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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/14/17 in all areas

  1. Just in from the 'Bay on a second chance offer! I had missed by a dollar before and fate has brought this little gem my way. This is an economy Standard Time Corp. movement and is cousins with the Hamilton 500 or 505(?). I think maybe it shares a balance assy. Loving the clear caseback as well and the offset crown is very comfy. Keeping good time so far but perhaps in need of a cleaning as the balance adjustment is pegged. Also sorting a huge part and tool lot I got in trade for some service work, will post some photos soon. C Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
    4 points
  2. This popped up on ebay last week as a £50.00 buy it now During the Great war the British military had been issuing pocket watches to serving personnel and hadn't supplied wristwatches, these where instead bought mainly by officers privately for use at the front lines with wristwatches improving and the introduction of the water resistant cases, unbreakable crystals and radium dials the Trench watch was born and became an item of necessity for serving personnel. It wasn't until 1917 that the war department purchased the first batches of wristwatches supplied in two forms the first being a classic trench watch of water resistant case, black dial with radium numerals and unbreakable crystal and the second type being a large cased snap back, black dial with radium numerals all had 15 jewel Swiss movements. These watches where purchased for the purpose of evaluation to assess the usefulness of issuing wristwatches to serving personnel. This watch is of the snap back type and has a unusually large for the period 38mm case made of nickle, the dial is black enamel with radium numerals. All the snap back models have issue numbers that follow the same form a five digit number beginning with a nine followed by a letter M there is also a Broad arrow mark or Pheon crudely stamped on to the back some watches are stamped with two broad arrow marks that touch at the tip this is thought to indicate that the watch had been withdraw from service. The movement in these large snap back models is the same in all known watches where as in the water resistant 1917 watches there is some variation. The movement is a good quality 15 jewel movement and no one has yet been able to identify who manufactured them there are no identifying marks but there is a brevet patent number on the dial side so it may be possible to trace that and establish who made the movements. No one is sure what branch of the armed forces these snap back watches where issued to but it cant have been to front line personnel because having no water resistance would have rendered them pretty useless in the field, many have speculated that they could have been issued to the flying corps because the design mirrors quite closely the pocket watches already issued to them at the time, these snap back models where only issued in 1917 and withdraw from service shortly after, but the water resistant watch became a regular issue watch there after It is however an interesting footnote in the development of the military wristwatch and is amongst the first officially issued and stamped British military watches of the Great War.
    1 point
  3. When you mention complications in horology, it is usually something which is complex (hence 'complications' !). Even the simple complication like a date adds several parts and springs. But once in a while a complication comes by which is whimsical in nature and simple in execution. Such a complication was a feature of the 'Mondia 'Top-second'. At first glance it looks like any other Swiss watch from the 70s .. Then something catches your eye..did I see something there? The clever chaps at Mondia came up with a way to lend a bit of interest to a normal watch by having a 'porthole' in the dial through which a coloured 'propeller' could be seen giving a blinking effect. Some online references state that the propeller is fitted to an extended to an extended escape wheel pivot but I think that that would be too slow. I remember seeing a pciture of the escape wheel for this watch which has an additional wheel to drive a dedicated wheel for the prop'. The watch has not been serviced and is high on my to-do list as there is very obvious water damage on the dial. I'm still looking for a new dial or at least one in better condition but no luck so far. A new crystal in in the cards as well as this one has yellowed glue round the edges. The caseback is simple enough.. it gives information but no mention of the manufacturer. This was common practise in the 70s with a lot of Swiss watches being housed in generic cases. But on the inside we see that it really is a Mondia! I was really expecting to see 'Çased in Hong Kong'! Does 88 mean the watch was last serviced in 1988? More than likely! Here we see the movement spacing spring is in place as well. On older watches they're usually missing! Next up is a picture of the AS1913 movement. Not my favourite movement to work on but it does its job. The part of the stem that can be seen looks rust free and overall the movement seems to be reasonable condition. Note the 'Mondia', '25 Jewels 25' and 'Swiss' are printed on rather than engraved into the rotor. Another sign of the 70s. Finally the crown. While it is 'marked', it is a generic water proof crown. Not good as its not original but at least the watch has seen a semi-competent watchmaker who made the effort to change the crown to ensure water-proofing. You see those use 'branded' crowns on ebay? Those were removed and replaced to ensure water-proofing, and now they're having a second life for those who insist on a 'signed' crown! Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Anilv
    1 point
  4. I'm loving it so much. Period should be 1960s or maybe 1970s right ? Rarely see a watch from that period with a display case back.
    1 point
  5. Had an issue with an old full plate waltham i picked up. The mainspring barrel arbor was stuck in the upper cover of the barrel. I figured that it needed to move within the barrel so i took the arbor out and out it in my watchmakers lathe and i used a ruby stone to polish it down a bit. Worked like a charm. Remove and cleaned the spring and popped the cover back on. Then reinstalled it in the movement and wound it up a bit and tested the palate fork with a tooth pick to see if it snaps back and forth. It did so the power was getting from the barrel to the fork. Balance was out as i just completed making a staff on my lathe for this watch. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    1 point
  6. Hi Pip. Yes you are right and I will do Mark's courses first. I have been "tinkering" with Seiko 5's as they can be found cheaply and they are plentiful on eBay. At the same time I am trying to build up a collection of decent watches to progress on to when I am confident and my skills match my enthusiasm. So far I have had some successful outcomes that I am pleased with, but in fairness they wouldn't have happened without the excellent advice I have received from members of this forum and I can't thank them enough.
    1 point
  7. BTW, I did manage to anneal an Elgin mainspring and fold the end over and and fit it into the Peck mainspring barrel. This was my first true mainspring mod work. Used an alcohol lamp and pliers. And I was very careful. I'm a bit pissed at the number broken jewels in this movement, but it is 1890 vintage Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
    1 point
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