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I haven't figured out exactly which model mine is yet. I did have a quick trawl on line, but it seems there are a lot of similar models, but nothing looking like an exact match so far. Here are a couple of closeups for anyone interested. RIMG1164.thumb.JPG.a6b2fa5ce3ae74ce74de9441d37f6bf5.JPG

 

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As you can see there are still a couple of minor scratches here and there. It is tempting to over do the polishing, but I didn't want to change the look of the thing too much, I merely wanted it to look presentable.

The lume on the hands is pretty good, when I removed it from under the light I used while taking those pictures, the lume was bright, even in a well lit room. The face is also very readable, all in all a well designed little watch. It is beginning to grow on me.

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My latest: It's a Geckota K-01 Pilot featuring a fully polished 44mm case, screw down crown and embossed back cover. The movement is a Seiko NH35 with hacking and stem winding but no date. The sterile dial with large numerals and seconds can be read easily. Amazing lume!

The back shot is from the mfg's web site as I didn't want to disconnect the bracelet for a proper pic. Oddly enough, I've had my eye on this one for quite some time. The mfg'r just put these on sale last week. I was browsing another watch forum when this one was posted for sale at half the current discounted new price. The seller felt it was too large for his wrist so I snapped it up. As only 100 of each of this model in brown or blue dials were made, it isn't going to be common. The watch is also offered with ETA movements with other options. Additionally, the packaging was over the top. The box is wood, highly finished and leather lined. Oy!

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Back.jpg

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2 hours ago, ricardopalamino said:

 

Hi AndyHull , 

I have a Swatch Irony Body and Soul that is an Automatic and has the original watchband ..  The case front looks like your quartz unit .

These pics are from the internet for display , but mine is exactly the same  . I got mine for [ the good price of $25 ] , because The back crystal was cracked and the watch was not running at the time . because of the cracked crystal I was able to remove it , repair the watch, and install a new crystal . 

 

On YouTube , Mark from Long Island Watch often wears his similar Swatch Irony Body and Soul , and shows it on a wrist check .

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I like skeleton watches and yours is a beaut. Several are currently listed on that well known auction site for sale but at 38mm diameter, it's a bit on the small size now for my eyesight. Still, I can appreciate the design. I've read that the backs aren't removable except by a factory service center (snicker). Was doing so difficult?

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1 hour ago, AndyHull said:

Speaking of crystals. The blue Adrem EB88XX based watch with the wierd steel strap finally got its (NOS) crystal.
Here is the result. Today's WOT.  RIMG1191.thumb.JPG.96003de474709a81ddeb63169a1e778f.JPG

 

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Talk about a metal band! No links or anything....just a straight up strip of metal! Certified Funky!

J

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The band is "interesting". Very 1970s. In fact it almost looks like the sort of thing I could have made in metalwork class back in the day. :biggrin:


The watch seems to be keeping reasonable time though, around 1 minute per day following replacing the balance, and a good clean and light lubrication, which is not exactly outstanding, but for an EB8800 with nearly 50 years of life behind it, is not bad.

Edited by AndyHull
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8 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

.... EB8800 with nearly 50 years of life behind it, is not bad.

Yes I am very familiar with the EB 8800. Its one of those pin-pallets that have have endured despite being intended to last only a few years. Nothing can drive a watch enthusiast crazier than to know that a mechanical watch costing under $10.00 can *match* the timekeeping ability of a $1,000 watch.

J

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12 minutes ago, noirrac1j said:

Yes I am very familiar with the EB 8800. Its one of those pin-pallets that have have endured despite being intended to last only a few years. Nothing can drive a watch enthusiast crazier than to know that a mechanical watch costing under $10.00 can *match* the timekeeping ability of a $1,000 watch.

J

This is the 17 jewel version, but I also have the "jewel lite" version in the Roxedo that I posted about a while back. It is still going strong too, following a little minor fork transplant surgery. They are one of the most common of the low cost movements, and were particularly popular from the mid 1970.


