Journey Through Time

Watches that are part of My Journey Through Time

Journey Through Time

Watches have long been a fascination for me. My watch collection is modest but varied and started way back when I was 5 with a Timex Donald Duck watch! The journey marches on through time with my most recent watches being a Chopard Mille Miglia GT XL Power Control and a Christopher Ward Malvern Aviator. This is the story behind each watch on my journey through time...

Timex Donald Duck And Watex Revue

My very first watch was a Timex with Donald Duck written on the face which was white with blue lettering and numbers.

It was a birthday present from my Auntie Vera and Uncle Henry, given to me in 1966 and although I no longer wear it, I still have it in my watch collection - cherished for being my first ever watch! In my twenties I inherited my Uncle Henry's gold watch so he played a large part in my journey through time.

The Watex Revue belonged to my Granddad on my Dad's side. I wore this watch in my early twenties but have not wore it much since. It is now in need of a little tender love and care and requires a new winder.

Nonetheless a fine gold watch and it definitely has its place in my journey through time.

Vertex Revue Gold watch

In 1960 my Uncle Henry was awarded a gold watch from his employer Joseph Crosfield & Sons Ltd for long service. Coincidentally, this was the year I was born and when he passed away, (while I was at university) the watch came to me. It is a very neat watch and one which I treasure greatly.

I wore this watch every day for several years in my twenties and it served me well. Now it is reserved for formal occasions and worn in memory of a loved uncle, who helped start me on my watch journey.

Thomas Russell Gold watch

This was my Dad's Gold watch and it is made by Thomas Russell and it dates back to 1956. It came to me when I was 26 after my Dad passed away and i wore it regularly in my late twenties. Now I wear it as a dress watch as i do my Uncle Henry's watch. Thomas Russell was one of the great names of 19th century watch making – though surprisingly little is known about him outside Liverpool. He was, along with Joseph Sewill, at the forefront of the Lancashire watch and clock industry. Thomas Russell, created fine timepieces and received royal patronage from Queen Victoria, though he was more famous for his pocket watches and suffered when watches changed to wrist watches. Nonetheless, this is a fine gold watch from a respected watch maker. Without doubt it is my most cherished watch, albeit not my most expensive.

As my watch journey continues another watch maker has come to my attention - Christopher Ward of London. Christopher Ward makes high quality quartz and automatic watches selling them directly on the internet. He himself comes from Prescott near Liverpool and so was first inspired by Thomas Russell and his first watch was a homage to Thomas Russell - The C1 Russell which has a similar face to a Russell pocket watch. Other watches in the Christopher Ward stable are The C3 Malvern Chronograph, The C5 Automatic and The C5 Malvern Aviator and more recently, a C7 Rapide and C8 Big Pilot. Malvern is my home town, A Thomas Russell was my Dad's watch - is it fate that I should have a Christopher Ward watch in my collection. He does a very nice C6 Kingfisher Diver-Pro with yellow dial and black silicon rubber diver strap!

Casio Digital

Back to the early nineties with this watch. I was holidaying in Cyprus and was enjoying waterskiing and going on the jet skis every day. Jet skis were hired for twenty minutes at a time which was long enough to be charging about the seas at full speed - great fun! However, I wanted a waterproof watch that had a timer on it so i could maximise my time on the jet ski. This nifty Casio watch beckoned me from one of the local shops and I enjoyed wearing it for many years through the Nineties! As you can see in the photograph it is still going strong as of the 15th February 2009!

MINI Watch

From my love of our BMW MINIs came this watch. In 2002, we bought our first MINI - CooperBeast a Chili Red Cooper - and we have been hooked ever since. Like all hooked enthusiasts for a brand, be it a watch or a car, we are suckers for the merchandise that goes with it. It goes without saying then that a watch had to follow and this was our watch purchase for 2004!

Storm Watch

In my early twenties I first came across Storm watches and loved their innovative eye catching designs. I had hankered after a Storm watch for a long time before finally getting my very own Storm watch. My final choice was in truth one of Storm's more conservative designs apeing the style of Breitling and Tag a little. It was a gift from my wife for my 46th birthday. It is the Storm Multi Sation in silver and is part of their model line up today, retailing at £79.99. A great value, stylish watch from a stylish budget watch supplier. See their web site - www.stormwatches.com

This watch still gets wrist time today and is a comfortable and stylish workhorse for me!

