Watch of Today

[Hopgoblin]

Today....

My 1940's Heuer Ref 347. Rugged looking watch with its battle scared dial. It has a Valjoux 22 under the hood. It's quite a large case for the time which gives it more of a contemporary flair. I were this one quite often. 

[AndyHull]

One of my Timex "Big Q" British Rail watches got a fresh battery and some wrist time today.

This has a relatively early Timex quartz movement, and therefore it is a little more battery hungry than its modern counterparts.

[FLwatchguy73]

2 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

One of my Timex "Big Q" British Rail watches got a fresh battery and some wrist time today.

This has a relatively early Timex quartz movement, and therefore it is a little more battery hungry than its modern counterparts.

I've been shopping for one of these, not easy to find one that's not a mess.

[JohnD]

3 minutes ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

I've been shopping for one of these, not easy to find one that's not a mess.

I've got this very similar one, not 'B.R.' marked but essentially the same watch...

Probably mid to late 1980's. They are surprisingly accurate still, this one is running at about +3 secs a month (+0.1secs/day) . The oscillator is not as stable as the ones in the vintage Seiko quartz watches  and 'hunts' between 0.06 and 0.13 secs/day, whereas the Seiko's lock solidly onto a rate, not altering at all......

 

 

[AndyHull]

20 minutes ago, FLwatchguy73 said:

I've been shopping for one of these, not easy to find one that's not a mess.

This one was pretty scruffy when it arrived.

Fortunately the mechanisms are robust (and if necessary serviceable), so if you can find one where the battery hasn't leaked, you have a pretty good chance of getting them working.

I did give the mechanism of this one a quick clean and lubricate, but the majority of work on it was cosmetic, The crystal is original, but it has been very carefully polished to remove a life time's worth of scratches. The case has a slightly corroded edge on the rear, caused by some ham fisted case back opening attempt at some stage in the past but you would only spot that if you went looking for it.

The strap is new, and a good new, quality, real leather strap makes a big difference too. The pristine, very readable, clean layout of the dial also helps of course.

[FLwatchguy73]

On 4/20/2020 at 7:16 AM, easthammer said:

It will be a surprise, see what he thinks tomorrow! 

@easthammer, How did your brother like his watch?

[Hopgoblin]

My 1960s Gallet Multichron. One word- elegant. (Well I do) It sports a Valjoux 7733. I wear this one with a tux or formal ball type attire. I think the vintage Gemex bead bracelet makes this very festive. Way too blingy for casual use. 

Just took a little effort to resurrect this one from the dead. 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Hopgoblin
Photo delete

[AndyHull]

A BG 866 based "Omnia De Lux" with some kind of 25 thrown in for good measure (not jewels of course, it only has one of those). I would guess that it is from the mid 1970s.

This was picked up as part of a job lot, and has been lying in the junk pile for a while. Like the previous BG 866 it was probably due to be parted out, however it has an irresistible blue dial that magically turns purple in certain light, so I caved in and gave it the full treatment.

It joins the 404 club running somewhere around +/-20 sec per day.

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

Edited April 30, 2020 by AndyHull

[manodeoro]

Some month ago Johnnie here gave an Ingersoll Sealion that needed some care and had no bezel anymore ...
It took me some time but today it's on my wrist ...



Envoyé de mon moto g(7) power en utilisant Tapatalk

[FLwatchguy73]

Today I'm wearing my Sicura Satellite. It's back on my wrist after having been torn down.. Again! Trying to pin down the gremlins that kept making it stall. I think I have it sorted now, it's been running for 3 straight days and hasn't missed a beat. I fell in love with that gigantic second hand and shiny blue dial. I wish the case was stainless steel and not chrome plated base metal. It could definitely use a good polish.

 

 

[Hopgoblin]

1966 14k Omega Seamaster Ref KL6746. It's my understanding that these particular C cases were made for the US market and imported by the Norman Morris Corp. The solid gold case resembles the other C style cases that made up the Constilattion line that was designed by the famed designer Gerald Genta. I have it on a period Perlon strap. Summertime!

[Przemek]

Poljot 55g 

[FLwatchguy73]

36 minutes ago, Przemek said:

Poljot 55g 

Love the rough grain suede strap, compliments the watch perfectly.

