Jump to content

Vintage Rotary

anilv

By anilv
in Your Watch Collection

 Share

Recommended Posts

anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

Posted
Posted

Hi guys,

Wearing an old Rotary today. This is an older watch, probably from the 40s.

The case is Gold-plated and has seen some wear. Under the "Rotary' it says 'Super sports' . Above the sub-seconds dial it says 'shock-absorber' and 'anti-magnetic'. It has fixed lugs which makes swapping strap difficult, the one it has on is meant for fixed lugs and has a sturdy fold-over (probably metal inside) which clips on the lug. It has nice simple hands which have been blued well, the center of the minute hand has been left silver given a niece contrast. The case back is a faithful rendition of the dark side of the moon.

P_20170317_083415.thumb.jpg.5454ef992507d58b9a6cd1b52a2f7748.jpg

Nice hands

P_20170317_084400.thumb.jpg.6f8c1dc64854d6b08ee2cb25c2daf276.jpg

The dark side of the moon... not much can be done here without spending too much money.

P_20170317_085635.thumb.jpg.7d7d061fc4440ec0a958865117e535f0.jpg

The inside of the dark side of the moon.. I believe the '38' means 1938? At any rate, its more than 10 years old ;so good job Meteor!

P_20170317_083454.thumb.jpg.3bf36e5b74803b453b81624859f8b52e.jpg

When you pop off the bac, the movement stays in the caseback. You have to use a bit of force, working around the edges, before it comes away and you are left with this.. an inner caseback. This is comes off easily.

P_20170317_083502.thumb.jpg.adb28693ecb1e3ab6498c8730597e33a.jpg

Revealing the movement. I think it's an FHF of some sort. Note the early form of shock protection on the balance cock .. the cap jewel is retained by a spring plate and will 'give' is subjected to a hard knock. The problem with these early shock absorbers is that they were only mildly effective and that only if it hit the ground level. It had not much lateral movement built-in so if it landed edge-on the pivot would still break. Still better than no shock-absorber I suppose, If I am not mistaken Breguet pioneer this and later on it is common to find a similar system on Cyma watches. The ratchet-wheel has the normal Rotary 'Flying-wheel' which reminds me of a vintage car..Austin I think?  You can see the early type dial holding screws at 6 o'clock and slightly after 12.  The movement is marked 7/440 and just belove that there's a 'V" or maybe the 'pheon'? The watch runs well and keeps time. I haven't done anything to it but the regulator is cranked over to slow so there may be other issues, need to get some case screws too. Not so evident from the pictures is that the plates have been plated with a 'whiter' finish which looks like silver. You see similar on Movado movements. Finally in the era before center seconds, 15 jewels was as good as it got so this would have been made for the higher end of the market.

P_20170317_083514.thumb.jpg.08d3ea73ffe15b44ace0eb87cb606b4a.jpgv

Well its almost the weekend so have a good one!

Anilv

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

I like this watch Anil, I hope you track down more history.  Although the minute and hour hand look great, I feel one or both may have been fitted somewhere down the line.  The open diamond hands look the business, but I have only seen them fitted in matching pairs.

Regarding the dark side of the moon, I was looking for a triangular prism with bands of light being emitted. :ph34r:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, Geo said:

I like this watch Anil, I hope you track down more history.  Although the minute and hour hand look great, I feel one or both may have been fitted somewhere down the line.  The open diamond hands look the business, but I have only seen them fitted in matching pairs.

Regarding the dark side of the moon, I was looking for a triangular prism with bands of light being emitted. :ph34r:

The hands don't match.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wesley881 Watch Enthusiast

Wesley881

Posted
Posted

Great watch!  I have a new skeleton frame pocket watch from Rotary.  I went into Marshall's to get some long johns for an upcoming Winter hike and maybe some other factory seconds/discounts when I happened upon it.  It had been marked down from "$599" to $50!  I know these stores often inflate these numbers to drive a deal, but WOW.  Anyway, it is a very nice piece and I've enjoyed carrying it from time to time...are puns OK?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
digginstony Super WRT Addict

digginstony

Posted
Posted

Wow, a Rotary without a Chinese movement in. What a delight. If I'm looking right:- 6 bridges including the pallet fork? What a joy to work on. Absolutely love the watch even with replacement hands, though I would change them anyway as I prefer Batons.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
digginstony Super WRT Addict

digginstony

Posted
Posted
I assume the train bridge is actually one part, made to look like 3.
You're going to struggle to claim on that case wear warranty - I suspect it is slightly more than 10 years old!

Yep re looking at the photo the train bridge is probably all one. Though I could of swore I saw seem on the part below the "15 Jewels" could be a shadow.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 years later...
Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

Posted
Posted

 I think they made in- house movements at first or when in switzerland, once head quarters were moved to London, the company  expanded fast so started sourcing movements from others manufacturers, think Longines is now in swatch group. not sure though, but its a good make, never had problem with my watch.

Regs

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • joelcarvajal
      Gamblin Gamsol for cleaning?

      By joelcarvajal · Posted

      Thank you all for the replies!  Very informative! True enough, the Gamsol took some time to evaporate and does leave a residue. So not all naphtha are created equal!  Need to find alternatives then. i was able to try Hexane recommended by Alex and it seems great.  I wonder what the cons are?
    • GuyMontag
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By GuyMontag · Posted

      Yeah, I saw that in the tech sheet but I don't see how it can be adequately cleaned with the friction pinion still in place. I've accidentally pulled the arbor right out of the wheel once when I used a presto tool to try and remove it. Mark shows how he does it with the Platax tool. Those are a little too pricey for me so I got one of these from Aliexpress and I just push down on the arbor with the end of my brass tweezers. That usually gets it most of the way out and then I just grab the wheel with one hand the and the friction pinion with the other and gently rotate them until it pops off. Probably not the best way but it's seemed to work for me so far.    
    • Zedster
      Movement inserted from crytal side

      By Zedster · Posted

      Thanks, Jon Sounds like a plan. Obviously I'll have the face on so do you think gripping with the holder will create any problems, but I will check in the morning to see how feasible it is but I assume it only needs to be lightly held. As for holding the movement instead of the holder won't be possible in this scenario as one hand will be puling on the stem while the other pushes the spring down. That was my initial concern is how the hell can I do this with only one pair of hands. All the other times I've had to remove the stem hasn't been a problem, apart from the force required to release the stem from the setting lever, but now I need to fit the face and hands its sent me into panic mode. If it had the screw type release things would be a lot simpler but that's life 😀   Another thing I will need to consider is once the dial and hands are fitted and the movement is sitting in the case I will need to turn it over to put the case screws in. I saw a vid on Wristwatch revival where he lightly fitted the crystal and bezel so he could turn it over, is this the only option or is there another method?      
    • nevenbekriev
      Main spring

      By nevenbekriev · Posted

      Hi Jon, do You think that relation spring torque - amplitude is linear? I would rather guess that the amplitude should be proportional to the square of the torque. I had once idea to check it, but still haven't.
    • ManSkirtBrew
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By ManSkirtBrew · Posted

      I did not. I thought about it, but I had cleaned it in my ultrasonic, and the tech sheet shows lubricating it in place already assembled, so I figured discretion was the better part of valor. Although since I have to depth the jewels anyway, maybe I pull the pinion off to rule it out 100% as part of the problem. Do you know if there's a safe way to do it? I don't want to use a puller because it would push down on the plane of the wheel, and that seems like a Bad Idea. I thought about using a roller table remover, but I don't think I have a hole stake pointy enough to push it down.
×
×
  • Create New...