Breitling Navitimer

I cannot remember when Breitling watches first came to my attention but it was a long, long time ago. As my interest in the brand deepened and I explored their history and the long association they have had with aviation, my desire for one just got more intense. As a young boy I had avidly read every Biggles book I could lay my hands on and I concluded that as surely as Bond wears an Omega, then Biggles would sport a Navitimer! If it was good enough for Biggles then it was good enough for me.

Breitling's own website describes the Navitimer as follows:

THE INSTRUMENT THAT HAS SYMBOLIZED THE BRAND SINCE 1952

In launching the Navitimer in 1952, Breitling gave pilots a genuine wrist instrument. Ingenious and efficient, this chronograph is endowed with a built-in "navigation computer", a circular slide rule capable of performing all calculations a flight plan requires. The Navitimer thus became the official watch of the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), the world's largest grouping of pilots. In over 50 years of existe, the Navitimer has achieved cult object status, therby joining the select circle of modern, ultra-functional and timeless objects that have made their mark in the 20th century. Since the famous "806" model in 1952, the Navitimer has found its way through the years unchanged in either form or spirit. Continuously produced throughout this period, it is now the world's oldest chronograph.

This history convinced me that this was Biggles' watch and I had to have one. In 2005 I was in Northampton for a dinner dance with MINI2 (A BMW MINI car forum) and I saw a Navitimer in a jeweller's window in the town. It looked absolutely huge and my dream of having this beautiful watch faded, as I looked at my slim wrists! I told my wife that I would just try it on so that I could dismiss this dream once and for all, so inside we went. Well the watch looked stunning on my wrist and I wanted it there and then. How I agonised that day and at that moment in that shop, as I wrestled with temptation. The truth was though, I just did not have that kind of money in my back pocket ready to blow on a watch. No, if I wanted that watch it would have to come my way by old fashioned saving up.

Finally in October 2008, some 2 and a half years later, I had got the money together and after checking out every Breitling shop that I passed, I finally got one from Fraser Hart in Solihull. We had gone to Solihull for a shopping trip and when I saw the jewellers we checked them out. The Breitling was there but with batons and I wanted an arabic face - this watch has a busy face so let's really go for busy, was my thought! I made the chap ring all the other branches and he tracked one down for me. This was a Sunday and on the following Wednesday evening I returned to collect my watch. My Navigation through time, for a Breitling was at an end! Or was this the beginning...

For the watch enthusiasts here are the specs:

Caliber: Breitling 23
Movement: Selfwinding mechanical
Power reserve: min. 42 hours
Chronograph: 1/4th second, 30 minutes, 12 hours
Jewel: 25 jewels
Calendar: dial aperture
Case: Steel
Water resistance: 3 bars
Bezel: Bi-directional, slide rule
Crown: Non-screw-locked, two gaskets
Back (or caseback0: Screwed in
Crystal: Cambered sapphire, glareprofed both sides
Diameter: 41.80mm
Thickness: 14.60mm
Weight: 79.40 gr.
Interhorn width: 22/20mm
Beauty rating: 5 *

Hamilton Ventura Automatic

I first saw the Hamilton brand in 2007 at Nice airport while waiting to fly back to England. The watch that caught my eye was the Hamilton Khaki Air Race GMT on a black rubber strap with orange stitching that matched the orange numbers on the black faced dial. The watch was water resistant to 200 metres and came with a decent automatic movement which you could view through the back. It fitted my wrist a treat and was indeed a very tempting watch. When I returned to England I began to look at Hamilton's in earnest and quickly visited their web site www.hamiltonwatch.com. Their history caught my eye and I was drawn to the Ventura. This watch is iconic in the watch world for a number of reasons. First, it was the first ever battery powered watch introduced in 1957, secondly it came wrapped in a very modern stylish case designed by Richard Arbib who was also famous for putting the fins on the rear of the huge American motors of the fifties. It was the watch that began the journey into quartz watches which almost killed off the Swiss watch industry. Now this fine American watch company manufactures in Switzerland and is part of the Swatch group! Finally, for me the discovery that Elvis Presley wore one in his movie Blue Hawaii sealed the deal and I knew I had to have a Ventura! However, I could not see where it fit into my plans for a watch, as by now I had my Breitling Navitimer for general wear and the next watch that I wanted was a more sporty watch that I could wear on the beach and for swimming etc.

