I have hunted a Sea Hawk I, 7100 with cream dial for a number of years and I can now report that I finally found one for my collection. While I already own a perfect black dial Sea Hawk I, the cream dial was a painful gap.
Not only is the white dial version quite rare compared with black or blue dials, it provides a very different look on the wrist. It feels a lot more vintage than the black version and the nicely aged Tritium markers are the cherry on the cake.
There is another big issue with finding vintage Sea Hawk I’s and that is condition. Many dials are no longer in perfect condition and some have been exposed to water or moisture which does not help. Even more tricky is the bezel insert. The original bezel insert was made from sapphire.
The sapphire insert was made from a thin layer of sapphire, which seemed a good idea but was very sensitive to cracks. Most of the original inserts got broken and destroyed and GP changed the insert with Sea Hawk model 7300 to aluminium which is much more durable. However, there is definitely less shine in the newer inserts.
Sea Hawks that have gone for service have had routinely replaced the inserts with the newer aluminium ones. My black Sea Hawk I also has a newer insert. So you can imagine my joy when the white Sea Hawk here still had the original sapphire insert in flawless condition. Now I just need to be careful not to bump it anywhere.
As with everything in life, there is no perfect perfection. The white Sea Hawk had a broken screw-in crown. So I need to find a replacement crown. Temporarily, I have sacrificed the crown from the black Sea Hawk. Sometimes you have to pay a price.
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I have hunted a Sea Hawk I, 7100 with cream dial for a number of years and I can now report that I finally found one for my collection. While I already own a perfect black dial Sea Hawk I, the cream dial was a painful gap.
Not only is the white dial version quite rare compared with black or blue dials, it provides a very different look on the wrist. It feels a lot more vintage than the black version and the nicely aged Tritium markers are the cherry on the cake.
There is another big issue with finding vintage Sea Hawk I’s and that is condition. Many dials are no longer in perfect condition and some have been exposed to water or moisture which does not help. Even more tricky is the bezel insert. The original bezel insert was made from sapphire.
Sea Hawks that have gone for service have had routinely replaced the inserts with the newer aluminium ones. My black Sea Hawk I also has a newer insert. So you can imagine my joy when the white Sea Hawk here still had the original sapphire insert in flawless condition. Now I just need to be careful not to bump it anywhere.
As with everything in life, there is no perfect perfection. The white Sea Hawk had a broken screw-in crown. So I need to find a replacement crown. Temporarily, I have sacrificed the crown from the black Sea Hawk. Sometimes you have to pay a price.
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