Basel Preview: Longines Twenty-Four Hours
In the 1950s Longines supplied watches to the Swiss national airline, Swissair. These timepieces, developed specifically for aviators, had a distinctive 24-hour dial. This feature met the needs of navigators who, at the time, had to determine the position of the aircraft and set up a flight plan. Longines will re-issue this watch with the official launch at Baselworld 2011. The new version has been given the name Longines Twenty-Four Hours. In 2009, Harry Hofmann, a retired navigator from the old Swissair, visited the Longines Museum. He took advantage of this visit to present the company with a Longines watch that he used to wear when he was working for Swissair. This watch is one of those Longines created for Swissair navigators during the 1950s.An original Longines aviation watch from the 1950s. The watch that Harry Hofmann wore when he was a navigator for Swissair, flying DC-4s, DC-6s, DC-7s, DC-8s and Coronados up until 1974, bears the number 8237331. It is fitted with a Longines

The World Of Independent Watch Makers
After I (Meehna) posted an article on Roger Smith, I got several requests for an article on "independents." By popular demand, here it is:An independent watchmaker brand is not an easy concept to define because there are so many shades of gray when trying to define it. There are lots of brands that are considered independent, but for the purposes of this article, I am referring to brands that have been established by actual watchmakers, who themselves more or less make the watches.Moreover, the watchmakers under discussion have the skills to not only work on the most complicated of movements, such as tourbillons and minute repeaters, they are the creative force behind their companies. They have the ability to design and build a watch from the ground up, in most cases manufacturing their own movements or the majority of the parts contained therein.All watch brands that make their own timepieces have watchmakers, but are often not run by watchmakers, and are much of the time part of larg

Hamilton Retail Store Field Watches
What would you do if you had been producing a successful product for 20+ years for one big customer, and then that contract went away?? Would you stop production? Shift your production focus elsewhere? Find a new market or customer? This is the problem Hamilton Watch Company faced in the mid-1980s.? The customer was the U.S. military, and the product was the small field/navigator watch.Hamilton had been producing small field and navigator watches for the government under the GG-W-113 and MIL-W-46374 specifications since the mid-1960s.? When the government decided in the mid-1980s to stop purchasing and issuing large batches of military design specification watches from Hamilton and other manufacturers, Hamilton was left with 20+ years of manufacturing experience and equipment for these watches.? Rather than scrap the gear, Hamilton decided to get creative and found a way to keep making the watches.? The company negotiated contracts with a few outdoor equipment and gadget retail stores

Nautilus 5711-1a-010
Hello I have an opportunity to order a Blue 5711-1a-010 and receive it in a few to several months. It will be my fist PP purchase after two Rolex incl a SS Daytona 116520 which is incredible. Can anyone who owns or is familiar with the 5711 give their opinions on it. Fans say that the 5711 is their favorite PP period.? I have seen a video of problems with the clasp opening on its own and if it is as light at the steel aquanaut that raises concerns for me. Thanks

Tudor Black Bay Black Incoming
Hey guys and gals,Just wanted to share my recent incoming of the black bay black. I owned the black bay red eta but px'd it in 2015 to get my DJII which I still own and love.But recently I started to miss the black bay and was after the black eta version but realised getting a new one was harder than I thought so I settled for the newer version. The black is a real versatile piece and went for it on the leather as I don't like the riveted bracelet. And the in-house with 3 days PR is a huge bonus so very happy!Thanks for looking :) M.