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Put this on yesterday and surprising for me, still wearing it.....

The watch that started me on this strange quest, the Ronda "Rondo-o-matic" based Sicura "Voyageur" got an upgrade of sorts today. This is what I unwisely bought in October 2018, and it has been a bit of a favourite of mine ever since. It still needs a set of more appropriate hands, but I'm confident that I'll come up with something eventually, meanwhile I fitted a dive bezel and replaced the crystal which I fitted a while back, and subsequently cracked. The watch has been bounced around the world since I first fixed it up, so it also got another quick service.

All dressed up and no where to go. My 1972 Autavia 'Viceroy' and I just glaring out the window remenicing about a time when it didn't involve tons of hand sanitizers. Don't wear this one much. It has an original corfam strap and vintage Heuer buckle and freak about scratching it up. Nor would I even if it didn't.

this is a 100 Bayonet and not a Darwin. The Darwin is similar but does not have '100' on the dial. What I find odd is that the dial and the crown should be silver and not gold. But, Timex was known to sometimes mix parts. For example you will find many of the early 21 jewel with '400' on the case back. that's because the first 21 used the '400' case. Much like these 100's. same size just a different metal finish.

Today I'm sporting my new to me 1959 Timex 100 Darwin/Beyonet. I'm not sure what to call it because nearly everywhere online calls it a Darwin while @JerseyMo has called it a Beyonet. He is our resident Timex expert, so for now I will only call it awesome! Another 60 year old watch in shockingly good condition. Just needed a bath and some lube and it's running like a champ. I love the styling, simple yet attractive. The simple black strap compliments it perfectly in my eye. I have another one of these on its way to me along with a another variant of the 100.

Hi Gary here is some Info the seiko casing guide might find it handy, will still look Sun. cheers 03. Casing Guide seiko.pdf

Fairly recent acquisition and have been wearing this it seems often since it arrived. Waiting on new crystal gaskets so I can change out the crystal. Its seen some use over time but I'm liking the workhorse look and it was my watch today as I was power washing outside. 6309-7049 from 1977.

Darwin hands and crystal -

Nearly all the photos of the Bayonet I've found online had mix matched dials with gold and silver tones on one watch. I like the contrast. Interestingly enough I have a true '59 Darwin on it's way to me as we speak. I will be needing hands and a crystal for it as it looks like it's missing those. Also in this lot is another Bayonet with the 2 tone setup. I wish I had access to a copy of your catalogs @JerseyMo Would be great to narrow down years and models rather than trying to guess. On another note, even though these were considered "Cheap" they weren't really cheap, I feel it was more of an affordability. They were affordable to everyone . Adjusted for inflation the MSRP of $15 adjusted for inflation comes out to $133.05. Certainly nothing to sneeze at back then. I'd say a Seiko 55 Fathoms is the modern price/value equivalent (my opinion).

