Blancpain

When collecting the Fifty Fathoms, your way will necessarily cross the Tornek Rayville. It is unavoidable, at least in your desires, in your dreams. You begin with the easier Fifty Fathoms to get, the " No Rad ". Then you are on the hunt for a Mil Spec. I...  

Wonderful post, I love the look of those old watches.

Thanks for your nice comment, my friend. Best, Nicolas

you worked hard on this post my friend.... Much appreciated..... Cheers

Before deciding to get one... I was very niterested by its Story, did my homework, and gathered informations here and there, adding my personal observations on this watch. That's all! Best, my friend. Nicolas

Hard work for those wonderful watches THANKS! Pascal

These Vintage FFs are very attractive! It is very difficult to not fall under their charm. Best, Nicolas

That's fine, it's still a pleasure to see it in pictures and to read your reports. Maybe later this year I'll be able to post about a FF as well Best, Pascal

TOP article TOP pictures TOP review !!! Perfection on the higest level !!! best regards Claude

Very pleased than a fan like you appreciated it! Nothing new to share??? Best, Nicolas

It will contain a surprise for you, I will post it in the upcoming days. If all turns well I can finish it tonight so I only need to take some pictures tomorrow and can post it here afterwards! ;-) best regards Claude

What can it be??? Come on! Best, Nicolas

...is certainly a strong and attractive watch. Your article does a great job of pointing out the differences, and the similarities between it and the Milspec. I do think the Milspec may present more elegantly overall, due to the smaller/thinner indices, f... 

The TR 900, of course, for the Story behind, for its maxi dial, to use a Rolex Terminology, and for the bezel, thicker. The Milspec, for its elegance, and because it was the first. It is funny that you say that, because I know some passionate collectors w... 

After all, mother says that only bad girls have tattoos. I must be a lost cause if that's the case. I am, however, very intrigued by your message. What could it be? Another FF? Something different? Another Polaris? IWC 812? I would DIE if you found a clea... 

But I already posted it, just before this post about the TR 900. But, I also got something else, yesterday... Something I was running after for a long time... By the way, there are, from time to time, some Ref 812 spotting here and there, but they are rea... 

i dont even want to ask how and where you get or dig up all the old information or ads my compliments to you as alot of time and effort must go there then also you have to have the sickness which nicolas you certainly have but seriously i like the TR and ... 

And I don't want to " steal " their Job... I specially think about Billy Schorr, who dedicated a lot of his time on the TR 900, to not only collect all the available informations, but also the watches, and who made a lot of searches. When doing my own hom... 

I liked the comparison with Milspecs I, in its civilian and military version. It is clear that both watches share a similar aesthetic, adapting the TR-900 to the MilSpec I (in production when the latter Tornek saw the light). Its design, due to Mr. Tornek...  

Who inspired who? This is only my guess, because I don't have any documented evidence to demonstrate my point of view, BUT: The Milspec is a variation of an earlier FF: The FF was released since 1953. The Bulova proto, AFAIK, was released at the end of th... 

I´m thinking about it for a long time. Your theory is simply credible. If we reach the dates, we can see that the first FF were made in the earliest ´50 (1953 to be more precise). Between 1953 and 1960 the Ff knew more variations, and in those variations ... 

How can we be sure that the Milspec was released in 1960 and not a bit before, like 1958 or 59...? Was the Milpspec the first and the only one to use the moisture indicator? Certainly not the only one, but the first? NB: I don't know who to credit nor to ...  

when I said: The moisture indicator didn´t appear in any Ff since 1960, with the Milspec, like in the Bulova (one year before, aprox). Here are some proofs... *LIP Blancpain, 1954-1956, 34mm, AS 1361. LIP Blancpain, 1954-1956, militar model of the CIEPM, ...  

Of course the CIEPM from the mid fifties is a, if not THE most famous example of the pre existence of moisture indicators on Blancpain watches. Agree on the man who take the plane and the watch... Best, Hermano. Nicolas

Hello my friend That is probably the best, the most impressive post I have seen on the forum. Great work. Especially the Autopsy aka the inside (the calibre mhhhmm yummie), and the details. WUNDERFUL indeed So far I dont know anything (OK, a little) about... 

