Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
2 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

If you decide it's too loud to keep in the house, let me know. šŸ˜‰Ā 

Haha ok, nice try lol. You could always move to east Yorkshire Uk. The carboots here are really good. I'm starting to lose track of my lucky finds. šŸ™‚

Posted

I guarantee your carboots are better than ours. Carboots aren't a thing here at all. Closest analogy from what I can tellĀ  after some googling would be a garage sale, or maybe a flea market. Craigslist killed most of the garage sales.

Posted
37 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

I guarantee your carboots are better than ours. Carboots aren't a thing here at all. Closest analogy from what I can tellĀ  after some googling would be a garage sale, or maybe a flea market. Craigslist killed most of the garage sales.

Start a trend Spectre. Grap a piece of spare land cheap, preferably a field. The field owners charge around £10 here per seller's  car, more for a van and buyers pay around a quid each. Yard sales are just one person's gear. Carboots can have hundreds of sellers all wanting to have a clear out at home.

  • Like 2
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Another flea market find. Caught my eye.Ā  Only $1 US, and the band was an additional $1.Ā  It's a 1960s Elgin with an automatic 17 jewel 859 movement.Ā  Not very rare or valuable as I understand, but it was the only thing at that booth which I was interested in.Ā  All others were the kind of cheap quartz watches you could get in a crane game.

It runs!Ā  Very well!Ā  And keeps time!Ā  I am growing attached to it.

IMG_20220721_083954.jpg

  • Like 7
Posted
10 minutes ago, KarlvonKoln said:

Another flea market find. Caug as I understand, but it was the only thing at that booth which I was interested in.Ā  All others were the kind of cheap quartz watches you could get in a crane game.

It runs!Ā  Very well!Ā  And keeps time!Ā  I am growing attached to it.

IMG_20220721_083954.jpg

I think its pretty good Karl regardless of what you paid . But for 2 bucks can you even buy a coffee for that ? Here in the Uk we can't. So a great coffee price watch matey, we would only get the head or the bracelet šŸ˜€Ā 

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

I think its pretty good Karl regardless of what you paid . But for 2 bucks can you even buy a coffee for that ? Here in the Uk we can't. So a great coffee price watch matey, we would only get the head or the bracelet šŸ˜€Ā 

Heres mine today. 50 pence. Or half a quid. A 1980'sĀ  Swatch Pop watch with a jellyfish back.Ā  These things are becoming very popular with collectors,Ā  the watch is sealed apart from a battery compartment. The head fits into a surround ( hence the name) which has the strap attached. I think i prefer yours lol.Ā 

16584090971895403402816245291382.jpg

16584091192063212860832055473200.jpg

16584091413411989837736643477797.jpg

  • Like 2
Posted
3 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

Another flea market find. Caught my eye.Ā  Only $1 US, and the band was an additional $1.Ā  It's a 1960s Elgin with an automatic 17 jewel 859 movement.Ā  Not very rare or valuable as I understand, but it was the only thing at that booth which I was interested in.Ā  All others were the kind of cheap quartz watches you could get in a crane game.

It runs!Ā  Very well!Ā  And keeps time!Ā  I am growing attached to it.

IMG_20220721_083954.jpg

Love that watch, and I'm a big fan of that style of numerals which I have a couple of my watches. Pretty good for $1!

  • Like 1
Posted

Thought I'd share a couple of my 404 club successes, as I'm finding these harder to find. Both of these came in a job lot from the Channel Islands. The Junghans was in the worst shape, missing it's stem and a previous owner had tinkered with it as a number of parts were loose. Luckily nothing was broken, and it was my first go at fitting a stem and crown which I'm quite pleased about.

The Systema keeps great time, I like the little space rocket motif. Again someone had been tinkering inside.Ā 

20220722_150201.jpg

20220722_150510.jpg

  • Like 4
Posted
21 minutes ago, Bearman said:

Thought I'd share a couple of my 404 club successes, as I'm finding these harder to find. Both of these came in a job lot from the Channel Islands. The Junghans was in the worst shape, missing it's stem and a previous owner had tinkered with it as a number of parts were loose. Luckily nothing was broken, and it was my first go at fitting a stem and crown which I'm quite pleased about.

The Systema keeps great time, I like the little space rocket motif. Again someone had been tinkering inside.Ā 

20220722_150201.jpg

20220722_150510.jpg

Like both of those. Especially the Systema, bid for those in the past, like you i love the little spaceship.

Posted
3 hours ago, Bearman said:

No the Systema is a chrome plated case, though in very good condition.

I've got a pile of SS cases... I'd be digging around like mad trying to find one it'd fit in! I love that dial!

Posted

Another watch pulled from my "Dresser Drawer Auction" pile. This one is a "Black Shield", what a killer name! It's a new brand to me, anyone heard of this one? It was already a runner, and a good one at that on the timegrapher, but I was able to get it down to +5 seconds/day and 0.1 ms beat error, so I'll call that a win.

It was my first time working on a UTC 29 / Seiko 66 and the Diafix springs on the escape wheel gave me fits. I may have said a bad word or two. Or three. After sending the dial side spring into the ether I learned that you don't need to remove the spring and should leave it in before replacing the capstone, and my dresser drawer coughed up a donor spring and 2nd time went much easier. I'm sure it's not a valuable watch at all but the lessons learned were, so again that's a win. And it has a SS case as well, so all that swearing was worth it šŸ™‚

Ā 

Black-Shield.thumb.jpg.d6a96cff48d4fc1089ff49f428236025.jpg

  • Like 4
Posted (edited)

I had accumulated a few pocket watch movements for pocket money prices recently, so over the last couple of evenings I've been sorting out the good from the bad and the ugly.

