Vintage ZRC diver watches

Vintage ZRC diver watches. One more hole to fill as the Le Jour ZRC is send for replacement of the bezel. These must be on eof the most challenging watches to collect.

Grana WWW

As you know, I have restarted my vintage military watch collections and I have slowly built up a small collection of 5 WWW watches. The Grana WWW is the rarest of the twelve watch manufacturers who produced W.W.W. watches for the British military during World War II, known collectively as 'The Dirty Dozen'. Out of the 145,000 W.W.Ws produced, it is estimated that only 1000 - 1,500 were from Grana, making it exceptionally sought after, especially for collectors seeking to own all twelve W.W.Ws. 

I am lucky to be able to find a WWW Grana in good condition. This Grana W.W.W. is from circa 1945 and retains all of its military case-back engravings. The dial features the British military broad arrow, as well a Arabic numerals, a painted minute track and applied Radium index markers. The luminescent material on the hands has aged to a dark brown patina as have the index markers.

The watch is housed in a 36mm stainless steel case with fixed lugs and it has anti-magnetic hands, with an anti-magnetic cage protecting the manual-winding Cal. KF320 movement. The W.W.W. watches were renowned for their timekeeping accuracy, regulated to a chronometer level as this was a fundamental specification required by the British Armed Forces.

The attrativelness of this timepiece is largely underpinned by its exceptional rarity. With sports and military watches very much in demand today, due to its casual and utilitarian feel, this particular piece certainly fits the bill, especially with its wearable 36mm case and with both dial and case in exceptional condition. After finding the Grana WWW, perhaps my collection of the Dirty Dozen can be completed in the foreseeable future. Life is good!

Eaton quarter cenury club doctor watch

After much searching and waiting, i have finally managed to find one nice all original condition Eaton quarter century club doctor`s watch by Rolex.

Rolex Prince made for Timothy Eaton department store in Canada. These watches were known as Quarter (1/4) Century Club watches and given as gifts to employees celebrating 25 years of employment with the company. The male employees were offered a wrist or pocket watch, both made by Rolex, while the women were offered a gold Rolex cocktail watch or a diamond ring. This watch is one of the first series of watches ordered by Eaton’s from Rolex, the flared case Rolex Prince model 1490. After this model are the Rolex bubbleback, handwind round shape and automatic round watch.

The watch is modeled in 14 karat yellow gold and with squirrel hallmark and case stampings. Inside the watch is powered by a 15 jewel Rolex calibre 300 that is timed and adjusted to 6 positions. The movement is also marked as a Chronometer and graded as an Extra Prima model within the Rolex hierarchy. This was the pinnacle of Rolex watchmaking at the time. The earliest Quarter Century Prince models were given out in the mid 1930’s and were the same model as this example a reference 1490. Some have speculated that Eatons purchased them in bulk orders and dispensed them as needed. Adding to that theory was the fact that as late as the 1940’s Eatons was still presenting Rolex Princes to their employees.

This watch was presented in 1940. This watch features the original silver plate dial with enamel pattern and lettering spelling out 1/4 CENTURY CLUB at the hour markers. This corporate arrangement is the only example of a re-branded Rolex Prince that is known to exist. The yellow gold case measures 23 mm wide across the narrowest section and where the lugs flare, 26 mm. The case is an elongated 42 mm long.

As usual, I have traded the following watches in order to keep the total quantities of watches down:

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Restoration of ZRC

Restoration of ZRC

Before:

Vintage Le Jour ZRC 300 diver watch

I love the vintage ZRC watches and I have just found a rare LeJour branded ZRC 300 divers watch for the American market.  ZRC has a strong following for french and diving watch fans.  What makes this reference so desirable is the beautiful sunburst dial, this one being in excellent condition with perfectly matching patina on the dial and hands. Combine that will an all red day/date wheel and a faded two tone bezel and this makes for one uncommon, stunning vintage tool watch. I have always love restoring watches and I am now waiting for the watch to arrive and install a NOS bezel for it to bring it back to its previous glory.

I have already owned a ZRC spartaile but there are several differences:

The Day is in English while the other one is in French.

This one is named LeJour while the other is ZRC Spartiale

One is with 17 jewels and another 25 jewels

One more unique feature is that there is a spelling mistakes for this as it is spelled Self "Wimding", instead of Winding.

In addition, look at the advant garde design for its watch case, which makes it a timeless beauty. The constructions adhere to the principle of Forms follows Function and these are tools watches made for diving and very few of  these watches were made and it took me years to find another piece.

