Jump to content

404 Club


Recommended Posts

I see a lot of really good stuff coming out of the UK, but shipping blows it. There are some countries that must have favorable shipping or tax or tariff policies with the US that makes them shippable at reasonable prices. The UK is sorta like southern California is for cars though... WAY more cool stuff, WAY cheaper. American culture has been pretty oriented toward disposability since WWII, and a lot of watches do not seem to have survived the fallout.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

I see a lot of really good stuff coming out of the UK, but shipping blows it. There are some countries that must have favorable shipping or tax or tariff policies with the US that makes them shippable at reasonable prices. 

I'm not sure what are you referring to. When shipping from the UK to the US you pay very reasonable rates with Royal Mail, check https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2021-03/international-services-wallchart-april-2021.pdf The shipper does not have to pay any other fee or tariff, and must only complete a small CN22 customs form. I believe that most, if not all, UK sellers are aware of that and willing to ship to the USA.

Then when you receive items from abroad (no matter from where) in the US, you enjoy  a total custom exemption of USD $800 https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/internet-purchases meaning there is nothing to pay or paperwork to fill. As of today that is one of the highest customs exemptions in the world, so enjoy it while lasts.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/13/2021 at 9:03 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

I got this today for $5.50 on ebay.  I will try to find a currency to get it down to 4.04.  Oh...that is equivalent to 3.9 pounds, so I think I made the grade.

Looking forward to having it arrive and open it up.

2021-06-13 21_01_08-Vintage mens Caravelle manual wind black dial watch _ eBay — Mozilla Firefox.png

OK...received.  Last night I serviced it.  Surprised to find this watch had never been serviced.  Pristine condition. It is serviced now.  This is a Bulova 11DP with Parashock jewels...which I do not like.

2021-06-29 08_06_44-Photos.png

2021-06-29 08_06_21-Photos.png

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I didn't notice you have mentioned it looks like bulova 11AD which is on rannft. looks like there is a retainer spring there, remove the little screw.

I always put some penterting oil on small screw and attck the next day, almost eliminates chance of the head popping of the screw.    A 30 hrs soak in coca cola actually works better than penetrating oil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought Andy was joking when he first spoke of 404, I now am thinking to start a club of my own 405 or something.😛

 

   Small screws are pain in that they break easy, heads pop off of them etc. A good 30 to 40 hrs soak in cocacola really ends broken small screw story.     Dress your screw driver for good fit in screw slot, press down hard to unscrew.

Good luck pal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

﷼ 235,390.19 Club just doesn't have the same ring... 🙂

That Caravelle movement is nice. I thought they mostly did low jewel count and pin lever movements. I need to start paying closer attention to those.

Re: shipping from the UK. It may be how eBay calculates it, or maybe a majority of UK sellers are padding their profits with shipping costs, but rarely is shipping from the UK less than $20. It does happen; I've seen in the neighborhood of $8, but typically it's been around $30.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

I thought they mostly did low jewel count

From mybulova.com

1962

The Accutron Tuning-fork watch becomes the first wristwatch certified for use by railroad personnel. 1962 is also the year that Bulova introduces its Caravelle line of jeweled watches. Designed to retail at $10.95 to $29.95, Caravelle competes with non-jeweled watches in the same price range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

I've seen in the neighborhood of $8, but typically it's been around $30.

That could be a light untracked item vs a well boxed watch sent registered. IMHO either ones are reasonable, if you want to pack more fun and raise your chances from a single shipping then buy lots, especially from Japan, or check  Craigslist and other free websites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

Caravelle movement is nice

Take it all the way back to its source and it's actually a Citizen (0200 or 1800 series I think).

2 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

I never figured out how to remove the lower parashock jewel

Should be exactly the same as the top one, rotate the little captive retaining clip so that one of the tabs lines up with the cut out in the housing and it will pop out, continue to rotate the clip so that the other tab pops out, then lift the cap jewel off. The pivot jewel, which is captive within its sprung arm mount, should also just lift out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lack of sleep, hunger, and full bladders... The causes of so many corners cut. 100% what the covered trays are for. The downside to tapping out is that it can be a challenge to find time to tap back in. I have a movement in a holder in a covered tray that I needed to sleep on. It's literally been months now since I put it down and my desk was overtaken by work detritus. I have no idea what the status of it is. Either it just needs to be regulated, or there was some significant problem with the escapement... I was finally able to declutter a bit this weekend, so maybe I'll get back to it soon. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to declutter quite enough to make room for my watchmaking setup... Soon...

