FIVE MOST ICONIC
VINTAGE WATCHES

Few watches are as iconic as the Omega Speedmaster. Like all great designs, it has stood the test of time, ageing gracefully and gaining only further acclaim as the years have gone by.

Originally produced in 1957 with reference CK2915, it wasn’t Omega’s intent for it to be worn on the moon. Instead, it was created as a sports chronograph for motorsport and other sporting events, slotting perfectly into the brand’s line-up of the time which included the Seamaster and Railmaster. The chronograph was also useful for those who needed to time events and tasks outside of sports, such as Doctors, and so it has become one of the greatest tool watches in watchmaking history.

When the Speedmaster first launched, it stood out amongst its petite peers. Its easy-to-read design, inspired by the dashboards of the Italian sports cars of the time, was an instant hit.

It was innovative, too. It was the first watch to feature a tachometer separate from the dial. Placing it on the bezel it freed up space, giving a cleaner, more streamlined appearance that became a big hit, making it the first mainstream chronograph. It was extraordinary compared to the delicate dress watches that were popular during the period. To this day, the design and look of the watch has barely changed since it was first introduced to the market.

Solidifying the Speedmaster’s legacy was its role in the space race. The first Omega watch worn outside of Earth’s atmosphere belonged to astronaut Walter Schirra, only the fifth American to go to space in 1962. NASA officially began watch testing in 1965 and subjected 4 different luxury brand watches to 11 extreme tests. The Omega Speedmaster was one of them. The only one to come out of the tests intact was the Speedy. You can see an excerpt from the NASA report here.

But it was, of course, the 1969 Apollo moon landing that emblazoned the Omega Speedmaster across the memories of millions when Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin took the Speedmaster to the moon, strapped to his wrist with a wide band of Velcro. Sadly, this historic watch was lost on its way to the Smithsonian and has never been recovered. From this day on, the Speedmaster became affectionately known as “The Moonwatch” and it has been cemented in our hearts ever since.

The Rolex Submariner was the first wristwatch ever made specifically for scuba diving thanks to its groundbreaking water and pressure-resistant casing that was initially born out of the Oyster Perpetual casing of the mid-1930s. This is another legendary tool watch to make the final cut of the most iconic list for some very solid reasons. It really cannot be underestimated just how big an impact the Rolex Submariner has made on the world of watchmaking over the years.

Originally released in 1954, the Rolex Submariner is arguably the most copied watch design of all time. The unique elegance of the Submariner’s design meant that it quickly gained mainstream appeal as a watch for all occasions, not just as a divers tool watch.

The earliest Submariner references of the 1950s, featured 37mm steel cases, no crown guards around the winding crown, and radium-based luminescence. Rolex manufactured a range of references during this period, with various water depth ratings (100m to 200m), crown sizes, and dial styles (pencil hands, Mercedes hands, and Explorer-style dials). These various models are very rare and incredibly sought after by collectors.

The many Submariner iterations continued throughout the 60s and 70s. Rolex introduced the Submariner Date in the late 1960s with a calendar function complete with a ‘cyclops’ magnification lens. The updated model offered customers more of a status symbol than a purpose-built diving watch, appealing to a wider audience. The inclusion of a date window and the production of the first gold Submariner was not useful for divers but appealing to the mass market, who was completely enamoured by the Submariner, and continue to be so.

The history of the Rolex Submariner is entwined in mainstream culture. It has been featured in movies and on the wrists of the rich and famous for decades, pushing it into superstar status as possibly the most recognised watch ever made. Most notably, the Rolex Submariner appeared in 9 James Bond movies since the 1960s, proudly displayed on the wrists of the much-loved character 007.

Despite its constant evolution, at its core the modern Submariner is very much the same watch that Rolex first launched more than 70 years ago. That is a testament to the design and engineering prowess of this absolute classic.

Browse vintage Rolex Submariner’s here.

The El Primero has always been exceptional, from the very first moment it was unveiled to the world it has continued to be adored by watch lovers all over the world who consider it to have the world’s best and most accurate movements. From the technical revolution it represented at its origin to the legendary role it played in the post-Quartz Crisis revival of the mechanical watch, the El Primero, as its name suggests, has achieved many firsts.

Zenith launched the El Primero in 1969 as one of the movements in the “race” for the world’s first automatic chronograph. Competing against the big names of the time; Büren, Hamilton, Breitling, Heuer and Seiko were all busy trying to achieve the technical feat of creating an accurate automatic chronograph that would fit inside a slim casing.

The El Primero, meaning first in Spanish, was unveiled in January 1969, 4 months ahead of the Büren/Hamilton/Breitling/Heuer collaboration which launched their Calibre 11 Chronomatic in May of 1969. However, the winner of this innovation race is still challenged to this day as competitors began selling their new automatic chronographs to the public 3 months before Zenith. Despite competitors being hot on the heels of Zenith’s pioneering watch, no one could steal the limelight from the El Primero.

The El Primero was astonishing, achieving many design and engineering firsts, it amazed the watch industry and the public alike. It measured 29 mm in diameter and was a mere 6.5 mm tall – even slimmer than traditional chronographs. A dry lubricant based on molybdenum sulfate was used for the first time which contributed to the calibre’s highly precise rate.

The power reserve boasted 50 hours and the balance had a higher frequency than was normal for the time, beating at a pace of 36,000 vph / 5 Hz, which enabled the chronograph to measure elapsed intervals to the nearest 1/10 of a second. The rotor that wound the movement had a tungsten carbide weight that maximised each motion of the watch wearer’s arm to continually wind the mainspring.

Most calibres in the late 60s were paced at 21,600 vph or less while the Breitling team’s Calibre 11 Chronomatic oscillated at a frequency of 19,800 vph. It was such a leap in technology that this very movement would be found inside legends like the Rolex Daytona for the next 30 years, only coming to an end when Zenith decided to keep their legendary movements for their own watches.

In the same year, another major innovation in the world of watchmaking burst onto the scene, one that would profoundly impact the future of the industry for decades to come: the development of quartz movements. Drawing their energy from electronic batteries rather than traditional mechanical escapements, watches that were fitted with these movements could be mass-produced at a fraction of the cost of a mechanical watch.

At this point, Zenith was bought by another company, due to its failing finances that resulted due to the huge R&D costs incurred developing the El Primero. Its owning company, Zenith Radio Corporation (an unrelated company which made TV sets and radios) regarded electronic timekeeping as the future and decided that mechanical movements were on the way out.

In 1978, everything involved in the production of mechanical watch movements, down to the metal the tools were made of, was ordered to be sold to the highest bidder. It was only thanks to Charles Vermot, Zenith’s chief movement designer, that the El Primero survived—night after night, Vermot would hide presses, plans, and cutting tools in the attic of the factory in the hope of waiting out the turbulent Quartz Crisis and one day being able to resume production of the groundbreaking El Primero. Almost a decade passed before Vermot got his wish and the El Primero was able to rise from its ashes and begin production again, resurrecting Zenith’s mechanical watchmaking. Vermot’s clandestine mission is now the stuff of watchmaking legend and Charles Vermot is the unsung hero of mechanical watchmaking history.

The El Primero is the foundation on which Zenith has built its reputation. The solidity and precision of the 1969 original have been enriched with numerous complications over the years, including a tourbillon, large date, split-seconds mechanism, minute repeater, alarm, retrograde date and jumping seconds. For watch collectors and admirers, El Primero will always be The First.

Browse vintage Zenith El Primero’s here.