A sei tacche. Stop the clock. What did I win?

 

A sei tacche could be one of a hundred references.... more info required.

 

I’ll try WWW... faint evidence of a fixed bar on the left lug ?

Edit... make that both lugs.

 

Nope.

 

Fixed bars though, right ?

 

BI ?

 

Bingo!!!!

 

Here is a drawing of the plexi for a Longines 6111 in case anyone needs one.
As far as I am aware they are not obtainable, so if you need one you will have to make one.
I will post a picture of one I made out of a solid rod of Perspex in the near future.

 

WOW! Always happy for a glimpse of a Big Indian. Many congratulations.

 

I actually didn't like it much when I first got it. I found its "flatness" to be a little hard to get used to.

 

I was told by a few watch makers that a plexi couldn't be made.

 

Very skilled perspex turning, it is an amazing material. Is there a story to finding such a rare watch or did it come through a dealer?

 

This watch was originally listed at Bonhams UK in December 2011 .

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19025/lot/161/#

I called the auction house and advised them that I wanted to do a phone bid. They called me at 3am and while I was waiting for the watch to come up I realised that it was the wrong watch. The 6111-1 had already gone up and it had sold for 10k quid. I was rather pissed to say the least.

https://www.mwrforum.net/forums/sho...s-6B-346-Sold-at-Auction&highlight=big+indian

I contacted a friend who knew the head of the auction house. I asked him to find out if the purchaser wanted to sell it. The auction house got me the email address of the purchaser and I sent him an email to see if he wanted to sell it. The purchaser said he would sell the watch for 14000 pounds. I agreed. I didn’t hear from him for a week or so. He finally answered my emails and said he wanted 16000 pounds. I agreed. Same thing again, I didn’t hear back. About 2 weeks later he answered my emails. He now said he wanted 18000 pounds. I said I would pay 18000 but I wasn’t going to play this game anymore. I sent him the funds and he took the watch back to the auctioneer.

A couple of weeks later my friend picked it up and brought it over to me.

When it turned up I realised there was a part missing. The top balance jewel and cap were missing.

My watchmaker said the jewel and cap was a Monorex 53…. So I started hunting for one. I spent 3 years looking for one or trying to get someone to make me one.

https://www.mwrforum.net/forums/sho...rex-53-for-my-Longines-6111&highlight=monorex

I then found out that that my watchmaker was wrong, the jewel I should have been looking for was a super shock resist. I found one within a week for $7.

I took the part to the watchmaker. The watchmaker called me a few weeks later and told me he broke the pivot on the escape wheel when he was trying to straighten it. He said he had to purchase some new tooling to re-pivot the escape wheel. About 6 months later the watchmaker called again and said the plexiglass was rooted. I hunted around for 6 months or so trying to find one without success.

I contacted a few places to see if they could make me one. Nothing panned out. One place said they could make me 100 for 10k or something. I then found a guy who said he would make me one, I didn’t hold out much hope so I purchased a lathe and had a go. It took a few tries but I was eventually able to do one. The guy in Germany also made one and sent it to me.

I think I finally got the watch fixed in 2016.

When I finally got it on my wrist I found I didn’t really like it as it sits very flat. It took a while to get used to it. Now I really like it!!

Thanks for finally motivating me to write down the story of this watch!!!!

 

I must say I was expecting some back story but not so many twists and turns. I know it's a super rare watch but not sure that I would have put up with such an amount of 'upping the ante' from the seller, very cloak and dagger, my feet would have gotten cold I reckon (not that I could have afforded it anyway). Great story of perseverance though and the end result is a grail for many, so again, congratulations and thank you for sharing your amazing story. I must read the history of them again in Knirim to refresh my memory.
Cheers
Mark

I just noticed that it shares the second hand with the COSD....

 

Yea, normally I would have told the purchaser to fcuk right off!!!... but I really wanted this watch.

The hand is unique to this watch. the COSD is similar but different. I will post a picture of one in the near future.

 

Cool, what`s the difference between this and a ordinary underlayed plexiglass?
Uncommon size maybe.....

 

wow. that's some story there. thanks for sharing