Watch of Today

[Endeavor]

3 hours ago, Ashes said:

Never, ever, ever going to even take the case back off this watch!

Never say never ....... once you have had a serious amount of watches through your hands and you became good at watch repair, I'm not so sure about your "never-ever" anymore

Congrats with your watch !!! A timepiece for life !

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Endeavor

[Neverenoughwatches]

On 6/25/2022 at 2:51 PM, gbyleveldt said:

Well, that depends, but out of principle - being a Seiko fanboy - I'm going to disagree 

They're no less repairable than any other brand. In fact I'm working through a batch of 13 of them as we speak. Granted, I strip parts from donor movements (as that's cheaper than sourcing new parts) but they're so prolific that it's hardly an issue to get spares. It's a hell of a lot cheaper (and easier) than buying parts for swiss watches.

I have Seiko but all new so never  repaired you may be converting me here. I Only way i can see from stopping you buying so many and saving your wallet  matey.

[AndyHull]

Today I'm sporting a  blue dialled four hander Accurist quartz alarm. The bezel is only for show and does not rotate, but over all its a very nice little watch. The picture doesn't do justice to the very eye catching deep blue sunburst dial.

The alarm is set with the main crown. Turned anticlockwise it sets the alarm hand, and clockwise sets the date.
The alarm is enabled and silenced with the button at the 2 O'Clock position.

[AndyHull]

Today, a little bit of classic Seiko elegance in the form of a 1981 Seiko 5 Automatic.

I'm assuming September 1981, based on a few hints from the internet (which is of course, *never* wrong). 

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 hours ago, AndyHull said:

Today, a little bit of classic Seiko elegance in the form of a 1981 Seiko 5 Automatic.

I'm assuming September 1981, based on a few hints from the internet (which is of course, *never* wrong). 

Very nice Andy , I do like Seiko as does Watchie. This is a lovely early 5 example, are you pleased with it ? I think i may win with mine though from a carboot this morning . Not fair to steal your thunder today matey. I'll post it up tomorrow along with a 404, if we are allowed the 5 quid mark now. 

[AndyHull]

2 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

if we are allowed the 5 quid mark now. 

That counts in my book, since if its from a car boot, there is no postage.. Maybe we should have a 404-ish section for watches that are just outside of the purist rules.

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

That counts in my book, since if its from a car boot, there is no postage.. Maybe we should have a 404-ish section for watches that are just outside of the purist rules.

Just posted. Not a watch this 404ish though, I've drifted towards clocks as well as watches. My tomorrow's WoTD has become my favourite watch in my collection, not actually working as yet but it is so nice if you are into this genre of watch.

[Neverenoughwatches]

So here it is. I couldnt wait to post this as I'm over the moon with it. I've wanted one since i started collecting. Would you believe i asked the universe for it ( the right way ) two weeks ago. So a couple of weeks ago i was at n.cave e.yorks  carboot talking to a guy about watches . He had a couple of non descript clocks that i wasn't interested in but i asked if he had any watches. He said no not with him but at home he had a w.w.w. ( very large clue as to what is coming )wristwatch that he had had fixed but had broke again. I asked if he wanted to sell it and if so bring it in two weeks time when i come back up this way to see my sister. He said ok. He told me it had a blackface and he thought it was an Ingersoll.  I wasn't aware Ingersoll made www watches and had never seen one so i thought maybe he's mistaken.  So anyway keen to go back yesterday morning, i mooched around the carboot for an hour taming my anxiety and excitement ( i dont like to rush a universal gift, its not respectful and can get taken away as quickly as its given ). In doing that i also picked up a lovely 404ish clock. Eventually i made my way over to the guy's inside stall. Now then matey how's  you i said , gud he replied, I've brought you something. He searched through a carrier and i was thinking it cant be much of a watch to chuck it in a carrier bag. A minute of searching and i thought hes forgot it never mind. Ahha he says pulls it out and hands it to me ( the watch ) . I look at it and look at him. Then I look at it, and I look at it , and then I look at it some more. Oh crap its a w10 military watch. He tells me the mainspring has gone, i said no it hasn't, its just fully wound. Have a look inside he said if you want. I had taken a screwback remover a loupe and a piece of rodico with me. I undid the back and peered inside. Its a Record i said, oh at least i know what it is now he said. I had a little prod with the rodico, unfortunately one of the staff pivots had broken, the top one. I said what do you want for it, he gave me his price  I'm not saying how much but it was cheap. I said no i cant give you that, so he came down a tenner. I said no i cant give you that either. He said I'm not taking any less that that for it, i said i know your not, your going the wrong way.   He looked at me confused, i said take your first price and double it. He looked at me even more confused.  Mate its worth more than double what you want , I've got to fix it but I'm happy with that if you are. He wouldn’t take double and we settled in the middle. I gave him his money, we chatted for 15 mins and then shook hands, before i left he said i think i have a couple of pocket watches at home, ill bring them next week, if you come again you can have them.  Wow Universe what have i done to deserve your praise. So here it is. As far as i can tell up to now. Its a redialled record dirty dozen (possibly). The movement is the same as the Record DD,  the dial serial number relates to the Record. I have yet to date it yet but the movement 022K according to ranfft started being manufactured in the 1920s. Anyone that has some serious knowledge on military watches, i would be so grateful for any help working out what i have here. Here it is i absolutely love ❤ it .

