Lemania 5012 South African Air Force issue
Discussion
This was issued to South African pilots from 1980 to about 1984, made by Lemania it uses a 5012 movement. This is virtually the same as the more well known 5100 movement, the main difference being the lower beat rate (21,600 vs. 28,800). This is an actual issued watch whose owner kept it as a keepsake on retiring.
The watch wasn't released on the civilian market (although the Royal Australian Air Force used the same watch with a 'broad-arrow' marking n the dial). About 800 were commissioned in two batches of 400, however not many remain in the wild today, there are about ten/twelve I've seen in collections worldwide going back over the years. SAAF personnel had a choice to buy them for 35 Rand (a Happy Meal) back in the day, but could then exchange them for the new fangled Seiko Sports 100 quartz watches - which many did. The result was that most were destroyed or buried by the Quarter Master. This one doesn't come from a collection so is newly 'discovered'.
The size is about 41mm, the case has been polished a little and the aluminium bezel shows some signs of wear. The crystal (acrylic) is perfect and the watch is about 14/15mm tall. The chrono functions by using the two extra hands in the centre - mins and secs, so it can time up to 59'59". The small subdial is the constant seconds. It is fairly unusual in that normally a chrono will have two or three subdials, but some feature only one or two, or indeed none, to keep the dial legible and function-orientated. This is one of those watches. (Other examples are the Tissot Navigator single/double register Lemania 1340's and the Tutima Commando II Lemania 5100 for example).
Other unusual features include the minute track extended onto the rehaut, count-down bi-directional bezel, the lovely lime green patina of the lume and the low crown.
It's finish, perhaps in keeping with its customer base, is fairly crude, it looks like they've spooned on the lume, but to me that just gives it more character as a watch for a job rather than an aesthetic consideration.
There are some excellent threads and pictures of this rare beasty, firstly Rikus, the reference: http://saafwatches.blogspot.com/ and Jons: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f7/saaf-lemania-5012-... and one from a historical perspective is Brendans: http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t...
Some rushed pics, as I really have loads to do before the w/end:
Not a Patek finish!:
Unobtrusive crown:
Side by side with the EZM1, which is a non-subdial Lemania 5100:
The minute track / rehaut / bezel thang:
Its successor was the civilian Seiko Sports 100:
(This was my personal watch at the time - I'll try to get pics together later)
The watch wasn't released on the civilian market (although the Royal Australian Air Force used the same watch with a 'broad-arrow' marking n the dial). About 800 were commissioned in two batches of 400, however not many remain in the wild today, there are about ten/twelve I've seen in collections worldwide going back over the years. SAAF personnel had a choice to buy them for 35 Rand (a Happy Meal) back in the day, but could then exchange them for the new fangled Seiko Sports 100 quartz watches - which many did. The result was that most were destroyed or buried by the Quarter Master. This one doesn't come from a collection so is newly 'discovered'.
The size is about 41mm, the case has been polished a little and the aluminium bezel shows some signs of wear. The crystal (acrylic) is perfect and the watch is about 14/15mm tall. The chrono functions by using the two extra hands in the centre - mins and secs, so it can time up to 59'59". The small subdial is the constant seconds. It is fairly unusual in that normally a chrono will have two or three subdials, but some feature only one or two, or indeed none, to keep the dial legible and function-orientated. This is one of those watches. (Other examples are the Tissot Navigator single/double register Lemania 1340's and the Tutima Commando II Lemania 5100 for example).
Other unusual features include the minute track extended onto the rehaut, count-down bi-directional bezel, the lovely lime green patina of the lume and the low crown.
It's finish, perhaps in keeping with its customer base, is fairly crude, it looks like they've spooned on the lume, but to me that just gives it more character as a watch for a job rather than an aesthetic consideration.
There are some excellent threads and pictures of this rare beasty, firstly Rikus, the reference: http://saafwatches.blogspot.com/ and Jons: http://forums.watchuseek.com/f7/saaf-lemania-5012-... and one from a historical perspective is Brendans: http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t...
Some rushed pics, as I really have loads to do before the w/end:
Not a Patek finish!:
Unobtrusive crown:
Side by side with the EZM1, which is a non-subdial Lemania 5100:
The minute track / rehaut / bezel thang:
Its successor was the civilian Seiko Sports 100:
(This was my personal watch at the time - I'll try to get pics together later)
Edited by andy_s on Tuesday 21st September 23:32
Thanks chaps, been wearing it (carefully) since it arrived and it's keeping time very well. It looks a lot crisper/darker than in my pics, very pleased indeed.
Tutima still sell new L5100 powered watches (Commando II & NATO) but I can't imagine that'll last much longer as production dried up a fair few years ago.
