# Three Across, Two Down - An Expensive Hobby



## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Been itching for a couple of weeks now to post pics of what was going to be my one surprise new purchase for August, but I've been hopping with impatience since I snagged a second 'want' last week too.

I've been after one of the non-chronograph Omega Lobsters for a while and the one front left came up from a seller in the Philipines. It's in a bad way, but I've a donor movement for parts, and it'll go off for a case refurb soon.

So - that was going to be the start of a new thread to my collection and the sum total of August's purchases...

New tatty one...










...v old 'safe queen'...


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

But, the Lobster Speedsonic is also part of a thread - of ESA 9210 Chronographs, and I've been watching and waiting to add to that collection too, so when this Certina C-tronic Chronolympic turned up and no one else bid on it, I had to grab it...










Again, it's a little shabby (but in much, much better condition than the new Lobster), but it's been running and keeping time fine since it arrived on Friday.

So, now I've two intersecting threads, there are five (six if you include the sterile-dialled verision) ESA 9210 Chronographs, including the Omega Speedsonic Lobster and three Omega Lobsters, including the f300 Seamaster.

Not sure if I'll ever manage to complete the set (especially as the other three Chronographs are rarer than like rocking horse poo, so it'll take years of saving), but it's an interesting target to aim for.


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## Engineersix (Aug 31, 2013)

Fantastic group Andy!

I love the Lobster and all things vintage Omega, but the Certina and beautiful square Longines look superb too!

Never come across these other models, always too blinkered to the Omegas probably!

Cheers,

Rob


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

The Good, the Bad and The Ugly...

Chronolympic...


Good - It seems to be working fine. Just need a full week of running to test the timekeeping and day/date change.

Bad - The Bracelet - I've dropped it once already because of the flimsy non-original Certina bracelet it's on at the moment, but that's easy to fix with a decent deployant strap.

Ugly - The case has picked up a few dings, so I'll need to shop around for a case refurb. It'll need some laser welding to build up the deeper dings.


Lobster


Good - 1/. It appears to have the original Omega 1260 movement (no one's done a cheap fix repair with a silver ESA 9162/4 Oscillator) with the serial number plate, so it hasn't lost its originality or its history. 2/. It came with a Number 27 Omega Deployant clasp (see below), so I think this was always a 'strapper' (no one has nicked the full Lobster-tail bracelet - this one never had one, so again, the originality hasn't been lost.

Bad - 1/. It doesn't run, but I can get that sorted as I've got a few ESA 9164 movements that can serve as parts donors. 2/. It's got a German day wheel, but the donor movements are all English, so that can be fixed too.

Ugly - Seriously? Look at the pics. 1/. The dial is in a state (not sure what I can do about that - not sure if that was a unique dial to this model. 2/. Looks like someone used this for DIY - as a hammer!! Again, it's going to need a case refurb and some laser welding to build up the dings. I'm not sweating over the state of the case though - have a look at the state of my Speedsonic Lobster when I got it...











As above, the clasp is a number 27 deployant, so I'm not bothered by the lack of a Lobster tail bracelet on this one - I'm fairly certain it's always been a strapper and I'll be happy to have a Lobster that I can wear (when it's had a refub) without worrying about scratching the precious bracelet...


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Engineersix said:


> Fantastic group Andy!
> 
> I love the Lobster and all things vintage Omega, but the Certina and beautiful square Longines look superb too!
> 
> ...


Thanks. There were six ESA 9210 Chronographs that I know of...


Omega's Speedsonic (came in Lobster or a cusion-cased version and various dial colours)

Longines' Ultronic Chronograph (came in rectangular case with black and white dials and a round case version - don't know what dial colours were available)

Certina's C-tronic Chronolympic (round case only, I think, with black, blue and silver dial versions that I've seen)

Baume et Mercier Tronosonic Chronograph (cusion case, only ever seen pics of a black dialled version,rare as hen's teeth and cost a fair packet)

Derby Derbysonic (only ever seen one picture of these, can't remember the dial colour or case type, but rare as the B&M)

A Sterile/Unbranded version (again, only ever seen pictures of these and very rare).


Given the scarcity of the last three, it'll be a push to ever complete the set, but may be one day...

Of the Lobsters, Omega made three...


Speedsonic (came with a mirror dial originally with raised indices, but no longer available, so mine was retro-fitted with a grey dial with flat markers from the cusion-cased versions, when it was refurbished)

f300 Seamaster (have only ever seen this with the white dial - mine would have been white once, honest!)

f720 Megasonic (came with a few dial colours inc metallic blue and white versions - this one is probably the rarest Lobster - Paul's got one - have a look at the hummer tennis thread)


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## webvan (Apr 6, 2010)

Nice to see these hummers fall into good hands! A nice variety, both models and condition...hope you can get them sorted for reasonable amounts. The Lobster chrono seems to have had a dial change as its (likely the correct replacement) the one of the cushion case version. The Lobster chrono had both the mirror (fragile) and a blue/grey dial, but they have raised indices. Oh I see the condition you got it, so you knew about the dial already ;-)

I have the BM version and I saw a marvellous Swissonic ESA9210 at the MIH museum in La Chaud de Fonds, will try to dig up my pics.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

webvan said:


> Nice to see these hummers fall into good hands! A nice variety, both models and condition...hope you can get them sorted for reasonable amounts. The Lobster chrono seems to have had a dial change as its (likely the correct replacement) the one of the cushion case version. The Lobster chrono had both the mirror (fragile) and a blue/grey dial, but they have raised indices. Oh I see the condition you got it, so you knew about the dial already ;-)
> 
> I have the BM version and I saw a marvellous Swissonic ESA9210 at the MIH museum in La Chaud de Fonds, will try to dig up my pics.


