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


SCOTTY

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Also ...

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Lorsa_8FA

If so that means it is probably French, rather than Swiss, which kinda goes with the styling, and the lack of "Swiss Made" anywhere.

Lorsa/ France ebauche are usually fairly good quality movements. I suspect you should have little trouble getting them running,and with a little bit of a clean they should look pretty smart.

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I think the Lorsa 8FA is our winner! Neat! I agree with the lack of anything "Swiss" anywhere on it, and looks like I was right about the French looking shock spring. This will be interesting. The movement pictured is the one that's not supposed to be working, and is out of the one watch that's not quite like the others. I have no reason to believe the others won't have the same movement. <$2 for a French watch is pretty solid. Let's see how things shake out.

Work is done for the day, time to start hunting for more "494 Club" fodder!

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1 minute ago, spectre6000 said:

I think the Lorsa 8FA is our winner! Neat! I agree with the lack of anything "Swiss" anywhere on it, and looks like I was right about the French looking shock spring. This will be interesting. The movement pictured is the one that's not supposed to be working, and is out of the one watch that's not quite like the others. I have no reason to believe the others won't have the same movement. <$2 for a French watch is pretty solid. Let's see how things shake out.

Work is done for the day, time to start hunting for more "494 Club" fodder!

This Timex quartz diver cost me the exorbitant price of £1.99......

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Now looks like this....

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(the new crystal and bezel insert did put the total price up to about £12 or so though...;))

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10 hours ago, AndyHull said:

Actually that's much closer than the Chaika, it's never a good idea to try and check detail on a phone screen. Looking at the bridge shapes though I wonder if there is some shared DNA between the Lorsa and the Chaika

If not the 8FA then a variant thereof. The 8FA on Ranfft has a fixed h/s stud and a different anti-shock set up.

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52 minutes ago, Marc said:

Actually that's much closer than the Chaika, it's never a good idea to try and check detail on a phone screen. Looking at the bridge shapes though I wonder if there is some shared DNA between the Lorsa and the Chaika

If not the 8FA then a variant thereof. The 8FA on Ranfft has a fixed h/s stud and a different anti-shock set up.

I wonder when the convention of marking the heads oh LH thread screws started and where? I don't think I have seen this on anything manufactured before about 1980?

edit:- make that early 1970's, just realised that the Seiko 7009A was marked like that....

Edited by JohnD
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1 hour ago, JohnD said:

edit:- make that early 1970's, just realised that the Seiko 7009A was marked like that....

I was going to say, I have a couple of 1970s HMT (Citizen) movements marked for LH threads.
 

2 hours ago, Marc said:

Actually that's much closer than the Chaika, it's never a good idea to try and check detail on a phone screen. Looking at the bridge shapes though I wonder if there is some shared DNA between the Lorsa and the Chaika

There are a number of co-operations between the French watch making industry and the USSR industry.

For example -> http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Zvezda

... and ... -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slava_watches

Also worth a look is the Lorsa 8FA on 17jewels.info

https://17jewels.info/movements/l/lorsa/

https://17jewels.info/movements/l/lorsa/lorsa-8fa/

 

Lorsa_8FA.jpg

So the most likely candidate is a Lorsa 8FA derivative, followed by perhaps one of the USSR era licensed copies of a similar French movement derivative. 

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Well worth the not very much you paid for them, even of only for the history lesson :biggrin:. I think they are going to clean up very nicely though. 

Edited by AndyHull
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I guess I didn't mention it here, but the 17Jewels image is what I landed on that convinced me. I did the exact same photo manipulation as above, and decided the only discernible. differences I noticed could be chalked up to the lighting and finish. What is that type of finish called, BTW? I see a wider... "grained" version of it on a number of other Lorsa movements on Ranfft. Too bad the Law and Order style "enhance" doesn't work... Whatever that stamping is under the balance will likely solve all the riddles... eventually.

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I just grabbed this 1971 vintage Seiko Lord-Matic. It was being sold as a non-runner, hopefully nothing is actually broken.  I'd like to replace the Crystal, but it looks like there isn't a direct replacement currently available on the internet. At the very least the dial needs some attention with some kind of stain around the day window. Updates will follow as soon as it arrives.

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Two more for 404!

A "Thoresen" and a "Sussex". The former is an unknown 17j Swiss movement, the latter is a 17j French movement. All I know about them are these two photos, neither work for unknown reasons, the French one is missing a hand and the dial is rough, and they're coming from Germany. They're from the same seller, and I'm hoping he'll combine shipping. If so, the Thoresen is at the absolute limit at current exchange rates for €4,49 and the Sussex was €1,00. 

Meanwhile, the US "494 Club" moniker may not be stable... At today's exchange rate, it's the "499 Club".

