Jump to content

Watch of Today


mk3

Recommended Posts

I just realized how hard it is to take a decent photo of these black beauties, well never the less I have to try.
This is supposed to be an 40's Silvana produced in Switzerland for the German market. Under the hood is an roaming AS1130.
The 1130 was the absolute first movement I repaired so it has a special place in my brain locker.

Silvana.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice. Getting good pictures is tricky.

Lots of light seems to be the order of the day, to try and maintain sharpness and depth of field. That and a good close up capability on the camera.

I'm using an old Ricoh CX3, which has a pretty good macro ability,  but I also have a small collection of Canon "point and shoot" cameras, which can be picked up on ebay for not much, especially if they are broken, and which can be tricked out with a piece of software called CHDK to allow them to do lots of stuff the manufacturer never dreamed of.


If you can repair a watch, you can repair a point and shoot camera (just watch out for the flash capacitor).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, AndyHull said:

Nice. Getting good pictures is tricky.

Lots of light seems to be the order of the day, to try and maintain sharpness and depth of field. That and a good close up capability on the camera.

I'm using an old Ricoh CX3, which has a pretty good macro ability,  but I also have a small collection of Canon "point and shoot" cameras, which can be picked up on ebay for not much, especially if they are broken, and which can be tricked out with a piece of software called CHDK to allow them to do lots of stuff the manufacturer never dreamed of.


If you can repair a watch, you can repair a point and shoot camera (just watch out for the flash capacitor).

Well I'm sure I could become an excellent fotographer but..
I'm too lazy and influenced by my daughters.. it will just be zap zap with the mobile.

Like they are doing the obligatory duckface selfie I expect the watches to do something similar but they don't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today's watch of the day is the humble Roxedo EB 8800 pin lever I picked up a while back. Its had a new pallet fork, and balance assembly (extracted from a low mileage donor).

RIMG0664.thumb.JPG.841cc8f1a63ce8a5142e5cceb807f528.JPG

Thi picture does no justice what so ever to the dial.

I've also included a couple of images, including the "before" pic and one of the broken pallet fork and original balance.

Roxedo-EB8800.thumb.jpg.f64d64ea0e9329a6744b5b79e4e17c6a.jpg

This is what I received form ebay, sold as not working.

That original balance actually works fine, as I fitted it to another donor just to test. That donor has a broken mainspring holddown screw snapped off in the main bridge, so it too may end up getting parts of the first donor to make another working EB 8800.

389729234_Roxedo-88002018-10-1821-21-57.png.8a3eca1a0f4fa65c0c35984fc0a85329.png

One  of the broken pin can be seen quit clearly folder over in the center of this picture. It also appears that the jewel is missing, but in fact there is one there. I think it is a clear (glass? ) jewel.

I like the uncluttered look of this watch, and the sunburst champagne dial. It goes reasonably well for its age, and considering it is a simple pin lever with only one jewel .

RIMG0661.thumb.JPG.28ede7ab900deda18b1b73a167a7744e.JPG

This gives a slightly better impression of the dial.

It shows around +20 to +40 sec per day in time-grapher, which I could probably shift to -10 to +10 sec per day with a little care, but I'm going to wear it for a couple of days to see what it actually does on my wrist. 

RIMG0656.thumb.JPG.bfe9742518751c07d20b3d1b539e0cbf.JPG

I was torn between a plain black band or this brown, with either a silver or gold clasp,  but I think the brown with silver buckle looks best.

Edited by AndyHull
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Laco Sport, an early enigma for me until I looked up the clues on the watch.
D.R.G.M on the caseback stands for Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster, a German Patent marking used between 1891-1945, so that is how I know its produced at the latest in 1945.
Despite of it's Art deco look it has a Laco Cal.550 (Durowe) powerhouse and that was not produced until the start of 1940 according to Mr Ranfft.
So the watch was produced sometime between 1940-1945.
The next enigma that taunt me is why I never can find a suitable sub second to it, I realize I have two complete movements as spare but none with a sub second on it.
Maybe if you have one lying around I might have something interesting to swap with......

Laco_1.jpg

Laco_2.jpg

Laco_3.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, AndyHull said:

What size is the second hand pin? What length do you think the second hand should be?

