The Master Wristwatch Thread

[HAC]

Wow. You guys are the coolest. You inspired me to actually *look* at my Bulova 23 jewel automatic.  So the 'L9' means 1959!  I wonder why it would have what looks like a serial number too? 6319551 is stamped right above the L9. 

Years ago I worked at a JC Penney jewelry and watch repair dept. and an older gentleman brought it in for repair; I ended up buying it from him for about $20. Had it cleaned and it worked fine. I pulled it out again when my Casio broke and I love it; just need to get it to a watch guy to adjust it as it gains a minute or two a day. Unfortunately I can't find the camera to post pics. It's not fancy, but it's got character. And an acrylic crystal, but tough; I'm poor.

Korina

Those older Bulova's are decent watches, I have a 30J Bulova auto from the 1960's, great little watch.. Nothing wrong with acrylic crystals, they are pretty tough, and scratches can beeasily polished out with either Polywatch, or Brasso..

Cheers
Harold

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

If they're deeper, I've had good results with Autosol.

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I enjoyed looking through this thread. I have always loved watches just never had the finances to purchase the nice ones. I own 1 nice watch and its a modern Movado

Spoiler: ShowHide

very plain sleek design. I do some older ones but they are in disrepair nothing fantastic as you guys have tho =)

Anywho please carry on I need some stuff to drool over 

[Prof. Friedrich VonHart, PhD]

I love my movado. I've posted it here before, but the image links are now broken, so here it is again.

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

I love my movado. I've posted it here before, but the image links are now broken, so here it is again.

Wow...thats gorgeous and it has NUMBERS!!!  I had not realized that Movado went back as far as it seems in those pictures. What year is that watch from?

[Prof. Friedrich VonHart, PhD]

It's a bumper wind (that bar that goes halfway round the movement bounces back and fourth between the 2 springs seen at the bottom of the pic. you can feel the thing bounce and "bump" on your wrist.) which makes dates it to the fifties or sixties. I don't know for sure, and, as I don't have the watch on today (the new guys are getting most of the wrist time), I can't look it up by serial at the moment. I'd guess mid 1950's.

[K. D. R. Tempus]

Yay! I got a pic of my Bulova! Let's see if I can embed the image...

@#@$%^&&!$^(~$%%(!!!!!!!!  Okay, what am I doing wrong??? I grabbed the code from Flickr to embed it with and without the [img thing; no luck. 'Add code' didn't work either.

(sigh) Here's a link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24851724@N03/3131374654/

(ratzenfratzenboogleding...)

Korina

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

beautiful watch!
To embed photos you need to use the img tags hence [/img]your_image_url_here[/img] Remove the slash from the first IMG one.

[Prof. Friedrich VonHart, PhD]

Yay! I got a pic of my Bulova! Let's see if I can embed the image...

@#@$%^&&!$^(~$%%(!!!!!!!!  Okay, what am I doing wrong??? I grabbed the code from Flickr to embed it with and without the [img thing; no luck. 'Add code' didn't work either.

(sigh) Here's a link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24851724@N03/3131374654/

(ratzenfratzenboogleding...)

Korina

I have that exact watch!

ahem...

Code Select Expand

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/3131374654_5b279da17b.jpg?v=0[/img]
gives

[HAC]

While its not vintage, or mechanical, I still love this watch. Thisone was acquired recently to repcalce one that I should have kept, but didn't..





Cheers
Harold

[rogue_designer]

if you'll excuse the expression.

Holy Crap. That's HUGE!

[HAC]

Ah, but I have girly-man wrists..  (6.5" circumference). The watch is on the larger size at 42mm diameter, but its nowhere as large as say a Panerai, which are 44-47 mm across, not counting the crown guard.

Cheers
Harold

[rogue_designer]

Good point. I saw a Panerai a buddy has. I thought at first he had mounted a largish pocketwatch to his arm.

[HAC]

I dod once try a Panerai, on me it looked very silly.. The largest I can go is about 40mm, and that depends on the design,
The nice thing about being small wristed is that there are tons of vintage watches, that, being smaller by nature fit me perfectly..
The watch that fits me well, and is the most comforrtable to wear of all the watches I have owned is my Rolex Explorer I, ref 114270..

