[Leica] Horology

[jbm at jbm.org (Jeff Moore)]

Yep, funny y'all should mention that right now.  Just a few days ago,
after a few years of admiring them from afar, I treated myself to a
shiny new IWC UTC (with the "classic" face).  I saw that the only UTC
model now entering the retail pipelines was the newfangled, ugly,
tarted-up "Spitfire" flavor, and I figured I should get one of the
clean-looking ones while the getting was good.  I learned my lesson
from the One True Portofino Face I Love, which became completely
unavailable, new or used, while I was making up my mind.

I am astonished at their ability to make a curved synthetic-sapphire
crystal like that with no visible optical distortions.  And optically
coated to reduce reflections, too -- although one wonders if the
coating on the outside is just waiting to get scratched, thus reducing
the utility of the super-hard material.

[I figure I just made one actual on-topic post, so I can make my usual
five meandering ones now.]

 -Jeff M.