Master Pocketwatch Thread

[Lady Almira]

A stunning little collection Lady Almira.

Thank you 
I'm sorry that some of the photos aren't very clear. My camera was acting up.

[Yuri]

     My high-tech husband was commenting that pocketwatches are making a comeback in his field because not wearing a wristwatch band decreases the probabliity of repetitive wrist/hand injuries for those who type on keyboards all day.  He has quit wearing a wristwatch himself & uses his cell phone as his "watch".

I feel that in the future, they will become curiosities, as more and more people realize it is redundant to carry a phone or PDA with a clock, as well as a second device that only tells the time.  I don't look at my wrist for the time any more - however, I find its frustrating that I often forget my phone.  What I really need is a fob for my phone, or perhaps I can adapt it to fit on my wrist!  )

v/r  Yuri

[Markus Stratus]

Oi! Those ARE a bunch of really nice watches Lady Almira. Speaking of watches, I've recently picked up a mechanical wrist watch. On the face it says:
Waltham,
17 jewel,
shockresistant,
selfwinding.
On the back it says:
Antimagnetic,
shockresistant,
waterproof,
Base metal bezel
and stainless steel back.
When I open it up on the inside it says:
Waltham watch CO.
33 ontop of a T shape and on both sides it says UC
17 jewels.

Without digging further that's all I see. Anyone know how much, or where I can find out how much it's worth? I imagine quite a bit... I would also take some pictures of it, but I do not have my computer in a convenient spot right now. When I get pictures I'll be sure to post them.

Cheerio,
Markus

[Lady Almira]

Oi! Those ARE a bunch of really nice watches Lady Almira. Speaking of watches, I've recently picked up a mechanical wrist watch. On the face it says:
...
When I get pictures I'll be sure to post them.

Cheerio,
Markus

Thank you very much!
I'm sorry to say that I can't help with your appraisal, but all the best of luck to you. 

[SteampunkBuilder]

On the theory that one can never have too much time on one's hands...
http://images.google.com/images?q=skeleton+watch&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title
http://images.google.com/images?q=skeleton+pocket+watch&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title

God Save the Queen!

Laird Douglas

[Lewis Steels]

Truly stunning, I would love one of those skeletons.

[HAC]

Oi! Those ARE a bunch of really nice watches Lady Almira. Speaking of watches, I've recently picked up a mechanical wrist watch. On the face it says:
Waltham,
17 jewel,
shockresistant,
selfwinding.
On the back it says:
Antimagnetic,
shockresistant,
waterproof,
Base metal bezel
and stainless steel back.
When I open it up on the inside it says:
Waltham watch CO.
33 ontop of a T shape and on both sides it says UC
17 jewels.

Without digging further that's all I see. Anyone know how much, or where I can find out how much it's worth? I imagine quite a bit... I would also take some pictures of it, but I do not have my computer in a convenient spot right now. When I get pictures I'll be sure to post them.

Cheerio,
Markus

Get me a picture (a good one) of the movement, and the serial number on it, and I can get you some info on the watch. Get me a picture of the face and case as they are, and an estimate of its overall condition , and I can work out a value..

Cheers
Harold

[Angel]

Finally found the website I got mine from a year or two ago:
http://www.sarome-uk.com

[Markus Stratus]

Ok Harold,




Will these work for you? I removed the old fake leather band to replace it with my own.
Markus

PS, I can't find a serial number anywhere. Any ideas?

[HAC]

Don't sweat the serial.. seeing the watch , tells me it probably won;t have one (its one of the later ones)
Back at you in a bit...

Cheers
Harold

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     I have great respect for the labour of the fusee makers (often workhouse girls) after seeing a demonstration of it on "Worst Jobs in the Victorian Era" with Tony Robinson as presenter.

     Vienna

[HAC]

I missed that one... did they show the "burn-out-the-paper-spacer" trick for getting the link spacing right? Fusee chain is a real bear to work with...
Cheers
Harold

[HAC]

Ok.. on that Waltham wristwatch..
Some quick digging in my parts books tells me that the UTC33 movement is a "Universal Time Corporation" movement. UTC was actually formed by Seiko in the 1960's with the aim of supplying movements to the industry. Your UTC 33 is based on the Seiko 6601, and uses a ball bearing based rotor and a Kif-Duofix shock system.
  All in all, its a well made movement, easily as good as an equivalent Swiss (and actually better than some) movement.
I'll see what value I can find, but that's a very nice example of a 1960's Waltham with a not-so common movement.

Cheers
Harold

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Dear Harold,

     I don't remember them using paper spacers at all.

     Vienna

[HAC]

Its a trick my watchmaker uses, as some of the proper  fusee tools are now non-existent. He says it was taught to him when he was apprenticed in England. He did say he's only done 3 fusee watches in the last 10 years or so..

Cheers
Harold

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Dear Harold,

    Your watchmaker has my deepest respect.  Even the living history demonstrator/expert had to be careful with the tiny, fussy bits of metal and the presenter found it near impossible.

     Vienna

[HAC]

Al started as an apprentice in the The British Watch & Clock Makers' Guild.  He's been a watchmaker on his own for at least 40 years..
He's the one I entrust the maintenance of my vintage pocket watches to, and he's a great fellow as well. It was he who started teaching me watch repair..
Cheers
Harold

[Outa_Spaceman]

I bought this today for £1.00
It's a Smiths.


It doesn't work but it's going to the menders tomorrow...

[Angel]

Neat find, where'd you get it?

[Kabuki]

Looks VERY similar to the earlier westclox units.  Nice, simple design that I don't mind messing with!

[Herr Döktor]

I bought this today for £1.00
It's a Smiths.


It doesn't work but it's going to the menders tomorrow...

Did you aquire it from a charity shop?

I only ask, as I seem to do 80% of my non-food related shopping in them these days...

[Outa_Spaceman]

Did you aquire it from a charity shop?

I only ask, as I seem to do 80% of my non-food related shopping in them these days...
[/quote]I work for Help the Aged..

[HAC]

I bought this today for £1.00
It's a Smiths.


It doesn't work but it's going to the menders tomorrow...

Interesting. Does the case back have the broad arrow on it? I have seen a few Smiths like that before, might be able to dig up some
background on it. Usually (but not always) pocket watches in that configuration with a winding crown at 18:00 were designed for military or automotive use, the style being very popular in WWI. I have a German pocket watch from 1915 that's very similar. It was used in the early Zepps..
Cheers
Harold

PS - really nice find!

[Herr Döktor]

I work for Help the Aged..

I'll take that as a vague affirmative then!

Usually, this is my timepiece of choice:


But I'm quite favouring this model at the moment:


It shows the time via a series of blue LEDs, which is quite easy, once you get the hang of it!

I know it's not a pocket watch, and it's more Art Deco than Steampunk, but it does look very nice...

...even though someone did say it looked like a toaster.

[HAC]

This is the one I'm wearing today.. Custom Seiko "Black Monster" with a Seiko SKX173 dial, and a Seiko SKX007 hands.



Cheers
Harold