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1971 Timex Blue Nebula Electronic. Love this dial. Very clearly a 70's design aesthetic with the striking dial and UFO style case.

After yesterday's Welsh 'cheapy' I thought that I would go with some Japanese opulence today....

My new 1958 Omega Seamaster 'Seachero'. I posted a bit more info about it in the 'What so you have coming' thread.

Well, its not coming it arrived and I am elated! A 1958 CK2990 Ranchero case with its original box! Although not technically a Ranchero, collectors call this particular 2990 a 'Seachero' due to the fact that they share the same case as the Ranchero. It sports a 267 Cal. And is 36mm wide. The watch is virtually untouched - all but the band. Original polish and movement. To have the box is extremely rare as they were only made for 2 years. The previous owner's DNA and grime is still on the caseback and lugs. Timed it and it's running slow. Will service the movement.

Hi there. New to this forum. I lost the crystal on my marlin a while back and finally found some time to start looking for a replacement. Would appreciate if someone could guide me on where I could get one and also maybe how to fit it. Attached a picture for reference. Many thanks Regards

Hi FL thats a can of worms but will probably respond to some TLC wish you well with that one. cheers

That's too bad. You're not alone, I've gambled as well when I've bought without a picture of the movement and its been hit and miss.

I had the same problem some time ago. Finally, I bought a guitar string and voile, job done. (PL008 0.200 mm) Actually, it measures 0.18 mm on my caliper. Try this site:- WWW.DADDARIO.COM Good luck, I'm sure you will find something there.

In general, I'm not a fan of luxury items. As has been mentioned above, paying extra for a name, when nothing else is special, doesn't sit well with me. Your specific watch doesn't have magic dust or Unicorn poo inside and it isn't powered by unobtanium. It's powered by the venerable and somewhat ancient (base design is nearly 70 years old) ETA 2824-2. Not that an automatic watch needs to contain bleeding edge mechanical technology to be good or a quality design, but for me, if nothing unique or significant is inside, then it doesn't deserve a luxury price tag. I used to think similarly about extreme luxury watches, ones costing hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars until I learned the labor involved in building them. In some cases 1 watch is built by one watchmaker over the span of a year, sometimes longer. Each and every part is hand crafted and hand fit. That is truly extreme craftsmanship that has earned an extreme price tag. In the end however, it's all about you. If you feel the money you will be spending on this watch and the prestige it will hold for you are worthy, then by all means. Having said all of this, I too have a luxury watch on my wish list. It even costs a bit more than the Breitling. It's an Omega, Planet Ocean 600m ref:215.32.44.21.01.001 For me, the $4500 price tag is totally justified. I'm sure this seems hypocritical given everything I've said previously, and to that I say, yes it is, but I'm ok with it, lol.

Today I'm wearing my 1971 Timex Blue Nebula Electronic. Actually, the movement inside is the non-date, electric M84. What was originally in there, was the M87 electronic with the date feature. The original M87 had given up the ghost and after searching on eBay for a reasonably priced functioning watch, I picked one up and excitedly put it in. Only, when I went to install the original sweep second hand did I discovered something was different. I was able to reuse the original second hand and at least get the watch running. Really helps paying attention to the specifics of these watches, lol. The movement is pretty cool to listen to it ticking. It has 5 soft ticks followed by one much louder tick which is when the second hand actually indexes. Someday I'll get the correct movement, but for now, I'm happy with the fact that it works.

That attached bracelet will make it heavy.

The best thing is to have it all taken apart and cleaned. There is so much that can stop a watch, we can only make suggestions. A broken part can screw the movement up.

Beats the shit out of my 404 specials! Of all the "luxury" brands, Omega has a spot in my heart. Every ounce of "luxury" marketing turns me off hard, but for some inexplicable reason Omega gets a pass from that aversion.

When I buy/help buy cars for people, a lot of time they come to me thinking they want such and such a car, and just want validation. I would never buy a Prius, but if someone is dead set on it, the best case scenario is that I hurt their feelings telling them how the brakes are inconsistent and vague, the steering sucks, there's obviously no performance of any sort, and the same fuel economy can be had in myriad other, better cars. If they just want validation, the best I can do is validate them. If you're seeking validation, it's a solid workhorse movement in an attractive case from a storied brand. Like others posting, I also feel there's a lot of the price tied up in marketing. While there can certainly be value in that that some may find hard to validate, it is value. I forget the exactitudes of the economic theory, but there's value in having a coveted good. If the value proposition for money works out to you, then it's a great watch for you, and you should pull the trigger if it makes you happy to do so (while also not pissing off any significant others maybe?). What is it about the watch that you like exactly? Mayhap the same attributes exist in something without the brand premium. I've got a 2824-2 on my wrist right now in a case that I think is unique, has historic ties, from a (once) storied brand, and looks awesome with awesome functionality beyond what you typically find in a 2824-2 powered watch. I paid about a quarter the price of the Breitling new.

