2025 has been a pretty heavy one from a watch buying perspective. Three more picked up today, but largely because of opportune purchasing.

First, the M.A.D1S which was bought via a raffle system back in September 2024 and arrived recently. It’s a crazy rotor on the top with a disc in the edge to read the time. Clearly a novelty and not a daily wearer, but huge fun all the same.


Second is the Longines Spirit Flyback. I’ve been mentioning here for a while that I’ve admired their work and when a good deal came up to buy one pre-owned, I couldn’t resist. First impressions are that it’s superbly finished for the price. The 42mm case diameter and thickness are right at the limits for me but it will wear nicely.


Lastly, something quite special, a Dornblüth & Sohn 99.1M with hand-engraved dial. It’s 40.0mm and absolutely lovely. Again, an opportune pre-owned purchase which saved me getting on the 14-month waiting list as well.


Now the buying must stop!

The Dornblüth is lovely!

lovely pieces.

I think you might have nailed a pretty decent 3 watch collection. All lovely and yet very different. Great selection.
I'd have all of them in a flash.
Pat

Very nice

Very nice indeed.

The Longines is my favourite of the three.

You are certainly on a roll.

Off to check the Instagram account, to see if Mrs TPB has retaliated with a clutch of new bags!

Neil

I have spent a bit more time with the M.A.D.1S today. The M.A.D. watches are an offshoot of Maximilian Büsser and Friends (MB&F) who otherwise create outrageously expensive pieces. The M.A.D. editions are more palatable cost-wise and are available via a raffle-type system.

The M.A.D.1S was the fifth edition and the third time I had entered the raffle. This time I (or more precisely, Mrs TB) was lucky enough to be selected and the automated purchase was made. This was in September 2024 and the watch arrived in January 2025.

The watch is mostly about the rotor which is really just a fidget spinner for the wrist. Already I feel a bit of soreness from the temptation to keep flicking it. Time is told via a disc on the case edge. The previous editions had two discs, one each for hours and minutes, but this edition has only one and is around 20% slimmer at a height of 15mm. The stainless steel case is 42mm with the crown at the top.

The watch is powered by an automatic La Joux-Perret G101 movement with 68 hours power reserve. Strap is leather with a deployment clasp and feels a little cheap.

It’s clearly a slightly bonkers thing but a huge amount of fun and I’m sure it’ll be a talking point once it’s worn out and about.

And a few more pictures of the Dornblüth.

The model is the 99.1-M which has a 40mm case size. Dornblüth allow lots of customization and this one is a steel case with a hand engraved silver plated brass dial. The movement on this model is a manually wound decorated ETA/Unitas movement. A further step up in models and you get the nicer in-house Quintus movement, but like I said before, this pre-owned purchase came at the right time and price, and I still think it looks pretty great.

The seller provided two straps, both from the Strap Tailor, made specifically for the watch. One is ostrich shin while the other is Badalassi wax leather. Both are on OEM clasps, one being a traditional buckle while the other is a deployment clasp.

It’s simply just a beautiful watch and timekeeping so far has been superb.

@timepieces_and_bags
The ostrich strap is beautiful. It’s the same leather I chose (in grey) when David made a new strap for my Tank:

New Treads for the Tank

3 awesome time gages

The MAD is perfectly cool...
The Longines is perfectly sharp...
The Dornbluth is perfectly classy (though I don't like the way they use the phrase 'hand engraved' so loosely)

Great choices

Greatpotfarm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 11, 2025 3:28 am The Dornbluth is perfectly classy (though I don't like the way they use the phrase 'hand engraved' so loosely)

Thank you! Could you educate me at all on the ‘hand engraved’ question? I had thought it was precisely that but it would appear there are shades of grey to the definition.

Hand engraving is a technique where the marks engraved are made by a hand held graver manually pushed through the material. There is no machine involved. Since there is no machine involved, there will always be imperfections (very hard to tell with the work of master engravers) especially in straight lines and perfect circles. Just the railroad track on the Dornbluth would be a high achievement for a hand full of master engravers on our planet - basically next to impossible...

Dornbluth uses a machine called a pantograph to create their dials. A pantograph is the predecessor of the CNC mill, where instead of a computer controlling the motion of the motorized engraving bit, a stylus traces a pattern off a large template, and through mechanical linkages scales it down to the engraving bit. So it's all machine work...

Although Dornbluth is actually very careful not to mention hand engraving on their website, they say the dials are engraved in the 'traditional method' of clock making, and the black is laid into the engraving by hand... which I believe got misstranslated by the lay public as hand engraving.

Hand engraving is basically an artist's freeform skill, while pantographing is a machinist 's skill at reproduction...
If you would like to know more on the subject of hand engraving or pantography, there are many wonderful videos on line... Including a short video on Dornbluth & Sohn Facebook page which demonstrates just how they use a pantograph to engrave their dials.

Even though pantograph work, the Dornbluth dial is still super well executed, this small German brand puting in some serious personal thought and elbow grease into their creations.

@Greatpotfarm - thank you Dan, that’s incredibly insightful and I appreciate you taking the time for such a detailed reply.

Edited to add: likely it was me misdescribing this as hand-engraved while nothing I have received actually describes it as so.