Thanks, yes, the Chrono had an Omega restoration a few years ago. They replaced the dial as the mirror one is scratched and they aren't available as replacements. I've got all the original parts, maybe one day I'll find someone who I'd trust to do a dial restoration on it, but for now I'm keeping it as-is.

Can you put pics up of the BM version? - I've only seen blurry photos before.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Got in a bit early for work this morning, so while I'm banging on about the Seamaster Lobster, thought I'd share this 'useful' nugget...

A lot of people buy these without bracelets and then go on the search for a replacement bracelet. The originals aren't available and used ones go for over Â£400 on ebay, but a word of caution - if you find a bracelet to buy, make sure it's got its end links and that they're intact. The end links for the strap are different from the end links for the bracelet.

This photo shows the back of the watch and its strap end links...










Note that the back of the end-links have 'flaps' that wrap over the bracelet, leaving a space for the bracelet to pass through (they form a flattened 'O' shape viewed end on) and they don't have any holes drilled in them.

If you follow this link to Gashead's for sale post for his Speedsonic sale a couple of years ago, he's posted a nice clear pic of the back of a bracelet version...

http://www.thewatchf...ndpost&p=714642

If you look at the back of the bracelet end-links, they're flattened to wrap round the case lugs, so they resemble a 'C' shape, viewed end on, *and they're drilled* to take spring bars. To modify strap end links to take a bracelet, you'd need to bend the 'flaps' that wrap round the strap down to wrap around the lugs (which wouldn't be that hard) and drill them in the right place (which would be a right faff), so if you're going to fit a bracelet to a strap version, make sure that the bracelet has the end links.

I've seen normal links (to extend the bracelet) for sale on the Frei and Borel site, but I've not seen end links.

Anyhow, hope that helps someone someday


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

OK, ignore the above, I'm talking cobblers. :blush: I'd been looking at this crosseyed. The end-links do look to be different, but not how I've said above. On the strapper, the strap passes through the 'flaps' on the back of the end link and hooks straight on to the springbars.

The bracelet has mesh joining the links together. That mesh doesn't hook over the springbars, so the end links are attached directly to the next link (can't see how the strap end-links could do that), so do look like they're different, but not because of the drilling etc.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Nice topic Andy! :thumbsup:

I'm interested in the "A Sterile/Unbranded version" 9210...do you have any more details? Was it really sterile or did it have the ESA logo on the dial? I have a small collection of demonstrators / training watches that appear sterile/unbranded but they usually have some markings on the dial such as the ESA logo or the calibre number used --- they often have markings on the case back as well.

About 4-5 months ago, a guy from Argentina was selling NOS end links etc for lobster bracelets. The auction was very unclear on what you were actually buying and despite working with a translator friend, it was no clearer. Anyway, I took a risk and ended up buying these. Not cheap but was pleased with what arrived:


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Silver Hawk said:


> Nice topic Andy! :thumbsup:
> 
> About 4-5 months ago, a guy from Argentina was selling NOS end links etc for lobster bracelets. The auction was very unclear on what you were actually buying and despite working with a translator friend, it was no clearer. Anyway, I took a risk and ended up buying these. Not cheap but was pleased with what arrived:


Thanks Paul.

The smaller links with the loops on them must be the key bit that's needed to attach the bracelet. I'd guess that the mesh attached to the loop/tongue. Without those, the bracelet has nothing to attach to.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Silver Hawk said:


> I'm interested in the "A Sterile/Unbranded version" 9210...do you have any more details? Was it really sterile or did it have the ESA logo on the dial? I have a small collection of demonstrators / training watches that appear sterile/unbranded but they usually have some markings on the dial such as the ESA logo or the calibre number used --- they often have markings on the case back as well.


I've only seen photos - Keith had one a few years back. From what I remember they had a black dial, similar to the B&M version, but with no manufacturer's mark on the dial. The window didn't appear to be wide enough to handle the 'DDD' day indicator, so I'd guess that the dial was either designed for a different movement and it happened to fit, or intended to take 9210 movements fitted with the Certina 'day number' type of day indicator.

Can't remember if they were round or cushion-cased, but I don't remember the case matching any of the three styles above.


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Further to last - Google for Certina C-tronic Chronolympic. There's a post on TZ where Gary (Agent Orange over here?) was showing his NOS (very, very nice) Chronolympic. Post 11 has a pic from another poster showing the sterile version alongside a Chronolympic. The case reminds me of a bead-blasted Mk2 Speedmaster case but it must be a fair bit deeper, I'd imagine.


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## GeeBeeFlyer (Jul 19, 2014)

Mother of Electrics!!

Wayne


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## GeorgeWils (Jul 17, 2014)

Love the omega!


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## EJL73 (Apr 7, 2014)

Really nice collection. I keep trying to sell off my F300s and instead I end up acquiring more....


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