A New Appreciation In Life

[drowsytaco]

Hello All,

 

I’d like to start by thanking watchrepairtalk for giving so many the platform to share knowledge and passion in the watch world. Where it seems many other communities are quick to judge and alienate people for what they like and decide to wear on their wrist.

Now a little about why I’m here.

My name is Charlie, and a few months ago I pulled my Father’s Fossil Blue from a drawer full of other keepsakes and Knick knacks. It’s something he gave me some 10-15 years ago. We will pause for a little back story. I distinctly remember the day, I’m about 13-14 years old at the time and he goes “ here you go, I don’t wear this anymore maybe you’d like it.”    At this point in time my watch of choice was a Casio Classic in silver. When one died I would buy another. So this Fossil, needing a new battery, really not being my style at the time, nor my size gets stowed away ( I think mostly due to the nonchalant nature in which he gave it to me) . I appreciated that he gave it to me but I had no intentions of wearing it, or so I thought. Fast forward to a few months ago we we continue where we left off. 

I Pull this Fossil Blue BQ-8774 out of the drawer and I just stop and look at it, to be honest I had forgotten I had it. I felt so bad it had sat in this drawer for all these years, move after move never seeing the light of day. The next morning I asked my co-worker, whom I knew had some knowledge about watches, if he could open it up and see if it was useable, maybe see if the battery hadn’t just exploded and ended this poor watches life. He gladly agrees and the next day he brings it back, ticking away. I was astonished! I texted my father right away telling him his old friend was back up and running, and that I was going to start wearing it. Little did I know how much of an old friend this watch was to my father. As it turns out this old Fossil was the first thing my Father purchased for himself with his first paycheck out of basic training. He loved how it looked with his Dress Blues and would wear it any time he wore the Blues, or dressed up. My jaw dropped, how had I never known? Why was he so nonchalant when he gave it to me? Those questions quickly left my mind as I began to wonder and wanted to know more about the watch, value, rarity. None of this really mattered, though it brought me down a rabbit hole of finding and fixing cheap fossil watches on eBay. Quickly I began to learn the basics, what a quartz watch is, what a mechanical watch is, etc. 

A couple months go by as I immerse myself in the hobby, buying tools and pillows for my watches to sit on.

One day my Grandmother gives me a call and we begin chatting about this and that, we stumble on to what I’ve been up to and I tell her about the watches. She and my Grandfather have done many things, most of which I knew of, however this time she goes on to tell a new story, One I hadn’t heard yet. My grandmother and Grandfather used to work at a watch factory on the Island of St.Croix when they were young! Not only did my grandfather make my Grandmother charm bracelets out of old movements but he also made himself a watch from scratch. The rule was they could not case the movement on the island unless the watch was to stay on the island. So one day my grandfather decides to do just that, make himself a watch. Only this wasn’t a normal watch for the time, He took the face and polished it clean, no indices, just polished stainless. He made the band as well. Solid brushed stainless with holes drilled in tapering smaller and smaller to the clasp.

He showed his boss what he had made and his boss laughed “ Why would anyone want a watch with no markers on it!” Little did he know that would become quite a popular look later on down the road. 

After finding all this information out I really began appreciating time pieces and now have 3 automatics! (Too many quartz fossils to count) and I have more questions than I care to admit.

Stumbling across this forum seems like the perfect place for me to learn and meet more likeminded individuals. I hope you enjoyed my story. I’m NOT a poet and I absolutely know it. SO please excuse grammatical errors and I hope to see you on the forums  

[HectorLooi]

Welcome to WRT and enjoy

It's strange how things come full circle sometimes. 

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England.  

Do you know which watch manufacturer was on St Croix?

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to the WRT forum.

 

[oldhippy]

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

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

If there is anything we can help you with don’t be afraid to ask. Nice clear photos can help a lot.

[watchweasol]

Hello and welcome to the forum.  No one judges anyone on here we just help where we can

[drowsytaco]

9 hours ago, RichardHarris123 said:

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England.  

Do you know which watch manufacturer was on St Croix?

So I asked my Grandmother and this is what she said

 

“I started at unitime corp in 1965. We made movements from parts from Hattori trading company (they make the parts for seiko too). I didn’t make watches, but did get to handle and become fascinated by the parts and their functions. I also worked at Antilles industries which used the same parts to make watches for westclock. Grandpa went to work at Unitime at the beginning of 1968 - 1972. He did the same job I had had but he also learned how to put a watch together. Unitime made for : Waltham, carvelle, Dorset…. Well those were the names on the dials. I can remember the companies a little better: sears, Montgomery ward, top value stamps, Hamilton, oh my,  Unitime also made a little rectangular movement for swank , they put them on cigarette cases, cufflinks and other “cool 60’s stuff”. Those parts came from France.”

 

My goal is to find and acquire a watch that came from one of the factories when they worked there. We shall see one day if that comes to fruition!

[mbwatch]

1 hour ago, drowsytaco said:

Unitime made for : Waltham, carvelle, Dorset….

Ah, so "Unitime" must be what I know as "Universal Time Corp" or UTC. I have worked on some 1960's UT27 or UT29 movements which were essentially Seiko designs. Also I recall I have encountered a UTC-branded movement which was the same as a French Lorsa caliber. Fascinating, and welcome.

[drowsytaco]

23 hours ago, mbwatch said:

Ah, so "Unitime" must be what I know as "Universal Time Corp" or UTC. I have worked on some 1960's UT27 or UT29 movements which were essentially Seiko designs. Also I recall I have encountered a UTC-branded movement which was the same as a French Lorsa caliber. Fascinating, and welcome.

Do you recall what watches carried these movements? I suppose I could do enough digging and find out, so I shall. But if I could hear it from someone that has experienced the watch as a whole, I won’t hesitate to ask.. 

 

I dearly want one for my collection, just purely for sentimental reasons. 

[mbwatch]

2 hours ago, drowsytaco said:

Do you recall what watches carried these movements?

Yes - I had a manual wind Alsta (UT29c), and also a Waltham (with the Lorsa-like movement labeled UTC27).

On many occasions I have seen them incorrectly labeled on ebay as Swiss Unitas movements, meaning if you search for "Unitas 29" you just might turn one up.

Finally, would you believe it was _my_ reddit comment about these movements you left a comment about your grandparents under a couple of hours ago? That was me over there too! But this forum is FAR more helpful than the reddit watchmaking subs where hardly anyone knows what they're talking about.

This was the Alsta - I sold it last year. The Waltham is a very common model - champagne dial with a red arrow tip seconds hand. 

And look at this beauty: https://www.ebay.com/itm/266913403479

There are many UT29 watches on ebay US right now.