Jump to content

Vintage Rotary

anilv

By anilv
in Your Watch Collection

 Share

Recommended Posts

anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

Posted
Posted

Hi guys,

Wearing an old Rotary today. This is an older watch, probably from the 40s.

The case is Gold-plated and has seen some wear. Under the "Rotary' it says 'Super sports' . Above the sub-seconds dial it says 'shock-absorber' and 'anti-magnetic'. It has fixed lugs which makes swapping strap difficult, the one it has on is meant for fixed lugs and has a sturdy fold-over (probably metal inside) which clips on the lug. It has nice simple hands which have been blued well, the center of the minute hand has been left silver given a niece contrast. The case back is a faithful rendition of the dark side of the moon.

P_20170317_083415.thumb.jpg.5454ef992507d58b9a6cd1b52a2f7748.jpg

Nice hands

P_20170317_084400.thumb.jpg.6f8c1dc64854d6b08ee2cb25c2daf276.jpg

The dark side of the moon... not much can be done here without spending too much money.

P_20170317_085635.thumb.jpg.7d7d061fc4440ec0a958865117e535f0.jpg

The inside of the dark side of the moon.. I believe the '38' means 1938? At any rate, its more than 10 years old ;so good job Meteor!

P_20170317_083454.thumb.jpg.3bf36e5b74803b453b81624859f8b52e.jpg

When you pop off the bac, the movement stays in the caseback. You have to use a bit of force, working around the edges, before it comes away and you are left with this.. an inner caseback. This is comes off easily.

P_20170317_083502.thumb.jpg.adb28693ecb1e3ab6498c8730597e33a.jpg

Revealing the movement. I think it's an FHF of some sort. Note the early form of shock protection on the balance cock .. the cap jewel is retained by a spring plate and will 'give' is subjected to a hard knock. The problem with these early shock absorbers is that they were only mildly effective and that only if it hit the ground level. It had not much lateral movement built-in so if it landed edge-on the pivot would still break. Still better than no shock-absorber I suppose, If I am not mistaken Breguet pioneer this and later on it is common to find a similar system on Cyma watches. The ratchet-wheel has the normal Rotary 'Flying-wheel' which reminds me of a vintage car..Austin I think?  You can see the early type dial holding screws at 6 o'clock and slightly after 12.  The movement is marked 7/440 and just belove that there's a 'V" or maybe the 'pheon'? The watch runs well and keeps time. I haven't done anything to it but the regulator is cranked over to slow so there may be other issues, need to get some case screws too. Not so evident from the pictures is that the plates have been plated with a 'whiter' finish which looks like silver. You see similar on Movado movements. Finally in the era before center seconds, 15 jewels was as good as it got so this would have been made for the higher end of the market.

P_20170317_083514.thumb.jpg.08d3ea73ffe15b44ace0eb87cb606b4a.jpgv

Well its almost the weekend so have a good one!

Anilv

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

I like this watch Anil, I hope you track down more history.  Although the minute and hour hand look great, I feel one or both may have been fitted somewhere down the line.  The open diamond hands look the business, but I have only seen them fitted in matching pairs.

Regarding the dark side of the moon, I was looking for a triangular prism with bands of light being emitted. :ph34r:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, Geo said:

I like this watch Anil, I hope you track down more history.  Although the minute and hour hand look great, I feel one or both may have been fitted somewhere down the line.  The open diamond hands look the business, but I have only seen them fitted in matching pairs.

Regarding the dark side of the moon, I was looking for a triangular prism with bands of light being emitted. :ph34r:

The hands don't match.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wesley881 Watch Enthusiast

Wesley881

Posted
Posted

Great watch!  I have a new skeleton frame pocket watch from Rotary.  I went into Marshall's to get some long johns for an upcoming Winter hike and maybe some other factory seconds/discounts when I happened upon it.  It had been marked down from "$599" to $50!  I know these stores often inflate these numbers to drive a deal, but WOW.  Anyway, it is a very nice piece and I've enjoyed carrying it from time to time...are puns OK?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
digginstony Super WRT Addict

digginstony

Posted
Posted

Wow, a Rotary without a Chinese movement in. What a delight. If I'm looking right:- 6 bridges including the pallet fork? What a joy to work on. Absolutely love the watch even with replacement hands, though I would change them anyway as I prefer Batons.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
digginstony Super WRT Addict

digginstony

Posted
Posted
I assume the train bridge is actually one part, made to look like 3.
You're going to struggle to claim on that case wear warranty - I suspect it is slightly more than 10 years old!