Well I might aswell jump in and join this one, here’s mine, I had a thread running in it, all from Ikea total cost just over £200 inc delivery. Bench sits at 1mtr high and add another 45cm to the top. It’s 1.2mtrs wide and 60cm deep. 2 vintage engineers chest hold tools and spares from jewels to gaskets and gravers to movement holders to pith wood. The top drawers above the chests hold books. The left hand chest holds wrist watches and spares for numerous movements, also pocket watch spares and projects awaiting attention. Also extra tools and oils. The right hand side has my staking set and cleaning fluids and some odds and sods.

My space has been adjusted to fit the addition of a vintage watch bench. It also helped create the space for the turntable. That too adds to the nostalgic feel of living in the past. Today's list of artist included The Sex Pistols, Golden Earring, CCR and The Doors.

Congrats !!! nice and shiny ... Wasn't when I got it, it was just another 'scrapper', with a cracked crystal and no crown, in a job lot that I had bought for the Timex electric it contained......

Looks like a 1970's/ 80's with an attached bracelet which is a bugger if the bracelet breaks or gets damage, very bad design. The movement is just standard swiss, anything other then round and you have problems with dirt getting in.

The Swiss Emperor brand was registered in 1959 so it's no older than that. Swiss Emperor was a decent quality brand targeting the better end of the lower price range watch market. Not budget, but very much aimed at the average wage, possibly on a par with the Seiko 5 range still marketed today. The styling suggests that it's from around the late '70's or early '80's. The stainless steel back suggests that the bezel is gold plated (solid gold bezels usually come with solid gold backs) if you look closely you may find it is stamped between the strap lugs with something like "GP20" or "Plaque 10" indicating the gold plating thickness in microns. (Silly me... integrated strap so no strap lugs as such, but there could still be a stamping beneath the strap) At a guess it probably houses a Peseux movement. These were very popular in two hand or sub-seconds dress watches of the period due to their thinness. It's a nice looking 40-ish year old dress watch that should be capable of good performance if it has been maintained.

I picked up this 6309 with the crystal so destroyed I didn't even know what color the dial was. It cleaned up ok and now actually runs.

Two more for 404! A "Thoresen" and a "Sussex". The former is an unknown 17j Swiss movement, the latter is a 17j French movement. All I know about them are these two photos, neither work for unknown reasons, the French one is missing a hand and the dial is rough, and they're coming from Germany. They're from the same seller, and I'm hoping he'll combine shipping. If so, the Thoresen is at the absolute limit at current exchange rates for €4,49 and the Sussex was €1,00. Meanwhile, the US "494 Club" moniker may not be stable... At today's exchange rate, it's the "499 Club".

Hi It is likely it will become an issue but there will probably be a GRspring available at cousins need to know the height , thickness. length and barrel diameter in order to decode cousins springs on offer , but for now it will suffice whilst we get to the bottom of the lack of power. So with just the barrel, spring and its associated bridge fitted it still lacks power, does the barrel rotate ok with no spring power freely, is the spring fitted to high and binding on the barrel lid (look for scrape marks), does the barrel rotate ok on the arbour without the spring fitted, just the barrel and bridge and arbour fitted. Is the arbour binding on the bridge or barrel all need to be considerd. cheers

This 'old thing' today....well I have had it for over 50 years

This Timex quartz diver cost me the exorbitant price of £1.99...... Now looks like this.... (the new crystal and bezel insert did put the total price up to about £12 or so though...)

Here are a few. Had to make all the parts fit eachother and it took about 6 hours to complete.

Why do you want to remove it? If you do not need to do any repairs to it leave it as it is. As someone says you could do irreparable damage.

You can support the backside (think bench vice almost closed) and tap it out with a brass hammer. Without support you will probably not succeed in getting it out but you may well succeed in damaging the plate or bending the arbor. I usually use levers, and then if it's still stuck after getting it as far off the plate as levers will go, using a screw type puller.

these did originally come with a Tropic strap. You can find many good alternatives like these I have on my 600 ft series.

While I'm technically not wearing this watch today, I cleaned it up and polished the Crystal. I've been after one of these Timex Skindivers for awhile. This was part of the large lot I acquired recently but wasn't initially shipped with that lot, I contacted the seller and thankfully they sent it by the slowest method, which is apparently a pack mule as it took 14 days from Nebraska to Florida! I think I could have walked it here faster! Anyways, it's a 1970 Skindiver. It only needed a polish and an external cleaning. I want a period correct strap for it and I was thinking of getting a Tropic band for it. I'm curious what @JerseyMohas on his? The bezel numbering is backwards compared to any other I've seen, another Timex quirk.