1st IWL London G2G - Sunday 1st March 2015

[OhDark30]

'It is a truism of epistolary psychology that, for example, a Christmas thank-you note written on December 26 can say any old thing, but if you wait until February, you are convinced that nothing less than Middlemarch will do.'
Anne Fadiman was right. The pressure is on for my writeup, and yet how to say anything that hasn't already been covered?
OK, here goes nothing..
Thanks to Der A for wrangling a bunch of thirsty and talkative WIS in the excellent Duke of Cornwallis off Russell Square last Sunday.
A very acceptable selection of Real Ale, a quiet corner, lots of watches to fondle, and fellow nutters to enthuse, disagree, tease and otherwise witter on about watches with
(Oops, premature posting syndrome. More after the jump)

[Der Amf]

....Anne Fadiman was right. The pressure is on for my writeup, and yet how to say anything that hasn't already been covered?....

I don't think any of us have yet told which watches were the ones that most tickled OhDark30's eye

In fact, has the watch you gained during the day even been named yet....?

[OhDark30]

Having met all the f71 refugees either at London I or the Brum gtg, it was great to see them again, and catch up with the direction their collections had taken in the interim
I love that we all do this collecting thing differently, from Scott's delicious Rados (photos don't do justice to the chrome-and-fins cases and the evanescent Northern Lights charm of the mineral dials) to MofK's chunky divers and nonchalant modding.
As ever, DJW and I had a lot of Russian finds to catch up on, I particularly rated his black bezelled Amphibia and 24hr Open Space
I enjoyed seeing Colin's Marathon and classy Tudor Sub, and Der Amf's sparkling Zungu - not to mention checking up on Bluie, the sunburst Sekonda I sold him, and it's cousin, skywatch's former 2209, so stylish!
It's great to be able to directly compare the fine details of watches - 60s/70s Vostok cases, my 60s Seamaster and MoK's Genève, not to mention the metallic dials of tribe's Stowa Marine and my 60s Tudor Oyster Prince.
And finally, so nice to meet tribe 125 and Matt. Great conversations, and that delicious JLC alarm and (be still my beating heart) the Gagarin :-)
Which is still on my grinning wrist, proving (yes DerA) that my collection is in fact more than the one watch I've worn for the last 6 months
(my pic won't load, I'll wruw it)
Thank you so much everyone, for a fantastic afternoon and evening. Even with the unplanned trip to Wolverhampton (the traditional falling asleep on the train home) it has been an oasis of sanity in a grotty couple of months
And yes, I'll start planning a second Brum meetup..
Watches I took:
1979 Poljot 3017 Strela
Raketa 24hr World Time
Red 70s Vostok Komandirskie
60s rose logo Tudor Oyster Prince
60s Seamaster
Zodiac Aerospace GMT
Eurastyle 24hr
Chaika medical watch
70s DDR Glashütte 09-20

[OhDark30]

And the watch I came away with, a 1956 Gagarin. Cheers, Matt, it's a dream!

Hope the Aerospace is hitting the spot for you (and the Raketa you, DJW :-)

[Matt]

I'm still owing you a reply 0D3 but I was back to work...

The Aerospace certainly is hitting the spot in a number of ways. First it's just an ace little jewel of a watch. Second it fits in with a small selection of watches that do at 35mm what is now considered physically impossible at less than 42mm if not 45. Thirdly it's another of those watches that is loaded with historical significance that no one ever seems to know about. Mind you, in my somewhat unwell state I was thinking of the Glycine Airman when I said it was the very first GMT. However in Sea Wolf variant (with which the Aerospace shares a case) it was the joint first dive watch ever launched, which will do! Finally it's just a little jewel of a watch and is making me cackle with delight!

[Der Amf]

It's making me very sad that it's a sunny Sunday morning and I'm not getting myself into town to meet you all

Here's a picture of a clock a friend of mine just bought that looks a little like one of Tribe125's watches.....





For £35 he was very happy. The brand is metamec.

[Colin63]

It's making me very sad that it's a sunny Sunday morning and I'm not getting myself into town to meet you all

Here's a picture of a clock a friend of mine just bought that looks a little like one of Tribe125's watches.....





For £35 he was very happy. The brand is metamec.

That's a nice clock. My patents had one just like it except red instead of blue. I have a few Metamec clocks myself, some dating back to 1947 when they started production.

Edit, just looked through my Metamec book and it looks like your friends clock is a 5867 model (if battery powered) or 867 (if mains electric). It was made in the late 1970's.

[Der Amf]

That's a nice clock. My patents had one just like it except red instead of blue. I have a few Metamec clocks myself, some dating back to 1947 when they started production.

My friend says its been adapted for batteries, but still has the sweep second, so the guts haven't been ripped out

Oh and, pictures please!

[Der Amf]

That's a nice clock. My patents had one just like it except red instead of blue. I have a few Metamec clocks myself, some dating back to 1947 when they started production.

Edit, just looked through my Metamec book and it looks like your friends clock is a 5867 model (if battery powered) or 867 (if mains electric). It was made in the late 1970's.

Well, this has been an agreeable few minutes with Google

[Der Amf]

Is this our first GTG ever on IWL?

Did Geoff and WMW having a pint or six in Brighton count? Or does a g2g require at least three people?