More fun with old junk. A few years back, while walking the dog through the Stirling University campus, I noticed a bunch of old microscope "stuff" in a pile of junk beside the dumpsters. Free toys!!! Naturally I grabbed what I could, and took it home. Don't judge me, you would have done the same. From the junk I managed to make the fully working stereo microscope in the picture above, which I use regularly. I have an Olympus too, which I bought about 15 years ago. These are great, but they are a little awkward to use for watch work because they are actually a little too powerful, great for examining jewel holes, gear teeth and so forth, but because the subject is pretty close to the lens, actually working on the watch is a little cramped. Also in this pile of junk was a random selection of parts for "The Grey Five Forty" specimen microscopes, which should look a little like this. The main bodies for two of them are there, as are two of the stands, but no lights. I can easily arrange for lighting, but the more important parts that were missing from both were the metal housings for the eyepieces. However life moves on, and the parts were consigned to a storage box until I rediscovered them a few months back. I opened up the box and thought, I could 3d print those, so after a little bit of wrestling with FreeCad, I came up with a design for the lower half of the eyepiece assembly, which I printed. The model is sized from the only existing eyepiece holder body that was in the junk pile. The project then went on hold again (real life keeps getting in the way), but I picked it up again this evening. I purchased a couple of random Chinese eyepieces in the hope that I could marry them up with the printed housing, and tonight I got a chance to do a quick test fit. The good news is that it works. I chose 30mm x5 eye pieces that would also work with one of the existing microscopes, since I had no idea what the originals were, and I didn't want to waste too much money on the project. It looks like they were a good choice. It works extremely well. The slightly wobbly hand held camera image above doesn't really do it justice. The view through the eyepiece is in reality pin sharp, very bright, and there is a good depth of focus. I can see for example that the large centre jewel has a tiny spec of dirt in it, and there is a small fiber on the bridge next to the jewel below. Now I need to print the right hand assembly and model the eyepiece holder tube, and I will be able to lash it all together finally. I also intend to 3d print an adapter to allow me to strap a camera or a phone to the eyepiece, which will eliminate "shakey cam" pictures like the one above. Furthermore I may have enough bits to make two complete microscopes (assuming the second set of optics clean up as well as the first ones did). I will need to make a cover that doubles up as a storage case for it/them too, as they take up quite a bit of space. Before I do any of that though, I really do need to tidy up that work bench again. EDIT: It has just occurred to me that the name of the microscope "Grey Five Forty" presumably refers to magnification. There is a lever on the right hand side that swaps in an extra set of lenses, so presumably it goes from 5x to 40x when that lever is operated. I wonder if fitting my x10 eyepieces will change that to x10 and x80. There is only one way to find out. It also has a filter adapter on the bottom, so presumably I can fit a polariser too.

Yes... I teach the watchmaker's beginner lesson on a Tuesday night, that Richard used to take. Wow... small world! I'm starting to take some Zoom online lessons from this Tuesday to fill the void. We're in the process of getting Francis to start up his lessons again with his clockies, which you're one. Good to hear from you and to know we're part of the EFHC family, so to speak

If you're going to try find one, don't look for a center wheel, that's the 4th wheel (sometimes called seconds wheel as it holds the seconds hand)

I would try to peen the center hole on the gear and perhaps glue as well.

Screams atomic age! Love it!

I would purchase a parts movement. Look at speedtimerkollektion.they have them by the bushel

I got a China made copy of the Horotec. Works on bezels and casebacks. Cousins has it in their bezel removal tools section.

Hi That is normal .1 over size. Esslingers have a very good tutorial regarding watch crystals and the fitting therof https://blog.esslinger.com/.

Welcome and thank you for introducing yourself.

This is VERY cool! I love this watch.

Hi Gary had a look as promised, they look removable but as far as I can see on mine there is no slot or cut out on either of the watches what will be needed is a bezel removal too as per the picture. It places equal force in four places lifting the bezel, this tool will double up as a case back removal tool. hope this is informative.

Hi As it happens I repaired a Durowe 320 which is the same construction as yours. The barrel carries the min wheel attached, the canon pinion stands on a post with the hour wheel and the rest of the layout is the same. I believe the construction is Rospkof and the wheel designated by your drawing and that in the attached book is the third wheel. Take a while and look at the attached book on Rospkof. hope it helps you cheers TheRoskopfWatch.pdf

Welcome to the forum Fredchen

Hello and welcome to the forum Stephen your knowledge will be welcome

No ready address unfortunately, just got to keep looking for one. As last resort, this can be converted to a two piece stem or one be turned on lathe.

Hello Stephen, my son,s name is Stephen,lives in the US, havn't heard of him for a year. I pray this distressing situation gets controlled soon. Keep safe and Welcome to the forum .

One can see dials as these at Ebay marked fitting 7730 or 7733 but as you say seldom together. Probably not to get a too many franken watches beeing built. I have non of these needing service right now so I decided to make an experiment. Take a random picture from one who sells a dial to a 7730 dial and one who sells a 7733 and superimpose them over eatch other. A fun excersize on a sunday. The result except from a slight skewness in the pictures shows the dial feet are at the same place.

