Hello! Been hanging around for awhile, time to check in. Became interested in watches just over a year ago, ran out of wall space for aviation art... Stumbled on a Sea Wolf and liked it right away. Found one on the bay, said to be in good working order and serviced, but never did get proof of that. But it's working fine and keeping good time, no issues. The crown is a bit stiff to wind but that's it. Came on a NATO, but I picked up a a Bonetto dive strap for it. It's very vanilla infused, nice, but almost too much vanilla. Great brand history, I really like that about the watch. It was a estate sale according to the seller, and was owned by a military man.
Had to have another, so I picked up the Aerospace Jet that DMH was selling. Great guy to talk with, the watch is in great condition. It came with 3 nice nato straps, but I thought I'd try it out on a vintage Deluca leather strap, I think it looks pretty nice.
Great watch with great history, a joy to own, care and wear these.
Great site you have here, definitely the best source of information on these watches. Glad to be here! Hope the pictures show up, and sorry for the quality, crappy phone camera...
Welcome to the forum.
Nice duo. Like Aerospace Jet.
Sea Wolf is nice and has clean dial. Although crown is not original. Believe hands were relumed. And second hand is from wrong set (it is silver and belongs to black Sea Wolf). Other than that, mentioned stiff winding indicates that movement was not serviced or serviced incorrectly. I'd consider to give it a service if you plan to wear it regularly.
From that angle of view, I think Aerospace has incorrect crown as well. But I'm unsure.
Anyway it is very solid start of the collection. Congrats!
Great models. A nice start to a much larger future collection.
::)
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I knew the crown was not original on the Sea Wolf, but was not aware that the seconds hand was wrong. Very interesting. I'll have to see about getting the correct parts in when service time comes a calling. As somewhat of a watch maintenance newbie, if the crown is a little stiff to wind, as it is, does that require immediate service or something that can wait for awhile? I can wind it up about 12 to 15 times before I stop as that seems to be the limit and I don't want to push it. I do not wear it regularly, maybe once every 2 to 3 weeks. The lume may indeed have been re-done as it's in pretty nice shape. Not much info from the seller when I bought it. I have seen quite a few of the crumbling ones... David didn't mention if the crown had been changed on the Jet, but it is a signed crown though. I really like that watch. The brand is just awesome!
Described symptoms point to mainspring malfunction. Excessive forces while winding (manual and automatic) will cause excessive wear of autowinding mechanism. Plus improperly working mainspring impacts movement's performance.
I'd suggest to service it sooner than later.
If it ain't running right, get it serviced by a professional. And if you can't do that now, wear another watch. See my repair page for tips.
Hi David! Yes, still enjoying the Jet very much! Wonderful piece and running great! I'm really sorry David, I did not mean to imply there were any shenanigans in the listing, certainly not at all. I Just didn't know if the crown was original or not in answering the comment about the crown, perhaps I worded that incorrectly and it came across wrong. It is a correct crown so it doesn't really matter to me if it's not the original one. Let me reiterate, I had a fabulous experience dealing with you,it was a lot of fun and I was 100% happy with everything about the watch, and with everything about the listing and our transaction. I would not hesitate for a second to buy from you again!
Fabulous watch! Although I need a camera, these phone pics are just awful...
Well,the winding mechanism was getting pretty stiff, so in she went for service. Sent it to Yuriy, and he did a great job! Had it serviced, replaced the seconds hand and the crown to the correct ones, and put on a correct crystal. Runnning like a champ and looks great! Thought I'd try it out on one of the natos I got from fellow member DMH....
Watch Out Mike ! :no not me
Those NATO's are almost addictive as ZODIACS !!
I only have about 1200 setting behind me !! :wtf