Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Grande GMT

His and Her Venturas
HiHave long been a Breitling fan and am the proud owner of a Navitimer. However, for a long time I have been drawn to Hamiltons, since I first saw one at an airport. I have been lurking around this forum for ages reading up on them and slowly developing a real affection for the brand. From Hamilton's own website we located a dealer near to us ( erm 50 miles away actually) in Knowle near Solihull UK. We visited him a few months ago and tried on just about every Hammie he had in stock! My leanings were towards a Khaki GMT but we wanted to look at a Ventura for my wife. He said he would get one in on a bracelet strap and sure enough he rang us. Well we did nothing for a month or so until yesterday when we revisited the store. They are great guys in there and we spent simply ages in there looking, trying admiring. My wife's wrists are very tiny and it seemed that The Ventura bracelet would not reduce small enough. Anyway he persevered and finally got it small enough and it suited he brilli

Just"won" a Benrus alarm and a Lord Elgin 30 Jewel
Getting a mechanical alarm watch has been on my to do list. With new Vulcains running into the thousands, I had to go the other way. I lost out on a nice Benrus alarm watch last week when at the last second bidding went into crazy territory. It isn't that I couldn't have won it, I just wasn't going to pay $400 for one. This one was within my tolerances. Looking at the pictures, the dial looks great, but will probably need some TLC to bring the case up to specs.Screen Shot 2013-09-22 at 4.36.36 PM.jpgThe other watch I won today was a Lord Elgin American made 30 jewel automatic. From the pics, the dial looks pretty good and the case, maybe B- or C+.Screen Shot 2013-09-22 at 4.37.04 PM.jpgI'll post pictures when they get here.

Leather strap replacement. question
As anyone who owns a Patek knows. The Alligator straps only last a few years at best.My question is this. Have any of you sought other companies to make custom straps for you? What are your opinions? . Im curious as Ive only purchased straps from Patek and sometimes they are limited in what they have in stock. Has anyone had custom straps made and have they been as good as the ones you buy directly from Patel ?thanks

Lefty Oris watches
Just wondering how many left handers (or the others ) there are that enjoy having crowns on the left hand side of their watch?I'm used to owning "normal" watches with the crown on the right side, but just made things just that more difficult to wind or adjust the time. Since I bought the Great Barrier Reef Ld. I'm enjoying the comfort

Provenance
By definitionProvenance is the origin or source from which something comes, and the history of subsequent owners (also known in some fields as chain of custody). The term is often used in the sense of place and time of manufacture, production or discovery. Comparative techniques, expert opinion, written and verbal records and the results of tests are often used to help establish provenance.We know about Hamilton,Omega,F.P. Journe,Eterna,IWC,Timex,perhaps Renato and even Croton and Invicta ( though I believe that these last 2 mentioned current owners purchased the "provenance")Can anyone tell me the provenance of S.Coifman and Potger Pietri?I have been a WIS for a while and all research goes no further than their current owners.Has anyone looked further than I have and gotten a history (other than the Lalos version) of these brands?