WHY own more than 1 watch? Here is ONE reason..

 This was the TURF CLUB before the war came, before the Japanese attack.
I used to come here as a ACS school boy, change out of my uniform, and bet on horses.
I was then 15.
I never gambled on horses since. But I actually made good $$$.
But..why do I collect watches? memories...not as far back, but read more..below

 This was HIGH STREET.
Today, I drive my German made Porsche 911 carerra in the mornings to drop off my daughter at the SMU.
And I give an Italian proffessor a lift.
Imagine, axis forces...fighting here just 70 or so years back.

 This is a U Boat.
Singapore was a MAJOR big league U boat base during world war 2.
The germans had HUGE parties and their own version of Tatler!!!
All here in Singapore.

 This is the U boat that ran operations around our oceans.
The men aboard lived in dastardly conditions...and met terrible deaths.

 Here you see a U boat under attack from an american plane.

 If you google Uboat, you will read terrible accounts of how the men drowned or were boiled alive by water or oil.

 Here is a Uboat cruising off Changi point 70 years ago!

 The USAF B29 bombers really bombed the daylights out of outram park and Tanjong Pagar..the above picture is Tanjong Pagar under attack from a B29.
Today, at the lower right corner, is a famous night life clubbing area!!!
The younger people, me included, cannot imagine how it was like 70 years back.

 Here is the ACTUAL plane that bombed Singapore...this can be verified by the markings on the tail, and also because I have good pals who helped me get this picture from archives.

 Here...is why I collect watches. One of many reasons.
This watch, the one on the left, is the ACTUAL watch that was on one of the B29 planes that bombed Singapore!
No kidding.
I got it about 12 years ago thru an american who served as an air crew gunner on a B29 that bombed our island..cool ???

 The watch has NOT been serviced since 1945.
It works FINE.
It is a monopusher chronograph used by the bomb/navigator.
It keeps super accurate time.
Speaks volumes for how well made these watches are...look at the DIRT!!!!
But it works!!
And look at how it was once repaired by a watchmaker in the 1940s!

 These closer looks, alllow one to recall how great the USA were at making watches!

 Here is GOODWOOD HOTEL in 1944.
It was the Teutonia, a club for German high society.

 Here is a watch from Singapore, a German watch that today is called/renamed Lange!!!!
I chuckle when Lange owners are unaware of the watch's history!

 The case was once SOLID gold, but the Nazi regime reacquired the metal, and gave a rough case to the owner!
You can see that this watch was owned by a ranking german officer, as the Nazi emblem has neeb removed, and the holes are still there!

 YES..Assman was a partner of Lange.
A most apt name really.
Lange owners should get a Lange pocket watch and a Lange marine chronometer, I hunted these down, and bought them in 1996.

 This is CHANGI HOSPITAL! Today..ruins.
I once worked here when I was stationed here as a doctor for the Singapore Special Operations Unit as a part of my national service.

 English men being made to carry sewing machines along Bukit Timah.
They met terrible deaths later.

 This pocket watch belonged to one such soul...and I bought it in 1998.
Works PERFECTLY, last serviced in 1948. Chuckles!!!

 This is a british Hurricane crashed into East Coast Road just behind where Jacky's Bowling Alley used to be!

 Thsi is Singapore burning away 70 years ago.

This is the SAME place today..MARINA BAY SANDS!!!
Isn't watch collecting wonderful as you trace history back?
Holding a watch from 1944/45?
A watch from a Uboat or an airman.
I can imagine that the watches I have today, made in 2006 and on...are going to last for centuries.