Living, Loving, Listening, Learning

New watches.

December 8, 2009 riqz 3 comments

I know these topics must be getting pretty boring for some people but recently I don’t really feel like talking about anything else. God knows why but at least i’m keeping it active with new content.

I went to the usual monthly antique market in Aviano and found some very interesting watches.

I have been looking for a Perseo “Ferrovie Dello Stato” (FS, literally translates to State Railways). It’s a watch issued to Italian railway employees. This one should be from the 1970’s.

It has a 17 Jewels Unitas movement with Incabloc. Incabloc is practically an anti-shock system for watch movements. It involves a lyre shaped spring holding the balance wheel jewel in place. This “lyre” spring absorbs any impact from the exterior so reducing probability of the jewel breaking. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incabloc_shock_protection_system

You can see it’s marked FS on the back.

The other watch is a soviet Made in CCCP ofcourse. It’s a Vostok komandirskie “submarine dial”. The thing with this one is that it’s antimagnetic! I thought it said automatic on it but when i picked it up i felt it did not have a rotor inside so it couldn’t have been automatic. At this point it was either a frankenstein watch or it said antimagnetic. Sources confirmed me that it is indeed antimagnetic and pretty rare. It also used to be Water Resistant up to 200 meters hence “amphibia” written on the back casing. I’m guessing that the state it’s in it wouldn’t even survive english drizzle!Only bought it for 15 euros though ahah. Fantastic!

Here are the pictures!

: Perseo 17 Jewels Ferrovie dello Stato

: FS (Ferrovie dello Stato) engraving

: 17 jewel Unitas movement

: You can see the incabloc here and the UT symbol for Unitas

: Vostok Komandirskie “Submarine”

: Amphibia because it’s Water resistant 200m

: Probable 17 jewel movement. Antimagnetic.

There’s more watches coming from ebay. Both soviet. One pocket watch and one wristwatch. Will keep you updated.

Ebay Hamilton Pocket Watch

November 23, 2009 riqz 3 comments

It finally arrived and it’s just as beautiful as I thought it would be. It’s in working condition. The only thing it needs is a nice clean-up and it’s ready to be used 😀

This is a Hamilton 975 grade 17 jewel, adjusted, pocket watch that dates back to 1916-1919.

Here are some pictures:

: Hamilton 975 front

: Hamilton 975 movement

Heres an old catalog for Hamilton pocket watches in the 1920’s:

I dated it back to 1916-19 thanks to its serial number and these websites: http://library.ihc185.com/catalogs/ ; http://thewatchguy.homestead.com/pages/HamiltonSerial.html

Categories: Watches Tags: 17 jewels, adjusted ebay, Hamilton, hamilton 975, pocket watch

New Watches!!!

November 15, 2009 riqz 6 comments

A few weeks back (first sunday of the month) I went to the usual antique market, but this time I knew what I was looking for.
I managed to find a few nice watches and didn’t end up spending a fortune either.
My father also sent me a pocket watch he had in his “secret drawer”. It was a pocket watch his colleagues gave him as a gift when he left Bulgaria.
Recently I also won a bid for a 1917 Hamilton 17 Jewels Pocket Watch on ebay and can’t wait to get my hands on it.
So here they are (clicky on the images for a small description):

: Komandirskie Paratrooper

: Slava Perestroika

: Molnija Pocket Watch

: Molnija Mechanism

: Molnija Back

: Hamilton Grade 975

: Hamilton 975 movement

: Hamilton 975 movement

: Hamilton Back case

I’ll post more pics of the hamilton once it arrives here. Hopefully all in one piece.

I don’t think ther will be many more watches added to my collection for a while because I got banned from xbox live and so I’m thinking of getting a new xbox so am unsure of my financial status at the moment eheh.

Categories: Watches Tags: cccp, Hamilton, Molnija, pocket watch, Slava, Soviet, ussr, Vostok

Japanese Bento

October 29, 2009 riqz 2 comments

You are obviously wondering what the hell a Japanese Bento is. Firstly, it’s a present I got for my girfriend Gloria from Japan. Secondly this is what it is:

It’s not just a normal bento…It’s a TOTORO bento wooo!

Okay okay… can you guess what it is yet?

This might help:

Not guessed yet?

It’s practically just a lunchbox. You cook something in the morning or the day before and then stick it in the bento and then you can take your food with you in this microwave oven friendly bento.

It’s very popular in japan and not only for kids. Recently there has been a rise in men using bento’s due to the economic crisis.

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Categories: Random Tags: Bento, japanese lunchbox, Totoro

The 80’s are back

October 25, 2009 riqz 6 comments

I haven’t really done much in a “physical” kind of way this weekend but i did quite a few different kind of things.

Ok watch this :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_3g_yf1vzI

The video is so 80’s it hurts. The singer’s GREEN suit makes me want to rip my eyes out, and then all of a sudden… CHILDREN EVERYWHERE!! Just fantastic. Great song though, and definitely in my top 10 80’s songs of all time. They don’t make songs or videos like these anymore.

I also wanted to go and vote for the Democratic Party representative for the next primary elections in Italy, but I realised I still haven’t got my new electoral card because i’ve changed city of residence. A bit angry but what could I have done.

Another thing i did this weekend was find all the films with Bill Murray that I haven’t watched and then ofcourse proceed to host myself a Bill Murray Film marathon (if two films can be considered a marathon).

Those two films were “Caddyshack” , still maintaining that 80’s feel. It was ok, nothing spectacular. One of those 80’s fun films with Chevy Chase. Bill had a relatively minor role but it was quite funny. Loved the way he kept his lips kind of deformed throughout the whole movie, to give his character that weird accent.

The second film was “Rushmore“. A more recent (1998) movie, and also a tad more serious than caddyshack. It gave me a weird vibe to start off with, somwhat like the vibe i felt when I saw “Step Brothers” for the first time. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen any of these two movies. In the end it was actually a very entertaining movie and it ends well which is always nice.

I have to say though that my favourite Bill Murray movie was and still is Groundhog Day, followed closely by Lost in Translation. Actually that reminds me of the funniest clip ever in Lost in translation, where Bill is in the hospital waiting room with an old japanese man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SntLhQLIfVE (could only find it in italian but it’s still understandable and funny, check out the ladies in the background..it’s so improvised.

On other news my back started hurting again, i’m just praying it’s not my hernia acting up again…

I bet there’s still tons of bill murray movies out there and i’m sure i’ll watch some more of them (Next on the list is “Where The Buffalo Roam“, which is supposed to be what they based Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: bookworms don’t flame me!, and where Johnny Depp based his character from)

Time to go

P.s. Thanks to omgbruces.com/forums for the 80’s inspiration

Oh! and new watch: Vostok Komandierskie Tank, Automatic