However, the ladies version looked great and they also did a ladies version on a full stainless strap which looked very nice so I thought perhaps a Ventura could join the family as a watch for my wife Peanut. Still exploring the brand we looked for a local dealer and found the nearest one to us was in Knowle near Birmingham. This was close to Solihull where we like to shop on occasion so it was perfect.

KNOWLE GOLDSMITHS LIMITED, 1644A High Street Knowle, SOLIHULL, B93 0NA Tel. 01564 772827 was the jeweller and we visited on a day when we met some friends of ours in Solihull who had come up from Boston near Lincoln. We had a delightful time in this lovely jewellers and spent well over an hour there trying on all his Hamiltons, asking loads of questions and finally coming away with just a catalogue! They had a ladies Ventura on a white leather strap which Peanut tried on but she wasn't convinced about the strap. However, the jeweller said he was getting a Ventura on the bracelet and would ring us when he had one in. A few weeks later he rang but it was about two months before we could find time to visit again.

Meantime, I had been reading some fascinating debates about dress watches on some of the watch forums on the internet and had kind of seen a gap in my watch collection, where I didn't really have a modern watch that you could wear for a dressy occasion. I mean let's be honest, the real James Bond would never wear an Omega Seamaster with a dinner suit. If he did wear an Omega it would be a Deville surely? However, I had given no real thought to the matter beyond reading the forum debates with interest and anyway I had two gold watches for that already!

Finally we paid a second visit to Knowle Goldsmiths in Knowle and saw the Ladies Ventura on a stainless strap. Both of us fell for it instantly - it was gorgeous. Peanut tried it on and great disappointment followed. Her wrists are very tiny and the bracelet was very big and the jeweller thought that he just could not make the bracelet small enough. We were very disappointed. Anyway we carried on looking and mooching and talking and kept trying the Ventura on. Meanwhile Peanut had spotted a man's Ventura - an automatic on a croc style strap with a visible movement. It looked great and very stylish. I tried it on and it looked lovely and was very comfortable sporting a very swish deployant buckle. Meanwhile, the jeweller decided that nothing was to be lost trying to make the strap smaller. Ten minutes later he emerged from his back room and success - the watch looked stunning on Peanut's wrist! The automatic Ventura had still not come off my wrist and in my mind it filled the gap in my watch collection that I had just invented. It was the perfect dress watch for me - not a dress watch in the conventional way as it is quite a busy watch with the skeleton style face, but really on the croc strap it couldn't be anything else. So there you have it - my new dress watch!

It was an absolute delight visiting this shop and the guys in there were so friendly and helpful. Final outcome - two happy bunnies left the shop sporting his and hers Hamilton Venturas!

Postscript. My Hamilton Ventura Automatic to me encapsulates a huge chunk of modern watch making history in one ironic watch. The first ever battery powered watch now come with a prestige swiss automatic movement inside! A full circle so to speak!

Ladies Hamilton Ventura

The Christopher Ward Adventure

I have already mentioned Christopher Ward of London before and explained the attraction I felt for this brand. His watches are sold via the Internet, are designed in London and manufactured in Switzerland using high quality Swiss movements for both the Quartz and automatic models in his range.
The Kingfisher was the first to really catch my eye and when I received it I was even more bowled over by the beauty of the yellow dial and overall quality of the watch - it is a real eye catcher and a pleasure to wear.

As I further explored the Christopher Ward watch collection I discovered a limited edition watch - The Malvern Aviator. This was based on the 1936

Aviator watch by IWC, so this hook worked for me with my love of all things to do with aviation - no doubt started by my fervent reading of Biggles as a youngster. The next hook was having "Malvern" in its name - well I live there - so that was that and a Malvern Aviator was ordered. This comes with a Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement which has been beautifully dressed and is stunning to view via the rear view case. This watch is a quiet delight and gets a lot of wrist time, especially being so clear and easy to read and it is limited to 1936 pieces. This man is on a roll right now with some stunning watches to lust after such as the C8 Pilot or the C7 Rapide both for him and for her to mention but a few. Visit the web site at www.christopherward.co.uk and join the CWL Forum to see for yourself and to get sneak previews of upcoming watches.

Chopard Mille Miglia GT XL Power Control

We have decided to have a driving holiday in Europe touring Italy and an easy way to plan the route is to follow the route of the famous Mille Miglia road race that ran from 1927 to 1957 and which has been revived as a classic car event. Chopard sponsor the event and commemorate the fact by producing their Mille Miglia range of watches. This is quoted from Chopard's web site, "Passion, performance, precision: these are just a few of the striking similarities between automotive engineering and mechanical watchmaking. The Mille Miglia collection links these two worlds and perfectly represents the spirit of la corsa più bella del mondo....

