Watch of Today

[AndyHull]

Wat can I say? It arrived. It joins the 404 club.

The cheapest genuine (used) Casio F-91W on ebay,  complete with authentic, and thus almost useless backlight.

The fake F-91W is still on its way, on the slow boat.

The "glass" had some major scratches which I polished out, but other than that it looks almost unused. the strap is clean, flat and completely unmarked, and the case back is scratch free. I suspect it has spent most of its life in a drawer some place. 

I'll do a comparison when it arrives.

[AndyHull]

Today, I am running on "railway time".

This was one of a pair of early Timex Quartz watches I picked up recently.

I liked the dial as it looked a little different. It arrived dead as a door nail, with a very scratched up crystal and some minor lug damage, with no pins and no strap. When I turned it over I spotted "B.R." stamped on the back.

For those not familiar with this, BR was "British Rail", the name of the national Railway company prior to quasi privatization in 1997.

The UK still subsidizes the rail network from general taxation to the tune of around £ 5Bn per annum, so this is not a truly private enterprise, only the profit has been privatized. 

Apparently Timex watches were issued to train drivers and guards, so this is almost certainly a well traveled watch.
I would guess from the construction, that this is probably from the early to mid eighties.

[balaton]

Nice one.

My two "Big Qs" have their dates of manufacture stamped into the floor of the battery compartment, consisting of 3 numbers. The first two are the year and the third is the month, e.g. 827 = July 1987. Mind you, mine were assembled in Taiwan, so may have a completely different dating system from yours.

According to Timex, these things run on their M135 movement although as one is a date model and one ain't, I'm taking that with a generous pinch of salt. Whatever, here's images of the non-date one. 

Regards.

[AndyHull]

I'm sporting a freshly arrived, 1972 Timex Viscount with date today. 

Not 100% perfect, some of that dirt seems to have eaten its way into the finish.

Sorry for the poor focus in the above image, but it is the only one I took with the model/date code visible.

It arrived with some interesting green, presumably lead based, salt crystals growing on the rotor weight (lead (II) Carbonate perhaps), which I gingerly removed while wearing gloves. Native lead is one thing, but lead compounds are far more "interesting" from a toxicity perspective, and given that I have spent a lifetime soldering and driving, I suspect my current lead content is high enough thank you all the same.

I think it is looking pretty presentable given what I started with.

Was dead, locked up solid, now running fine, and sporting a new crystal and a band that is 1mm too small as I have run out of 19 mm  bands.

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by AndyHull

[yankeedog]

Those old citizens are built like tanks.

[yankeedog]

An armitron rescued from the salvation army 99 cent bin.I replaced the hands ,now they actually are luminous.

 

[AndyHull]

Is it too shy to be seen with the lights on?

[AndyHull]

Anyone for tennis? A Timex Snoopy from 1978 got the full treatment last night.

This is not the more common Petite version, but a gents "Marlin/Viscount" sized one. 

The case appears to be the same as some of the other front loaders, but the crystal appears to be an extra high one, to accommodate the novelty hands.  Since I don't have anything in this size, there was a lot of polishing needed to get the crystal back from wrecked,  to almost factory condition.

Needless to say it didn't work when it arrived, but internally it was in pretty good order, so a clean and a few drops of oil had it running well. 

Snoopy's model no is 3901910478 which is probably from the "Fun Timer" series.

I think it would look good on a denim strap. I'll need to see if i can track one down.

It seems to be enjoying its new lease of life, unlike the 1968 sunburst champagne dialed Marlin I was looking at, at the same time, which is still struggling to run for more than a few minutes, despite a rust removal session and two full cleaning sessions. That one needs a crown, but I'll post pictures if I have it all ticking nicely.

Edited August 12, 2019 by AndyHull

[balaton]

Something a bit different today, this 32mm Burgana from the 1950s and made by, er, Burgana who seem to have been in business from 1942 (although one source says 1952) until 1997. Bought for pennies as a non-runner, with a scratched dial and no case back, it lay untouched for long enough before I had the courage to introduce it to my watchmaker. Oh how he laughed.

It runs on a 21j version of an Ebosa 27 pin-lever movement, “a new Roskopf automatic” according to, and apparently featured in, issue 17/1952 of the German “The Watch” magazine. It’s a bumper, but unusual in that the oscillating weight strikes on steel pins rather than the more usual springs. This movement doesn’t feature on Ranfft’s database but he described it in one of his auction sales as “absolutely rare”. So, for any members who haven’t seen one, here it is.

Hopefully you can tell the “befores” from the “afters”.

Regards.

 

 

[noirrac1j]

14 minutes ago, balaton said:

Something a bit different today, this 32mm Burgana from the 1950s and made by, er, Burgana who seem to have been in business from 1942 (although one source says 1952) until 1997. Bought for pennies as a non-runner, with a scratched dial and no case back, it lay untouched for long enough before I had the courage to introduce it to my watchmaker. Oh how he laughed.

