The perils of vintage #94a - or - the epilogue and why you should just do what you want

Hello again…

I done a thing here

We talked about the thing here

So what the f*** do I want now. Well, I think I just want to emphasis again on the “you don’t need to go vintage to get vintage”, but with a bit more of a drill down.

So my Christmas present is this Maharishi x Watch Experimental Unit (WMT) Bubble Back 1950 Royal Marine, Mrs ‘Triggered asked me what I wanted and it was a toss up between this and a Dan Henry 1945 (and we’ll get to that). Ugh! I hear you all cry in disgust, a fashion watch and a quartz homage, you’ve gone mad… but wait.

I appreciate the Maharishi could be considered a little bit of a stop gap, and yes it is, to an extent. What tends to happen is that I get something like this and then immediately I find an original reference or similar (Cooper Pathfinder -> CWC G10 1991 issue springs to mind). I’ve got a Pagani Design Oyster Tiffany, let’s see how that analogy holds out… Well low and behold, I find this the very next day:

and believe me, it was a very good price (think of a number… lower. That’s it). I wasn’t convinced, and passed, but confirmed my findings with a couple of people and let’s compare notes:

• 1940s/1950s? Maybe, but no papers. Hard to judge, but it seems to look ok.
• Dial - not sure, but seems like the logo is era appropriate. The text is a little odd, seems a little too good. The dial itself has seen better days.
• Crystal - no cyclops - too my surprise I didn’t pick that up immediately, but by the time I was at the crystal I had all but dismissed it. Acrylic crystal not appropriate, can get a new one, but still, it’s an expense.
• ”Recently serviced” - automatic red flag without information.
• The case - not amazing. The back wasn‘t giving me a great vibe, but it looked ok.
• The crown - holy fuck what is going on here. Awful, and felt awful in my hands. So much wear, definitely concerning.
• Movement - now I did not pop the back, but it wasn’t thrilling me to in that far. I noticed a lack of quick-change date, but it did have the 21:00-00:00 method, which seemed age appropriate. Tick sounded nice…
• Overall it’s a pass 

but then compare this to the Maharishi. For a significantly less down payment I get the vibes of the above Rolex, a Seiko NH05 automatic movement, a better looking dial with a design that seems to capture the flavour of what I’m after, and a crown that doesn’t feel like it wants to come off in my hands. It’s a no brainer on paper here, even as a vintage fan I know I’m going to get more mileage out of the Maharishi than the Rolex, and it will be cheaper to maintain.

You don’t need to go vintage to get that vibe, some searching around and you can definitely satisfy some cravings. Even I can be seen to take the modern option… which brings me to the Dan Henry 1945

It’s a replica of the Jardur Bezelmeter 960, a gorgeous pilots Chronograph from the 1940s. You might recognise it from Ronin…

Anyway, a real Bezelmeter will cost you £3000+ and it’s a vintage compilation, it will be very expensive to maintain (if you still can). You can get a modern version for around £5000, Jardur do exist in some form or another, but it’s not exactly the same. The Dan Henry smacks it, it’s $280 with a mecaquartz movement. It’s an absolute no brainer. I have vintage chronographs, they are ticking timebombs repair wise, I don’t need another. 

So… what am I saying? You don’t need to go vintage to get the vibe, and sometimes us vintage bods also steer clear. Head vs heart.
 

Happy Wednesday, now jog on.