Author Archives: Timmy Tan

Rolex Submariner Ref. 5517/5513 MilSub: Military Provenance

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Rolex Ref. 5517/5513, made in around 1972 and issued in 1977, it is home to the Calibre 1520 automatic movement. It comes in a 39mm diameter case in stainless steel and is water-resistant to 200m. The case back is engraved: Estimated value: Between £50,000 and £70,000 / SGD110,000 and SGD150,000. Offered for sale at Bonham’s 16 December 2015 auction in London. © Bonhams

Rolex Ref. 5517/5513 MilSub, made in around 1972 and issued in 1977, it is home to the Calibre 1520 automatic movement. It comes in a 39mm diameter case in stainless steel and is water-resistant to 200m. This MilSub features broad, sword-shaped hands. Estimated value: Between £50,000 and £70,000 / SGD110,000 and SGD150,000. Offered for sale at Bonham’s 16 December 2015 auction in London. © Bonhams

Sorry folks, watching television is bad for you.

If you are over 25 years old, every hour spent watching TV reduces your life expectancy by around 22 minutes (to be precise, 21.8 minutes) on average, according to the research article, Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: a real life table analysis, found in archives of biodmedical literature found in the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

This conclusion was the result of a study conducted in Australia and presented in 2008.

But do note that watching television programmes isn’t bad per se; it is the sedentary “downtime” (in terms of hours) associated with the act of watching TV. Long periods of physical inactivity for example, are linked to obesity issues.

Such “viewing times are unfavourably associated with mortality outcomes, particularly of cardiovascular disease”.

For Rolex fans, being selective with your TV programs can be beneficial to your watch collecting knowledge. This is especially so if you are interested in vintage Rolex Submariners issued to the British military forces, which are also known as MilSubs.

Before continuing, may we also gently remind readers to avoid being long-term couch potatoes or risk having your lives shortened. Please exercise regularly.

Now back to our programme: Well, two episodes of the British TV program, Antiques Roadshow, are highly relevant because of what can be learnt.

This is a sort of reality TV series whereby antique experts representing the Antiques Roadshow are documented travelling around the United Kingdom to appraise interesting objects owned by people who may not ordinarily go out of their way to have their prized belongings valued.

In one particular episode (Antiques Roadshow, Series 37, Walthamstow Town Hall 1, believed to be aired in late 2014), one gentleman’s Rolex Submariner is brought to the viewer’s attention.

He had acquired the Rolex Submariner because he is a big fan of James Bond, having read Ian Fleming’s novels of the British master spy as a young boy. He knew Bond wore a Rolex Submariner (as mentioned in Fleming’s books then) and therefore bought his from his jeweller friend for £400 some 35 years ago.

Clock expert Ben Wright, representing Antiques Roadshow, informs the gentleman that his Rolex was not a “James Bond model” watch, which have valuations in the range of around £12,000.

He then tells the gentleman that the Rolex Submariner he had was a rare MilSub that has the valuation of between £30,000 to £40,000!

One particular Rolex MilSub owner who had viewed the Antiques Roadshow program mentioned above was intrigued simply because he had a very similar watch.

When the crew of this BBC TV series, aired since 1979, visited Lincolnshore in early 2015 to film, this Rolex owner brought along his MilSub to have it appraised. To his good fortune, his watch was likewise, valued to be worth much more than what he originally believed.

He subsequently brought his watch to auction house Bonhams (the watch shown in this article), which valued the wristwatch at between £50,000 and £70,000 (SGD110,000 and SGD150,000).

That is actually amazing since this watch, produced in around 1972, was originally purchased by him for below £1,000!

His Rolex Submariner wristwatch, which will be put up for auction by Bonhams on 16 December 2015, was shown on the Antiques Roadshow on 8 November 2015.

By famed American investor Peter Lynch’s standards, the two Rolex watches were a 75-bagger and a 50-bagger respectively (worth at least 75 times and 50 times their original values (75 X £400 = £30,000 and 50 X £1,000 = £50,000)).

Just imagine the levels of their financial healths if these were sold, even at their minimum valuations.

The two gentlemen came to know about their highly-priced Rolex MilSubs through television. How about that in the improvements of their financial healths because of TV?

According to Bonhams, the Rolex MilSub on offer was issued in 1977 and it is in remarkable unrestored condition with nearly all of its original militarised features perfectly intact.

