My watch today is a LumiSport quartz diver's watch. I've only ever seen a few watches branded LumiSport and I've heard they were once sold by Sears. As you might guess from its looks and the tritium vial night illumination, this was made by mb-microtec who also makes Luminox and Traser watches. Here's a very similar LumiSport that was for sale on the WUS forum (I paid much less for mine and it was brand new.) This watch is in some ways nicer than my Luminox 3005, namely, its stainless steel case, screw-down back and screw-down crown. It has the same Ronda Swiss quartz movement (which means I could also swap this dial for a MKII dial, which was my intention when I bought it,) same hands and illumination system, but the bezel is more low-profile on the LumiSport. I guess if you're actually using the bezel the chunkier one on the Luminox would be better, especially underwater or when wearing gloves. They both have a 200m water resistance rating, and I'm sure both are very durable, but the stainless case and back on the LumiSport just seems like it will last forever while the plastic case on the Luminox seems lighter and more fragile. Really, I like them both, and they're different enough that I don't feel the need to get rid of one. While I still my swap out the dial on this watch (I could even use my old yellow Luminox dial if I wanted to) the blue dial is kind of growing on me, so maybe I'll keep it like this for a while longer. (The photo below that seems at first to be all black is actually a photo of the illumination of the watch is near darkness. It was the best I could do at work with poor light control and my point-and-shoot camera. In complete darkness, when your eyes are adjusted it really does look very bright, like this. Image from here.)
This is my only watch from the "other" Swiss Army watch manufacturer, Victorinox. Although I could be wrong, I believe Wenger was making Swiss Army watches before Victorinox, and for some reason I've just always been more of a Wenger fan. It's somewhat elementary now, since Victorinox bought Wenger, although I do take it a bit personally that Wenger is now the Swiss Army "value brand". This watch was my dad's and he wore it quite a bit, as evidenced by the heavily worn leather strap, as well as the scratches and scuffs on it (although the big scratch on the back I made the first time I tried to open it. I've since acquired better tools and more patience.) I just put a battery in it yesterday and the Swiss ETA quartz movement is keeping great time. The watch has a classic look and while it's only 36mm wide, it's just about the perfect size for everyday wear (square and rectangular watches always seem to wear bigger than similarly sized round watches, probably due to the increased dial area.) While the watch appears to have wire lugs, it actually has springbars hidden within. Completing the illusion is an open-ended strap which actually can be fitted to watches with wire lugs or fixed bars. Overall, a good looking and versatile watch.
Today I'm wearing this vintage Bulova. It's yet another of my vast accumulation of fairly common vintage watches, and like many of them I got this one from my father. It keeps good time, although it will occasionally stop, but not often. Probably just needs a cleaning. It's from 1963 (the "M3" on the caseback indicates M for 1960s plus 3 for 1963. N is 1970s, L 1950s, etc.) and has a pretty typical look for that era. It's all stainless with bright hour markers and a ring around the hour track, with a very faint linen pattern on the dial. The acrylic crystal is in decent shape, as is the expanding bracelet. I don't normally like this kind of bracelet, but this on is only half expanding, and half fixed, so I think I like it a little better. I haven't opened this one, but I believe the 23 jewel movement is Bulova's in-house one, which means it was made in the U.S.A. The rest of the watch would have been made here too, and assembled here. I think by the early 1960s even Hamiltons were mostly Swiss, so it's kind of nice to have a later all-American watch.
My watch today is a LumiSport quartz diver's watch. I've only ever seen a few watches branded LumiSport and I've heard they were once sold by Sears. As you might guess from its looks and the tritium vial night illumination, this was made by mb-microtec who also makes Luminox and Traser watches. Here's a very similar LumiSport that was for sale on the WUS forum (I paid much less for mine and it was brand new.) This watch is in some ways nicer than my Luminox 3005, namely, its stainless steel case, screw-down back and screw-down crown. It has the same Ronda Swiss quartz movement (which means I could also swap this dial for a MKII dial, which was my intention when I bought it,) same hands and illumination system, but the bezel is more low-profile on the LumiSport. I guess if you're actually using the bezel the chunkier one on the Luminox would be better, especially underwater or when wearing gloves. They both have a 200m water resistance rating, and I'm sure both are very durable, but the stainless case and back on the LumiSport just seems like it will last forever while the plastic case on the Luminox seems lighter and more fragile. Really, I like them both, and they're different enough that I don't feel the need to get rid of one. While I still my swap out the dial on this watch (I could even use my old yellow Luminox dial if I wanted to) the blue dial is kind of growing on me, so maybe I'll keep it like this for a while longer. (The photo below that seems at first to be all black is actually a photo of the illumination of the watch is near darkness. It was the best I could do at work with poor light control and my point-and-shoot camera. In complete darkness, when your eyes are adjusted it really does look very bright, like this. Image from here.)
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