Seamasters are always hugely sought-after, especially if they are in good condition or an unusual dial. Fortunately, this has both attributes. I haven’t ever seen a grey (gray for any Americans  reading this) dial. It looks very splendid indeed!

It’s Cal 611 and S/N 23311697 and case number 135.011, the new strap really finishes it off. It has been serviced so has a year-long guarantee, it’s very unusual for someone to offer a guarantee on something 42 years old! With regular servicing there’s no reason at all it shouldn’t give another  42 years of reliable service. Watches are just like cars, you wouldn’t expect your  car to run well if you didn’t service it, would you?

 The fact that this was serviced has made it more expensive than I would have liked but it just isn’t worth skimping to save a few £s. this cost more than £90 (at trade prices, I expect an end-user would have to pay over £200 for Swiss Time Services to do the same work!) to get done, even put a new crystal in.

The watch says Seamaster. the Seamaster was originally developed for yachtsmen and the number beside the word refers to the depth in metres that it is supposed to be waterproof too, although, as I have said elsewhere, vintage watches cannot be guaranteed to be waterproof. In the USA you aren’t allowed by Law to say a watch is waterproof, most you can claim is that it’s water-resistant. Some Seamasters even had clip-on backs though this one is a screw back.  I just don’t understand how a clip-on back could be called waterproof! Some old Seamasters don’t have the Sea Monster logo on either (this one does). It’s a popular misconception that all Seamasters have screw backs and the logo on, taking these as proof of genuineness could lead you to be fleeced in paying good money for a fake!