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I discovered this little guy hiding beneath a drawer in my father's safe today, where he's been since...well, who knows, and was wondering if anyone can shed some light on it's age. I found one very similar to it after some searching (the net has little info on Cortebert) with same cal. ET. 926 movement and case with a 30xxx serial num. (Which the poster claims puts it production sometime during 1930-40s-?) Odd bit, though...the casebacks are identical, except this one reads "shock resist" where the other has "shock protected". Hmmm. An SOX/American import thing? And...he's not in good shape. The crystal is broken, dial not too bad..but the blance is shot for sure, and it seems the crown (stem?) Is jammed- Like into the case jammed. I haven't tried to pry it out or anything, but it's in there good. If this is pretty much an ETA 926, maybe there's hope for not breaking the bank to revive? Thoughts? Thanks guys.

If 5 is good then 7 is better right? Well at least that is what Ricoh must have done when they decided to follow Citizen and put a 7 on their dial. I actually went to see a guy about a Citizen V2 and when I asked him if he had any other watches he pulled this out. The camera is usually very hard on camera but to the naked eye it looks ok. I was drawn to the colour and bezel design... similar to a Rolex Air-king. In the picture below you can see the tall crystal.. don't know if this style was original? Another detail is the day-wheel which is higher that the date wheel. Similar to early Seikos but Seiko fixed it in later models, Ricoh didn't and you will see this in early and late Ricoh watches. Caseback is pretty normal.. notice the notches in the bracelet for releasing the springbars are only on one side.. they did make the bigger though. Folded link bracelet looks original but feels cheaper than contemporary Seiko or Citizen bracelets. No other makings other than on the clasp. Inside we have your basic Ricoh automatic with hand-wind and pushbutton date set. Some dirt is present but it looks like it'll clean up well. rgds Anilv

I saw a few on eBay, but they all sold for more than buying a new one. I really like the vintage look of it too, but sadly those blue hands are lacquered not blued steel...

Just finished refurbing a tired Smiths TY believed to be from 1965: Before: After: Case, dial & hands cleaned. Crystal polished. Movement serviced & broken click spring replaced (thanks to John at Obsolete Clock & Watch Parts). New strap. The timegrapher readings were a little variable, however it kept good time all weekend. I am getting a bit of a thing for Smiths (the watches, not the designer-misery band from the 1980's) and have got myself a 1960 Astral to do after the next Seiko.

I do like the clean look of this watch . I searched for this model and have a couple on my ebay watch list . Thanks for sharing your Wife's Christmas gift to you .

I don't know but they should... Smaller movements are a bit more complicated to work with...

Moebius 8000, natural oil. On eBay 1ml sells for about £12 including postage ...... let's say £10 for ease. This is a very rough approach anyway. There are 1000 ml in 1 liter. 1x US barrel = 159 ltr. 1x US barrel of Moebius 8000 sells for £10 * 1000 * 159 = £ 1.590.000,- = US $ 2.161.470 @ current exchange rate. 1x barrel of crude oil cost around $50 ....... deduct all the refinery, some additives cost, laboratory cost, bottle and packaging cost. Then of course the taxes ...... a combination of Switzerland & Multinationals ..... What shelf life would you give it if you own Moebius ....... And this is of course just one of their many different oils they sell ....

French drum movement 8 day, jewelled platform escapement with a compensated balance. The hands are spade design. Case design 1920/1930.

Thi will help you with oiling... http://www.nawcc-index.net/Articles/BTI-The_Practical_Lubrication_of_Clocks_and_Watches.pdf

The method I use is to trim a piece of pegwood to match the inner diam of the bit where the spring is. Then hollow out the end a bit so the arms of the spring will bend towards the jewel. Press vertically on the pegwood and slowly rotate until one of the arms comes out via the relief on the jewel holder, the rest will come out easily. This method can also be used for refitting the spring.

Just thought I'd share my view on the best watch for a newbie watch enthusiasts to start working on. Instead of going for cheapo pin-lever movements, my recommendation would be to start on a hand-wind Vostok or Raketa for the following reasons. 1. Designed and constructed using traditional watchmaking concepts. Not much different between the Russian movements and Swiss mechanisms from the 50s-60s. 2. While the appearance may be a bit rough compared to swiss machines, they are functionally correct and capable of keeping good time. 3. They are cheap and plentiful on the internet in running condition. It is important for a beginner to start with a running watch as if the result of your efforts result in a non-runner you know that you have missed something. If you start start with a non-running watch you may not be able to find anything wrong but the watch may still not run.. leaving you in limbo. 4. A lot of them have a hairspring with a Brequet overcoil. Not essential but nice and something you have to pay big bucks for in a Swiss movement. 5. A lot of interesting stuff can be had at a low price. The Vostok 2809 is a nicely finished movement and said to be able to keep Chronometer grade timing. It is also said to be based on a Zenith chronometer but I think this is probably wishful thinking..! It has a fine regulator to boot! If you can find one with Boctok and long word in Russian this is the best one as I understand they have a better balance/hairspring.. the long word is precision in Russian. The Poljot 3133 is an affordable mech chronograph (based on the Valjoux 7733 but parts not freely interchangeable). The Poljot 2209 is an interesting hand wind where the wheels have been re-arranged to allow for a thinner movement. The Poljot 2200 is a super thin movement but rare. I have only seen this on the net. 6. No fake stuff. Bad points.. a. Cases are usually base metal.. this aesthetically this fails to please me and what is worse they cannot seal well and allow in water and dust.. these factors make these watches an occasional watch rather than a daily beater. The Vostok Amphibias have poor water sealing too. There are a lot of snap-backs too, once the base metal case gets worn the caseback will not 'snap' into place. b. Poor availability of parts.. for wheels and gears you can resort to an 'organ donor' off the bay but for stuff like mainsprings, balance staffs etc you have to look for the handful of guys on the net who sell them. A bit of effort required and usually the watch will not be worth it. c.Shock-protection, where fitted, is not of good quality.. There is one specie of shock protection which looks like an Inca spring but once you release the 'legs' the whole spring just slides out of its slot. If you try to pry it up like you would an Inca it will just fly off... d.Styling is quirky...the simple dress watches are the best. a lot of weird combinations of colours and case style. Fine if you want something to remind you of Soviet memorabilia. e. There seems be variations in the specifications of items like balance staffs. I have seen watches where there is a foil spacer under the balance cock and others without. I don't know if this was to account for production variances or general practise when that particular watch was put together but its something to be aware of when swapping components around. All in all I have found Russian to be good value for money (best bang for the buck so to speak!) and very user friendly. While Seikos and its ilk are not that difficult to start with, the day/date complication and non-hand-winding (Seikos) do not really give you the insight to watchmaking at its most basic level. I appreciate and admire Seikos for their design and efficiency but their movements do not inspire me. Hope this helps some aspiring watchmaker...! Anil