404 Club

[spectre6000]

I actually like some of the colorful dials. I have at least one in my stash, if not more. I think the one I'm thinking of was a 404, but I actually bought it because I just liked the way it looked.

Come to think of it, the Indian watches are probably what the Russian watches used to be. The real value leader. They're robust and simple and have some really good features. It's not like you can't find piles and piles of Russian watches that are, as Stephen Colbert would say, "is potato". You DON'T have to deal with the shims and crap. I don't think you get as much variety in terms of complications, but boy do you get a wide range of color! Personally, I'm no unicorn farmer, but I'm sick of all the white-black spectrum everything trend. It would be REALLY easy to specialize in HMT watches, build up a really nice parts stash from cheap Mumbai specials. Maybe even Mumbai some specials of your own... Just have a rainbow of genuinely decent, inexpensive watches to sell off for tool money, give to friends, etc.

[AndyHull]

14 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

I actually like some of the colorful dials. I have at least one in my stash, if not more. I think the one I'm thinking of was a 404, but I actually bought it because I just liked the way it looked.

Come to think of it, the Indian watches are probably what the Russian watches used to be. The real value leader. They're robust and simple and have some really good features. It's not like you can't find piles and piles of Russian watches that are, as Stephen Colbert would say, "is potato". You DON'T have to deal with the shims and crap. I don't think you get as much variety in terms of complications, but boy do you get a wide range of color! Personally, I'm no unicorn farmer, but I'm sick of all the white-black spectrum everything trend. It would be REALLY easy to specialize in HMT watches, build up a really nice parts stash from cheap Mumbai specials. Maybe even Mumbai some specials of your own... Just have a rainbow of genuinely decent, inexpensive watches to sell off for tool money, give to friends, etc.

Maybe we should start a "Show us your HMT watches" thread.

I'll just leave this here as a taster. For a follow on, we could have a "Comrades from the USSR corner".
 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by AndyHull

[Waggy]

Seems like ages since I last posted on 404, here is a ladies Seiko 2906A I picked up from Ramon in the Philippines as part of a job lot, so worked out to be $1.60. I did require a new crystal (£10.12) because the original shattered when I tried to remove it and it also needed a new winding stem (£2.00) and crown (from my spares) as it arrived without these, all of the screws for the automatic works were floating around inside the movement and the pawl lever for the auto works had one arm completely broken off so needed replaced (I had one from a donor) but apart from that it's all original. Here are the before and after pictures:

Here is how it looked when I first opened the back...... and you get that "it gonna be one of those watches..." feeling

And here is the finished watch:

Edited December 31, 2023 by Waggy

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, Waggy said:

Seems like ages since I last posted on 404, here is a ladies Seiko 2906A I picked up from Ramon in the Philippines as part of a job lot, so worked out to be $1.60. I did require a new crystal (£10.12) because the original shattered when I tried to remove it and it also needed a new winding stem (£2.00) and crown (from my spares) as it arrived without these, all of the screws for the automatic works were floating around inside the movement and the pawl lever for the auto works had one arm completely broken off so needed replaced (I had one from a donor) but apart from that it's all original. Here are the before and after pictures:

Here is how it looked when I first opened the back...... and you get that "it gonna be one of those watches..." feeling

And here is the finished watch:

Looks well tidy Waggy nice job with the case refinishing.  Original seiko strap as well ??

[Waggy]

13 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Original seiko strap as well ??

Yes, managed to save it, but was quite a bit of work.

[Razz]

I may have shown this one before but put a new crystal on it. The bezel is beat up and the case has wear. The dial is a little damaged where the sub seconds hand must have scraped. But I really like the green numerals and looks decent on a light tan nato strap.

I hope this post does not offend anyone and appologize if it does. I can't even remember where I picked this example up. It even could have been from someone in Ukraine.

Edited January 2 by Razz

[Waggy]

6 hours ago, Razz said:

I hope this post does not offend anyone

Why would it offend anyone?

[Neverenoughwatches]

35 minutes ago, Waggy said:

Why would it offend anyone?

[AndyHull]

Pobeda - Победа, Victory, from the Petrodvorets Watch Factory.

One of the few watches to appear on a postage stamp.

Yours probably has a K-26, with a design that originally came under license from the  French Lip factory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pobeda_(watch)

As to taking offence, the watch has nothing to do with the current regime.

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 hours ago, Razz said:

I may have shown this one before but put a new crystal on it. The bezel is beat up and the case has wear. The dial is a little damaged where the sub seconds hand must have scraped. But I really like the green numerals and looks decent on a light tan nato strap.

I hope this post does not offend anyone and appologize if it does. I can't even remember where I picked this example up. It even could have been from someone in Ukraine.

I dont know why you think it might offend razz. Because its beat up ? No thats just history, not everything on a watch can be made pristine and shouldnt be imo. Dials are renowned for being difficult to restore when they are in bad shape, some are virtually untouchable. Same can go for hands if corrosion has taken hold. And there is only so much that can be done with a case without getting too involved, the aesthetics of a watch still show though its age and are often enhanced, just look at tropical dials.  Personally i embrace anything that exibits its history and has lived a life,and extending its life brings me a lot of pleasure. If my dog had lost his leg in an accident i would have loved him even more. The popular concept of marketing and advertising is to have everything perfect and live in a perfect world and we should be and look perfect, sorry but that is complete bullshit in my eyes. If its because it has Russian origin and the meaning of the brand, yes that can be a topical subject. But does that mean folk should have never bought Seiko watches. Its just a watch if you enjoy it then thats the important bit covered.