 

Just by eyeballing with my super sharp built in computer vision i would guess the length of the hand should be about 2 mm and the diameter of the tube is 0.18 mm..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess if you search deep within your mind and soul and someone sends you a link you might realize you ordered the part years ago and from that specific shop...
Behold Laco Sport with sub second hand.. It's not always a good thing hording parts, especially when you forget where the should go.

Laco_4.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I have been.. drilling very small holes, very carefully. Specifically I drilled one very small hole, by hand, in the case of this watch to remove the stub of a broken strap pin that was bonded into the case with the super strength that only many years of corrosion can achieve.

It still needs a crystal, but here it is in all its 17 jeweled Germanic glory.

I had to wear it of course to celebrate its return to fully functional.

RIMG0690.thumb.JPG.8c749d063776d2ff8c97380527a723f6.JPG

I've also included the pre-cleaning shot, complete with an interesting collection of finest handgelenk käse.

RIMG0591.thumb.JPG.cd22d970203f95c9972841d678e42f6e.JPG

.. and finally the "three amigos" .. the mystery Sicura (still awaiting its second hand, which is in the spare parts queue, does that sound strangely familiar to anyone), yesterday's Roxedo, and the F Hinds

RIMG0683.JPG

Edited by AndyHull
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The F Hinds seems to have enjoyed the attention that has been paid to it. Its going pretty good considering its age, and the fact that it was serviced by an amateur. I'll resist giving in to the OCD and giving it just one more clean to see if I can get rid of that little meander. Around -30 face down to -7 sec face up per day is good enough for me. I could give it a slight nudge to make it gain instead of loose.. but I'll wear it for another day at least to let it settle down, before I even think about that. 

917817356_TimeGrapherat2018-11-2722-36-19.thumb.png.e5c8215cba26c3d78f60328e48576b7e.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy you are inspiring so, fresh out of the timing machine onto the arm.. 
Can't say Acacia is a very common watch and that I have any extensive knowledge of the brand .. but I like the style... Black and spotty.
The watch is powered by an AS 984.

Aciacia_1.jpg

Edited by HSL
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

".. the mystery Sicura (still awaiting its second hand, which is in the spare parts queue, does that sound strangely familiar to anyone),"

hmm no rings no bells but just like a flash in the pan..
A mystery Sicura.. with all dial hands so It can't be me.

Sicura.jpg

Sicura_2.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, but your mystery Sicura, actually says "Sicura" on it, mine is obviously a Sicura, and in fact is almost identical to the "Marine Star", but the dial only says "Voyageur", in apparently the same font as the marine star, so obviously printed at the factory.

It had the remnants of hands that looked identical to those on a marine star when I picked it up, and it is missing a bezel, but I have no idea what style that was. It also has a Ronda automatic in it, with English language date wheel, same as the marine star, and a Sicura logon on the screw on case back.. hence mystery Sicura. I have never been able to track down any info about it.

Edited by AndyHull
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today's watch of the day is a slightly clattery (well worn auto-winder), but otherwise fully functional (now that I have given it a good going over) Timex Automatic.

RIMG0695.thumb.JPG.048b0b8d37fd0904ebf7edc42851adb2.JPG

It is getting its first wrist time in a while, following last nights servicing. I have a couple of others, one in almost mint condition, but neither are willing to play ball yet. More head scratching and cleaning is no doubt in order. If either proves to be a basket case, I may transfer the auto-winder to this one to cut down the clatter.

This particular Timex has no rapid date advance, and I have to confess I grabbed the winder with my small battery drill and wound it on with that on the slowest speed setting to avoid my thumb ending up in tatters.

In the background is a Q&Q manual wind pin lever. This is still on the "healing bench", I think it is going to need a close up examination of the bearing holes, as something is snagging it every so often. Normally it runs just fine, then every so often, for no logical reason I can see, it stops. It is only a simple pin lever, so perhaps that is "normal" :DRIMG0694.thumb.JPG.fdde992ba42d5103419f5e94b227d179.JPG

.. and here is the Q&Q

RIMG0692.thumb.JPG.a6a48d9d4c0ef21e61d11efdf3eddabd.JPG

 

Edited by AndyHull
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Zentralverband der Deutschen Uhrmacher" I can see how that inspire to name a brand ZenTra. 
Here is my watch from the German watchmakers.
It comes with an center sweep instead of a sub second, to accomplish this the powerhouse has been modified on the drive bridge and is therefore called Guba 1050SC.