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Well, its not coming it arrived and I am elated! A 1958 CK2990 Ranchero case with its original box! Although not technically a Ranchero, collectors call this particular 2990  a 'Seachero' due to the fact that they share the same case as the Ranchero. It sports a 267 Cal.  And is 36mm wide. The watch is virtually untouched - all but the band. Original polish and movement. To have the box is extremely rare as they were only made for 2 years. The previous owner's DNA and grime is still on the caseback and lugs. Timed it and it's running slow. Will service the movement. 

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Edited by Hopgoblin
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39 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

Beats the shit out of my 404 specials! Of all the "luxury" brands, Omega has a spot in my heart. Every ounce of "luxury" marketing turns me off hard, but for some inexplicable reason Omega gets a pass from that aversion.

Very eloquently said, lol. I feel EXACTLY the same way. IMO, the ugliest 70's Omega beats anything Rolex has to offer!

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18 hours ago, Hopgoblin said:

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I just noticed the price tag there. $24.95 1958 dollars in 2020 dollars is only about $221! I'm pretty sure the entry point for Omega these days is 10X that. If I could buy a brand new Omega like that for $221, I'd be all over it. Definitely illustrates the mechanical watch industry's move upmarket post-QC. I've got the majority of a 1958 German market VW Beetle in my shop, and used to have a '57 Karmann Ghia (google "57 karmann ghia" and look at the images, mine is currently the 4th result in my browser; black and white with a faint hint of green and Texas plates with trees in the background). They were hardly expensive cars, even in their day, but at $1,545 (2020$13,706) and $2,395 (2020$21,852) things just cost more these days... You can't call it inflation either, because that's the exact transformation that's being represented. I feel like there's some deeper revelation to be had here, but my coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

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On 5/31/2020 at 10:57 AM, spectre6000 said:

Two more for 404!

A "Thoresen" and a "Sussex". The former is an unknown 17j Swiss movement, the latter is a 17j French movement. All I know about them are these two photos, neither work for unknown reasons, the French one is missing a hand and the dial is rough, and they're coming from Germany. They're from the same seller, and I'm hoping he'll combine shipping. If so, the Thoresen is at the absolute limit at current exchange rates for €4,49 and the Sussex was €1,00. 

Meanwhile, the US "494 Club" moniker may not be stable... At today's exchange rate, it's the "499 Club".

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Got bit! Covid-19 casualties!

Heads up eBay people... It seems eBay's shipping calculator is not taking into account changes in shipping cost due to Covid-19. At least that's what I assume happened... I guess I never truly confirmed that assumption. The eBay calculated shipping cost for these two watches was on the order of €10,00 each. They were from the same seller, so that was combined after the auctions closed. Turns out, DHL (the seller is in Germany) is not currently offering parcel service to the US, and will only ship via premium services. Same with everyone else. The cheapest shipping I could find across any provider was north of €50 all the way up to €120. I feel like the "404" game falls apart at some point long before you get to €50... The seller is down in the littler corner near Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland, so I checked to see if it was any cheaper elsewhere, and they were all the same. I think Europe is a dead zone to us in the US for a while...

So, these will not be sacrificed on the altar of learning experience after all... Bummer.

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I've not tried shipping from outside the UK recently, other than from China. UK to UK shipping is currently pretty normal. i.e. slow as ever, but not much slower. China shipping is variable. I rarely ship to/from the USA as it has always been a bit of a rip off. $30 for a $10 item.. that sort of nonsense.

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Still waiting for my Luch 3055 from the Ukraine. The tracking says it left the Ukraine on the 17th May and is 'in transit to the destination country'.......hasn't appeared on the Royal Mail tracking yet....:mad:

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UK to US shipping has always been way higher than makes sense. It's to the point that I essentially ignore everything from the UK due to the shipping cost.

I had a shipment from Germany by way of Switzerland show up; slowly, but it got here. I have a shipment from China a month and a half and counting. I had another shipment that said it was coming from China, but ultimately seems to have shipped from California. I have a shipment in Israel that seems stuck at the origin post office in the sender's neighborhood, and something coming from the Czech Republic that seems to have moved in the right direction in reasonable intervals, but isn't even a week in yet.

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3 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

UK to US shipping has always been way higher than makes sense. It's to the point that I essentially ignore everything from the UK due to the shipping cost.

 

I have always found it the other way round, I can send things to the US for half the cost of US to UK postal rates... However I understand that this is about to change as Royal mail are putting up the parcel rates to the US next week....

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I liked the dial on this, and swithered about buying it, as I have quite a few other projects in the pipeline. However since I picked up a bunch of Sekonda corpses with these Slava movements in a while back, some of which had trashed dials,  I have a bunch of parts for this scrapper, including a clean, almost new looking  case, a number of suitable seconds hand and a balance, so it may not need too much work to bring it all together.

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At just under four quid, the price means it just squeaks in to the 404 club.

It is heading my way from Ukraine, and surprisingly the postage wasn't too bad. I've had local sellers charge more, but who knows how long it will take to actually get here, when you factor in snail mail from Ukraine with coronavirus restrictions.

