Watch of Today

[AndyHull]

2 hours ago, JerseyMo said:

I may have the hands, it would

have had a red strap. Not a "Marlin" case rather a Mercury or if the smaller size it is a Sprite.

It runs pretty nicely all things considered. I presume the seconds disk/hand has been lost, rather than there being a version without the Woodstock/tennis ball. If you have one, PM me. Thanks.

Of course you are quite correct, it is a Mercury case, not a Marlin.

[HSL]

11 hours ago, VWatchie said:

Forgive me my ignorance, but what is a "digital" calibre? I realize the telling of time is "digital" but what's underneath? A mechanical movement like any other mechanical movement?

I don’t find any questions ignorant I just assume everyone is on this site to learn just like me.
There is nothing digital about these 70’s watches in the sense there would be some electronics working with some binary logics.
The digital is just a play with words which refers to the fact it lac the ordinary hands to show the time. Instead the disks will in a snappy way show the time with the hour disk and the minutes disc.
There were some versions with a second’s disc like the one in the picture which somehow took the digital illusion away in a sense since the seconds is “floating”.

But these movements always are stamped with a D which indicates they are prepared for this disc style time visualization.

The disc under the hood this is one I'm working on now.

 

The caliber with a D added.

[JerseyMo]

13 hours ago, AndyHull said:

It runs pretty nicely all things considered. I presume the seconds disk/hand has been lost, rather than there being a version without the Woodstock/tennis ball. If you have one, PM me. Thanks.

Of course you are quite correct, it is a Mercury case, not a Marlin.

I found hands ( hour, minute, no seconds disk). Sorry but, they are not for the tennis model. 

[VWatchie]

11 hours ago, HSL said:

I don’t find any questions ignorant I just assume everyone is on this site to learn just like me.

I've seen several of these watches on eBay, I believe Russian (since I quite often look for Russian watches), and was always a bit intrigued by them. Now that I know more I'll pull the trigger when I find "the right one". Thanks! 

[AndyHull]

7 hours ago, JerseyMo said:

I found hands ( hour, minute, no seconds disk). Sorry but, they are not for the tennis model. 

Thanks for looking. I'll keep an eye out for a donor... or maybe.. I might try to make one.

[AndyHull]

For what its worth, the idea of analog - digital watches is not completely confined to mechanical calibers.

I have a quartz version, pictured here next to one of my favourite USSR quartz watches. 

The mechanism in this particular "Digital" is a Chinese quartz movement, and you can find similar watches new on ebay and Ali Express.

It seems that "old school" is fashionable these days.

It is quite a neat and quirky homage to the 1970s mechanical analog - digitals like @HSL's example above,  though I must admit I'm not impressed with the huge size of the modern one.

Digital calibers actually go back a long way, I think there are examples from the 1930s, but I don't have any that old.

 

[Nucejoe]

On 8/23/2020 at 1:39 AM, VWatchie said:

Forgive me my ignorance, but what is a "digital" calibre? I realize the telling of time is "digital" but what's underneath? A mechanical movement like any other mechanical movement?

Digital display on mechanical movements furthure subdevide into, jump hour and floating digits which are printed on a dial plate. Jump hour ones have complications-like mech to jump the digits like the familiar date complication. floating ones it just a plate mounted instead of hands.

[VWatchie]

3 hours ago, Nucejoe said:

Jump hour ones have complications-like mech to jump the digits like the familiar date complication.

Good to know! So that's what I'll be looking for. Thanks!

[AndyHull]

Today, a watch from my past. A Casio Ana-digi AQ-321 from some time after 1983.

Back when the world was young, and so was I, I often repaired "stuff", which had hazardous voltages, and I was in the habit of taking off my watch and popping it in my tool kit, or jacket pocket or indeed anywhere that it wasn't likely to snag on something and get me zapped.

This is a habit I still adhere to.

Today I was out in the shed where my lawnmower lives, rummaging through a bunch of stuff looking for a screw driver, to take the air filter off the mower, when I came across a watch I thought I had lost years ago, most probably left at a customers site.

It was sitting in the bottom of one of my old tool boxes.

Naturally the battery was flat, but other than that and a few minor wear scratches, it has no issues.