EZM4:
(The coloured scale is to mark O2 safety times for firemen on BAs)
Tutima Commando II:
(Hour totaliser)
LukeBird said:
I never realised the EZM1 was Lemania powered.
The EZM1 and EZM4 use(d) the L5100 as did the 142s, the 142II that is currently on sale uses a D-D module piggy backed onto an ETA 2824 (D-D 2070) to get the central min/sec chrono hands.Tutima still sell new L5100 powered watches (Commando II & NATO) but I can't imagine that'll last much longer as production dried up a fair few years ago.
EZM4:
(The coloured scale is to mark O2 safety times for firemen on BAs)
Tutima Commando II:
(Hour totaliser)
Edited by andy_s on Thursday 23 September 11:51
The main advantage of the Lemania over the DD2070 (and normal chronos for that matter) was that the centre hands were directly driven, this meant they were less prone to stoppages under shock, one of the reasons (apart from the eye-ergonomics) they were used a lot in military chronos.
My dad gave me his RAF issue Seiko when I was 15 but the removals company stole it when we moved house a year later 
Yes you can claim insurance but where do you get another one of those from, especially with all the history having been flown in fighters, Hercules etc.
Yes you can claim insurance but where do you get another one of those from, especially with all the history having been flown in fighters, Hercules etc.Edited by custardtart on Friday 24th September 23:13
CT - there were two types of RAF issue Seiko, Gen 1 and 2. Gen 1 is the one pictured in my last pic on the original thread, (not my watch but the one pictured in the book - Zero Hour) Gen 2 has 3 pushers as opposed to 4 (iiirc).
Both crop up from time to time on the Military Watch Resource p/x forum (no minimum posts needed to access) and TZ-UK sales corner (for which you need a minimum post count). Use watchrecon.com or elitedealseeker.com to access most fora sales 'live'.
I saw 2 gen 1s for sale a few months ago on MWR but they were pretty shabby tbh.
Expect to pay between £150-200 for good working examples.
If I see any kicking about I'll let you know. Try google images to see if you can remember which generation it was that your dad had.
HTH
ETA - Neil at chronomaster had a few for sale - I don't know whether they are sold or not -> chronomaster/for sale/vintage military
Both crop up from time to time on the Military Watch Resource p/x forum (no minimum posts needed to access) and TZ-UK sales corner (for which you need a minimum post count). Use watchrecon.com or elitedealseeker.com to access most fora sales 'live'.
I saw 2 gen 1s for sale a few months ago on MWR but they were pretty shabby tbh.
Expect to pay between £150-200 for good working examples.
If I see any kicking about I'll let you know. Try google images to see if you can remember which generation it was that your dad had.
HTH
ETA - Neil at chronomaster had a few for sale - I don't know whether they are sold or not -> chronomaster/for sale/vintage military
Edited by andy_s on Saturday 25th September 12:12
Check these both Gen 1 and 2 and over £500!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Seiko-Gen-1-RAF-Pilot-Aircre...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gen-2-RAF-RN-Pilot-Aircrew-I...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Seiko-Gen-1-RAF-Pilot-Aircre...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gen-2-RAF-RN-Pilot-Aircrew-I...
andy_s said:
CT - there were two types of RAF issue Seiko, Gen 1 and 2. Gen 1 is the one pictured in my last pic on the original thread, (not my watch but the one pictured in the book - Zero Hour) Gen 2 has 3 pushers as opposed to 4 (iiirc).
Both crop up from time to time on the Military Watch Resource p/x forum (no minimum posts needed to access) and TZ-UK sales corner (for which you need a minimum post count). Use watchrecon.com or elitedealseeker.com to access most fora sales 'live'.
I saw 2 gen 1s for sale a few months ago on MWR but they were pretty shabby tbh.
Expect to pay between £150-200 for good working examples.
If I see any kicking about I'll let you know. Try google images to see if you can remember which generation it was that your dad had.
HTH
ETA - Neil at chronomaster had a few for sale - I don't know whether they are sold or not -> chronomaster/for sale/vintage military
Thanks Both crop up from time to time on the Military Watch Resource p/x forum (no minimum posts needed to access) and TZ-UK sales corner (for which you need a minimum post count). Use watchrecon.com or elitedealseeker.com to access most fora sales 'live'.
I saw 2 gen 1s for sale a few months ago on MWR but they were pretty shabby tbh.
Expect to pay between £150-200 for good working examples.
If I see any kicking about I'll let you know. Try google images to see if you can remember which generation it was that your dad had.
HTH
ETA - Neil at chronomaster had a few for sale - I don't know whether they are sold or not -> chronomaster/for sale/vintage military
Edited by andy_s on Saturday 25th September 12:12
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