Not sure what it is about Fall, but the first cool day with dappled sunshine really gets me excited for a few things: vintage flannel hunting jackets, braised meats, pinot noir (OCD, natch), the smell of decaying leaves, fireplaces, my annual Fall Classic ping pong tourney and vintage chronographs on leather bands. Has to be on a leather band. I'm going to get to all these excellent topics, particularly decaying leaves, at some point soon, but today I'm just going to speak of my favorite vintage chronograph:
Why chronographs in the fall? Simple - I've worn divers all summer and now it's time to give a more complex and sometimes colorful face a rotation in with outfits that are layered and more complex than my summer uniform of urban camo Speedos, wife-beater, heavy gold chain with horn and vintage Bally loafers - I do get a lot of compliments on this outfit! So with the cooler temps, I am able to dig into my collection of sweaters, 40s work boots, denim and chambray and of course my beloved Belstaff Trialmaster jacket - nothing goes better with this gear than a vintage chronograph and when I say vintage, I don't mean vintage looking, I mean a real-deal, mechanical chronograph watch made pre 1970s. I tend to favor stuff made during my birth decade - specifically 5 years previous to 5 years after my birth year which is 1971. During this time watch designer were doing some really cool stuff like making bigger cased watches to hold more functions, provide higher shock and water protection and ultimately just to look bad-ass. To wit, my 1978 Sicura Chronograph. Sporting an automatic Lemania caliber 1341 utilized by many marques of the era, it provides 1/5 second, minute and hour counter, up to 12 hours of continuous timing. Also on the dial at 9 is the seconds sweep, providing a running indication of the watches functioning and a nice visual reminder of the mechanical marvel toiling without complaint on your wrist - part of the appeal for me, that mechanical magic in the little package deal. For the uninitiated, an automatic movement, whether chronograph or not, utilizes a rotating weighted rotor that swings on a pivot, usually on the back of the movement. The swinging motion winds a coil spring that holds the power for the hands. The swinging motion is obviously provided by your movement, you sporting buck, you!
To really get the most out of your vintage chrono for the Fall, I highly recommend that you mount it on a rustic leather strap - either purchased or in my case, hand-made from leather from my dead Grandfather who ran a tannery in Port-au-Prince Haiti. Kind of makes my strap cooler than yours, doesn't it? I got my leather supplies in NYC - you don't need much to do this and most hobby shops have some of the tools you'll need. Google leather band making if you want some good instructions - I'll not bore you with my process that includes sage smudging a naked Koala bear to bless my leather studio (an ancient Aboriginal process I picked up during a spirit quest in the 80s). Enough words - here's some shots of my vintage Sicura chronograph on the G-Swamp (my hard-partying, cigar-smoking, little lothario of a grandfather's nickname) leather strap. FYI - the watch was purchased as-is on eBay for $275 and then brought back to life by all-around excellent man's man, musician and watchsmith, Lew Brown. Thanks Lew! Now where's that Pinot Noir...
Click on photos for larger version---->
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