This watch has probably spent at least 15 years sitting in various sheds and out houses, with winter temperatures that can get pretty darned cold (-10C is not unheard of round here, and at least one winter in the last ten got down to -16C).

The battery hadn't leaked and the LCD hadn't burst. There is no mould or other damage.

I even remember buying the thing in a Jewellers shop in Falkirk. 

qw305.pdf

Edited August 24, 2020 by AndyHull

[eezy]

I had one of those Casio's for years, ex wife bought it for my birthday. Loved that watch.

[AndyHull]

1 hour ago, eezy said:

I had one of those Casio's for years, ex wife bought it for my birthday. Loved that watch.

I was rather annoyed when I misplaced it. I replaced it with an analog only Casio, and after that I got a Citizen Eco-drive, both of which I still have. Back then I needed something with an alarm to wake me in whatever hotel or B+B in the middle of nowhere my company had sent me to that week.

Later I had a mobile phone with an alarm, and later still I was office bound, so I could get away with something more conventional, but the ana-digi was a vary useful watch in its day.

I quite like the 1980s vibe, so I'm going to wear it for a few days I think.

[KarlvonKoln]

10 hours ago, AndyHull said:

I was rather annoyed when I misplaced it. I replaced it with an analog only Casio, and after that I got a Citizen Eco-drive, both of which I still have. Back then I needed something with an alarm to wake me in whatever hotel or B+B in the middle of nowhere my company had sent me to that week.

Later I had a mobile phone with an alarm,...

I had a digital Casio too.  I really liked that one. A gift from someone who didn't know my history with wrist watches back then, as I recall.  I think that was the one where the lug broke and it dropped into the running engine of my Chrysler while I was working on it. After a while I managed to form a habit of taking off watches before using tools.

I still have my Citizen; it's one of the "Crystron" quartz types. How it survived me, I'm not sure.

And setting an alarm in my mobile phone is enough of a hassle that I just use my little alarm pocket watch.  It has a stand up "easel-type" back, and you just set it with a knob in the back and push the lever to "on" and it will not fail to ring loudly until it has jangled you into a wide awake state.  It's good about that.

[AndyHull]

2 hours ago, KarlvonKoln said:

I had a digital Casio too.  I really liked that one. A gift from someone who didn't know my history with wrist watches back then, as I recall.  I think that was the one where the lug broke and it dropped into the running engine of my Chrysler while I was working on it. After a while I managed to form a habit of taking off watches before using tools.

I still have my Citizen; it's one of the "Crystron" quartz types. How it survived me, I'm not sure.

And setting an alarm in my mobile phone is enough of a hassle that I just use my little alarm pocket watch.  It has a stand up "easel-type" back, and you just set it with a knob in the back and push the lever to "on" and it will not fail to ring loudly until it has jangled you into a wide awake state.  It's good about that.

I fixed up a rather nice blue dialled Crystron some time last year. I also have an LCD Crystron and another analog one that required some major PCB surgery to fix up battery leakage damage.

They are very well built little watches.

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by AndyHull

[JerseyMo]

Just another day of which to wear.... so why not just wear all of them!

 

 

 

[OCB]

@AndyHull - I’m curious to know what you said when you found it!

i misplaced a lovely clean Tissot my wife bought me when we lived in Switzerland.

Looked high and low, was gutted.

A few countries and change of addresses later, I was rummaging through a fancy picnic bag we’d bought whilst living next to Lake Geneva.There it was! Last time I’d worn it was my birthday-middle of October 2006 -it was a late heatwave and a bunch of us had gone for a swim in the lake ..water was 25oC! I’d put the watch in one of the picnic bag pockets, one of the lads then badly cut his foot, he ended up in hospital. 
 

when I found it - huge sigh of relief and me saying to the watch “ahhh - there you are!”

on a completely different note, my catch from a few days back - first time wearing it.

’69 Seiko Skyliner. Got it with original box and guarantee. It’s not usually my thing, but it has a simple classic look and feel that’s unlike most of my other watches.

 

[AndyHull]

5 hours ago, OCB said:

@AndyHull - I’m curious to know what you said when you found it!

