Four thousand dollars is a lot of money. Well, at least until you decide to buy a luxury grade Swiss wristwatch. There are a couple of jewels that can be had for under U$4,000. What makes this selection special is their elegant designs and rich sense of history.
1. Omega Speedmaster Professional 3570.50.00. The Omega Speedmaster Professional 3570.50.00 was the watch NASA supplied each of the Apollo astronauts, and for its out of atmosphere exploits it earned the name "Moonwatch". This watch was not manufactured for use specifically by NASA. It had been on sale since 1957 and was selected by NASA after testing several commercially available watches.
Not only is the the Omega Speedmaster Professional 3570.50.00 a piece of history, it is a true classic, with a manual-winding Omega 1861 movement which produces 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour and the same Hesalite crystal covering the dial that it did back during its NASA days. It is pretty much built the same way today, that it was 60 years ago. Priced at US$3,444 you won't find a watch with such a recognized history at a lower price.
2. IWC Mark XVI. In the early 1940's the British Ministry of Defense put out a specification set for military watches that it wanted to supply its troops. The watches that met these specification were engraved with the letter WWW meaning: "Watches Wristlet Waterproof" and called the "Mark X" watches. IWC was one of the manufacturers that built a watch based on the British Ministry of Defense specifications, which was released in 1944 as the IWC Mark X Pilots Watch. In 1948, the IWC updated its Mark X watch as the Mark 11 (XI). The Mark 11 was one of the most popular IWC watches of all time being manufactured from 1948 to 1984.
Picture from European Watch Co.and is used with their permission.
No republication of the same should be made without permission
from the source.
During the war an airborne map painting radar system called ‘H2S’ was established so that Allied aircraft could determine their position by triangulating their position with these beams. H2S proven to be a valuable navigation aid but also caused problems. The map painting radar screen produced magnetic fields, which disturbed the accuracy of the issued wrist watches.
Also as Allied bombers were designed for higher altitudes, this caused a problem with low temperature, which also affected the precision of the watches. Cabin pressurization had been introduced towards the end of WW II and a sudden decrease of pressure caused by damage to the aircraft's fuselage, could force the crystal from a watch that still retained normal pressure inside its case.
After the war, the IWC Mark XI watch was designed for the Royal Airforce to correct the shortcoming of the Mark X. The IWC Mark XI was deigned to be anti-magnetic and was given a domed crystal to better witstand sudden Cabin de-pressurization. The current Mark XVI still has these features.
With a suggested retail price of US$3,500 for the Mark XVI with a leather strap, it can usually be found for just under US$3,000.
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