Which Watch Have You Got Coming In The Mail ? Show Us !!!

[AndyHull]

I've been on the lookout for one of those to join the 404 club, but with no luck so far. I suspect they are just a little too interesting and rare to fall in to the 404 budget, but you never know. I did pick up a scrap bumper movement in a bunch of other junk, which is now in the to-do pile, so there is a chance I might find one in a batch of other stuff.

My understanding is that there is a hammer and what is in effect a gong for the bell, a little like a clock striker.

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Poljot_2612_1

https://17jewels.info/movements/p/poljot/poljot-2612-1/

The Poljot is pretty much a clone of the AS 1930

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&AS_1930

Edited August 17, 2020 by AndyHull

[VWatchie]

4 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

Does it strike against some kind of miniature gong?  Or is there some kind of bell that covers over the movement?  How does it work?

I'm afraid I'll have to return with my answers as I currently don't know. I believe I read somewhere that the alarm vibrates or buzzes, but we'll have to see.... Anyway, my impression is that these watches are popular among collectors of Russian watches and there are hundreds of them on eBay.

[dpn]

 

9 hours ago, jdm said:

Sorry that you are having problems, but please be aware that in general that jumper is not fragile at all, rather is of good design and easy to handle. Leave it above the date ring until all screws are in, then position and tighten. It never engages the corrector wheel.

Date ring and day disk. Measure and compare accurately.

Thank you, again, for this advice and for correcting my terminology.

Cheers,

Dan

[dpn]

My wife mentioned that she missed having a Mickey Mouse watch, and so I took a chance on this lot of stuff from eBay. I'm actually looking forward to opening up the Saxony women's pocket watch the most, but I am definitely excited to open up Mr. Mouse and Mr. Duck and see if I can get them running. The only way I'll be disappointed with this auction is if all three of these watches end up being quartz.

[watchweasol]

 Hi   I have a Mickey mouse one  a timex no less.

[AndyHull]

7 hours ago, VWatchie said:

I'm afraid I'll have to return with my answers as I currently don't know. I believe I read somewhere that the alarm vibrates or buzzes, but we'll have to see.... Anyway, my impression is that these watches are popular among collectors of Russian watches and there are hundreds of them on eBay.

They also turn up here in the UK with the Sekonda brand name. An ebay search for something like....  Sekonda ALARM USSR 18 Jewels ... will usually throw up a few likely candidates.

Sekonda pushed re-branded Poljot and other re-branded USSR era watches back in the day, and these are quite good value if you want to add an inexpensive Soviet period Russian watch to your collection.

The quality of some of these watches is actually reasonably good. Arguably not quite in the same league as top end Swiss timepieces, but on the whole, not bad, especially compared with other iron curtain time piece offerings (Ruhla and the like).

The USSR watch factories often used Swiss designs, but added their own engineering tweaks and quirks. 

[AndyHull]

3 hours ago, watchweasol said:

 Hi   I have a Mickey mouse one  a timex no less.

Strangely I haven't managed to add a Mikey Mouse watch to my otherwise Mickey Mouse collection.

Snoopy, yes. Chairman Mao,  a cow and a sausage, also but not Mickey.

Perhaps we should have a separate Mickey Mouse thread, as they are very popular.

 

 

The "Mumbia special" Mickey Mouses (examples above) that flood the darker corners of ebay are a whole different story, and must be some of the most bizarre watch creations out there.  Seiko did actually produce some Mickey Mouses, but the two above, are almost certainly not amongst them. I think the biggest clue (and there are quite a few clues) is the "Japan Made" lettering, which is borrowed from genuine and copy HMT dials that often say "India Made".

I could be wrong of course and these may be the real Mick-coy.

[VWatchie]

9 hours ago, AndyHull said:

They also turn up here in the UK with the Sekonda brand name.

Perhaps Sekonda is the name used to sell these Russian watches in Europe in general!? In Russia it seems these watches were sold under the name ПОЛЕТ (Cyrillic letters) which is basically pronounced POLJOT meaning "FLIGHT". Russian watches (Vostok) were the first I ever took apart, mostly because they made it super affordable to learn about service and repair. I believe I saw a YT video claiming that the Russian watch industry was built by watchmakers imported from Switzerland. I can't find that video now, but it makes sense since these Russian watches feel very similar to what I've seen in the ETA, Unitas, Omega, and AS movements that I've serviced. The two Japanese movements I've serviced, an Orient and a Seiko definitely feel different to work on.

[AndyHull]

A couple of quid over the 404 entry bar, but I couldn't resist. 

Naturally it doesn't work, and has a few battle scars, but that is half of the fun.

[RyMoeller]

I've been away for a while and thought I'd ease myself back into the watch world but... ended up jumping in with both feet for this one-

I've wanted one of these for ages and figured the market had passed me by but now I get to do the happy dance! Can't wait to get started on this one. 

[Johnnie]

Beautiful watch, now I want one!

[RyMoeller]

2 hours ago, Johnnie said:

Beautiful watch, now I want one!

It arrived late yesterday and looks even better in person (they always do). It's a marvel how much they packaged into a 35mm watch!  Gold plated with very little pitting and some small scratches on the dial. The start/stop pusher is a replacement as are the hour and minute hands; I should be able to get them sorted out though. The movement smells like my father's American Flyer train set.   