[gbyleveldt]

Wow bud, that's a fantastic find! And it looks very very good. Now quick, go play the lotto!

[Neverenoughwatches]

Just now, gbyleveldt said:

Wow bud, that's a fantastic find! And it looks very very good. Now quick, go play the lotto!

I know. I'm so chuffed with it. I'm dying to know what i have . It needs a new staff but thats already on order. There a couple on Chrono 24 exactly the same. Haha i will  , but the universe doesnt work like that. If i win i have to give it all away, i can do a lot of good with it though. Theres a shit load of people and animals need some serious help.  so 5 tickets coming up. Everyone chuck a load of numbers at me and I'll pick the most common or relevant.  

11 minutes ago, gbyleveldt said:

Wow bud, that's a fantastic find! And it looks very very good. Now quick, go play the lotto!

Law of attraction, check out Abraham Hicks matey. Do good to receive good. Just dont expect or want to receive, you just have to be a genuine and honest person that shows kindness and love. 

[Endeavor]

17 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Law of attraction, check out Abraham Hicks matey. Do good to receive good. Just dont expect or want to receive, you just have to be a genuine and honest person that shows kindness and love. 

I'm already going with the flow for many years but my 1970's Speedmaster Moonwatch hasn't materialized yet (I'm just kidding )

Great watch and project you got there !!

Edited July 4, 2022 by Endeavor

[Neverenoughwatches]

16 minutes ago, Endeavor said:

I'm already going with the flow for many years but my 1970's Speedmaster Moonwatch hasn't materialized yet (I'm just kidding )

Great watch and project you got there !!

Haha. Get helping old ladies across the road matey.  Just remember you have to genuinely enjoy doing it.  

[gbyleveldt]

30 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Haha. Get helping old ladies across the road matey.  Just remember you have to genuinely enjoy doing it.  

Hah, that's not as easy as you make out lol. Anyway, we're close to derailing a thread again...

[Neverenoughwatches]

12 minutes ago, gbyleveldt said:

Hah, that's not as easy as you make out lol. Anyway, we're close to derailing a thread again...

Haha. I didnt say it was easy. But there is definitely some value in it. Three months ago or so an old biddy gave me a Smiths Astral watch while i was helping her with a house clearance.  I have a couple of mates that this stuff happens to them all the time. They're the most kind caring blokes I've ever met. . The universe has to figure out that youre not taking the weewee, so it can take a few years at least. 

1 hour ago, Endeavor said:

I'm already going with the flow for many years but my 1970's Speedmaster Moonwatch hasn't materialized yet (I'm just kidding )

Great watch and project you got there !!

Haha. Get helping old ladies across the road matey.  Just remember you have to genuinely enjoy doing it.  

Edited July 4, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

[Neverenoughwatches]

10 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

So here it is. I couldnt wait to post this as I'm over the moon with it. I've wanted one since i started collecting. Would you believe i asked the universe for it ( the right way ) two weeks ago. So a couple of weeks ago i was at n.cave e.yorks  carboot talking to a guy about watches . He had a couple of non descript clocks that i wasn't interested in but i asked if he had any watches. He said no not with him but at home he had a w.w.w. ( very large clue as to what is coming )wristwatch that he had had fixed but had broke again. I asked if he wanted to sell it and if so bring it in two weeks time when i come back up this way to see my sister. He said ok. He told me it had a blackface and he thought it was an Ingersoll.  I wasn't aware Ingersoll made www watches and had never seen one so i thought maybe he's mistaken.  So anyway keen to go back yesterday morning, i mooched around the carboot for an hour taming my anxiety and excitement ( i dont like to rush a universal gift, its not respectful and can get taken away as quickly as its given ). In doing that i also picked up a lovely 404ish clock. Eventually i made my way over to the guy's inside stall. Now then matey how's  you i said , gud he replied, I've brought you something. He searched through a carrier and i was thinking it cant be much of a watch to chuck it in a carrier bag. A minute of searching and i thought hes forgot it never mind. Ahha he says pulls it out and hands it to me ( the watch ) . I look at it and look at him. Then I look at it, and I look at it , and then I look at it some more. Oh crap its a w10 military watch. He tells me the mainspring has gone, i said no it hasn't, its just fully wound. Have a look inside he said if you want. I had taken a screwback remover a loupe and a piece of rodico with me. I undid the back and peered inside. Its a Record i said, oh at least i know what it is now he said. I had a little prod with the rodico, unfortunately one of the staff pivots had broken, the top one. I said what do you want for it, he gave me his price  I'm not saying how much but it was cheap. I said no i cant give you that, so he came down a tenner. I said no i cant give you that either. He said I'm not taking any less that that for it, i said i know your not, your going the wrong way.   He looked at me confused, i said take your first price and double it. He looked at me even more confused.  Mate its worth more than double what you want , I've got to fix it but I'm happy with that if you are. He wouldn’t take double and we settled in the middle. I gave him his money, we chatted for 15 mins and then shook hands, before i left he said i think i have a couple of pocket watches at home, ill bring them next week, if you come again you can have them.  Wow Universe what have i done to deserve your praise. So here it is. As far as i can tell up to now. Its a redialled record dirty dozen (possibly). The movement is the same as the Record DD,  the dial serial number relates to the Record. I have yet to date it yet but the movement 022K according to ranfft started being manufactured in the 1920s. Anyone that has some serious knowledge on military watches, i would be so grateful for any help working out what i have here. Here it is i absolutely love ❤ it .