Chopard has been actively supporting the Mille Miglia as a main sponsor and official timekeeper since 1988. This longstanding partnership has given rise to a collection of precision sports watches reflecting this unparalleled passion and performance". After spending a few months listening to me practising "Showpar" and "mee-lay meel-yah" my lovely wife could take no more and bought me this watch on Valentines Day!

It is a lovely watch, powered by the Valgranges movement, which by the way is the noisiest loudest movement I have ever encountered but hearing it grunt and groan makes the watch seem alive on
my wrist. Check out this link to ETA's page on the Valgrange. Now I'm fully equipped to trace the route of the Mille Miglia.

Where Next?

There are some fantastic watches out there by the brands that have caught my eye , the Breitling Superocean Heritage 38mm on an Ocean Racer strap, the Breitling Aerospace Avantage, a Christopher Ward of London C7 Rapide or a C8 Pilot's watch, a Hamilton Rose Gold and carbon fibre X-Wind or even an Opel GT Chrono watch. Then there are all the brands that I am less familiar with but which have caught my eye - B.R.M. (The French connection?), U-Boat (everyone needs a submarine?), Panerai or IWC perhaps? The fun is in the chase, the pursuit or waiting for the story to unfold because I have realised that each watch I have has a story to tell, a reason why if you like. The Navitimer was Biggles, The Hamilton was Elvis, The Malvern Aviator was Planes and Malvern, The Chopard was the Mille Miglia and so on. So where next...

Who really knows but my guess is that it is time to spec a watch for Peanut. She has her Ventura, which is great for dressy times but needs a sporty watch - one to match her love for motors. BRM watches are perfect for the Francophilian car enthusiast so maybe they need checking out, Christopher Ward has a great W7 Rapide but also I know she has her eye on a Hamilton Route 66 a 2008 limited edition but can she track one down...

Flickr Slideshow

My watch collection on Flickr

The Beauty that is an Automatic

So watches are boring? Watch this video from Patek Philippe a Swiss master and fall in love with watches...

Patek Philippe's story. In 1839, Antoine Norbert de Patek and François Czapek founded Patek, Czapek & C° in Geneva. At the 1844 Universal Exhibition in Paris, Antoine Norbert de Patek met Jean Adrien Philippe, inventor in 1842 of a pocket watch with stem winding and hand-setting, and offered him the post of technical director as soon as Czapek's contract ran out. In 1845, Patek Czapek & C° was dissolved, and Antoine Norbert de Patek, Jean Adrien Philippe and Vincent Gostowski founded, in Geneva, Patek & C°. In 1851, the three men changed the company's name to Patek Philippe & C°. 1868 Creation of a key-wound watch with brass bracelet. 1887 The Calatrava Cross became the company's registered logo. 1902 The Gondolo Chronometer name was registered. 1914-1930 Creation of grande complication and très grande complication watches, certain of which, with astronomical complications, were sold to James Ward Packard. These included the first two most complicated pieces by Patek Philippe: one, made in 1916, with 16 complications and another, made in 1927, with 10 complications. 1915 Creation of the first ladies' wristwatch with five-minute repeater. 1925 Creation of the first ladies' wristwatch with perpetual calendar (inspired by a pendant watch). 1933 Henry Graves Jr. purchased what was then the most complicated watch ever made by Patek Philippe. It was sold again in 1999 for $11 million. 1936 Creation of an astronomical wristwatch with perpetual calendar and retrograde date. 1940 Special order for a wristwatch with a pulsometric chronograph and world time. 1959 Creation of watches with second time zone. 1974 Creation of the Calatrava model. 1981 Launch of the Nautilus model. 1982 Creation of the Ellipse d'or model. 1989 The Calibre 89, the world's most complicated pocket watch (33 complications), was unveiled to commemorate the company's 150th anniversary. 1996 Launch of the self-winding wristwatch with annual date. 1997 Launch of the Aquanaut model. 2000 Launch of the Star Caliber 2000 (21 complications) to coincide with the third millennium. 2003 Unveiling of the 10 Day Tourbillon with COSC certification.

A Breitling Service

Ever wondered what is involved in servicing a breitling and whether it gets any real love while in for a service?

Check this out and then decide!

Video of Breitling Service