Four vintage Heuers, and a Zenith A384!

I thought this was too momentous an occasion not to celebrate with a post - the occasion of reaching my first five vintage watches!!!

(I used the birth of my son in 2010 as an excuse to start collecting watches from around my birth year, 1969, but I think it's just as much a sign of my mid-life crisis...)

The two Omegas, the Seamaster Cosmic and the pre-moon Speedmaster, were gone (but not forgotten), so I was left with these five vintage babies - three Autavias, a Monaco 1133G, and a Zenith El Primero A384 - could have done a lot worse, if I may say so myself!!!

What's next?

Well, for one, I'd like a 'Proof-Proof' JDM Seiko 5 Speedtimer with the 6139A movement dating to my birth year AND month, August 1969 - that'll be ultra cool.

Then there's another rare Zenith diver from that same era that I have my eye on, the A3736.

But from now on, it'll have to be on a strict one in one out policy....nobody realistically needs more than 5 watches, right? =P

1972 Heuer Autavia 1163GMT

Autavia 1163GMT, circa 1972

Alas, I never managed to bond emotionally with the Speedy - the severe black dial with the white hands did nothing for me..... so when the opportunity came about to trade the Speedy with an Autavia 1163GMT (thanks Wong!), who was I to refuse?

I've always wanted a GMT - the Pepsi dials just oozes retro cool, but (thankfully for my wallet) Rolexes never did it for me, so the Heuer 1163GMT just about perfectly fit the bill.

This 1972ish 'Mark III' 1163GMT always seemed to me a 'transitional' model - still having the older (but nicer IMO) case of the 1163, but already donning the 'non brushed metal' hands of the later 11630 variant.

Here's an interesting story of why the subdial hands were changed to black when they originally were red in colour -  shows how much these old companies listened to their customers back in those days...

This one, unfortunately, has an over-polished case, but it's got a complete makeover from Tag Heuer, and it's even supposed to be pressure tested, not that I've dared to go swimming with it...

Anyways, it was just too pretty to pass up, plus it was a straight trade with the Speedy - you just can't say no to that, can you?!

Heuer Autavia 1163GMT, circa 1972

1972 Heuer Chronosport catalog, courtesy of OnTheDash

Oct 2013 addendum

As much I love my Autavia 1163GMT, the over-polished case has always bothered me.

So a couple of months ago, I sent it to the Belgian master to have the case refurbished, and it's just returned today, in all it's glory.

Just look at the sunburst brushed finish at the top of the case - as God and Heuer intended - just perfect!

1970 Heuer Monaco 1133G

Heuer Monaco 1133G, circa 1970

Next up was to be a Monaco. For the longest time, I had foolishly wondered what the fuss was about a square watch with a blue dial....then I saw a Monaco 73633G in the flesh, and I promptly fell in love....

But the Monaco 73633 was a manual winding model - I wanted the more valuable, automatic variant, the Monaco 1133, but these are supremely expensive.

It took a while to find a decent one within my budget, but when this one came on sale from a well-known Heuer collector from Denmark (thanks Peter!), I decided it was the one for me - a 1133G with, once again, a cal.11 movement, and again, dating to 1970.

The dial has some 'melt' around the edges, but the case has been beautifully restored by a certain Belgian master, and everything about it is just so...sweet.

I just love the way the metallic grey dial changes color and texture - from silver, to gun-metal grey, to almost black - depending on the lighting.

For an excellent and detailed writeup and review of the 1133G Monaco, see this Oct 2013 post in Hodinkee!

Dec 1969 Heuer ad

1970 Heuer Autavia 1163MH

After the 'warm-up' of the little Omega Seamaster I was ready to go for my first real vintage piece!

Due to Jeff Stein's excellent resource OnTheDash, there was a lot of information on vintage Heuers available - I decided I wanted an early Heuer Autavia 1163 with the cal.11, the world's first automatic chronograph movement.

I found this one in Nov 2011 - an early (pre-Viceroy) Heuer Autavia 1163MH from Italy, dating by serial number to 1970.

You can still see the original ad here (thank you Alberto!), and more information on the early automatic Autavias here, and a detailed write-up on their serial numbers here.

In the flesh, it is an impressively handsome watch - I've come across my fair share of watches since first encountering this 1163MH, but my initial impression still remains - it is almost perfectly proportioned - just the right size to look aggressive and sporty without being oversized, the black dial with the contrasting silver subdials wonderfully balanced by the red chrono sweep hand, all enclosed within the elegant MH bezel, and everything brought together by the timeless and classy original Gay Freres 'beads of rice' bracelet.

This was not my first vintage acquisition - that honour will always belong to the little Omega Seamaster 166.022 (that I eventually sold) - but this was the first one I knew was a definite keeper.

1970 Heuer Chronosport catalog, courtesy of OnTheDash

Omega Seamaster Cosmic 166.022 - my first birth year watch

Perhaps inspired by Kaister's birth in 2010, in these past couple of years, I've been increasingly interested in things from my own birth year, 1969.