They are  a couple of failure modes for the EB 88XX, balance staff pivots being the obvious one. Balance fork, another, and oddly the mainspring "bridge" also seems to be a weak point. It starts to wear and allows the mainspring barrel to move slightly, which causes the spring to unwind alarmingly as you wind the watch.

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Cool looking watch Andy. Indeed very 70's. I think Seiko sold a brand at the time called Spoon that was similar in that many of the bracelets were metal or sculpted metal. I've only read about these mind you, harumph! I'm much too young to recall that era first hand.:D

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Just joined today. Man, there are a LOT of great watches and information here! I sure look forward to learning more.

This is my daily go everywhere watch. It's also my first repair. After my SKX009KD Seiko Diver got dropped on a tile floor, the oscillator weight and bearing separated into two pieces. It took a lot of patience and research, I just hopefully it's fixed for now.

 

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29 minutes ago, TexasDon said:

Cool looking watch Andy. Indeed very 70's. I think Seiko sold a brand at the time called Spoon that was similar in that many of the bracelets were metal or sculpted metal. I've only read about these mind you, harumph! I'm much too young to recall that era first hand.:D

Hi , I have seen Seiko Pulsar , and Seiko Alba , produce "spoon" models . Both are Seiko Sub-brands .

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This was in my mailbox today. It's the Casio MDV-106 but with a white or silver dial, not the black one that you see everywhere. I wouldn't call these rare but they are scarce. Possibly only sold in the JDM for a short period of time prior to being discontinued. I have it in black also and am quite smitten with the watch size, ease of readability and low maintenance. This one popped up on well know auction site less than 5 minutes prior to my logging on. I didn't even quibble with the $125 price tag, I just bought it. It arrived as advertised with a dead battery. 

Once replaced, everything worked perfectly. If this watch was even worn, it couldn't have been much. There are no scratches on the watch case and only the faintest swirl on the clasp. There was no dirt or body grime to remove from the case back prior to removal. All it needed was a new Renata 377, a quick blow with the dust blower, grease the gasket and button it up.

I apologize for the picture quality. It's overcast and raining here (yet again) and the flash tended to overpower the shot. I can do better. 

 

 

MDV106.JPG

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A little bit of a fun watch  for today's Watch of Today.

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Another Swatch rescued from the junk pile. This one had a couple of obvious issues.

The leather band was filthy, heavily kinked, and stiff as a board. So much so that had to be scrubbed with detergent, dried, and some leather restoration work carried out.

The watch itself however, as well as the usual heavily scratched crystal had an electro-machanical issue. When I popped in a brand new battery, the second hand would move for a bit, then falter.

This turned out to be a combination of slight corrosion on the spring contact for the battery, and the fact that someone had previously run the watch with a tiny button cell, wedged in place with some scrunched up paper, which had bent the sprung battery contact.  A little very careful re-bending and off it went like a champ.

This illustrates the point nicely, that even a little extra resistance in the battery contacts can be enough to stop a quartz movement, or make it behave erratically.

The band took a little more effort. Once dried, following its bath, it became obvious that the original uniform kid leather look was long gone, so I went for a more vintage finish, with a little blending of the very worn patches using the leather dye in some dark tan shoe polish, combined with some lighter "Clarks Shoes" branded leather restoration cream.

I only needed a hint of the dark tan, since I didn't want to end up with a brown shoes effect, simply to shine up the worn patches, and blend them with the existing colour.

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Several thin coats of leather cream mixed with a little dark tan, and much buffing later and the strap is back to its original soft calfskin feel, rather than dry as a stick. All of the holes are the same size again.

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The band forms a gentle curve, rather than being corrugated, and the stitching is clean.  The band looks ten times better than when it arrived. This is yet another member of the "404 Club", since it was effectively free with a bunch of other junk, I picked up which was purchased because it included a mechanical watch that I have yet to restore, all for under the magic £4.04

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Its always the same isn't it, just one more (s)watch...

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There are a couple more Swatches in the junk pile in actual fact, but one has just expired on the operating table (pictures to follow), and the other (a chronograph) is waiting for me to figure how to fix its stem without indulging in extreme plastic surgery.

