Left-brained introvert has finally found his people!

[DanT]

Hello from Vermont, everyone.   Like most here I have loved all types of timepieces and have finally taken the steps to understand them more intimately.  The servicing, cleaning, and lubricating of movements has proven to be cathartic and satisfying but now I'm looking to improve the quality of my work with your help. I am very grateful for those that have built this site up to what it is and I'm eager to put your years of experience to use.  Thank you all for sharing and I'll be sure to do the same if I can be of service.

[watchweasol]

Hello and welcome to the forum

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to WRT forum.

[Michael1962]

Welcome to the forum Dan.

Show us some photos of your work.  

[DanT]

16 hours ago, Michael1962 said:

Welcome to the forum Dan.

Show us some photos of your work.  

Only a couple months into this new obsession but here is my first venture (outside of cutting my teeth on some Elgin pocket watches) - vintage Gruen Day/Night Jump that I picked up for $10 at a flea market.  It wasn't running but a thorough cleaning (as thorough as you can by hand without passing out from the lighter fluid fumes) and lubrication and it sprang to life.  I still need a correct strap and a new crystal but it seems to be in fine shape.  No timegrapher yet but it's on the wishlist.  The second is a vintage ladies Tissot Seastar ($20 at the same flea market) - my first jump into an automatic.  It was challenging but it came apart and went back together even with a couple weeks in between while I waited for some oils...  Eager to improve my skills and my collection with the help of this group.  Thanks for the welcome!

[Michael1962]

When People say 'day/night jump', what do you mean. I thought I had worked out what it meant, but after seeing the pictures of your Gruen, I will admit that I now, do not know again.

Edited February 15, 2022 by Michael1962

[AndyHull]

In this case, the hour markers change colour from luminous (green) to black, typically  at 6:00 AM and black to green at 6:00 PM. This allows the luminous markers to be visible at night, and hidden during the day.

If you look carefully at the hour markers, you can see they have a window on to a disk below the dial which is printed with black and luminous chevrons which "jump" in and out of view depending  on the rotation of the disk, using a similar mechanism to the date disks on many watches.

There are other "jump" mechanisms, but in the case of this Gruen, this is what they are referring to.

There is a good example shown here -> https://farfo.com/vintage-wristwatches/gruen-precision-day-night-jump-hour-markers/

Edited February 15, 2022 by AndyHull

[Michael1962]

Thanks Andy. I actually went and googled (well DuckDuckGo'd) day/night jump and this model Gruen was the featured watch.

[AndyHull]

I've seen a couple of these on ebay, but always at prices that put them well beyond my self imposed 404 club rules, and also well north of the $10 that @DanT was lucky enough to find one for, nice find.

I'll keep an eye on the junk piles though, you never know, I might get lucky.

Edited February 15, 2022 by AndyHull

[Michael1962]

There's a part of me that thinks can't you tell it's daytime 'cos that big yellow thing is in the sky?

That's not to say that I don't like the idea of the jump. I think it is actually pretty neat. Sort of like two watches in one.

[AndyHull]

I guess it might be popular with troglodytes and perhaps people living north of the Arctic circle in the winter.

The idea is pretty neat, but I suspect there wasn't much of a market for it as they are fairly uncommon.

Having said that, I do have a couple of watches with a day/night complication in the form of a 24hr disk which exposes a sun or moon as appropriate (and always assuming you remember to set it correctly in the first place of course).

Again, arguably not very useful, but interesting to look at none the less.

Not a true "Moon Phase" complication, as those are quite a bit more complicated to engineer.

Edited February 15, 2022 by AndyHull

[jdm]

3 hours ago, AndyHull said:

Having said that, I do have a couple of watches with a day/night complication in the form of a 24hr disk which exposes a sun or moon as appropriate (and always assuming you remember to set it correctly in the first place of course).

I will tell you a secret which mov.t makers don't want you to know. Take any that has date, place a pinion on the date driving wheel, a suitable dial, you have 24h indication. A disc instead of a pivot and hand, sun/moon deco-mplication. Or a 1:1 gear to a center disc and it comes like the one you have. All about doing the most with less.

[DanT]

5 hours ago, jdm said:

I will tell you a secret which mov.t makers don't want you to know. Take any that has date, place a pinion on the date driving wheel, a suitable dial, you have 24h indication. A disc instead of a pivot and hand, sun/moon deco-mplication. Or a 1:1 gear to a center disc and it comes like the one you have. All about doing the most with less.

And this is why I joined this group/forum; thank you for sharing!  I'm eager to learn and improve from a helpful community.