Precista CAF PRS-9

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One of my favourite ‘days out’ is a trip to Cosford Air Museum near Telford.  As well as the aircraft themselves I adore the atmosphere of the place; be it a windy wet day or a fine summer’s afternoon, wandering around a hangar and just taking in the atmosphere is an experience that I always enjoy.  In the days when I flew myself I relished the occasions when instead of jumping straight into an aircraft parked on the apron, I would have to open up … Continue reading

Precista PRS-5 Chrono

Despite having owned more than one chronograph over the years I would state at the outset that chronographs have never been my first choice for everyday wear. However, when I need to wear a chronograph through necessity then my choice is always one equipped with hands as opposed to a 1/100 seconds digital affair with a plethora of lap times and so on. I do not need that functionality and as with many people (possibly of my own generation but it seems increasingly with younger … Continue reading

Precista PRS-10 ‘GS’

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Up until the early 1980s the British forces (indeed, many other forces) were issued with manually wound watches which ranged from simple, low jewel count disposable watches (viz. some ‘Vietnam Era’ USA issued pieces) to high grade navigational timekeepers such as the IWC Mark XI. Between the two were a plethora of watches which were suited to and served many purposes. Of course, in those days it was necessary for the purchasing authorities to make use of what was within reason available to a certain … Continue reading

Precista PRS-14

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In late 1977 I acquired my first ‘real’ watch – a Rolex GMT Master which of course in those days was equipped with a matt black dial with no white gold embellishments, an acrylic crystal which I scratched on the first day and which was water resistant to all of 50 meters. At the time, as far as I was concerned then the specification of the Rolex was the norm for a sports watch which was by no means cheap. Whilst Rolex was indeed a … Continue reading

Precista PRS-53 Fat Arrow

I recall as recently as the mid 1990s that watch buyers would remove military issue markings from the back of a watch or indeed prefer to buy military issued pieces with the markings already removed. Hindsight is a great thing of course and there must be many people who regret having undertaken this surgery. The market for military watches and indeed collectability of the same has mushroomed over the last decade; particularly, post war to late 1970s issued pieces are a finite resource simply because … Continue reading