[Razz]

Thanks guys, I know this is the USSR era watch and nothing to do with the current regime. But I just wanted to make sure it wasn't coming across as any type of political statement or implying anything of the sort. I will open the back up again and take a pic of the movement. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

20 minutes ago, Razz said:

Thanks guys, I know this is the USSR era watch and nothing to do with the current regime. But I just wanted to make sure it wasn't coming across as any type of political statement or implying anything of the sort. I will open the back up again and take a pic of the movement. 

Razz, it doesn't matter what you do mate, you are always going to upset someone if life and you can't cater for everyone. What matters is good intentions and if folk cant spot good from bad well thats just not your problem. 

[eccentric59]

1 hour ago, Razz said:

But I just wanted to make sure it wasn't coming across as any type of political statement or implying anything of the sort.

I look at it this way. The people making the watches in Russia aren't running the government. If they were, it would work much better.

[Razz]

Well here is the movement. A Zim 2602 I think.

Adding a better camera shot.

Edited January 2 by Razz

[spectre6000]

The watch that got me into watches turned out to be a Nazi issued officer's watch traded out of a POW camp or picked off a corpse on the Eastern front complete with field made (bayonet or maybe a folding knife) tangs to hold the crystal in. I bought it off eBay from Ukraine knowing none of this. History can be wild.

Edited January 2 by spectre6000

[rehajm]

3 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Razz, it doesn't matter what you do mate, you are always going to upset someone if life and you can't cater for everyone. What matters is good intentions and if folk cant spot good from bad well thats just not your problem. 

Always good advice...but if you haven't been to the United States lately it is difficult to appreciate how polarized politically we are at the moment. Every public utterance is risky- socially...physically...

Saying this is risky...

...anyways here's a 404 for you. I think. Free. I changed the battery. Judges?

Edited January 2 by rehajm

[oldhippy]

Just saying members we don't do Politics here. There are many forums for that sort of thing. 

[rehajm]

On 12/30/2023 at 11:35 PM, Waggy said:

Seems like ages since I last posted on 404, here is a ladies Seiko 2906A I picked up from Ramon in the Philippines as part of a job lot, so worked out to be $1.60. I did require a new crystal (£10.12) because the original shattered when I tried to remove it and it also needed a new winding stem (£2.00) and crown (from my spares) as it arrived without these, all of the screws for the automatic works were floating around inside the movement and the pawl lever for the auto works had one arm completely broken off so needed replaced (I had one from a donor) but apart from that it's all original. Here are the before and after pictures:

Here is how it looked when I first opened the back...... and you get that "it gonna be one of those watches..." feeling

And here is the finished watch:

Waggy, this one deserves a spot in your 'biggest improvement' thread as well. I haven't forgotten that thread and one 2024 goal for me - to have one to post there as well! 

Edited January 2 by rehajm

[watchweasol]

Hi Razz on this forum we do watches regardless less of its history or who made it @spectre6000 mentioned the nazi watches, it wasn’t the watches fault where it ended up. If we were going to get political over them we wouldn’t handle that many. Neven would know about the iron curtain and the time pieces made then in the Eastern bloc and Russia. As @oldhippy SAID Politics belong somewhere else.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, rehajm said:

Always good advice...but if you haven't been to the United States lately it is difficult to appreciate how polarized politically we are at the moment. Every public utterance is risky- socially...physically...

Saying this is risky...

...anyways here's a 404 for you. I think. Free. I changed the battery. Judges?

Would be no good for me, i say how i feeI, sorry for you in the US, no i haven't been for 6 years, New york seemed quite relaxed then , i walked down 5th Avenue from Times square up to Madison Garden at 4 am on my own, sat at the pond on a bench contemplating life with a coffee. Felt very safe. Fortunately i have very little interest in politics.

[AndyHull]

According to Tripadvisor, it seems that you can still do a factory tour of the Petrodvorets Watch Factory.

So, in the unlikely event that any of you find yourself in the vicinity of St Petersburg, here is the link. 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1207894-d2689172-Reviews-Petrodvorets_Watch_Factory-Peterhof_Petrodvortsovy_District_St_Petersburg_Northw.html#/media-atf/2689172/90343727:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160
 

Actually, click the link anyway, there are some interesting pictures on the Tripadvisor pages.

Edited January 2 by AndyHull

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

According to Tripadvisor, it seems that you can still do a factory tour of the Petrodvorets Watch Factory.

So, in the unlikely event that any of you find yourself in the vicinity of St Petersburg, here is the link. 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1207894-d2689172-Reviews-Petrodvorets_Watch_Factory-Peterhof_Petrodvortsovy_District_St_Petersburg_Northw.html#/media-atf/2689172/90343727:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160
 

Actually, click the link anyway, there are some interesting pictures on the Tripadvisor pages.

What on earth is it ?

[rehajm]

4 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

What on earth is it ?

Prints dials?

[AndyHull]

I'm pretty sure they are "pad printers", sometimes called tampon printers, used to accurately print fine details on dials, but to be absolutely certain, you would need to take the factory tour.

[Neverenoughwatches]

28 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

I'm pretty sure they are "pad printers", sometimes called tampon printers, used to accurately print fine details on dials, but to be absolutely certain, you would need to take the factory tour.

Ok , i was very close but i couldn't possibly say what i was actually thinking.