[Jimg1969]

Found this and it's being delivered today. Unfortunately I don't know the model or if it's running. Seller doesn't know a thing about watches so she wasn't any help. From what I can tell the back should read
Milus
17 jewel
Incabloc
Stainless steel back
Swiss made
And some numbers but I won't know what until it comes.
It wasnt much so I thought it was worth a shot.

Any ideas as to the year and model, I'm unable to find another like it...

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[JerseyMo]

Quartz is generally not what I look for but this one sort of caught my eye. - 

[AndyHull]

On 9/4/2020 at 3:55 PM, Jimg1969 said:

Any ideas as to the year and model, I'm unable to find another like it.

Source => http://mikrolisk.de/show.php?site=280#sucheMarker

This might give you something to work on. If you open it up and show the caliber, then we might be able to guestimate a year for it. My guess is 1970s

Cleaning and servicing a movement that small can be a little bit more of a challenge than larger gents movements. Let us know how you get on with it.

[AndyHull]

Two more for the club.

 

First a Timex Big Q with date. This is French made and has a pusher (for the date?).
Not too bad for a mere 0.99p plus the postage.

Next is a Carronade quartz PW which I bid 0.99p on simply because it has the distinction of bing both a Swiss quartz movement and officially fully endorsed "crap" since Carronade was a brand name of the legendary Gerald Ratner of "Ratners the Jewellers" fame (infamy?).

For those of you who missed this particularly spectacular foot in mouth remark, see here for more -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ratner

 

[dpn]

Great finds @AndyHull ... I wasn't aware of the kerfuffle, and found it highly entertaining:

Quote

 

We also do cut-glass sherry decanters complete with six glasses on a silver-plated tray that your butler can serve you drinks on, all for £4.95. People say, "How can you sell this for such a low price?", I say, "because it's total crap."

He compounded this by going on to remark that one of the sets of earrings was "cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn't last as long."

 

 

[Lacazema]

Scored my first Hamilton Khaki used for a decent price ! Should receive it sometime next week.

Not the best pictures but looks in decent enough condition and will serve as a "plug and go" watch for me that I won't have to baby !

[ro63rto]

New one to me.
My first Seiko Ana/Digi
Should be a fun refurb [emoji4]

[AndyHull]

A Citizen Crystron on a Seiko strap heading hopefully to join the club.

[AndyHull]

A 17 Jewel Sekonda.

Almost certainly USSSR made, and quite possibly gold plated. I'm not sure if the speckling is on the dial or the crystal, however at a mere  0.99p whatever it is it won't disappoint, especially since the seller claims it is running.

[KarlvonKoln]

I was going to make a "coming in the mail" post about this circa-1965 Poljot Signal, but it's already here.

I do not wear *wrist* watches often, but the alarm on this watch is just so doggone handy.  I can be forgetful.  I adore alarm watches.

[dpn]

I do not wear *wrist* watches often, but the alarm on this watch is just so doggone handy.  I can be forgetful.  I adore alarm watches.
http://d1v6dnm22vfd7d.cloudfront.net/monthly_2020_09/20200915_192232.thumb.jpg.b16db6dbf3749d5875f58992ffbbd9d7.jpg

An alarm watch is on my list to acquire after reading about them for the first time in a 1999 essay by William Gibson called “My Obsession”: https://www.wired.com/1999/01/ebay/

Gibson describes some of the delights and perils of eBay in a delightfully dated way that makes me miss my first Internet experiences circa 1995. Relevant to this thread, he waxes poetic about the charms of a Vulcain Cricket alarm watch.

Long story short: That’s a super cool find [mention]KarlvonKoln [/mention]!

[KarlvonKoln]

1 hour ago, dpn said:

Gibson describes some of the delights and perils of eBay ... Relevant to this thread, he waxes poetic about the charms of a Vulcain Cricket alarm watch.

 

This one popped up on Etsy, as I recall.  The seller professed it to be functional, and his reviews seemed real and nearly-all positive.  On impulse I decided to go for it.  The price was very affordable.  I have read that the movement is identical to that in the Vulcain Cricket.

And the article spoke of a "Tamagotchi Gesture" in a very knowing manner.  I always called it "the fiddle-factor".  I had my pocket watches long before fidget spinners were a thing.  I have one with a skeleton movement that, during lulls in business, I can stare into and watch it work. They're little marvels which have practical purpose.  Some pay more for the kinds of jewelry which do nothing more than decorate.  I enjoy the added functional aspect of watches.

[AndyHull]

I think I have all the parts needed to resurrect this one in my scrap bins. It is missing the crown and stem, and the keyless parts (clutch etc.)

I have a couple of scrap Seconda/Luch 2536 quartz mechanisms which have damaged coils, so assuming the coil in this one is good (which is a pretty bold assumption), I think I may be able to put it all back together.

It also obviously needs the full fumigation treatment to remove that potato field around the dial, and probably a new crystal.

If the coil is no good... well I'm down a whopping £4.00, unless and until I find a source of coils for 2536 coils.

Edited September 21, 2020 by AndyHull