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Ouch... I hope that isn't blood, and I don't hold out much hope for that hairspring.

Although this might technically end up as a frankenwatch, looking online at similar examples,  the case I have means it should be pretty faithful to the original. The only missing ingredient here, as usual is going to be "spare time" to actually get it torn down and built into a working watch. I will of course keep you all posted if I make any progress.

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48 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

I liked the dial on this, and swithered about buying it, as I have quite a few other projects in the pipeline. However since I picked up a bunch of Sekonda corpses with these Slava movements in a while back, some of which had trashed dials,  I have a bunch of parts for this scrapper, including a clean, almost new looking  case, a number of suitable seconds hand and a balance, so it may not need too much work to bring it all together.

AsPurchased.png.3854846be1d3cb8dc6782c04e64a6846.png
At just under four quid, the price means it just squeaks in to the 404 club.

It is heading my way from Ukraine, and surprisingly the postage wasn't too bad. I've had local sellers charge more, but who knows how long it will take to actually get here, when you factor in snail mail from Ukraine with coronavirus restrictions.

AsPurchasedRear.png.558bfc01a994721de86036eafd3ea6eb.png

Ouch... I hope that isn't blood, and I don't hold out much hope for that hairspring.

Although this might technically end up as a frankenwatch, looking online at similar examples,  the case I have means it should be pretty faithful to the original. The only missing ingredient here, as usual is going to be "spare time" to actually get it torn down and built into a working watch. I will of course keep you all posted if I make any progress.

Well my Luch 3055 apparently left the Ukraine over 3 weeks ago and still isn't here yet......

I do have this rather nice Camy on the way though from a UK seller, hopefully won't take too long to arrive.....

 

Camy boxed 3.jpg

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Looking forward to the new Royal Mail parcel rates! Lots of good watches in the UK.

My watch from the Czech Republic landed stateside last night. Auction ended 5/31, and the seller took their sweet time getting it posted. Czech tracking shows receipt 6/3, so it looks like maybe boats float faster from that part of the world. 5 days between borders.

Meanwhile, order was placed for goods from China 4/23, and one can only assume they're floating around somewhere in the pacific. Tracking shows it left China 5/8, so we're 30 days at sea and counting. 

It's been a while since I ordered something direct from China, but I know it didn't take this long. I wonder how much of what is pandemic related, and how much Amazon has warped my perception of what's reasonable in logistics.

Edited by spectre6000
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Looking fairly clean, but missing its crown (and stem?)

Allegedly working, and a couple of quid over budget, this HMT 6501 "Kanchan" should be on its way to me.
 

This licensed Citizen 6501 movement based automatic is one of the models still available from the offical HMT store online, for around £86.90 (र  8325.00 INR) should you feel the need to add one to your collection. 


There is also a "skeleton" Superior version available from time to time (actually it only has an exhibition case back, so is not a true skeleton movement so far as I can see).


In my opinion HMT are better value than a lot of the Chinese micro brands, and likely to be more robust (missing crowns not withstanding of course). Given a choice between a "Winner" and an HMT, I'll take the HMT any day of the week.

HMT seem to have a little bit of a cult following these days and I have noticed they are generally becoming more expensive. Even the franken "Mumbai Specials" seem to be getting more pricey recently.

Edited by AndyHull
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Just picked up my first Seiko Speedy. The reference is 6139-7100, affectionately known as the helmet. I've also seen the white dial version referred to as the Stormtrooper and the black dial version the Darth Vader. The inner bezel and the case back are not original, hopefully that's all that's wrong. I plan to go through this per Mark's video on the same movement. Gain experience and get it nicely tuned. I have had my eye on one almost since I began repairing and collecting watches. Very excited for this watch and very pleased with the purchase price.

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I just grabbed this vintage Citizen Bullhead with the panda dial. It's powered by the venerable Citizen, 23 Jewel,  8110A. It looks to be quite a disaster, but since I'm itching for a challenge and I've always wanted a Bullhead, this will be my chance.

Initial shopping list of parts includes:

  1. New crystal as I'm quite certain faceted crystals were never available from the factory
  2. New replacement or vintage dial in good shape as this one is a wreck.
  3. complete set of hands
  4. stem
  5. possibly a new balance as the hairspring looks to be wound tight, hopefully that is just a lack of perspective
  6. proper bracelet as this one is sans anything

As always, I will post updates and photos as I go through it. It seems Mark has yet to cover one of these on YouTube. Would love to see him go through one himself. If anyone here has gone through one of these or has any spares available, please let me know, I may need guidance. Hopefully I can manage it without one of those Bergeon 3rd wheel pullers as it costs nearly as much as this did.

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Addendum: for those Quentin Tarantino fans, I just learned Brad Pitt's character, "Cliff Booth" in "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" wore a gold tone one of these on a leather cuff band. :thumbsu:

Edited by FLwatchguy73
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