Charles Vögele gold quartz CV-7331

Today I was at an exhibition with lots of people in suits, so I chose something smart and simple.

This is my second watch by Charles Vögele and is quite a plain watch compared to what I normally wear.

Charles Vögele is an unusual designer as he started as a racing driver in the 1950s. Him and his wife started the clothing company in 1955 with motorcycle clothing, but now produces a range of high and low fashion items. The company is Swiss based and has stores across Europe, and it seems the watch arm is Far East based.

This is the CV-7331 which is a very thin gold coloured quartz watch. It is a 2 hand dial design with a Japanese Morioka Tokei VX50D quartz movement. It has a custom silver and gold metal strap which matches to the case.

I haven't worked out when these watches were from as they don't appear online, so it could be anytime from the 80s through to the 2000s.

Independent Truck Company - Built To Grind

As many regular readers will know, I collect the Independent range of watches. Today's watch is also an Independent, but nothing to do with my normal collection.

This watch is an Independent as in the Independent Truck Company, who manufacturer skateboard trucks (the axle, it's hanger, and the baseplate which attaches it to the board). The company was established in 1978 and is based in California. They are well known in the skateboarding world and sponsor many riders, including Tony Hawk. It is recognised by their Alisee cross logo, and this logo is on the watch face behind the Independent name.

The watch also has the statement 'Built to Grind' on the face. There was a book published in 2004 also called Built to Grind which was based on the Independent Truck Company archives of skateboard material, so my guess would be that this watch may be a similar age.

The watch itself is a pretty plain 3 hand dial design, in silver colour, with a rotating bezel. Inside is a Japanese Morioka Tokei (Seiko?) module which takes the standard AG4 battery.