Alpha and Omega

At the weekend I was at the antiques fair and came away with this... a nice looking pocket watch - no bargain but not breaking the bank either.

Inside its marked as Louis Brandt & Frere S.A. and MORA Grand Prix Paris 1900.  which when you look it up turns out to be an early Omega. Omega became part of the company name in 1904 which dates it pretty well to the very early years of the 20th century.

Nice.

Budvaser

A pair of vases.  Elegant form. Very light in weight and an irregularity  e.g. In the fluted edge that suggests hand made?  Beyond that I'm struggling to put a date on them, though I saw a similar type described as 'mid-century'. 

Any ideas?

A stitch from time

I've been thinking of getting a sewing machine for some time.  Nothing fancy but something that would be useful when sewing by hand is a bit too much.

After passing it by in the window for several weeks I eventually went in and bought this Elna series 1 machine - a little piece of history. 

First made in 1940, this was the first domestic 'free arm' machine (you can take your material under the sewing bed). It was made in three different versions until 1952.  This one's the middle version and dates from 1946.

Having got it home it seems to run well, but there are no bobbins with it and the rubber drive belt is split and needs replacing - so I'm currently searching for spares...  (there's a place in US but I've not found anyplace closer)