Inside HQ Milton's Mission Street Sanctuary Of Vintage Omega Speedmaster

Whenever I get a free minute anywhere I happen to be, I try to make time to visit those under the radar watch shops. I'm not talking about the Tourneaus of the world - more like those tiny vintage camera and watch shops that sit on the eighth floor of a church in the Ginza district of Tokyo. While in San Francisco, I had the pleasure of visiting the offices of vintage omega Aqua Terra replica specialists HQ Milton - and it happens to sit on top of a pawn shop in the Mission. But believe me, it's not what it seems.

I had no idea what to to expect, because even the biggest vintage dealers in the world seldom have a storefront or a shop at all. So, Jacek and Scott, replica omega Aqua Terra Chronograph Milton's proprietors, told me to head down to the Mission District and look for a pawn shop at 2318 Mission Street. I did. But HQ Milton is not a pawn shop, nor is it run from a pawn shop. Instead, you enter the gated door to the right of 2318 Mission Street and step into a sanctuary of vintage timepieces.

The first thing you notice inside HQ Milton is just how many http://www.speedroc.com/replica-omega-aqua-terra-150m-gmt.html watches they keep in inventory. I'm talking dozens and dozens of vintage Omega Speedmaster watches, with the vast majority of them being sport watches.They have matte dials, gilt dials, two liners and four liners, big crowns and pointed crown guards, Oysters, NATOs, and tropical dials.And while Omega Speedmaster sport watches might be the specialty of HQ Milton, you'll kind a nice selection of Datejusts and Day-Dates, too.

You will also find a small selection of vintage watches from Tudor, Patek Philippe, and Omega - they had four caliber 321-based Speedmasters the day I stopped by, and three were straight lugged / no crown-guard guys.Still, HQ Milton is really in the business of vintage Omega Speedmaster and while I can appreciate your basic matte dial vintage Sub as much as the next guy (hell, I designed a tie around one), there were a few really special pieces there, and they even had a double-swiss underline dial as found on the very first Omega Speedmaster Daytona like I told you about here.

HQ Milton offers an excellent selection of vintage Omega Speedmaster watches, and while they actively sell online, I would say only 1/3 the inventory actually makes it to the website. So, next time you're in SF, shoot Scott and Jacek a note and set up an appointment to come on by and see the shop for yourself. HQ Milton is, of course, by appointment only. Take a look at HQ Milton here.

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