Yep re looking at the photo the train bridge is probably all one. Though I could of swore I saw seem on the part below the "15 Jewels" could be a shadow.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 years later...
Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

Posted
Posted

 I think they made in- house movements at first or when in switzerland, once head quarters were moved to London, the company  expanded fast so started sourcing movements from others manufacturers, think Longines is now in swatch group. not sure though, but its a good make, never had problem with my watch.

Regs

 

  • Like 1
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.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

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.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • JohnR725
      30T2 adjustment of timing washers

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      One of the things that I've been bothered with lately is timekeeping? For instance a 90-year-old pocket watch what so to timekeeping was it supposed to keep? They publish railroad timekeeping but I don't know how well normal non-railroad watches were supposed to keep time. The reason why the question comes up for me is I spend a lot of time at work adjusting watches to keep really really good time  because I have to please my boss where as when the watch was made I have to wonder what kind timekeeping would've been acceptable. After all they typically didn't have timing machines 100 years ago and they were timing and six positions certainly not for the non-railroad grade watch. On the other hand I do get paid by the hour so maybe I shouldn't be concerned of how much time I Spend trying to make everything keep chronometer timekeeping almost. Citing a Delta of 40 seconds for a 90-year-old watch is quite outstanding.
    • JohnR725
      Is this pallet fork over-locking?

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      That's an interesting question which I don't think I've seen explained anywhere. But I think the problem will go away just about instantaneously. In other words the  coating is really thin and it should go away almost immediately. So the problem should resolve itself extremely fast.  
    • VWatchie
      Is this pallet fork over-locking?

      By VWatchie · Posted

      I experienced that different types of shellac and their ages are affected differently by IPA. Sometimes the shellac dissolves in a few seconds and sometimes several minutes are required. Nowadays I never let shellac come into contact with IPA. It's a hotly debated topic here on WRT if you search. Like John, I don't think you need to worry about the weight of the shellac, but instead that it might start rubbing against something. When I learned how to adjust pallet stones, I tried documenting my experiences in this thread. Hopefully, it can help you. I personally don't believe in the idea of abrading the epilame before oiling so I don't think you need to think or worry about it. The only time I've heard anyone mention this is Alex on the YouTube channel Watch Repair Tutorials but actually no one else. I'm not saying it's "wrong" just that I don't think it's necessary or adds anything.
    • JohnR725
      Longines 19AS movement in need of a new crown and winding stem, a new incabloc spring and a jewel on the top of the balance wheel.

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      Typically for introductions all you would have to say is hi I am interested in repairing watches and nobody's going to care about the technical details. Then to certain degree the introductions are not life or death in some cases I guess it depends upon what you did when you came to the discussion group. It's good that you're getting a balance complete for variety of reasons and getting a bonus balance bridge. Because I want you to pay attention to something when you get it as your hairspring still has a problem quite an amusing problem in a way. You notice your hairspring stud is a triangle or shape and it fits into a triangular shaped hole. It also notice how your hairspring has some weird bending right around the stud? So when you get your new balance bridge and the balance complete if you look carefully you'll find that I'm pretty sure the stud will be rotated and that they hairspring will come out the end not the way it's coming here you have managed to twist the stud putting it into the hole and that's why it looks so bad in the previous image. If you are skilled at fixing hairsprings which are not you can fix this. On the other hand are getting replacement so that's good. No it's supposed to be straight up and down. So in addition to twisting the stud you also bent it. On the other hand this is the most common place where people like to bend their hairspring and yes if you had practice with bending hairsprings this is all relatively sort of easy to fix. But I would really suggest practicing on another watch or basically scrap of balance wheels off of eBay that nobody cares about. Because practicing on something you care about really isn't the best. Then the reason I wanted the image below was to see how the balance jewel assembly is attached to the bridge. Sometimes it needed jeweling tool to push it out but in this particular case all you have to do is remove the U-shaped clip in the whole thing falls apart. But if you're lucky here replacement balance bridge will solve the problem.
    • oldhippy
      Hello!

      By oldhippy · Posted

      I still need to see the complete movement as there are many types of Elgin movements. The part that you are holding is called a snail. 
×
×
  • Create New...