Vintage Rolex bubblebacks & datejust

A collection of Rolex from 1930~40s, 50~60~70s

Rolex Big bubbleback 

南京钟 Nanking Clock

This is a late 1800s Nanking Clock

南京钟，是跟雨花石、云锦一样能够代表古金陵特色的南京特产。 南京钟，又叫“本钟”、“苏钟”、“插屏钟”，是明末清初最早在南京根据西洋钟改制的一种南京地产钟表。后来制造工艺又流传到苏州、上海等地，这些地方造出的钟表在当时也被通称为“南京钟”。

1601年，意大利传教士利玛窦来到中国，他向明朝万历皇帝进献了一件自鸣钟，这是中国人第一次认识西洋钟表。由于当时人们不知道这件洋玩意的制作方式，所以从皇帝到大臣都备感新奇，把它当作玩物把玩。直到清康乾时期，从中国的宫廷到民间，才开始大量仿制西洋钟表。

一直对南京民间文化情有独钟的文史学家苏洪泉告诉记者，第一个改进并制造南京钟的南京人叫吉坦然。据清初刘献廷《广阳杂记》记载，明末江宁（今南京）人吉坦然制造过一件叫做“通天塔”的自鸣钟，其“形如西域浮屠，置架上自以银块填之，塔之下层，中藏铜轮，互相带动，外不得见。中层前开一门，有时盘如圆桶。”这就是最早的南京钟，而吉坦然也因此被奉为南京钟的鼻祖。

为了区别于西洋钟，南京钟又被称为“本钟”。

自吉坦然之后至太平天国时期，南京的造钟业迅速发展起来。据史料记载，在最鼎盛时期，南京城内曾出现过40多家造钟作坊，成为当时中国制钟中心之一。

但到了清咸丰三年，南京战乱频繁，造钟匠将造钟技术传到扬州，后来又传到了苏州、上海、宁波等地。 “南京钟在辛亥革命时期曾鼎盛一时，当时型号很多，大的有成人一般高，小的可以握于掌中。到抗战时期，南京钟全面停产，因此现在流传下来的南京钟都是很珍贵的。”说到南京钟的“英年早逝”，苏洪泉显得有些惋惜。

曾获国际金奖

“从零件到机芯，从机芯到外壳，南京钟全部都是由手工制造而成。”苏洪泉介绍说。

清同治年间，南京钟的外壳上为长方形的机箱，下为花式底座，上下可灵活拆装，俗称两托。到了光绪年间，一些工匠又吸收了中国传统插屏的造型，把钟表机箱上部改造为屏芯，机箱中插入屏架，下部则改造为花底座，俗称为三托，至此南京钟的造型基本确定。

南京钟的外壳最常见的制作材质是红木，另外还有一些紫檀、黄花梨等。其底座雕花装饰，常见纹饰有“葫芦藤”、“二龙戏珠”、“梅花枝”等。

有些讲究的工匠还在机箱上嵌螺钿、铜条或象牙，整体造型非常具有民族特色。家住城南孝顺里的陈仲仁，已经收藏了600多件钟表，是南京最有名的钟表收藏家。陈仲仁告诉记者，南京钟一般为中心大秒针，其机芯以两套发条盒、塔轮、链条为动力源，带动系统运行。常见的南京钟擒纵器为收割式擒纵器，俗称“走刀”。在功能方面，南京钟可报时、报刻，铃有单铃、双铃、3铃、4铃、9铃之分。

南京钟因其工艺精湛、用料讲究，一出现就深受当时中上层人士的喜爱，当时在南京很多人家把它与瓷瓶、镜子放置厅堂中，取其“终身平静”的谐音祈福。

1915年在美国旧金山的“太平洋万国巴拿马博览会”上，南京钟获得了金质奖章，从此中国制造的南京钟走向世界，在海内外名声大振。

价格暴涨

南京市收藏家协会一位叫刘正丁的收藏家告诉记者，作为老南京人他一直想收藏几个南京钟，但是搜寻了三四年只找到了几个清朝末期外国人造的钟表，南京钟至今也没有收藏到。“在我们圈里这东西可是好宝贝，没有个六七千元是拿不下来的。”

刘正丁告诉记者，在上世纪90年代，南京钟只卖几百元钱，由于奇缺价格也水涨船高了。

陈仲仁收藏的600多件钟表中，也只有15件南京钟。而这些也都是他在“文革”期间冒着极大危险保存下来的。

陈仲仁说对南京钟最大的一次毁灭性破坏是在“文革”时期，那时候南京钟也被列入“四旧”之列，很多人家里的钟表都被砸掉了，保存下来的基本都是那时被藏起来幸免于难的。

专家呼吁保护

在上海的多伦路文化街有一家“南京钟收藏室”，这是全国唯一专门收藏南京钟的收藏室，收藏室的主人刘国鼎老人解放前是专门从事制作和维修南京钟的。如今这个家庭收藏室作为上海的涉外旅游单位，里面收藏的南京钟深受国内外游客的喜爱。

几乎所有接受记者采访的收藏家、文史学家，都表示南京钟的绝世是南京人民的一大损失。专家们表示，作为曾经盛极一时的南京标志性地产，南京钟不应该像现在这样，在沉默中走向灭绝。苏洪泉说南京钟也是南京的城市文化名片，它应该跟云锦一样受到保护。

每一个流传下来的先辈的创造，都是古人智慧与勤劳的结晶，都是经过历史的风风雨雨淘汰后留下来的精品。“南京人应该重新认识和了解自己祖辈的杰作，并以此为荣，将其保护好

Source : https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8D%97%E4%BA%AC%E9%92%9F