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

Just won an auction for 22 vintage Timex watches. Almost qualified for @AndyHull's 404 club but the breakdown came in at $4.50 each. This is a mixed bag and I'm excited for a few of them especially the diver, the 2 100's, the LCD face analog, the early backset and several others. Quite a bargain!

Welcome fellow Southern Californian (I'm in western LA County), you came to a good place to learn and share what you have learned. With your experience with clocks, watches should be nothing but fun for you. At least they don't take up as much space when you're storing whatever you have to store. Good luck with your fusee project and future challenges.

Very often second hands are bent down towards the end in order to clear the crystal. Do you think you could put a slight bend on the end of your second hand that would allow it to clear the minute hand and crystal? If not..you might want to think about s higher dome or shorter second hand.

Interesting. Seems Westclox used a number of different movement suppliers. Including a Valjoux 7733 in my chrono.

Nice Westfield. As Westfield was a Bulova brand, many of my Bulova watches have similar features to your Westfield including stepped case and AGN dial including this Sea King.

Just bought the movement, excited for it to arrive in about a week. I will check back in then

Nope, not a paper dial, but it is very simply pad printed in one colour on a plain white dial blank. The manufacturer of these watches was a very labour intensive process. Someone recently asked about Timex production in Dundee, and I suspect that the assembly line there was somewhat similar.

Jon, are you at EFHC? I was taught by Richard and Lalit many moons ago! Currently just do clock restoration with Francis.

As ersatz as it gets.the dial movement and hands came from a plastichrome fashion dive watch.the case came from ebay and the band from the Walmart discount bin..it works. The stem alignment is a little off.but its quartz and as such tolerable.

I added this lovely Timex electronic to my rotation yesterday. The blue dial surrounded by a black shadow like this is very appealing to me. Thanks again to @JohnD for inspiring me to get it.

What HSL said. 6 years old is time for a service. Best to do it now before something else wears out too. I believe a Tudor service centre will do this for a fixed price including any necessary movement parts, whereas an independent may charge for each extra part on top of a basic cost. You pays your money and takes your choice.

As we say in Sweden... Ujujujuj. I would say those worn teeth is just a symptom of something else is going on. Just switching a part or two will probably just dampen the sympoms for a while. I would recommend a complete overhaul / service in this case and, in that process change the winding pinion and sliding pinion since some gears clearly are bad.

Nice watch, it screams class and style

Today my 1969 Tissot Seastar Chronograph. This is one of my favorite watches which I consider one of Tissot's best works. It was made during the time when Tissot was truly a competitor in horology. It is somewhat a rare watch as this model was only produced in 1969. It has a 1277 Lemania movement, which makes this watch, in my humble opinion one of the best vintage chronograph watches out there dollar per dollar. I do have the original bracelet, I decided to put it on a vintage swiss Tropic Star band. Most examples are out there have lots of water damage and or the bezel is scratched up beyond legibility so i am lucky.

HMT produced a number of commemorative watches over the years. Probably the most common one you may have encountered, being the HMT Janata 'Mahatma Gandhi' (1869 – 1948). There are a few variants of this watch, and some after market dials in a similar theme. However what I have coming in the mail is a little less common. This 404 club candidate HMT 'Ambedkar Centenari' 1891-1991 honours a less well known figure (less well know out side of India that is) - Dr B. R. Ambedkar. The listing didn't show the mechanism, but it is almost certainly not an 'Automatic' as the listing states, but rather an HMT Janata 0231/Citizen licensed 02xx based manual wind. It looks to be in good condition, and I have a plentiful supply of spare parts if it has any issues.

Ordered both, SARB033 & 035 NIB's, before leaving home last week for work. They have since arrived & now awaiting my return tomorrow night. Plan on putting them both on leather straps, hope I like them!