It runs on a 21j version of an Ebosa 27 pin-lever movement, “a new Roskopf automatic” according to, and apparently featured in, issue 17/1952 of the German “The Watch” magazine. It’s a bumper, but unusual in that the oscillating weight strikes on steel pins rather than the more usual springs. This movement doesn’t feature on Ranfft’s database but he described it in one of his auction sales as “absolutely rare”. So, for any members who haven’t seen one, here it is.

Hopefully you can tell the “befores” from the “afters”.

Regards.

 

 

Its more than a bit different, it IS different! I've not not seen a jeweled pin levers besides the widely available Baumgartner and Bettlach calibers. I like your post...thanks.

J

[balaton]

Thank you for your kind words.

Over the years I seem to have ended up with several multi-jewelled pin-levers other than those from the usual suspects of BFG and EB. I'm thinking of things like Lorsa 655G.3 and 651; Brac 117, 118 and 903; Rego 129; Ebosa 65; Oberon; Ronda 1218-21.

If you'd like to see images of any of 'em, I'll be happy to post them.

Regards.

Edited August 13, 2019 by balaton

[AndyHull]

27 minutes ago, balaton said:

If you'd like to see images of any of 'em, I'll be happy to post them. 

Of course we would like to see them.

[AndyHull]

Now what shall I wear today?

The Snoopy Timex, or the Casio... or the Snoopy... or... well we wore the Snoopy yesterday, so I guess, since the 1968 Timex Marlin is still on the work bench, then it has to be the Casio W800H-1AV 

Apparently it is good for up to 100m under the waves, so perfect for this thundery Scottish summer weather. The weird white Chinesium leather strap on the other hand will almost certainly dissolve at the first hint of rain.

[balaton]

19 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

Of course we would like to see them.

OK Andy, I'll get them posted tomorrow.

Cheers,

Bryan

[noirrac1j]

1 hour ago, balaton said:

Thank you for your kind words.

Over the years I seem to have ended up with several multi-jewelled pin-levers other than those from the usual suspects of BFG and EB. I'm thinking of things like Lorsa 655G.3 and 651; Brac 117, 118 and 903; Rego 129; Ebosa 65; Oberon; Ronda 1218-21.

If you'd like to see images of any of 'em, I'll be happy to post them.

Regards.

Yes I forgot about those pesky Brac and Ronda pin levers. Its a nightmare trying to gear train plates on those things.

J

[balaton]

......and here by, ahem, popular demand, are some multi-jewelled pin-levers, excluding the usual suspects of BFG, EB and Ronda, as well as any with less than 17 jewels. Each movement is preceded by the watch wherein it lurks and the images can be expanded for anyone interested.

Not sure how to text - photo - text, so in order of appearance they are:

Lorsa 655G.3,  Lorsa 652,  Lorsa 651,  Brac 117,  Brac 2002,  Brac 118,  Brac 903,  17j Ebosa 65,  21j Ebosa 65,  21j Oberon,  17j Oberon.

Regards.

EDIT. Image No.3 should have been at the top and image No.4 should be in third place. The joys of being tech-unsavvy.

 

Edited August 14, 2019 by balaton

[AndyHull]

The Lorsa 651 and 652 look familiar, the Diane with the fish logo looks to be a variant. 

I had no idea what it was until I saw your pictures above. Thanks.

[AndyHull]

Today's "Watch of Today" is another Timex brought back from the scrap heap.

This time a 1976 Marlin with a shaded burgundy dial and hexagonal body.

The crystal could perhaps do with a little more work, but given the state it was in initially I think I've made a reasonable start on it.

It is running reasonably well, given its age, condition and the fact that it is a Timex. The beat error is a little wild, but the rest looks OK.

[balaton]

10 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

The Lorsa 651 and 652 look familiar, the Diane with the fish logo looks to be a variant. 

I had no idea what it was until I saw your pictures above. Thanks.

Certainly looks like it. Have you got an image of the dial?

[AndyHull]

13 minutes ago, balaton said:

Certainly looks like it. Have you got an image of the dial?

I've got an image of the dial, but not the dial side of the caliber.

I presume these are French movements, they look similar in construction to the Lijac I posted about a while back.
I can't find much about either the Lijac or the Diane brand though.

[AndyHull]

Ha! Cousins even have the Lorsa service documents. Excellent.

https://www.cousinsuk.com/document/category/lorsa-movement-parts

 

[balaton]

Quite like that, and made by P. Bessot-Fresard of Charquement. 

Yes, they are French movements, and here's an image of the Lorsa Cal. 651 dial side.

Regards.

 

 

 

 

[AndyHull]

Yes, that looks familiar. Your version has more jewels, and shock protection of some sort, and doesn't have the plastic bridge, but basically it is the same general arrangement.

[JasonND]

Hello All, this is my first contribution to this thread. I have been doing the lessons for sometime and thought that it is time I meet some of you!

1972 Heuer "Viceroy" Autavia fitted with a NOS Corfam band vintage Heuer buckle. 

I meant to post it in this thread and can't figure out how to delete the other posting.

[balaton]

Welcome aboard!