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That is probably the "trippiest" watch in the collection so far. I think the model name is  something like "fuzzy logic" or some such.

I honestly can't see me wearing it much, but if the occasion ever arises that I need a psychedelic polka dotted number, I now have the very thing. 

Oh, and of course it is a "404 Club" member. It needed a bit of a clean (with Mcleans toothpaste, makes youw watch whiter than white), and a battery, but nothing more.

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Today's WOT - the little Casio I fixed up the other day. I avoided the obvious, when it came to picking a strap and popped it on this lightweight black nylon number, which I think actually works quite well.

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There are a couple of minor battle scars remaining on this one, but that mark just below the LCD is actually just a speck of dust that must have appeared pretty much instantly after I had cleaned the thing, since it is in both pictures.

Back in the day, I had a very similar Casio to this for daily work use. I'm sure it is probably in a drawer some where, possibly in my parent's house.

As I recall it was a little more sophisticated, with a "melody" alarm and a few other functions. It was also made of stainless, whereas this one appears to be made of metalized resin, which, along with the lightweight strap makes for a very comfortable combination. You hardly notice it is there.

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Nice looking Casio! Interestingly, I have the same model in gold. It was one of a batch that my brother gave me, and appears to have been used lightly, if at all. It’s absolutely pristine.

Gryf

 

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Edited by Gryf
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I like the styling of these little watches. I'll need to see if I can track down the one I used to wear to work.

Mine may not be as robust as some of the previous examples, but it has a certain charm.


Your gold version would not look out of place in pretty much any situation, unlike the polka-dotted Swatch. .

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4 hours ago, AndyHull said:

The early morning mists have cleared and a watery sun is blinking through the clouds. Spring seems to be in the air. The snowdrops and crocuses are  adding a bit of cheer to the garden, so what better watch to wear to encourage the sun than this?

 

 

Good job setting up the vignette, and that watch? well, there's only one word.....woah!

J

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There's no way that I could ever match Andy's skill. I won't even try. As he's allowing 4.04 per watch, I'm going to fudge just a bit and allow myself 10X that amount. Today's catch was below that figure. It is the Wenger Commando Chronograph, cal 1243.01, Ronda 5030.d with 13 jewels. This movement is HAQ certified with an accuracy of +/- 7 seconds/year. Battery life is projected to be 54 months and it has a reputation for delivering it. I received the original metal display box and all original paperwork. The movement is completely repairable but again, economics would indicate replacement as the Swiss made version is available for less than $50 new. The Swiss parts (6 jewels) version is about half that cost.  Landed cost for this watch to my door including shipping was $35. 

 

Wenger.jpg

Edited by TexasDon
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Lovely looking watch.:biggrin: That is the sort of thing I might be tempted to ignore my budget for. 

The trouble with my self imposed budget is that I often miss very nice watches by a few pennies.

This for example went for £4.20, but since my fixed bid is only £4.04 I missed out. :(

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Admittedly is is not something I would wear often, but it was interesting as it has a Waltham branded movement.


However, on the plus side, the £4.04 limit means that I haven't gone bankrupt (yet). There are a huge number of watches at pocket money prices, if you have the time and energy to invest in fixing them.

I have blown the budget a couple of times, when something particularly tempting has come on the scene, but my steely resolve to stick to the rules has normally been sound.


At the moment, I'm giving a couple of Timex automatic movements some TLC and a much needed a bath. They have been sitting in lighter fluid overnight. I'll re-assemble them and see if they run, later today if I have the time.

One looked brand new, but the balance wheel was flapping in the breeze, so it has clearly had a hefty knock and the other was filthy, and the auto-winder "clutch" gear slips. If I get one or the other to run, or indeed both, I'll be a very happy bunny. Both are missing the winder stem and crown.

If they both turn out to be too worn out or damaged to be reliable, then I've not lost much on the deal, and I'll need to start digging around for parts for them. Speaking of which, does anybody have a ready supply of winder stems, crowns and other parts for Timex automatics?

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