Pelikan M450 Vermeil & Tortoise-shell Fountain Pen

I saw pictures of this pen on a fountain pen forum a couple of years ago. It has such an old-world look to it and the combination of gold and tortoise-shell works beautifully. It's not a big pen by today's standards. With the cap screwed on, it measures just under 5 inches (or twelve cm), but it has a nice weight to it when you write. It's a piston-filler, which means that you need to twist the golden section at the back of the pen to draw ink up into the internal reservoir. When held up to the light, the body of the pen is slightly see-through so that you can see how much ink you have left.

Anyway, time for the pencast portion.

Yep, it looks like brown tortoise-shell to me.

The nib is 18k yellow gold with an iridium tip. Gold is used on the nib to allow for a little bit of flex when you write.

The clip is meant to represent a Pelican's head and beak. A nice touch.

The Pelikan logo on the end of the cap.

The cap and barrel end is vermeil, which is basically gold-plated sterling silver. Nice engraving on the cap.

As if I'm gonna step on a rusty nail.

I knew that starting a blog was gonna be handy for something.

Time Is On My Side... No, It Ain't!

*I meant to write "127 Hours", but I must have been thinking about that Katherine Heigl movie, "27 Dresses". Dear me.

Just felt like typing, I guess...

Omega Seamaster 300: modern re-build of a Sixties model

The middle of the crystal has the Omega logo etched into it. You can see it reflected also on the steel section of the minute hand. Nifty.

This watch is powered by the Calibre 552 Omega movement. I have two other vintage Omegas with the 5XX series movements in them. They are accurate, rock-solid and one of the finest watch movements ever produced by any Swiss brand.

I had it on a mesh bracelet earlier this week to give it a real early '70s 'Burt Reynolds-in-"Deliverance"' kind of vibe, but I've since fitted a nylon NATO strap to it.

This watch measures about 42mm in diameter, making it a classic size for this type of watch. I've been selling watches for over ten years now and I have seen various brands bring out larger and larger watches, to the point of ridiculousness. A watch is an understated accoutrement used for telling the time. Not something that announces to the world "Hey, look at me!!"

Just my take.

An early l950s Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Picture courtesy of http://www.rruegger.ch/

And...

The first Rolex Submariner.

Image courtesy of http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/

And below, my Seamaster 300 on a NATO strap. If you ever come across original models of these three watches, then you'll have seen what's been often regarded as the Holy Trinity of Dive watches among collectors.

The deeply notched bezel makes it easy to turn with wet hands.

The strap itself is threaded underneath the case. These straps are very comfortable to wear. And if they get dirty, you just thrown them into the washing machine.

The arrow-shaped hands on the modern iteration is a throw-back to Omega models from the '50s, like the first-generation Speedmasters and the classic Railmaster model.

Works very well on a kevlar-style strap as well.

This model has the later version of the winding crown which screws down against the case for optimal water-resistance. Notice also the markers on the dial and the numerals on the bezel, which glow quite brightly after exposure to light.

I also had the option of purchasing the date model of this watch, but felt that the non-date version had more balance and clarity of form.

Thanks for reading!

Omega Speedmaster Professional, 2007

 The Omega Speedmaster Professional (model No. 3570.50.00)

 When Omega heard in 1965 that NASA was testing their watch for possible use by its astronauts, it added the word "PROFESSIONAL" to the dial of its Speedmasters.

And once the Omega Speedmaster landed on the moon back in July, 1969, it was forever known as the Moonwatch.

Most modern watches have a beat rate of 28,800 bph (beats per hour). Among other reasons, this means that you get a nice smooth sweep motion of the second hand around the dial. The Speedmaster Professional has a beat rate of 21,000 bph which makes for a slightly jerky, staccato motion of the second hand, but it's barely noticeable, except to the trained eye.

The Speedmaster shown above with a hand-wound pocket watch from around 1914. Here's a view of the pocket watch movement;

This one is a 15 Jewel arrangement with minimal decoration, but you can still get an idea of the intricate nature of these things.

Here's a pic of the Speedmaster's Calibre 861 movement.

Picture courtesy of http://www.watchuseek.com/ Special thanks to wytnucls!

But then, I have known some folks who regularly wear this watch when fishing or swimming. Me? I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Thanks for reading!