Watch of Today

[mbwatch]

5 hours ago, AndyHull said:

The ETA 1080 always reminds me particularly of the HMT 020

Same! Because my first few practice movements were all HMT.

[mpe7383]

Movement pedigree ascertained thanks

If any information found on R.A.I.M.S. please share, I haven't given up looking, but nothing at all as yet.

[GuyMontag]

4 hours ago, mpe7383 said:

Movement pedigree ascertained thanks

If any information found on R.A.I.M.S. please share, I haven't given up looking, but nothing at all as yet.

I've always wondered what the purpose of those hash marks are you sometimes see on the dial side. Does anyone know?

[RichardHarris123]

There was a  conversation about this a while ago, unfortunately I  have forgotten the answer.  Something to do with ebouches and helping with alignment (of what? ) for the finishers. 

[mpe7383]

I suspect they are minute markers, as Richard suggests, when the watchmaker has finished the ebouche, before fitting a dial, fit a minute hand and leave running for a while, if happy with the accuracy then final finishing and casing up .... maybe?

Edited October 18, 2024 by mpe7383

[steve1811uk]

Seiko Spirit Chronograph SBTR021

Gifted to me by friend in Hong Kong. Bought in Tokyo by her on a trip to Japan. It's JDM only and I really love the look. Great value watch I believe with 10 ATM water resistance and Seiko 8T63 mechaquartz movement. My first chronograph and it's really growing on me.

[Jon]

On 10/18/2024 at 10:38 PM, mpe7383 said:

I suspect they are minute markers, as Richard suggests, when the watchmaker has finished the ebouche, before fitting a dial, fit a minute hand and leave running for a while, if happy with the accuracy then final finishing and casing up .... maybe?

Spot on! stick a minute hand on and you can see if the timing is accurate or not before the dial and hands go on. You can get the movement fairly accurate using this method. Not that you would if you had a timegrapher. So, if you find that you have gained a second over an hour, that equates to 24 seconds fast per day. Over the ten minute period the marks are on the dial side denote, you'll see if the movement is wildly out or not to begin with.

[GuyMontag]

 

2 hours ago, Jon said:

Spot on! stick a minute hand on and you can see if the timing is accurate or not before the dial and hands go on. You can get the movement fairly accurate using this method. Not that you would if you had a timegrapher. So, if you find that you have gained a second over an hour, that equates to 24 seconds fast per day. Over the ten minute period the marks are on the dial side denote, you'll see if the movement is wildly out or not to begin with.

That makes sense, thanks for the info.

[mpe7383]

Ok, so it's time for the Timex to pass the batton and as of tomorrow I will be sporting this watch on my wrist.

So I know the first thing you will all notice is the lume on the minute hand, I'm just not happy with the stuff I have, I'm looking for an alternative with a better more aged look.

Anyway, what can I tell you about this watch. We know that the movement was supplied to Vinca from ETA who then finished off the movement. Vinca was a Swiss manufacturer in the watchmaking town of Bienne and I have found a few examples of lovely Vinca watches online. But Vinca didn't survive for very long as a Swiss brand then possibly a Russian interest took it on with all it's assets. I have found nothing on R.A.I.M.S., I have seen a Vinca watch that looks very similar to the above watch so maybe a Vinca side brand. Who knows? 

But what I can tell you is that I love this watch, you know when you work on a watch and everything goes so well, all cleans up perfectly, goes back together seamlessly, bridge on first attempt, oiled just as you wanted, dial and hands perfect. And when the balance re-fitted, first attempt and away with noticeably fantastic amplitude. And to cap it off, put it on the timegrapher and did absolutely nothing, just admired it for five minutes. Beat error 0.0, amplitude 280 and +4seconds. And this from a watch, strapless, tumbling about in a box. This also feels like a quality watch, the case is of a high standard finish, the case back screws on easily with smooth threads, even putting the crown and stem back in, you feel like youve got a quality crown and stem in your fingers.

Well enough of me gushing over this watch, but I'll be keeping my eye out on ebay.

So, what's going to be on my wrist next time .....

A Marlin!

Apologies, wrong dead fish, hang on...

This dead fish.

I'm impressed with the last Timex, hasn't missed a beat and superb time keeping, I feel bad about putting it with the other watches and letting it run down. Anyway, everyone should have a marlin shouldn't they? They have been plaguing my online searches for marlin watches for years, I have pretty much all the other marlins bar 3 (I think).

