Online purchase - Incoming Certina Bristol

[anilv]

Its been tough finding good watches at the right prices on ebay the last few years with even crap watches asking silly money. The shipping costs have also escalated sharply, I particularly dislike the added customs charge fee. I have never been charged anything for used watches I have received thru the post and would definitely prefer paying if and when I am charged.

Anyway, if you are careful and know what you're bidding for there are some bargains to be had. I recently bought this Certina Bristol for not much money and I would like to share some hints about what to look for. This is a 25-66 movement and it built inhouse by Certina and while they are not really cheap when fully working, I believe they are undervalued and are really good value for money,

This is the sellers picture about the watch, a bit of patina and the seconds hand is missing. While the seconds hand alone is not a problem, you need to ask yourself why was it not replaced as someone obviously had the back off to get the seconds hand out? One possibility is the tip of the seconds hand may have broken off. While parts for Certina are available this will add unnecessary problems. Looking at the photo again I can see the remnants of the centre-pinion (whitish dot in the middle).

Another pic from the seller. My guess is that the pinion is good.

Moving on to the backside of the watch. Not much to see here except that the previous watch maker was a bit clumsy opening the caseback.

It still has its original crown which is always nice to see!

The movement looks pretty clean, sometimes the damage patina on the dial can indicate water damage but since the stem is pretty rust free I would say its just the lacquer breaking down. Nice regulator, sign of a quality watch! I bought the watch about a month back, it has arrived at my friends shop .. I need to collect it.

Finally the description. The most important is that balance wheel is good. This does not mean there isn't a problem elsewhere.. It could be a broken mainspring or messed up hairspring. Straightforward and to the point. No mention of being rare or collectible , just needs servicing yadda yadda..

Finally check the seller, In this case its YDL Worldstore.. all good!

So I made a bid and won it for USD31+USD15 shipping.. Total USD46. What I get will be an interesting watch with a good quality movement that hopefully a COA will bring back to life. I should have a seconds needle in my box of parts but I might need to change the seconds pinion, we'll see about that. Of course there may be other problems like broken train pivots, cracked jewels etc but that's part of the gamble!

I will probably get the watch back this weekend and will post further here. Stay tuned.

Anilv

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by anilv

[Watchtime]

Nice find mate,....you have the skills to know what you are looking for. Good tips, thanks for sharing.

[rogart63]

Lucky you it's a 25-66 movement. The second hand wheel is probably broken. But you could still find those wheels pretty easy. They are often broken. Either rust or damage. They are pretty thin and break easily. 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by rogart63