It started with trying to look for a birth year acoustic guitar, but these are hard to come by, and when they do, they're either in terrible condition, or are hideously expensive, or both.

Thus my focus gradually shifted to birth year watches - these were easier - mechanical watches tend to last longer than wooden guitars, and they also tend to be produced in greater numbers.

But my knowledge of vintage watches was literally nil - heck, I didn't even know the difference between automatic and manual winding, so I had to start from scratch.

The internet was the obvious place to begin, and Ebay has always been a long-time friend.

From there, searching for 1969 wristwatches led me to a bunch of Rolexes and Omegas. Rolex I couldn't afford, but the prices of these old Omegas seemed reasonable. The Speedmaster 'moon watch' was an obvious choice, but there were many many variants, and unravelling them all seemed very complicated and daunting.

Then I spotted a little Seamaster Cosmic. This was of course a Seamaster from a pre-James Bond era, but it was unusually shaped, had a pretty dial seemingly 'different' from the others (more on that later), and in rather good condition.

Plus it's serial number suggested a 1969 production. It's impossible to be totally accurate with these serial numbers, but a search of this model ST166.022 on the Omega website suggested a production period spanning 1967-1970, which tallies.

The seller actually took the trouble to post up loads of high quality pictures, pretty good by Ebay standards, and was friendly and responsive to my questions. So after a bit of back and forth with the guy, I took the plunge and pulled the trigger...and within a week, the postman showed up at the door with my first vintage birth year watch!!! Woohoo!!!

Measuring 33.5 mm across, it was surprisingly small in the flesh (online photos of watches are often taken with a macro lens, so everything looks larger than life - Vintage Watch Collecting lesson #1), and the unusual dial in relatively good condition very probably meant it's a serviced or refinished dial (lesson #2), but hey, it's a pretty little thing, and it'll always have a little place in my heart as my first birth year watch from 1969....but was it to be my last?

Stay tuned.....

Hokkien Mee!!!

One of the proudest moments of my life...tonight I cooked my very own Hokkien Mee!!!
It's a dish that every Singaporean (and Malaysian) is familiar with...it's so well known, it's even got it's own Wikipedia page!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien_mee

For those not in the know...let's just say that it's a bit more tricky to cook than say, spaghetti aglio olio.
So I've been looking forward to today for some time now...a mixture of enthusiastic anticipation and fearful worry that I might just shame myself embarrassingly.
But my fears proved to be unfounded...when I lifted the lid, I saw (and smelt) a steaming wok full of pungently fragrant, moist noodles...Lena and my dad had a taste and declared it 'Good!!', but I didn't believe them - they must be just being condescending....but when I ate my first mouthful...I had to concur - it was most definitely a big two thumbs up!!!

Many thanks for the help and encouragement from my darling wife Lena, and the invaluable tips from her dad (my father-in-law), who just might be the greatest male chef that no one's ever heard of!! =P

Next up, a local dish that's possibly even more tricky to master....Char Kuay Teow!!!!

Gentle into that good night

Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NY - March 1997

Some weeks ago I read an article that I so strongly identified and agreed with, I felt the need to share it.
But the subject matter being so morbid and depressing, I mulled over it for quite a long time before I decided to pull the trigger (bad pun not intended).

The article is by an american medical doctor, and is titled How Doctors Die.

How would you like to die? Or in what manner would you wish a loved one in your family to go? Ever thought about it? For many guys, it's a no-brainer - the best way to go is to burst an aneurysm while having sex, or while having an orgasm, or better yet, while having an orgasm during sex - but not all of us can be so lucky.
As a windsurfer, I always thought the second best way to go was to be struck by lightning while windsurfing at hyper speed through a massive storm.
I'm not sure what the ladies' choice will be though...maybe in the midst of a relaxing facial or while shopping inside a Hermes boutique or whatever....



For good or bad, I happen to be in a profession which enables me to witness death and the process of dying far more frequently than the average Joe (no, nice try, but I don't work in banking nor finance, sorry), and I can assure you - there are many ways to go, some in peace and with quiet dignity, others with a fair bit of pain, drama and commotion.

Sometimes, for example, if you were run over by a bus or shot by a crazed fan, you don't or won't have much of a choice, but most of the time, most people will have the luxury of time to plan how they'd like to go.
In a cold hospital trolley with a tube sticking out of every orifice and alarms going off all around? Or in the warmth and comfort of your own bed, with the remote and the bottle of whiskey at the bedside, the TV set to the sports channel, and surrounded by family and loved ones?

Most people, I'm sure, will chose the latter option, especially if that bottle by the bedside is a single malt, but if so, why is there still so much of the former happening? Is it because these guys and/or their families don't know any better? Never had a frank chat with their trusted family doctor? Never seen the inside of an Advanced Medical Directive?

I'm sure this is too much to stomach for most people already, so I won't go on further, but now that you do know a little better, I think this is something worth pondering about for a bit - if not for yourself, then perhaps for an elder in your family - don't you agree?

So what's it gonna be - facial or boutique?