 

 

[mpe7383]

It's a glorious autumn morning here in Lancashire, out with the doggo, Maximus Lupus, and to assist with my life endeavours of punctuality, I present this rather fine and classy looking 1967 Timex marlin.

So this is only the second Timex I have ever worked on, so I'd thought to try an experiment, actually it's more of a brazen cheat and shoddy corner cutting but experiment sounds way better. I expect we all do a bit of research when working on something different, and with Timex movements this dunk and swish approach seemed to be acceptable, although I appreciate it's more for the movements that are rivited, so thought I'd give it a go.

I gave the movement far more than a dunk and swish, stripped off all the external components, everything soaked in isopropanol overnight, scrubbed all reachable areas with a brush then two twenty minute stints, in isopropanol, on a 40 degree setting in the ultrasonic. Well it looked the part after all that, re assembled,oiled, given full wind and ..... well it ran, but very poorly, kind of like a fuel starved austin allegro. Released the spring tension and that was enough to tell me to start again and do it properly, the spring didn't unwind smoothly at all, speeding then slowing, that spring had to come out. Once stripped, also now got the opportunity to properly inspect the components, found the pins on the pallet not nice and smooth but pitted with a rough looking surface.

I acquired, some years ago, a large box full of movements components and scraps, primarily as a source of screws. I had no idea until recently that a lot of the bits were from Timex movements, well that was fortunate, decent replacement pallet, setting lever and screw, crown and stem, all now sorted, the only thing I had to pinch from another watch was the second hand.

Now the movement running much better and an acceptable if somewhat untidy readout on the timegrapher, amplitude could do with improvement but suspect just need to allow the oil to work around the escape. The case cleaned up very well and the crystal, which is glass on this one, not too badly scratched.

Very comfortable on the wrist, I'll give it a good weeks outing and see how it peforms.

Whilst researching this watch, it would appear that timex did a re issue of this very model, check out the price tag on the Timex website:

And of course, given the opportunity I'm compelled to give you a side by side pucture of marlins, so for any digital fans, here's a treat, the rare and extremely hard to find W550.

And just one more closing thought, shouldn't a waterproof Timex from Dundee be the Timex mackerel, or the Timex mullet. I know it's not quite as appealing as the Timex marlin, but there aint no marlins off our shores.

[AndyHull]

I just checked through the list of North Sea fish, there is a swordfish -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fishes_of_the_North_Sea

... and the leopard spotted gobby.. I think I met her in the Dock Ferry bar back in the eighties.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

10 hours ago, mpe7383 said:

Maximus Lupus

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius commander of the armies of the North, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. I will have my vengeance in this life or the next....erm..coff...coff.. apologies lost track for a moment....nice looking Timex.

[mpe7383]

Ha, that's his posh name to big him up like all the posh dogs. RSPCA rescue cross breed, Max looks like a wolf

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 minutes ago, mpe7383 said:

Ha, that's his posh name to big him up like all the posh dogs. RSPCA rescue cross breed, Max looks like a wolf

ahh Lupus Maximus- Big wolf 

This is my little wolf

[GuyMontag]

Just finished up this 1973 Bulova Caravelle (AS2066) on the original strap. It's one big ole' chunk of steel.

[mpe7383]

10 hours ago, GuyMontag said:

Just finished up this 1973 Bulova Caravelle (AS2066) on the original strap. It's one big ole' chunk of steel.

That's a great looking watch.

Maybe this forum wasn't such a good idea for me, I'm now on the lookout for a Longines and a Caravelle .... I want one, 70s watches that can be used as a bludgeon are right up my street.

Got some time to kill here at work, it's got busy, that means quiet for me, so whilst I wait for things to quieten down a bit, and provide some light reading whilst you're killing time reading through the posts, I'll share what I'm sporting on my wrist this morning.

Well it should be the Timex, it's time isn't up yet, but I've had to call in a substitute. The watch is doing really well and time keeping spot on, but I just wasn't diggin the strap, it was busy digging into me, so it's sat on the side forming the strap around some pipe lagging.

So I thought I'd go back to where it all started for me with mechanical watches. This Orient chronoace with the 21 jewel 42940 movement.