I will add a bit of my own Soviet flair today. Komandirskie manual wind in a Amphibia case. The patina on the dial is almost as attractive as a blue dial would be to my eye.

[JohnD]

Something completely different today, very 'Moonbase 1999ish'

 

[easthammer]

On 4/30/2020 at 2:46 PM, FLwatchguy73 said:

@easthammer, How did your brother like his watch?

Yes very much so!

[FLwatchguy73]

Sporting my newly acquired Timex Q with their version of a mystery dial. Had a scratched crystal but It cleaned up nicely. The replacement bracelet looks like a large heaping pile of steaming rhinoceros poo and the clasp was mangled and wouldn't close. I was able to tweak the clasp into submission though. Seller sold it as not working because they couldn't figure out how to get the battery cover off, lol. My gain, 

Placed a fresh cell in it and off it went. I do like how the hands seem to be floating in space. The sales catalog suggests this was available in 1975 at a retail price of $55. That's $263.87 adjusted for inflation. Not exactly a cheap watch, but very affordable. Love the midnight blue dial and the "floating" hands.

[yankeedog]

Eltra..another seiko powered bargain basement  beater ,cobbled together by the once prestigious  Elgin when the company  was on life support. It runs better  than it looks. 

[AndyHull]

A circa 2005 Swatch Irony rises from the junk pile today. Yet another one of the "part of a job lot, but not the one I was interested in" watches.

The second hand had fallen off and the crystal looked terrible. It had some green emulsion paint on it, and about 1/4" of broken strap still attached at each side. Since I have no Swatch straps I had to hack one out of another junk pile strap. So in summary, junk, strapped to more junk.

There is a little polishing compound on the glass when I took the picture, which I hadn't noticed, so it looks slightly smokey. In reality, apart from that ding at around the seven o'clock position and a couple of other very minor craters, it looks fine. So much so that I actually sprang for an after market black resin strap for it. I also have a swatch buckle in the junk pile, so it should look fairly authentic once I'm done with it.  So that will be a junk buckle on an ersatz strap, attached to a junk pile watch. Just perfect for wearing while doing the garden I would say. Speaking of which, we recently sowed some seeds from a packet that has been lying around since 2004, so round about the time this Swatch was made. They seem to have germinated just fine.

If you are wondering how I re-fitted the second hand on a non-servicable watch, well with care, you can remove the bezel  by prising it up carefully with a case knife, taking great care not to mar it, or the watch. The bezel and the crystal then come out as separate pieces. Refitting it requires a crystal press, and way more pressure than feels comfortable or safe.

Needless to say, the crystal is also non standard, so good luck finding a replacement for that.

Edited May 3, 2020 by AndyHull

[JohnD]

Fitted replacement crystals to both of these today (arrived from 'Cousins' lunchtime), currently wearing the 7S36 'Superior' .........

[HSL]

Today I felt like going full out classic at work.
A 1971 Certina Town and Country with a 25-661 heart..

[JohnD]

Just finished fixing the day/date synchronisation problem on this 6923-8000 (June 1982) so fitted a new crystal and as it looked so nice I thought that it deserved some wrist time.....

[AndyHull]

Today I figured was a Timex 'H' Cell powered LED watch day.

OK It isn't Roger Moore's Hamilton Pulsar P2 2900 from "Live and Let Die", but its as close as you are going to get on my self imposed budget.

This arrived as a non runner, as most prospective members of the 404 club tend to do.

I fixed it up a few weeks back, but it was still a little flakey, which I assumed was down to my ancient stock of 'H' cells, so today I treated it to two brand new batteries and off it went.

I'll need to put it on a slightly better strap, but for the time being it is borrowing a band from another watch on the healing bench. More in that if I get it going.

I've just noticed, in those pictures its on the wrong date (which I have now corrected). 

[FLwatchguy73]

 

On 5/3/2020 at 4:50 PM, yankeedog said:

Eltra..another seiko powered bargain basement  beater ,cobbled together by the once prestigious  Elgin when the company  was on life support. It runs better  than it looks. 

They kept the familiar stylized E in the name

[HSL]

Something in the same theme as yesterday but still totaly different, a stainless steel 70's Certina Argonaut with a roaring orange sweep second.
Under the hood still the 25-661, fully serviced with oilchange, filter and sparkpluggs.

[Przemek]

Automatic Slava "Assymetric"