Cannot stop reading your post .....

These words, coming from you, are much appreciated, my friend. Best, Nicolas

According to Jeff Kingston, in his superb article ( Lettres du Brassus Nr 3 ), " Rayville was a name used by J.J FIECHTER for some of the Blancpain production." Well, I own this one for almost one year, now, but I wanted to take my time to make a review o... 

... you have already made me search the www (intensively in my lunchbreak that is ) Lets see if I one day have a FF Best Hans

.. I found a few, but all sold :-( But I found a lot of interesting articles I will probably have to start with a plain FF or a 'plain' mil.... Any idear where to start looking..? BR Hans

thank you, Nicolas what a great opening for 2010. This is a very good abstract about the for me most wanted vintage diver watch. I think it is easier to get a vintage bond rolex or a panerai than the Tornek Rayville. I will make a colour print of this rep... 

As for the bezel, it is not unidirectional, and yes, you have to press on it to turn it. You have a point when you say that it is rarer than a Vintage Bond Rolex. As for the Vintage Pannies, if you take them all, yes the TR 900 is rarer. Now, if you want ... 

Fun read, great watches!

It was funny to see you posting your 2 TR 900 quite at the same moment! Best, Nicolas

some really cool vintage pieces. Congrats! Lucky me, I can enjoy them without any jealousy. Don´t know why, but sometimes it is good to "feel save" Oliver

Sure? No " Sister "for your lovely modern FF? Tsssssss! Best, 666

to resist the "devils advocat" ... at the moment Oliver

prepared

Thanks Nicolas, this post was most pleasant to read . Not that i'm able to follow anymore ... ... if i ever think of buying an FF i will NOT ask you which one, because i fear i could end up with each model ... Yours truly, Ze bim

The embarss of the choice, indeed. No need to go on such a scarce piece, a simple early FF will also bring you a lot of pleasure. And even in the Milspec family, there are so many to fall in love with! One day, maybe... Best, my friend. Nicolas

Absolutely wonderful post. I am glad I have no desire for any of these, or else this post would have pushed me over the edge. Great job (again!), Nico.

But it was really interesting to gather all these informations, and to make this " Autopsy "...of a still living watch! Thanks for the kind comments, my friend. Nicolas

but having read many TR900 reviews, I still believe yours stands out. Great fun to read. (Has the strange watchband arrived yet?)

No, it didn't arrive, yet... But you know, in France, right now, nothing works, because of the ..snow. Best, Nicolas

amazing review of a mythical timepiece ! thanks for the great work and beautiful pictures my friend ! Cheers Jeff

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thanks for the great write up. It is one thing to collect vintage watches, but it is another thing to get the complete story behind it. You ve done a great thing on both !! Brgds, Steven

The story is a nice addition to the watch... Not easy to find, but that's all the interest! Thanks for your nice words, my friend. Best, Nicolas

Outstanding review! Perhaps the best out there. Some reviews of this watch have been marred by authors who own a TR-900 but have little or no hands-on knowledge of Blancpains. Your review brings a depth of knowledge that is outstanding. A couple points. F... 

Of course, I know your work on this topic, but I didn't remember where I " saved " this pic of the Bulova. Thanks a lot for the precious informations and the impressive work you made on these watches. There is, again, a lot to say, and to dig about the TR...  

I think that the "AM" prefix indicates those few TR-900 cases that were made up into the "civilian version" of the TR-900 watch. My theory is that they were left over cases rather than a prototype, but this is a guess. These civilian TR-900s seem much mor... 

Will open quite soon another topic about these AM FFs. I don't know, Camfam, I thought " American Military ", too, but a guy in the US, who has a certain knowledge in Military Watches, was laughting at this theory, and told me the true meaning of " NFW ".... 

..Really interesting to learn so much on these great watches Best Hans

and if I had written : this comment is exhaustive, there would not have been a syllabic palindrome

I missed it 8 years ago. Thanks to whoever brought it up again and to you for writing it. Cheers from Zurich Richard