Probably not the wisest choice for a first movement, but it was available, came with a lot of digitals. This movement was rusty! If I ever come by a watch as bad as this was again, it won't be getting sorted, I'll be looking for a donor. But as a keen new starter, soldiered on, slowly assembled as replacement components arrived, and eventually ended up with a working watch, I was pleased.

I should probably strip and service again now that I've got a lot more experience under my belt, but it's running fine. It did dawn on me though whilst I was getting this up and running again that it's never had a ride on the timegrapher. Amplitude was ok, just ok, running way too fast, throttled down accordingly and the beat error 0.1! I can only assume that was good before the rust set in and miraculously I didn't mess it up.

The rust damage had creeped around onto the dial, clearly visible are the areas that I learned that watch dials don't like being cleaned.

My first success, I wear with pride.

Edited October 30, 2024 by mpe7383
Typo

[mbwatch]

A Vostok (1975 inscription on the back) with 2209 inside, a nice gentle dial patina, Cyrillic printing, perfect hands and numerals. I did the restoration about 18 months ago but the 2nd wheel hand setting friction was too low and it would occasionally lose a minute on the wrist. I didn't have the confidence or time between projects to pull the part out and tighten it until yesterday, thinking I didn't have the right tools to separate the friction pinion from the 2nd wheel. Of course I had them. 10min job and now it's perfect. It runs +2/260/0.0 on the original spiral mainspring.

 

[Razz]

On 10/29/2024 at 2:35 PM, GuyMontag said:

Just finished up this 1973 Bulova Caravelle (AS2066) on the original strap. It's one big ole' chunk of steel.

Love it. My hands and dial are a bit rough but yeah a chunk of metal!

[GuyMontag]

Just now, Razz said:

Love it. My hands and dial are a bit rough but yeah a chunk of metal!

Clean bezel! I've noticed that the seconds hand on this model comes in both one that is fully painted red with a normal lume 'lollipop' like yours and one like mine that is not painted red but has a red 'lollipop'. I would have though that one is just an aftermarket addition but I've now seen enough of both that I assume at some point they switched form one to the other. 

[mpe7383]

Inspired by the Vostok mbwatch posted, I have been wearing this U.S.S.R. mass produced Slava timepiece for the last few days.

Identical to the thousands of sekondas out there, parts and donors are no problem. All this one needed was the seconds wheel, seems to be a common point of failure on these. And I always look forward to the battle of getting that date jumper back in. The snappy day date change impressive too.

[LittleWatchShop]

1 hour ago, mpe7383 said:

Inspired by the Vostok mbwatch posted, I have been wearing this U.S.S.R. mass produced Slava timepiece for the last few days.

Identical to the thousands of sekondas out there, parts and donors are no problem. All this one needed was the seconds wheel, seems to be a common point of failure on these. And I always look forward to the battle of getting that date jumper back in. The snappy day date change impressive too.

Curious...26 jewels.  Where are the extras?

[mpe7383]

From memory, there's a load on the dial side, I think there's five or six used as guide rollers for the date wheel.... I know

Edit: some further remembering, possibily a couple of window jewels that do nothing but fill a hole, but they managed to get a jewel in the second pinion tube (not sure of correct name) just as it comes out dial side. Not easy to clean behind it with any rust damage.

Edited November 4, 2024 by mpe7383
Remembered some more

[mbwatch]

@mpe7383 I have wondered how is the power reserve on those movements, with two (apparently smallish) barrels?

[mpe7383]

31 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

@mpe7383 I have wondered how is the power reserve on those movements, with two (apparently smallish) barrels?

On this watch I don't think it's marvellous but I do know you'll get at least 26 hours. I'll give it a full wind in the morning and post the result. They are small barrels, and on this movement, one is a manual wind mainspring and the other is an automatic 'slipping' mainspring which would make sense. Neither spring has been replaced in this watch, just the standard clean up and lubrication. Let's see ...

[mpe7383]

Ok, so full wind given, but I'm now wondering what the power reserve is supposed to be. Ranfft has stepped up to the mark and states 47 hours. I'm doubtful this watch will achieve that. When winding there isn't the impression of any great tension, winds easily to the stop.

Interestingly, also thanks to Ranfft, the jewel count explained for this 2428 movement. What I thought were just jewels filling a hole are actually horizontal guides for the date ring, 4 off, and 5 vertical roller jewels. So all 9 extra jewels are just for the date ring .... amazing