My "accumulation"...

[bullet308]

...I think calling it a collection would be a bit much...

Here are some of the watches I am currently calling my "collection" (if you insist)...

My fathers Bulova Accutron Railroad Approved...unlike a lot of these floating around, this one actually lived a hard life on a real, live railroad (he retired after 36 years on first the Southern Railway, then Norfolk-Southern Railway...He retired in 1993, IIRC). The crystal is missing...where would be a good place to get a replacement? 

As I related in my intro post, my dad's original railroad watch was a Hamilton 992B that was stolen from his lunchbox by a short-lived employee...he always said he had intended to leave that watch to me one day, and he would occasionally curse the fellow's name...I think after the Accutron gave it up, he wore a couple of Seiko Railroad Approved watches, and by then, the railroad quit caring watch you wore and he just ran assorted quartz junk until he retired. My dad passed last November, age 81.

I had a Seiko Railroad Approved that I purchased myself for awhile...it may or may not have survived the trip it took through the washing machine...we will never know...because the subsequent trip through the clothes dryer, it most certainly did NOT survive..I was picking watch bits out of my underwear for a week...

The watch that I have personally had possession of the longest...my uncle Lloyd's Bulova A-11 that he was issued in World War 2...he flew B-17s out of southern England, and fortunately, arrived on the scene late enough (around February of '45) that he didn't have to deal with the Luftwaffe too much. Aside from one harrowing day over Schweinfurt, he had a fairly easy time of it, and spent much of the middle of 1945 dropping food on starving civilians rather than high explosives on German factories. The only casualty on his tour was the base fire truck, which he (the story goes) stole while intoxicated on V-E Day and crashed it into a fountain in town...the deal struck: while everybody else got to go home, he had to stay flying VIPs and food around occupied Europe until December. As plan B was a court martial, he eagerly accepted...

 

And this was the same uncle's Longines, as seen in the intro post, Im guessing 1940s-50s vintage...it is of rather small calibere, about the same as the Bulova he was issued during the war. Lovely watch, only loses about five seconds a day...I was told it was worth something on the order of $275-300, owing to its small calibere, and was quoted about the same to have it CLAed...it sits until I either gather up the money or the expertise to have it done. 

 

Some quartz cheapies from my dad and my wife's Pulsar, all in need of batteries...

 

 

Another pair of what I believe to be cheapies, an Accro and an Orvis, probably from my grandfather, circa 1920s-30s...

 

And now, some Russian Vostoks...this one was apparently imported in the '90s badged as a Cardi Vostok...

 

A Kommanderske and a man's dress watch, which may become one my everyday wearers...I just like the looks of it...

And now, a few more Vostoks that I was too lazy to take my own pics of, so these came from eBay...



A "rare" Cornavin Olympic commemorative, with Vostok movement, for the princely sum of $.99 delivered from Ukraine...



Just another Kommanderske...

And, I have more of these things on order than I care to admit, either as complete watches or as stripped movements...I mean, I went a bit nuts there last month, and while most of the stuff out of Ukraine has arrived, the stuff from Russia is just now starting to show up...  :-/

Anyway, I hope this has provided some amusement...

>>>BULLET>>>

AKA

-Tom 


 

[frenchie]

A whole bunch of nice watches and stories, thanks for sharing !

[WillFly]

Good stories. I think I'd have cursed the 992B thief by bell, book and candle - what a bar-steward!

 

My great-grandfather was also a locomotive driver, on the north-west London-Glasgow line, driving the Royal Scot class. Unfortunately, no watch of his survives in the family to my knowledge. He lived in Horwich, got a local train to Crewe and then either drove from Crewe to London or from Crewe to Glasgow - never the whole way. His son, my grandfather, was a fitter in the Horwich Locomotive Works, and I have his retirement watch, a 9-ct cased Smiths "De Luxe" - the standard retirement present for many thousands of workers in various industries.