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was interested in the Mauthe watch on the top but had to buy it with the two others.
Fortunately I got them cheap at the auction and the final price divided with three makes them
End up in the 404 club. Never the less an interesting bunch to work on at Sundays.
Mauthe was a German clock manufacturer who went into the watch business around 1945. I earlier didn’t have in my watch collection but now it ends up in the reference group.

The Ankra 70 also is a German watch. Ankra was  a sales cooperative of German watchmakers founded in Leipzig in 1925.

The third is an Mondia Automatic, a swiss brand from the La Chaux-de-Fonds, they later became bought up and formed the Movado-Zenith-Mondia umbrella in the late 60’s.
20210704_122224.thumb.jpg.287eb2f3fa261cd8334de0a52411af5a.jpg

 

Two of them are snapbacks, there has been an attempt to break into the Mondia with the help of a pair of garden scissors.


20210704_122250.thumb.jpg.070c42f2ccaee27d8b05a8ccd3fbc556.jpg

Inside the Mauthe one finds the F.Mauthe Cal. 612. A quite interesting piece equipped with the Mauthe Super-Contrachoc.

The Ankra reviled a French Lorsa P72, quite a surprise.

The Mondia didn’t put out any surprises, the workhorse AS1903 is looking dead at me.

20210704_122850.thumb.jpg.ee299bbe4a336a9e340d67d8bc21a277.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A dip in the ultrasonic bath, some lubrication, a new crystal and a pimpt up bracelet and it’s back to it’s 60’s bling bling shape. Not bad for a few dollars more, even Clint Eastwood would agree 😉

 

Mauthe.png

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a Caravelle I got for 5 bucks.

I serviced it and it is sitting on the bench waiting for casing. 

In the mean time, here is the movement: Caravelle 2SO (which some believe is a Citizen movement--the dial says "Japan").

Will post the final result later.

2021-07-04 17_36_09-Photos.png

2021-07-04 17_32_31-Photos.png

2021-07-04 17_32_47-Photos.png

Edited by LittleWatchShop
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

Any closer photos of that "Super-Contrachoc"?

I have a habit to click away during the servicing process. So, here we go a picture of the Contrachock system. 

Mauthe_Chock.thumb.png.e60f8d92e9cdcd5a36f037273683ac9c.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Caravelle, a Josmar and a ladies Montra on their way to join the club.

AsPurchased.thumb.jpg.1706fdd57733c43a3f4c6dbbe45cc3c6.jpg

The Caravelle has a somewhat cryptic " U.S.W.A Local 2604 '76 " inscribed on the back, and the Montra is most likely a low jewel count EB8800 or similar pin lever.

It will be interesting to see what is in the Caravelle (Bulova?) and the Josmar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

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

    • Many thanks for your advice (being borne in mind at present) & offer Dell. When I was given the clock the plastic anchor was loose on the arbour (it had split at the 'hole') &, after repairing this, I have been trying to determine whether the spindle (pin) should be perpendicular when the pallet is sitting on a flat surface; or whether, when installed, its L-R extremes (or alternatively its tick & tock points) should lie at equal angles from the vertical when moved with spring absent. I can get the clock to run but in every such configuration the top block has to be turned anti-clockwise (from above) by quite a bit in order to be 'in beat' & it always runs fast (despite the pendulum being set to as slow as possible). This makes me wonder if there is any particular feature of/fault in a torsion spring clock which determines which turn direction (if any) is necessary to get it 'in beat'; & whether there would be a different set of settings that would get it running nearer to time at somewhere around the mid timing/inertia position which would then allow tweaking of the fast/slow setting.
    • Now this has happened I bet China or India just to name two will start to produce none genuine parts.  I did. But idiot Boris Johnson failed miserably in his negotiations. The E U stitched up the UK like a kipper. Nigel Farage  offered his help but big head Boris declined. So this is why we are in this mess all because Johnson wasn't clever enough.  
    • Hands up all those who voted to leave the EU 😂, oopsie.  UK has just signed the Hague convention, next year that will provide cross border clout to British courts.
    • Ive heard about that oil before for the lever pins. I found it easy to work on , it didn't have a whole lot of pivot wear but i bit sloppy on the lever cock, i think you have to live with what you have or bin it. Stiff to wind and set ?  Not a cannon pinion issue that has no friction thats made up further back and if I remember the barrel drives the hour wheel. No problem on this one .Let me know when you start it as i have another that donated to this one, i can work alongside you with it, two heads are better than one. 
×
×
  • Create New...