Vintage Lanco wrist watch

I have recently bought another watch from eBay, this time a Lanco mechanical hand wind wrist watch for which I paid 9 $, shipping included.

Lanco is a brand of Langendorf Watch Company, which was a large Swiss watch company founded in 1873. The Langendorf Watch Company was bought in 1965 by SSIH (Societe suisse pour l'industrie horlogere SA), a holding under which many other companies existed. In 1973 SSIH reached it's peak selling approx. 13.6 million timepieces, of which 70 percent where pin lever watches. The Japanese inexpensive quartz watches became the main rival of SSIH (quartz was a fearful competitor to the majority of mechanical watches). At the end of 70's the holding was in financial trouble. In 1983 the ASUAG and SSIH merged forming SMH (Swiss Corporation for microelectronics and watchmaking industries LTD). This created the largest watchmaking company. Both ASUAG and SSIH where holding companies, so the merger took a few years to implement. In 1998 the company changed the name to Swatch Group.

Pentel Energel on the screen

Watching the tv series Better Call Saul, I spotted a Pentel Energel pen. For you that do not know, Better Call Saul is a sideshow of Breaking Bad, on AMC. It presents the background of Saul Goodman the lawyer in Breaking Bad, his efforts of creating a name for himself, establishing a legitimate practice,  and the interaction with different characters that made a mark in Breaking Bad. In the 6th episode, Mike is the star. His background as an ex cop is under the spotlight, how did he end up in Albuquerque, and what made him leave the uniform for the criminal life.

Seven episodes into the life of Saul Goodman and I can say is a great show. Give it a try, especially if you enjoyed Breaking Bad.

Back to the pen spot.

Partial eclipse of the sun

Today was a partial eclipse of the sun. Approximately 55% percent of the sun was covered by the moon, on my side of the Earth.

To see it I used some dated technology, the eclipse glasses that I have since 1999 eclipse. Unfortunately then the sky was cloudy and I did not see it. It was a total eclipse in '99.

But good things happen to those who wait. Even if it's not a total eclipse, it's still the first eclipse I observe.

The eclipse seen through the glasses with an old compact Fuji.

Share your eclipse pictures.

Pelikan Erase, erasable pen

I don't understand why is there a need for a pen that can be erased instead of using a pencil, but for the sake of the test let's go on with the Pelikan erase

TEST #1: Writing

Writing with the pen feels creamy, but the ink is not coming out with consistency. If you take a look at the picture above you can see numerous parts of the text where the pen skipped, or where the line density is different from normal.