Four runners, plus one in need of a mainspring, and one with a broken balance, which donated its spring to the needy one.

There are a couple more that I'll perhaps look at later in the week.

RIMG0695.JPG

RIMG0697.JPG

RIMG0698.JPG

RIMG0699.JPG

RIMG0700.JPG

RIMG0701.JPG

RIMG0703.JPG

Edited by AndyHull
  • Like 4
Posted
47 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Eyup muckers. How about this for a 404. It was a quid. Quite unusable but it makes a nice paperweight.

20220804_133721.jpg

That should be sat on your bar table. When guests get unruly you just wield it to make your point šŸ˜‰

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, gbyleveldt said:

That should be sat on your bar table. When guests get unruly you just wield it to make your point šŸ˜‰

Haha. Funny. What and make my baseball bat redundant?  I  dont think the warning " oh shit Rich is getting his antique watchmaker's tool out " has the same effect as "Oh shit Rich is getting his baseball bat out " 🤣

Edited by Neverenoughwatches
  • Haha 1
Posted
2 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

I thought you guys played cricket or somesuch... Don't you have your own flavor of stick you should be wielding?

Lol. I'm not particularly a cricket fan myself more rugby league.  When i was younger i found i was much more adept with a baseball bat than a cricket bat. Now I'm older and a lot more tame thats now in the loft, and I've grown fond of the tennis racket. Here there are two points of contact, the softer netted side is the warning side the hard edge side is the you're starting to pee me off side 🤣

  • Haha 1
Posted
8 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Eyup muckers. How about this for a 404. It was a quid. Quite unusable but it makes a nice paperweight.

20220804_133721.jpg

I'm very curious to see how accurate this paperweight is if i can get the piece out of the center. Not sure what that is yet as i have very little experience with staking tools. I just seem to be collecting tools ( staking and jewelling tools and a lathe ) and not playing with them yet. Semi retirement put on hold while i finish two big jobs refurb jobs, nealy there one week to go yey. šŸ™†ā€ā™‚ļø

Posted

I snuck another nice one out of the $1 watch bins at the local flea market.Ā  A Glycine Compressor Automatic.Ā  It needed full cleaning and service.Ā  And a new crystal.Ā  Just opening the case was daunting and memorable.Ā  Getting the old crystal out was (not) fun.Ā  Getting the new one in had me swearing in German (due to the tension ring having its own ideas).Ā  I ensured it was well regulated before sealing it all back in tight.Ā  Man, they don't call it a "Compressor" for nothing;Ā  I'm glad it'll be five years before I have to open it again.Ā  The bracelet with which I bought it was clearly taken off a cheap old LCD quartz watch.Ā  The style of it was ever so wrong for this.Ā  But I had a nice comfy leather strap, so I put that one on it.Ā  I did not do more than a light cleaning on the dial, for fear of ruining it.Ā  But I think it turned out well.Ā 

IMG_20220806_200429.jpg

  • Like 6

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.


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • After cleaning up the pivots, I made bushes on the lathe. At this point I've pressed in 6 bushes (3 sets) and the wheels turn smooth. What I can also tell you, is that I'm not looking forward to final assembly. Getting the pivots aligned seems to get exponentially more difficult with each wheel that is added.
    • Islands are interesting places to live depending upon their size and other factors. This is a bigger island and it has a bridge to get there at least on one end. It's also big enough that you don't have to go someplace else to get things typically. It can be a problem if you get a job in Seattle though. Yes I've known of people who commuted from the island to Seattle for a job and I don't quite remember how many hours it took but it took a long time. So basically islands are nice if you don't have to leave very often.
    • Thanks @JohnR725! Everything you say makes a lot of sense and is encouraging to read.
    • isn't it nice to have a decent case open or when the case doesn't want to be opened? In the case of a Rolex watch that supposed to pass specific water resistant testing you probably do need to tighten the back down. But they shouldn't be tightened so much that they risk stripping the threads out. Then the other problem that comes up is the gaskets can start to disintegrate and then getting the back off can be quite a challenge unless you have a really good tool and perhaps some penetrating oil to loosen things up. Yes really nice case marking. When I was in school we were taught to mark the cases andĀ  the American watch and clockmakers Institute even had a? So if you joined at one time they would give you an identification number. They were explaining or giving an example of if the watches ever found in you have a unique number they can perhaps figure out the history of the watch or identify the body it's attached to for instance not that that probably comes up that often. So you got a unique number and even made a special metal stamp that you can purchase. It wasn't a super big aggressive stamp but still it left a mark in the back of the case. Then I heard from people at work on Rolex watches they were using a felt pen indelible but later on they decided that was bad because apparently the ink could releaseĀ  chemicals although it seems like once it's dry that shouldn't be an issue. Then of course today was nice is you can keep computer records sealed have to mark anything at all I personally find it's best to leave no reference behind that you were even there. Especially when you have a beautiful watch that has no markings at all and now it has your scribbling all over it not good typically if there is a typical and watch repair?Ā  a lot of minor repairs you don't need to do a complete servicing. But beyond a certain point you're going to have to take apart a lot of stuff you're going to disrupt the lubrication even if it looks perfect right now and yes you might as well just go ahead the service the whole thing. also in a watch like this where a lot of things seem to be going on the complete service would be better then you'll know exactly where you stand versus dealing with unknown mysteries for prior repair.
    • That Island looks pretty good on the pics I found. Must be nice to live there. Welcome! Are there many watchmakers over there?
×
×
  • Create New...