick something. It's actually pretty big for a dress watch at 36mm wide and 41mm long, and the height of the case with the oversized, rounded "steps" gives it real wrist presence. The dial is also very attractive, certainly not too busy, with "exploding" numerals and an inset small seconds dial. It's also very nice to see a date wheel with a black background, as a white background would be out of place here. The movement is a very reliable and smooth ETA 2895-2 which is used in numerous watches including Breitling, TAG Heuer, Glycine and other Hamilton models.

Seiko SKX779 "Black Monster" Automatic Diver

As I mentioned when I wore my Seiko Orange Monster, it was strange that I didn't have a Black Monster, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Well, last week I saw a deal on the SKX779 on the rubber strap that was too good to pass up. I'm not sure if I would have preferred the bracelet, but I already have the bracelet on my Orange Monster so I could always switch them. I do think if I had to have either one on the black rubber, I would prefer the Black Monster since it matches better. I might even get a black leather strap for it, like the Di-Modell Chronissimo which looks really great on it. Amazingly, after seeing hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of Black Monsters on both PMWF and other forums, I never realized that the hands were light tan in color. I guess they are pretty close to the color of the luminous material, close enough to appear the same in photographs. For some reason I just always assumed they were white like the printing on the dial. Like the Orange Monster, it's a great looking watch. The brushed and polished finishes work great together, and the black dial gives it a more subdued look, but it's still not a watch that will be inconspicuous.

Vintage Hamilton Thin-O-Matic Automatic

Today I'm wearing a vintage Hamilton Thin-O-Matic on a Speidel expandable bracelet which seems to be about as old as the watch (1960s.) This one was purchased by my dad and I don't believe he had it serviced. It's similar to my other Thin-O-Matic that was my grandfather's, but this one doesn't have a solid gold case and some of the details are different. If you look at the position of the hands you can see they don't line up correctly. This is easily fixed by removing the hands and resetting them, but while considering that I realized the case has no removable back, everything goes in from the front. Then I found this link that shows the tool and procedure for removing a crystal like this. I suppose if I want to have it fixed I'll probably take it to my watchmaker since I don't have the right tool and have little use for it, so I probably won't buy one. This watch is good looking and seems to keep good time, but if I keep it in my collection I will probably have it serviced and cleaned as well as fit a leather strap. I'd also be curious what movement is inside (whether it's a micro-rotor or regular automatic) and what year this one is from; I'm sure my watchmaker could tell me.

Seiko SKX781 "Orange Monster" Automatic Diver

Today I'm wearing my Seiko "Orange Monster" diver. This is one of the most popular Seikos among watch lovers. Lots of information and reviews can be found on the net. In a nutshell, it's a large, good-looking, reliable watch that is not overly flashy, but does stand out because it's pretty unique. The quality of the case and bracelet, as well as the combination of brushed and polished details really makes it look more expensive than it really is. I only have the orange version of the monster, although it also comes in a black-dialed version, and has been issued in limited editions with yellow, blue and red dials. More recently a version has been released with a black PVD case and bracelet that is available with either an orange or black dial. Except for the basic black-dialed or orange-dialed versions, all the other versions have higher prices, and the yellow-dialed limited edition might be the most rare. Considering my penchant for collecting, it's a little strange I don't at least have a black monster, if not one of the other models, but I guess I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Zodiac Calame Sport Automatique Chronograph ZO-2003

My watch today is my only Zodiac so far. I have considered buying a number of vintage ones, but as with many vintage divers the prices have skyrocketed in the last few years. The release of the Zodiac movie probably didn't help matters either. This Zodiac chronograph was released about five years ago, and I believe it was one of the first new models released after Zodiac was purchased by Fossil. I originally thought this model was pre-Fossil because it is so much nicer and more expensive than Zodiac's more recent offerings. It seems that the brand has been brought a bit downmarket recently because the current collections are mostly quartz and seem to turn up more frequently in department stores than specialty or jewelry stores. I really like this watch and was very happy it was available when I was ready to buy it. I was looking for a chronograph that was dressier than my two Hamiltons and this one fit because it's a little smaller (40mm without the crown) and looks really good on a leather strap, which tends to dress up any watch normally on a stainless band. I also really liked the dial design which I think is clean and relatively original. The movement in this one is not a Valjoux chronograph movement (like my other automatic chronographs) but an ETA 2824 with a Dubois-Depraz chronograph module. This kind of movement is typically found on higher-end watches (Breitling, Bulgari, Jaeger-LeCoultre, etc.) and is essentially a regular automatic movement with the chronograph module on top. This makes the watch slightly thicker than normal, but the action of the chronograph pushers is much less clunky than those on the Valjoux movements. Because the two movements are not as integrated as an all-in-one chronograph movement, this watch has 51 jewels, about double the number of jewels in a normal automatic. The only downside to this arrangement is the date is placed far behind the dial, and even with the magnifier in the date window, it is sometimes hard to read. This is actually the watch I wore when I got married, and I think I made an excellent choice, so I don't mind that it will probably be in my collection forever.