Watch of Today

[HardTop]

3 minutes ago, jdm said:

You can search "dial reprint" here or on the Internet, since that's what we're talking about. Personally I would leave as it is because is very uniform and not ugly to look at, at least from the picture.

Thanks for the clue! Yeah I'm quite lucky it's very uniform so I might very well keep it that way somehow.

[watchweasol]

Hi well done  as jdm says leave it alone is part of is history,  and does not spoil the look of the watch. 

[AndyHull]

43 minutes ago, jdm said:

Personally I would leave as it is because is very uniform and not ugly to look at, at least from the picture.

I agree. I think it has personality.

[AndyHull]

A nice clean 17 jewel (EB88XX) "Veranda" pocket watch today. Produced some time after 1970, since http://www.mikrolisk.de lists the details of the maker as follows.

Veranda        
Super Clocks & Watches Ltd.     
London,
England.
Registred 14.8.1970

The watch was dead on arrival, and although there was no obvious evidence of it having been dropped, when I went to remove the dial I discovered it was slightly bent at one side, which made its removal a somewhat delicate operation as the dial feet were jammed in place due to the slight distortion.. The knock it had taken presumably explains why things had jumped slightly and there was no power coming from the mainspring to the fork. Everything was carefully examined, and no other damage discovered, so after cleaning, it was all popped back together and seems to be running like a champ now. If it manages to run for 24hrs, then I have another fine member of the 404 club.  

 

[FLwatchguy73]

Today I'm wearing my 1962 Timex Viscount with the grey crosshair dial. Yet another DOA resuscitation. Dial is a tad oxidized and the bracelet shreds my arm hairs, but otherwise it's great for nearly 60 years old.

 

[FLwatchguy73]

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope this finds you healthy and not too bored. My new to me, 1973 Transistorized Wittnauer arrived yesterday. The Crystal was in quite a state and needed attention. With a fresh battery it took off right away, always encouraging. Neither thrilled,  nor disappointed by the aftermarket bracelet. It seems appropriate. Will pull the Crystal tonight to clean more around the edges. Very happy with it.

A bit grungy upon arrival

I wonder who HN Blair was? 1973 narrows the date down. I'll consider it another birth year watch

Here is the ESA9154 heart beating.

The Crystal cleaned up very nicely, minus the small crack between the 12 and 1. Regardless, happy to have it in the lineup!

[JohnD]

1 hour ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope this finds you healthy and not too bored. My new to me, 1973 Transistorized Wittnauer arrived yesterday. The Crystal was in quite a state and needed attention. With a fresh battery it took off right away, always encouraging. Neither thrilled,  nor disappointed by the aftermarket bracelet. It seems appropriate. Will pull the Crystal tonight to clean more around the edges. Very happy with it.

A bit grungy upon arrival

I wonder who HN Blair was? 1973 narrows the date down. I'll consider it another birth year watch

Here is the ESA9154 heart beating.

The Crystal cleaned up very nicely, minus the small crack between the 12 and 1. Regardless, happy to have it in the lineup!

HN Blair appears HERE....he would have been 50 in 1973......

[FLwatchguy73]

Thank you @JohnD. This seems like a sensible 50th birthday present if not an extravagant one considering his demographic and the era. That's not to say he didn't rise above that demographic. It would be cool if our watches came with detailed provenance, sadly we're left with guesses and dreams.

[Gryf]

You have a gem there! That Wittnauer is really a lovely piece, and I like the transistor symbol on the dial. Reminds me of when I was a kid in the sixties, and having a “transistor radio” was a Cool Thing. I see that the drive mechanism is very similar to the Luch electromechanicals. On a related note, one of my Luch watches is engraved on the back too... in Russian, so I have no idea what it says; but yeah, every one of our watches has a story.

Cheers,

Gryf

[vinn3]

    you should get that translated.   deadicated watches are quite collectable.  vin

[FLwatchguy73]

1 hour ago, Gryf said:

You have a gem there! That Wittnauer is really a lovely piece, and I like the transistor symbol on the dial. Reminds me of when I was a kid in the sixties, and having a “transistor radio” was a Cool Thing. I see that the drive mechanism is very similar to the Luch electromechanicals. On a related note, one of my Luch watches is engraved on the back too... in Russian, so I have no idea what it says; but yeah, every one of our watches has a story.

Cheers,

Gryf

Thank you. I do like that symbol as well. It is an attention grabber for certain. BTW, I've got 3 Russians on their way to me. 2 of them are Luch and one is a rectangular Chayka, all 3 are electronic. I posted them here!

[AndyHull]

If you are all in the mood for a little bit of Soviet era horology, then I'd like to introduce today's 404 club fixer upper.

A Raketa 2609.HA based Sekonda, complete with the obligatory USSR marking on the bottom of the dial. 

The gold plated  case (stamped AU9) and the near indestructible Raketa movement make these little Sekondas rather pleasing and rewarding  pieces to resurrect. 

I think it too enjoyed its well earned service and good scrub down, as it is now sitting at >270 degrees, beat error around 0.1ms and somewhere around +30 sec per day without me adjusting anything. It is still sporting the original high dome crystal, which took a good polish and save for a few tiny blemishes looks almost new

One other great thing about these (I have a couple of similar examples) is the dial. It is both easily readable, and classically elegant at the same time. A station clock for the wrist. Maybe the 1970s weren't completely devoid of taste after all.  