“It is a rare double reference of the Military Submariner, issued to the British Navy in the early 1970s,” says Jonathan Darracott, head of watches at Bonhams.

Other related articles on timewerke.com that may be of interest:
i. Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 worn by Sir Roger Moore in “Live and Let Die” (1973): The Reel Value of Money
ii. Rolex Sea-Dweller ref. 1665 Mark II: Mark your dates!

MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual: The Stephen McDonnell Legacy

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MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual. Introduced in 2015. This perpetual calendar, housed in a 44mm diameter case with a height of 17.5mm, features the hour and minutes at the sub-dial at 12 o’clock, the day at 3 o’clock, the month at 6 o’clock and the date at 9 o’clock. The power reserve display is between 4 and 5 o’clock and the leap year indication is between 7 and 8 o’clock. Limited to 25 pieces in 18K 5N red gold (priced at SGD226,000) and 25 pieces in platinum 950 (priced at SGD275,100). Photo: © TANG Portfolio

MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual. Introduced in 2015. This perpetual calendar, housed in a 44mm diameter case with a height of 17.5mm, features the hour and minutes on the sub-dial at 12 o’clock, the day at 3 o’clock, the month at 6 o’clock and the date at 9 o’clock. The power reserve display is between 4 and 5 o’clock and the leap year indication is between 7 and 8 o’clock. Limited to 25 pieces in 18K 5N red gold (priced at SGD226,000) and 25 pieces in platinum 950 (priced at SGD275,100). Shown above is the Legacy Machine Perpetual in platinum. Photo: © TANG Portfolio

Launched on 3 November 2015, MB&F’s Legacy Machine (LM) Perpetual is a true technical beauty. As there isn’t any dial, the “machine”, otherwise known as the calibre is exposed and is for all to see in its true glory.

Ask MB&F founder and owner Maximilian Büsser how long it took to develop the movement and his official stand will be four years. Probe a little deeper and the “unofficial” answer will be more like nine years.

“The Legacy Machine Perpetual is the fourth in the LM series. It took us four years to create but it is actually nine years old,” Büsser discloses. This means the LM Machine Perpetual story dates back to the year 2007.

That was the year MB&F was close to bankruptcy, says Büsser as the supply of components for the movement of the brand’s first wristwatch – the HM1, suddenly ceased.

In January 2007, Peter Speake-Marin, a good friend Büsser and an independent watchmaker who was aware of the dire situation, called in favours from his friends.

“We only had five movement kits [of the HM1]. Peter finally gathered some of his watchmaker friends. Apart from Laurent Besse, there were four watchmakers and I had never heard of any of their names before. We had no assembly plans but told them to try assembling the movement.

“It was a trying process. I was ‘dissolving’ as time went by, especially between January to May 2007. I knew I’d be bankrupt in June 2007 as my money including the one million Singapore dollars advance given would be gone. Thankfully, by June 2007, we managed to deliver the first two pieces [of HM1],” says Büsser.

He managed to stave off bankruptcy in the nick of time. “Among those five watchmakers, one in particular stood out – Stephen McDonnell. He was from WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) and he took the lead. It was Stephen who re-touched the parts in his workshop at home,” reveals Büsser, and the rest, as they typically say, is history. The HM1 was launched in 2007.

Some four years later (in around 2011), Peter Speake-Marin approached Büsser in Basel and informed him that McDonnell was in a “hot spot”.

“Stephen had quit his job as a professor and began developing movements for a brand that could no longer pay him. I had a word with Stephen and he told me that he had found a solution to the perpetual calendar problem.

“Stephen said that how the perpetual calendar mechanism is done is wrong. He told us that the whole principle did not make sense. What is typically done is to add a module onto a base movement that forces the date disc to jump when it doesn’t want to.”

A perpetual calendar watch is one that is equipped with a device that changes the date at the end of each month, including the 29th of February during leap years, states The Illustrated Professional Dictionary of Horology I + II by G.-A. Berner. The watch can also indicate the leap years.

The number of days in a month varies, either with 30 or 31 days with February having 28 days during non-leap years and 29 days in a leap year. As such, the mechanism in a typical perpetual calendar module will “force” the date to “jump” from “30” to “1” or “28” to “1” during non-leap years and “28” to “1” during leap years.

“Traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms use the grand levier system and a 31-day month as the default and basically ‘delete’ superfluous dates for the months with fewer days – by fast-forwarding through the redundant dates during changeover. A traditional perpetual calendar changing from 28 February to 1 March scrolls quickly through the 29th, 30th and 31th to arrive at the 1st.

“Stephen told us that the movement should ideally go to 28 days every month and it is to build upon it. Based on this in addition to the fact that Stephen had saved us [in 2007], we said ok,” says Büsser.

The Calibre with the fully-integrated perpetual calendar system was developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell. This manual-winding movement comprises 581 components and has 72 hours of power reserve once fully wound. It is water-resistant to 30m (90 feet). Photo © TANG Portfolio. Elfa / Timmy 2015.

The Calibre with the fully-integrated perpetual calendar system was developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell. This manual-winding movement comprises 581 components and has 72 hours of power reserve once fully wound. It is water-resistant to 30m (90 feet). Photo © TANG Portfolio. Elfa / Timmy 2015.

What McDonnell did was to use a “mechanical processor” rather than the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. “The MB&F mechanical processor utilises a 28-day month and adds extra days as required.

“This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.”

The Calibre developed by McDonnell is a fully-integrated movement incorporating the perpetual calendar feature. There is no perpetual calendar module.

As such, by doing away or rather, not using the grand levier, the perpetual calendar mechanism of the LM Perpetual can be placed on top of the movement mainplate to be seen and appreciated on the dial side.

The “mechanical processor”, with a patent pending (MB&F patent but in McDonnell’s name) comprises a series of superimposed discs. As all months have at least 28 days, this is the logical default number and the extra days are added as required by each individual month.

With exactly the right number of days, there will be no “skipping over” redundant days and therefore no possibility of the date jumping incorrectly. This is therefore a safety feature.

Stephen McDonnell has put in place a totally new perpetual calendar system into MB&F’s Legacy Machine Perpetual. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1972, McDonnell took an early interest in watchmaking. He was formerly a senior instructor at WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) and has worked for brands (and well-known watch industry veterans) such as Christophe Claret, Maître du Temps, MB&F and Peter Speake-Marin. Photo © MB&F

Stephen McDonnell has put in place a totally new perpetual calendar system into MB&F’s Legacy Machine Perpetual. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1972, McDonnell took an early interest in watchmaking. He was formerly a senior instructor at WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) and has worked for brands (and well-known watch industry veterans) such as Christophe Claret, Maître du Temps, MB&F and Peter Speake-Marin. McDonnell is currently working for British watch brand, Bremont. Photo © MB&F

There is another inbuilt safety feature; the quickset pushers found on the sides of the case of the LM Perpetual disconnect during the date changeover to prevent any risk of damage by the owner.

What is most striking about the LM Perpetual is the suspended balance wheel at the centre of the dial. It is also intriguing to note that the escapement is not found on the front; rather, it is placed at the rear of the movement.

This suspended pulsating balance wheel on the dial side is perhaps the main attraction for genuine connoisseurs. Having the balance wheel on the front and the escapement anchor at the back is a world premiere, highlights Büsser.

To connect the balance and the escapement, perhaps the world’s longest balance wheel pinion had to be made. This balance staff measures 11.8mm in length.

The development of the LM Perpetual took three-and-a-half years to complete. “Stephen’s perpetual calendar is the most extraordinary movement I have ever seen. This is his first-ever movement and his legacy starts here.

The MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual. The platinum version seen above is limited to 25 pieces and priced at SGD275,100. Stephen McDonnell’s legacy begins with the Legacy Machine Perpetual. Photo © TANG Portfolio

The MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual. The suspended balance at the centre of the dial is the main attraction. The platinum version seen above is limited to 25 pieces and is priced at SGD275,100. Stephen McDonnell’s legacy begins with the Legacy Machine Perpetual. Photo © TANG Portfolio

“Stephen is a real sort of genius. I am sure watch collectors will be hearing a lot about him in the years to come,” says Büsser.

[Editor’s note: Stephen McDonnell is now working for British watch brand, Bremont.]

Indeed, the Legacy Machine Perpetual is very apt for McDonnell as this will most likely be the machine that seals his name in horological history for perpetuity given its innovativeness and fresh concept in tackling the perpetual calendar mechanism.