Cheers
Harold

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

Is there anything that watch doesn't do? Seriously, it's like a wrist oracle. Is it a slide rule on the bezel or some sort of conversion tool?

[HAC]

Nice Illinois... Give me a bit to hit the books.. (and yes, its a men's watch, the styles were a lot smaller back then)
back at you in a bit..
Cheers
Harold

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

LOl sorry HAC i made it it's own post to not clutter this thread =) you of course were ninja like and responded before i had removed it here..lol

[rogue_designer]

LOl sorry HAC i made it it's own post to not clutter this thread =) you of course were ninja like and responded before i had removed it here..lol

That's what this thread is for.

It is a nice watch. I like that style face and case for vintage watches.

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

  well i feel silly now!

Thanks for the compliment rogue, I am wearing it now and ma very pleased with it. I need to find a appropriate band for it, and get the bezel repaired (if that's possible).
Any suggestions on those?

I'll keep ya updated!

[rogue_designer]

the bezel? or the crystal?

Both can be repaired or replaced. Most watchmakers can measure and order the appropriate crystal (either plexi or mineral) - they're not expensive, and relatively easy to replace.

The bezel you'd probably have to source a similar watch for parts, but that's very doable. Especially if you don't care about the working condition.

[Prof. Albrecht Von Taggërt]

Rogue,
I suppose i mean the crystal =) Mine is scratched something fierce

Good to know that they can be replaced, tho mine is a dome shape, whch follows the curve of the bezel


Can sorta see what i mean here

[rogue_designer]

It's possible to polish them some. That might take care of the worst of it. I imagine you could still find a suitable replacement if it comes down to it.

[Ambrose Straeger]

Seeing as my father just gave me my grandfather's old Mido watch, I thought I'd post here.  My grandfather purchased it back in 1942.  It's engraved with his name and the year, and he wore it throughout WWII.  It still runs perfectly, and has only had the band and crystal replaced.  Due to the age, it's no longer waterproof, but it still ticks away just fine.  It does have a tendency to lose time, but it's an incredible heirloom.

It's a Mido Multifort Automatic, and is probably one of the first Multiforts ever sold.  According to the Mido website, they began manufacturing it in 1942-43.

Apparently, my grandfather was proving how tough it was, so he took it up to the top of a troopship and dropped it 4 stories to the deck.  He went down, picked it up, and it was still ticking.  My father got a Mido and tried the same thing, and busted the crown.  So, my grandfather was apparently quite lucky in how his landed.

Sorry these are a little blurry, my hands aren't too steady.




---Ambrose

[HAC]

Rogue,
I suppose i mean the crystal =) Mine is scratched something fierce

Good to know that they can be replaced, tho mine is a dome shape, whch follows the curve of the bezel


Can sorta see what i mean here

Not a problem..  domed or flat, a replacement is generally available for most vintage crystals.

Cheers
Harold

[Prof. Friedrich VonHart, PhD]

finally cataloged the collection in a photo session yesterday (putting off doing homework). If you frequent watchuseek, you may have already seen them.

Comments welcome, Here they are:

Wittau Chrono. Had my watchmaker take a look at it yesterday, and he confirmed (and showed me) that it's actually ETA 7750 powered. I'm quite pleased since I only dropped around $200 on it. From what I've seen in my research today, it's likely made in the same shop as Almanus Watches, they make one with the exact same dial that goes for around $1600.





Zodiac Automatic Day-Date on Zodiac Bracelet.

the crystal is in bad shape, but the rest of it is in good shape, and it keeps excellent time.

Movado Bumper Wind:


Traser P5900 (blue vials), on a Maratec Bond strap



Paul Briguette (EBEL) Stainless from the '40s: (again, second hand got lost in the extended exposure)


Marvin Hermetic.


Benrus black dial automatic:


Seiko Bellmatic from the '60s (this one got a bit washed out in the pic)

and finally,

Gold Filled Bulova Tank Watch: (the second hand is there, it just gets lost on the extended exposure)


If you want to see the inside of any of them, just say so. I didn't get that involved in my photo taking.

All these taken with a little samsung 8MP point and shoot, with the exception of the movement shots, which were taken with a crap 5 MP at the shop.