I used to call my watch collection "the herd". It was kind of unwieldy but it was fun going crazy acquiring and restoring all those Seiko divers. There are still a couple left around here but not the crazy collection that I once had. All too often many of those divers became either "drawer queens" which never, ever got worn, or just went unloved and unworn. They were in several watch boxes and from time to time they migrated out onto my desk, dressor, and other places and I felt the need from time to time to "herd" them; hence the herd nomenclature in describing them.

Now I have a lot less watches than I used to and they come from different countries, different time periods, different companies, and are all sorts of different types.

One of the really interesting things I have noticed in my evolution as a WIS is an increased curiosity and appreciation for complications. One of these is the mechanical chronograph which I had no interest in previously.

The Sea-Gull chronos were my first foray into this type of watch and it was the 1963s which had true staying power. I went through several of them but still have the one I bought from the gentleman who was selling them here last year. In the end it appears that the one I have is essentially the same one you can get from Sea-Gull HK.

To make a long story short I bought the Elgin Valjoux 7733 powered chrono which Al was selling though the AWF TF.

Al's Pics:



And here it is on Zoodles' wrist:


What I find interesting is that the watch is an interesting hybrid of dress and sports. It is gold which is an unusual choice for me. However, it is contrasted with the awesome orange second hand, and the sporty style of registers.



Beautiful white dial, applied indices, applied Elgin symbol. I love the blue text around the outside of the dial.


Sporty, but constrasted by the gold case and croc strap...



Is that interesting symbol what Elgin used as a logo on their watches in the 1970s? Interesting...



To give you an idea of size it is essentially identical in width to the 1963...




This is a very interesting movement which powers this beauty:



I found some great info about this movement here:
http://valjoux-7733.blogspot.com/

It was produced from 1969-1978 so I know that the Elgin was made somewhere between 1969-1978. Unfortunately there is no "Water Prood" or "Water Resist" text anywhere on the watch so I cannot use that as a reference point for pre-post 1970. The casestyle and size of the Elgin is most 1960s like versus some of the funky casestyles you will see on that website I posted above. As an example here is one of the watches posted on the site:


Of interest is that the owner of that website has the exact same Elgin!


This movement has 17 jewels and runs at 18000bph (which I witnessed on Al's timing machine).

I am very smitten with this little guy and here it is with my other mechanical chronos:





Thanks for looking...

Care to share your chronos?

but chronos now are slightly less functional for me, though I did buy the 7A38 from Dan Braun! haha! for nostalgic sake..

Sharkfin has a really nice Seiko chrono LE up for grabs..one I had seen and wanted 3 years ago...the head flips up and the pushers are Bullhead style...quartz of course...

(don't forget to remind Al to mention his post as SOLD! )

hehe.

Ya, love this one, but never wear it. Its too nice and new.

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Is that a re-release or is that older? I remember a poster on the SCWF who have a whack of quartz Seiko chronos...

Thats why I never wear it. Too nice.

Its original release, limited edition. Hate to sell it, but we shall see. I've pulled off some watches already. LOL.

Its really cool piece, just love all the cool details to this.

Anyone still have all the different links for info on the Seiko Chronos? There was a buyers guide for the Bullheads and another one for the 6138/9 I thought.

For that matter where does everyone get the bezel replacements for the 1970s Seiko mech chronos?

I am starting to think I might want to try a vintage Seiko mechanical chronograph...

You also have an interesting variety of styles. While I has a modest collection of vintage Seikos (I still have some); it was divers I really went into.

What the heck else do you have hiding over there?

I started with love for divers, and ended falling for many cool pieces in the Seiko Catalogs over on SCWF.

Well, those cool pieces ended up being many of the limited edition or hard to find discontinued pieces. (just my luck lol)

My quest was daunting, but found a string of good luck in a short period of time. My stars were aligned and picked up many grails and rare pieces.
That was part of the fun. I have since moved some and in the process of moving hopefully all. Haha.

Since many in depth and fun discussions with Noah since our first meeting, I would like to scale my collection to a modest 10 watch herd as he urged me to do so many times. haha.

So, its been difficult, and now would trade for quality pieces over quantity now.
My watch portfolio is changing landscape. Had too many drawer queens.

Also I'm heading back to my other hobbies and stuff. So will need funding for those too.
Its a wild and crazy journey.

In the past 2 weeks, I'm really headed into mod territory. I have quite a few mod projects and ideas that I'm toying with.

Sometimes I think I'm nuts. lol.

I long ago past that threshold... However, I have been scaling back and although 60 watches or so is nuts by any stretch of the imagination it is still about half of what the collection once was.

As well, there was a time that I did not really have any "go to" watch. Although I loved my Sawtooths, I was into Monsters (owned Black, Orange, Blue, and Yellow at one point), Samurai, SKX divers, etc, etc, etc...

Some might be disappointed with the changing of the Zoodles' guard; but I am actually enjoying my individual watches more than ever. This process started with the Doxas and Spring Drive. It led to a couple of watches that I really "got". Nothing wrong with a "flagship" or two which you really appreciate.

Some watches that have come along have been real game changers. The 1963s opened up the world of mechanical chronos to me.

Some specific models such as the Baume & Mercier chrono have had a hge effect on my collection. I just love the watch and I ended up never wearing the Grand Seikos and other dress watches. The dial on the thing is just srunning and like the Planet Ocean it has allowed me to sell watches I never would have dreamed of.

Darn though, I do miss the SD 600 though...

Eventually I will snag another one or that pesky GS SD GMT which I have long coveted.

Loved that lift up feature!

to have Wakmann chronos that looked a bit like the Elgin.

poywatch aka Boomtown
Watch Agent 007--Licensed to kill time
Education:BS WIS
University: Watch Amata U.
Fraternity: Alpha Zuan Omega

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That Elgin is way cool!

I love the vintage styles and funky dial layouts. Super cool!

An era full of creative and funky watches.

Looks great on your wrist Mark. I agree, looks sporty, but can pull off dressy IMO.

nice pick up and cool new direction.

...seem to have a strong preference for two-register chronos.

Although I have others, I like two-reg chronos as well. They just have cool balance in my eyes.

AMCH/PR - Alberta Museum of Chinese Horology in Peace River

It was a sweet watch and I really didn't want to sell, but after getting the new Tudor I had to free up some cash to go towards our new back deck.

It's a great watch, keeps great time, and really is something that is able to be dressy or sporty.

Cheers, Al

Mark thats a beauty for sure.Really Classy Watch.Great stuff and great pics.
Theneilo uk