Gruen Doctor watch

Types of jump hour

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Watch

http://www.chinatoday.com/shop/tiananmen_watch_1989_6_4.htm


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Rolexbubble back

This must be my favourite bubbleback..





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Location:Metropolis Drive,,Hong Kong

Gruen jump hour

I have always love the doctor's watch, be it Rolex or Gruen. The peak of Swiss, rectangular, watch making, culminated in the production of the Rolex " Prince", and the Gruen "Doctor's Watch". Both brands were made in the same factory in Switzerland through a cooperative venture between Gruen and Rolex. 

This "Gruen Doctor's" watch is executed in stainless steel which makes for a stunning piece of wrist art! It is a revolutionary timepiece that became the most accurate watch of its day. 

Information from the net,  Bob Gruen, the heir to the Gruen legacy, he has related the story of the linking of these two giants of the watch world  where the Gruen children played with the children from the Wilsdorf family (Rolex's founding family). In Switzerland, as they interacted with each other, the friendship of the families grew into a business relationship. In a cooperative venture they had the movements produced that would be sold under both the Rolex name and the Gruen monicker with slightly different case configurations. Rolex and Gruen designers discovered that if they put the balance wheel and the mainspring barrel at opposite ends of the watch that they could use a larger mainspring and a larger balance wheel.the two brands were never in competition as Gruen was for the US market while Rolex marketed to the rest of the wold.

It was impossible to do this in a round case where the parts are in closer proximity. It also allowed the watch to run for a longer period of time on one winding and it provided for a balance wheel that had more momentum. This momentum was aided by the use of solid gold balance screws, another innovative idea that added value and quality. All of these innovations made this watch the most accurate watch of its age. 

I was told that Today, the Gruen Doctor's watch is the rarer of the two watches because there were fewer Gruens produced, and those that have survived have been either used as parts for ailing Rolex "Princes", or converted with the proper Rolex dial. In either instance the Gruen has become exceedingly rare. 

This is a Gruen doctor watch jump hour where the  aperture at the 12 o'clock position displays the hour.  As the minute hand reaches 60 minutes the next hour "Jumps" into the window, thereby needing only a single hand to indicate the minutes and one hand for the seconds so that the Doctor can easily time a pulse. A clever feature is that the hour numerals alternate between red and black, so that it is apparent when the hour has changed.

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Location:Tiding Boulevard Section 2,Neihu District,Taiwan

PLA Army commander watch

I have the opportunity to travel to China for work quite often. During my travel, I often took the opportunity to walk around the vintage shops in search for vintage watches. The PLA commanders are one of the find that I like as he total production is about 40,000. The figures 40,000 may seems huge but considering a population of billions, the nos was small. As these watches were produced during the 1969s, I often wonder how many survives till now. What made these uniques was the fact that these were watches issued to the military camp commanders during that time...
There are a few versions of the watches with the 29 jewels being the most expensive,,,
1964年上海牌開始研發軍用腕表，採用的是A641的機芯。因為當年周恩來總理對品牌的肯定，中國人民解放軍專門選定SS2軍用腕表作為潛水員和軍級以上各軍區工作所用的腕表。繼SS2之後，又研發了SS4軍用表，擴大到師、團級指揮官的工作所用之腕表。
1969年，中央军委委托上海手表厂定型生产军表。该表采用上海手表厂29钻SS2和24钻SS4型单历自动机心，型号为114。当时手表是贵重商品，所以SS2型手表仅配发给部队师级以上干部使用；SS4型手表仅配发给部队团级干部使用。114军表当年供应价为人民币240元，部队干部分级别需要自己花钱购买。根据作者实物考证，在1967年到1969年之间是上海29钻SS2型军表小批量的试制阶段，没有量产（这一论断要早于一般普遍认为的1969年才开始生产29钻SS2型军表的记载，有我的编号位：670508（1967年的第508只)的上海29钻SS2型军表早期产品为证）。在1969到1970年是上海29钻防震防水防磁**手表批量生产的阶段。

1970年后生产的114军表是24钻**潜水表。114型军表后盖的钢印数字位数可为6位、7位和8位三种，其中6位的是打在上海29钻SS2型军表试制品后盖上的，7位为早期的，8位为后期的。前2位标示生产年份1967缩写为67；1969缩写为69；1970缩写为70；等等），后面若干位是此表在该年内的生产序列编号，采用顺延递增的顺序。70年后24钻SS4型开始配发给部队团一级干部使用。114军表至1977年(一说1976年)停产，114型军表前后总产量为3万只左右，其中，29钻SS2型的产量很少，存世量不多，是114型表中收藏的极品。该表刻度是塑料材料，极易损坏，是该款表的软肋。也因为此项，故存世中品相佳美的不多。其实，并不是所有的SS2和SS4型机心都是用于军表。他们分为SS4H型、SS4H—K型19钻机械男表，SS4B型19钻机械日历男表，SS2C型29钻机械自动男表，SS4C型24钻机械自动日历男表，SS6P型机械自动日历男表及SS2B型29钻机械自动日历男表等。另外，上海24钻SS4型军表的表把头采用与劳力士相同的螺旋方式，可旋转外圈，是潜水表。上海29钻SS2型军表的机芯某些方面也有模仿劳力士的地方，但其表把头未采用与劳力士相同的螺旋方式，不是潜水表。29钻114军表表面无“上海”牌字样，24钻114军表表面早期有“上海”牌字样，24钻114军表后期产品有火炬图案(火炬图案及“火炬”标志表把头)。同时，1967年开始生产29钻SS2机芯为镂空滚珠自动陀，自动陀上标有写的“29zhan”＝“29占”，而非“29zuan”＝“29钻”以及“滚珠自动”＝“gunzhu zidong”(非写“全自动”＝“quan zidong”)字样，小光摆轮，特大柄头。1970年开始生产24钻SS4机芯为实心自动陀，自动陀上标有拼音“24钻”和“全自动”＝“quan zidong”字样，大光摆轮，镙丝柄头。最后，1967年到1969年间生产的上海29钻SS2型军表的后盖和其后期的产品不同，其后盖多洗一圈呈现两层结构。早期上海29钻军表的表盘上的“中国制造”是凸体镏金字，后期表盘上的“中国制造”是印刷体的。








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Location:Metropolis Drive,,Hong Kong

茅台: 國務院机關服務局專用酒2005

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Location:Metropolis Drive,,Hong Kong

Rolex

I must thank my friend Binh for helping to find this 8171. More importantly, I am grateful for him to allow me to pay in multiple installments. The process of collecting this 8171 was an interesting one as I have to spend many sleepless night thinking before I have made up my decision.

Furthermore, I will have to convert nearly all my vintage amplifiers, speakers and many other stuff etc in order to generate much cash for the watch including much of my bonus.

The satisfaction of having this classic is really something beyond $. This 1953 watch being an early complication of Rolex and being such a large watch (especially during that time showed that the designer then really has a vision for the popularity of larger watch.

Being a non oyster Rolex has also made this watch unique (versus 6062 oyster model) as I don't think Rolex will made this Moonphase watch again especially for an Non-oyster model. Recently, Rolex has brought back many classic models such as the explorer 1,2, the GMT,the submariner etc but this Moonphase watch will be a challenge as it will not fit not into the "Oyster series",,..

Anyway, this 8171 will fit very nicely with my vintage big bubbleback and other bubbleback and semibubbleback series...









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