Vantage - First pics of the Mk II 1016 homage
I am pleased to post the first pics of a project that has been in the works for almost a year. I started sketching out the case design, which is based on the vintage Rolex 1016, last summer while I was visiting my sister-in-law out in San Francisco. Here is a short list of the specifications for this watch that should debut in the early Fall this year:
Diameter: 39 mm
Water resistance: 200 meters
Movement: ETA 2824-2, Elabore grade
Crystal: Domed sapphire
Strap: Blackwater natural rubber strap or Mk II solid-end link bracelet
The case, Mk II reference “39″16 
aka the “Vantage”, is compatible with all of the QUAD10 dials and hands. Shown below is the GS date dial with Type 53 hands and a stock date wheel. The railroad tracks on the GS dial make the watch feel smaller than it should with the new 1016 style dial. A new 369 date dial and “Mercedes-style” handset are currently in the works specifically for this watch but won’t be ready for a preview until probably the end of July.
The following is a better shot of the bracelet:
The bracelet features the following:
- Solid links with screw pins
- Solid-end links
- Mk II signed adjustable safety clasp
- Heavy guage milled deployant arm
Regarding Pre-orders:
Its a bit premature to be talking about this but I am going to address it because I know I am going to get quite a few e-mails asking about the option. Given the anticipated demand for the version with the new 369 date dial and Mercedes-style hands we will be taking pre-orders only for a Swiss Assembled/Made version of the Vantage. The other reason we are only going to take pre-orders for the Swiss Made version is because I don’t want to see my backlog get ridiculously long, which it is already approaching. Custom versions will be available but customers will have to go through the normal ordering process. As soon as we are able to post pics of the watch with the dial and handset that are currently in the works we will begin taking deposits. I hope to be able to post pics of the watch with the 369 date dial and hands by the end of July.
With the introduction of the Mk II Vantage the QUAD10 will be pulled from the line-up in July to undergo a re-design.
New Toys…er….I mean tools
Its always exciting getting new tools. Most of the time, like today, it represents a new stage in Mk II’s development and the watches we build. While I was at Baselworld I ordered these new toys/tools from Bergeon (yes its taken more than 2 months to get them in). The toolmaker actually doesn’t take orders directly from retail customers except for once a year at the industry’s Swiss tradeshow. A few of these items are new and should provide you a hint of the kinds of watches I have in the pipeline.
Here is a pretty basic tool that is used to remove screw-pins found in bracelets and used in place of spring bars on cases. The case or bracelet is placed over the top of the tool and one end of the screw-pin is placed on top of the blade protruding from the tool. With your free hand it is safe then to unscrew the pin from the top with a screwdriver.
This should save me of having to use two screwdrivers, one from each end, and assuming the risk of stabbing myself in each hand simultaneously. This may not sound that bad but these screwdriver blades have to be kept quite sharp so that they do their job well.
This next tool I think is relatively new as I hadn’t seen it offered anywhere until recently. To be honest I am not much of a bracelet person so I haven’t really looked for this kind of tool in the past. It was designed for attaching bracelets to watch cases. By compressing the spring bar from both sides simultaneously it’s much easier to seat the final link into the case without scratching the case lugs. This is especially useful for solid-end-link bracelets that are made to fit at very tight tolerances to the case lug width. I have a plastic version of this tool made by another Swiss company that works reasonable well but never felt quite as stable as this one below should. Both are quite expensive ranging from $60 to $120.
The standard bracelet tool works fine if you own the watch but to keep it looking pristine before shipment the above tool is essential. A larger pic of the same tool:
Here is something bright and shiny…. 
It actually is really quite beautiful, especially if you have seen the previous model which was just made of cast iron painted gray. This isn’t really something that I had to have. It was more of something that I wanted to get to make my life a little easier.
I have been using a smaller tool made by Horotec that did the job very well but required changing and cleaning the tips after setting each hand. The movement also had to be manually positioned under the setter and on the movement holder. On this new tool the movement’s position is fixed precisely under the plunger and for each hand the top half of the hand setter actually swivels into position over the movement. In addition the travel for each plunger can be adjusted to stop at a set height so that hands are not pushed too far down. This particular one has one tip for a GMT hand, hour hand, minute hand and sweep seconds hand.
The next Mk II watch will be announced later this week. I hope the above was of interest.
Stingray: Shipment updates
The order status portal is now up to date. Revised sales orders haven’t been e-mailed yet but will start going out tonight. Crystals and the final components required to resume Stingray deliveries will be in hand next week.
The only potential issue at this point is that the movements we have been waiting for from ETA are now scheduled to ship at the end of this month (i.e. nearly 10 weeks late). We have enough movements to deliver every watch scheduled through the end of July but for those down the line its cutting it close. Hopefully this will be the final revsion of the shipment date from ETA and I can start breathing again.
Stingray et al: Standby for updates
I have the revised schedule completed and will be e-mailing updates to customers over the next few days.
Unfortunately for non-Stingray customers some ship dates had to be pushed back. I apologize for having to do this.