ZenTra.jpg

ZenTra_2.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today we have the slim but somewhat faded glory of the Santima 17 jewel Shockproof "Full Lever".

RIMG0704.thumb.JPG.b98dbf0ae50e2d8ad75a04f7e875e127.JPG

This had a stuck balance, which I initially assumed was probably gummed up works. It turned out there was a tiny piece of some unidentifiable flat paper like material   caught between the balance fork and the balance itself.

RIMG0701.thumb.JPG.6bc023aefab4a529cc7a07068f4db5f0.JPG

This muck was so small that I almost missed it while inspecting the thing. It is a pretty small movement, and an even smaller foreign body, so it could easily have been missed.

 

RIMG0702.thumb.JPG.d54e1af1b76420be2e50027b7c307166.JPG

Once the offending item was carefully extracted, off it went, and it has been going great ever since. I may strip and clean it anyway at some future date, but it actually looks immaculate, save for the fact that it is wearing my testing band, and also that a lot of the "gold plating" has worn away on the lugs and round the crystal. This is a very slim and lightweight watch, but its size on the wrist is similar to the F Hinds I showed previously. It is also very quiet, and reasonably accurate, +30 to +10 sec/day with an error of >0.6ms

"But what of the Saxon with the Chinese 17 jewel movement?"  I hear you cry.. well it only managed to run for about four hours, so I'm going to take another look at it soon.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice Omega  JBerry , ...  I too have seen the Turler logo on a few fine vintage watches . Kinda like Tiffany I imagine .

 

While I will quickly admit that I am addicted to Hamilton watches new and old , I recently had the opportunity to service a vintage Gruen with a 480SS movement and was impressed with the interesting design it presented . Multiple winding barrels , levers , clicks , and srpings . Also very nice finishes to the movement parts . So I have been on a Gruen phase these days . 

They are nice .....  Here's one I recently acquired as a good deal because it was sold as a non-runner .

The first pic is the sellers .

1775743188_ScreenShot2018-11-29at3_09_12PM.thumb.png.851c4836200218925617b9ee91a195a9.png1208586802_ScreenShot2018-11-29at3_21_19PM.thumb.png.96a2c0eb38b7c231de9b918992362882.png

891695053_ScreenShot2018-11-29at3_23_02PM.thumb.png.3418e0f738fcebc959ac264966ee09ed.png

755471419_ScreenShot2018-11-29at3_24_20PM.thumb.png.d13cd27c06797fdefb87291161b3c4d6.png

687979912_ScreenShot2018-11-29at3_26_27PM.thumb.png.d0645bfd8713ddf09b4740615011bd69.png

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just got to love that Gruen, thanks for sharing ricardopalamino.

Today it´s one modified watch on my arm. Since the dial was gone beyond repair due to a cracked crystal I had to replace it with a NOS one.
Decided to go with a twotone color scheme , silver and gold. 
The powerhouse is a classic Landeron 48 from the 40's..
 

Landeron_1.jpg

Landeron_2.jpg

Landeron_3.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

picked this up the other day, its got a lovely thick leather strap and the lume is brown, looks great at night.A/X ARMANI EXCHANGE AX1516 CHRONOGRAPH 24 HOURS DUAL TIME DATE QUARTZ MEN WATCH. its 48mm a bit big but its growing on me.my eyes are going so i need a big dial these days.

image.jpeg.2a1bb42728161fce52c36962b5bf326d.jpeg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just another manic Monday.
Today I present you a Swedish/Swiss Atlantic. "Världsmästarur"  World master Watch.
From the late 50's with a clean golden appearance and powered by a three adjustments 21 jewels AS 1604.
Your next word to learn in this short Swedish language course is "Kvalitetsur" Quality watch. Cockey like few.

Atlantic_1.jpg

Atlantic_2.jpg

Atlantic_3.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...