I don't think I said much when I found it, but I may have used a few choice expressions when I lost it.

[yankeedog]

Yes I know its quartz. But the watch came minus stem and crown ,the seller  made an offer  I  couldn't  refuse. I just swapped  in a vx43 movement and Installed a new crown.Easy as pie. It wears it's  original knicks and dings ,and keeps time in typical  Seiko fashion.its a 7n43 9181. S/N 812266  eighties  vintage I reckon. 

[JerseyMo]

just off the bench - a 1967 factory prototype early model 87  LACO - 

[AndyHull]

Well I have to admit, this little watch wasn't quite what I expected.

It works fine, and after a clean and lubrication it even puts in a fairly reasonable performance. However I was expecting it to be a USSR movement, but unless I miss my mark, it appears to be a variant of the Chinese Standard 17 jewel instead.

Whatever it is, the finish of the movement is not too shabby, clean and functional with at least a hint of a care having been take with it. The case too is in almost new condition.  The dial however has a very odd and barely discernable rash and there are a couple of tiny scratches on the crystal. The sellers pictures looked as if the thing had a gold finish, but it actually has what appears to be a high shine stainless case, or at least one with perfect plating of some sort so I guess the gold look was a trick of the light.

Determinately a little bit of an odd ball Sekonda, and well worth the 0.99p I paid for it. Mind you at that kind of money, I guess the bar is pretty low, so getting something that actually works is always a bonus.

For the time being at least, it has deposed the re-discovered Casio QA-321 as my daily beater watch.

Edited September 19, 2020 by AndyHull

[yankeedog]

I believe  the sekonda ad said beware  of expensive imitations. 

[AndyHull]

9 hours ago, yankeedog said:

I believe  the sekonda ad said beware  of expensive imitations. 

I guess there may have been fake Sekondas. I wonder how you could tell if it was a genuine Chinese Sekonda, or a knock off? Had it said USSR on the dial or Swiss Made, then I would know it was fake, but since it doesn't pretend I suspect it is probably real. Who knows?

Maybe I have the ".. expensive imitation.." I should beware of.

/me eyes the thing suspiciously....

[AndyHull]

Speaking of imitations, I thought I would try to imitate my previous success with a Raketa 2628.H based TV faced Sekonda, which I fiddled with some months back, until I had COSC like accuracy.

So I picked up another one in similar basket case condition, with optional non factory fitted rust, and 404 club price tag.

This latest one is currently just out of surgery, so I've not dialled it in yet, but it is sitting with a pretty healthy beat, and hovering easily in the +/- 10 sec per day area, so I may well have picked up another rough gem. 

I stuck it on a Seiko hair puller from the scrap pile, but I think it will look a lot better on a good leather band, or maybe something similar to the watch next to it below.

For no good reason, here is a picture of the watches which have recently had some wrist time.

Edited September 22, 2020 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

Another USSR Poljot/Sekonda joins the 404 club today.

This time its a 2614.2H which is the date only version of the 2628.H from yesterday.

These are relatively easy to work on, so long as you take your time with the keyless works and the day/date complications.

They lack the date quickset of some of the other USSR movements, but this makes them a lot simpler and more robust.

I'm slowly working my way through the Sokonda pile so there may be a couple more before too long.

[steve1811uk]

1 hour ago, AndyHull said:

Another USSR Poljot/Sekonda joins the 404 club today.

This time its a 2614.2H which is the date only version of the 2628.H from yesterday.

These are relatively easy to work on, so long as you take your time with the keyless works and the day/date complications.

They lack the date quickset of some of the other USSR movements, but this makes them a lot simpler and more robust.

I'm slowly working my way through the Sokonda pile so there may be a couple more before too long.

Very nice! My first ever watch restoration was a Poljot with the same movement. I made so many mistakes but eventually got it running well. Nice watches.

[steve1811uk]

Just finished this 1970 Seiko 2517-0211 for my sister's 50th birthday in 6 days time. I am so relieved that I got it finished in time. Main issues I had with it apart from it being so tiny were the barrel and auto bridges. The pivot holes for the reversing wheels were worn badly oval on both. A donor movement fixed that luckily. Hope she likes it.