[bullet308]

My dad was usually referred to officially as a switchman/conductor. He spent all of his years "on the ground" in the same yard, aligning switches, assembling and disassembling trains as they came to and from the yard. Not my idea of fun. Having grown up in a freight yard, my sense of any 'romance of the rail" was long gone by adulthood. To me, it was just another dirty, dangerous industrial worksite, complete with exposure to horrific heat and cold, toxic chemicals and the occasional fellow getting a leg cut off...

[bullet308]

A few more...

 

 

An Amphibia that needs an overhaul...is it bad when the second hand falls off the first time you try to wind it? I thought so...

 

 

Your basic Kommanderske, complete with a NATO strap

 

 

My Casio G-Shock Waveceptor and two Timex Expedition field watches.

The Casio is very nice...the two Timex's are both a pain in the rear because just about anything can hold the crown down enough to actuate the Indiglo backlight, rapidly killing the battery...

 

And, my first Kommanderske, on a Ukrainian Soviet-style band. This is my every day wear watch right now. 

[bullet308]

Oh, and this:

 

An assortment of Vostok 2409 movements with faces for future builds and repairs...

 

I am not sure, but I think I am going to end up in possession of something like 55-60 Vostok movements, and that's not including the complete watches.  Told ya' I went a bit nuts...  :-p

[dadistic]

  Told ya' I went a bit nuts...  :-p

 

Hey, it happens :-)

 

In my case it was a pile of Timex's.

 

Have fun!

[jeffc83]

If you bought these on Ebay, we have been bidding against each other often.  I recently purchased xxx amount of watches there and cannot stop.  So yes, you're not alone!  Watchaholics anonymous will no longer accept me :startle:

[bobm12]

 

 I recently purchased xxx amount of watches

Porno! Where are those XXX watches? :D

 

Sorry I couldn't resist! But you don't need to buy broken, look in here:

 

http://meranom.com/

 

http://www.poljot24.de/en/

 

http://chistopolcity.com/

 

Warning though, I've never purchased from them but some members here I believe have use some of them.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[jeffc83]

Porno! Where are those XXX watches? :D

 

Sorry I couldn't resist! But you don't need to buy broken, look in here:

 

http://meranom.com/

 

http://www.poljot24.de/en/

 

http://chistopolcity.com/

 

Warning though, I've never purchased from them but some members here I believe have use some of them.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

 

Nice one, lol.  Well, I don't have that special "xxx" watch yet however, I will now be forced into telling you;)  I went nuts on Ebay over the past several months and bought WELL over 150 watches for repairs/my collection. (some working/just needed servicing)  The amount of money I spent on ALL of them is the equivalent of just a few hundred pounds since most of you are in the UK.  It may sound like a lot but it's not....I service watches every single day after work so I need to keep the ball rolling if you will.  I love doing it too so it's a win win!   :woohoo-jumping-smiley-emoticon:

[bullet308]

Oh, dear...it would seem that s__t just got real...

 


This is the big order I have been waiting on from Russia. I ordered some 40 watches and movements, for $.50 to a few dollars each from WatchPartsStore on Etsy. The guy sent them promptly and threw in a handful of Kommanderske and Amphibian crystals and extra watches and movements...so, in all, 59 watches and movements are in the box (they came far better packed than you see here, so no worries there). A lot of junker mens dress watches, a Kommanderski, two Amphibias and a number of Komnanderske Kadets...All 24xx or 22xx Vostoks. I do believe I have enough junkers to play with now.  :-/

This is one of the reasons I like the Vostoks...because doing this with even garbage Seikos would have cost THOUSANDS of dollars...

I like systems, and I like having lots of spares around, so the Vostoks suit me....

And yeah, we probably have been squabbling over some of the same hardware...small world :-) 

[jeffc83]

Big lots, uh oh....I went for VERY similar auctions too but 99% are from the US.  Let's try to avoid spending each others money;)  Maybe we shoudl exchange our Ebay ID's so we can avoid bidding against each other from now on!  :D  NICE LOT, I am totally jealous bro!!!