[AndyHull]

A Citizen 0200 based piece from 1967. Similar in size to a Timex Mercury, but fully jewelled.

The dial is marked with "Water Protected" and "Japan" below the 6 O'clock position, and the case serial number starts with 707, so since it is an 0200 based watch, this gives a date of manufacture of July '67.

This was in a pretty bad shape. The barrel bridge was damaged, and the screw from the barrel had been swapped with the one from the winder gear, as a result, the longer screw was sticking out of the bottom of the barrel plate, and was fouling the clutch, causing someone to break the clutch spring. It was also missing its balance cock jewels and shock spring.

The slightly Frankenstein finished watch.  

On the plus side, it is a Citizen 0200 and I have pretty much every spare you could possible need for these in the form of some donor HMT 200 movements, so I set about harvesting the necessary parts, and transplanted them into this little fellow.

It now runs fine.

Was it worth it?

From a financial perspective, not at all. The watch appears to be relatively rare, but not particularly valuable.

From a learning perspective though, it certainly was. I now know that all of the major parts of the HMT and Citizen movements are completely interchangeable, including things like the balance jewels, clutch, barrel, barrel bridge, screws, springs and so forth.

[AndyHull]

Something a little more out of the ordinary today.

A "Kered" branded Duromat (Laco) Durowe 580 - 25 jewel automatic from around the mid 1950s.

I assumed from the Foreign designation at the base of the dial that there was a chance of it being German.

The watch is very solid, and has obviously been well worn, as the case is starting to thin around the edges of the caseback. The gold 20 micron gold plating is also thinning a bit especially on the lugs.

Notice the odd arrangement on the balance cock... ?! It seems to run fine.

I have it running again, all be it very slightly fast, so I'm going to wear it for a while then take a look at it once it has settled down. On the other wrist, keeping it company and setting the pace,  I still have the 19 jewel Roman faced USSR Sekonda which is putting in a pretty impressive performance around +/- 3 sec per day.

[Cad101]

.

Orient Kamasu for me today. It is green honestly even tho it mainly looks black unless your outside which non of us are doing much of lately  

[AndyHull]

Today I'm sporting a Denison cushion cased Rone Sportsmans 15 jewel with bags of character most probably from the late forties or early fifties. 

This had been lying for quite a while in the to-do pile, as I had assumed that since it was locked up solid and had a distinct rattle, it would have a broken balance. Fortunately this was not the case, and all it needed was a thorough clean and now it is ticking away quietly. It is sitting around +10 sec/day, all be it with a relatively low swing around 220 degrees (a slightly tired mainspring most likely) but a more healthy beat error of 0.6ms. 

The diminutive size of this Gents watch is quite a contrast with the recent trend for wrist mounted frying pans.

I had no suitable strap for it so I had to improvise from one of the straps in the scrap pile.

Edited April 8, 2020 by AndyHull

[Hopgoblin]

My 1969 Bulova Snorkel Oceanographer "Devil Diver". It is on a vintage JB shark mesh.

 

Got this about a year ago. Starting to show signs that it needs to be serviced. I'm putting together a Bulova 23 jewel for my father, when done, this one is on deck. 

 

[FLwatchguy73]

Here is my surprise birthday present. My birthday was late last month and this Corona thing kept my family apart. Today my dad dropped of my present. it's a Hamilton electronic. I had my eye on this on eBay and then it sold, now I know why, lol.

[JohnD]

1 hour ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Here is my surprise birthday present. My birthday was late last month and this Corona thing kept my family apart. Today my dad dropped of my present. it's a Hamilton electronic. I had my eye on this on eBay and then it sold, now I know why, lol.

ESA 9158 I assume......(NOS spare circuits are still available VERY cheap from a guy in the Netherlands on eBay...)

[FLwatchguy73]

2 hours ago, JohnD said:

ESA 9158 I assume......(NOS spare circuits are still available VERY cheap from a guy in the Netherlands on eBay...)

Bought from that guy already, the "NOS" part was DOA. I know to steer clear of him!

[JohnD]

4 hours ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

Bought from that guy already, the "NOS" part was DOA. I know to steer clear of him!

Well I bought one from him to get my Talis ESA9158 up and running again, the circuit was actually posted from Switzerland and worked perfectly.....

 

[FLwatchguy73]

6 hours ago, JohnD said:

Well I bought one from him to get my Talis ESA9158 up and running again, the circuit was actually posted from Switzerland and worked perfectly.....

 

then it's par for the course with my luck, lol.

[Hopgoblin]

Since I am social distancing and watching tonnes of TV, I thought wearing my 70s Omega Seamaster TV case watch was appropriate today.

[FLwatchguy73]

On 4/12/2020 at 5:57 PM, Hopgoblin said:

Since I am social distancing and watching tonnes of TV, I thought wearing my 70s Omega Seamaster TV case watch was appropriate today.

Seems like no one was immune from the 70's style. This flaunts the 70's vibe while keeping the class and style Omega is famous for. Love it!

[JohnD]

On 4/12/2020 at 12:49 AM, FLwatchguy73 said:

Here is my surprise birthday present. My birthday was late last month and this Corona thing kept my family apart. Today my dad dropped of my present. it's a Hamilton electronic. I had my eye on this on eBay and then it sold, now I know why, lol.

I just managed to buy your watch's brother today, though this one is marked 'Limit' otherwise identical, same 9158 movement.....