So i think I've figured it out with a little research. This is definitely a Record Dirty Dozen, one of around 25,000 built towards the end of WW2. But with a Nato redial for a safer lume. The radium dials were decommissioned in the 50s then the watch put back into service with the new dial. The serial number on the dial was given to the Record, a few other makes had the same treatment with a different serial number, IWC, Timor and Omega. After the watch's eventual complete decommissioning it was sold to the general public, this may have been anytime between the 50s and possibly as late as the 70s . This is indicated on the caseback by the bottom serial number which is its decommissioning civilian serial number. Decom. Date either 1952 or 1976. Either first 2 or last 2 numbers I'm not sure which yet. I'm inclined to believe 52 as the caseback has a watchmakers service mark of 1963, but this is a complete guess. Personally i would have picked the last 2 numbers of 76 so 1976. Bit more research needed. The designation W10 came about in 1957 when the ATP watches were decommissioned and sold off to the public. Any remaining DDs in service that went into the stores were awarded this new W10 designation along with the new safer Tritium dial.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

[Neverenoughwatches]

This is today's pocket watch of the day. A defiant with a lovely enamelled dial by fattorini. I've come to know a lovely retired antique dealer and his wife at Bridlington carboot in East Yorkshire. Bought a few pieces from him inc. A pre ww2 engraved glass bowl by Lalique and a couple of nice bigger timepieces ( carriage and mantle clocks from him ). Today a Smiths floating balance westminster wooden case mantle clock to replace the buyer's remorse one i got from an antique shop. and he actually gave me a non working pocket watch that he bought years ago that had never worked. He popped it in his pocket on their way out hoping he would see me today. I had a look for him but only had 3+  reading glasses so all i could see was the hairspring coils looked stuck together somehow. He said if it was any use to me i could have it, what a lovely old gent, thank you Steve and Myra x.  Here it is absolutely swimming in oil. A chip pan movement ( Kalle ). 

[AndyHull]

Today I took a crack at the three Jappy Beaucourt pocket watches I picked up around the start of the year.  Arguably this one needs a replacement glass, but I think 150 years of scratches give it a bit of character. I may try to polish the scratches out some time, but successfully polishing glass is a lot more hard work than polishing acrylic.

 

 

The one with the roughest dial became the parts watch, and I have this one running well (within a minute per day, which is acceptable in my book for an ancient cylinder movement), and a second one running, but still not quite in beat.

In fairness the poorly running one had a pretty bad case of hairspring salad, so the fact that runs at all is pretty good going. It has an acrylic crystal, so it has obviously had some work done to it in the past.

The one I am wearing is almost completely original, but for the winding click mechanism which was too far gone to be saved, so the donor (which also had a broken mainspring) provided that. The donor also provided a minute hand, following a minor calamity where the original one experiences some strange quantum entanglement event and winked out of existence. 

It may wink back in to existence again when I clean the area under my work bench, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that. I've already crawled around on my hands and knees there for the required half hour trying to appease the horological deities, but nothing quantum related occurred.

 I grant you, the Beaucourt it is not quite as elegant as the "Defiant" in the previous post, but it is ticking away nicely, and I rather like it. 

Edited July 10, 2022 by AndyHull

[Neverenoughwatches]

39 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

Today I took a crack at the three Jappy Beaucourt pocket watches I picked up around the start of the year.  Arguably this one needs a replacement glass, but I think 150 years of scratches give it a bit of character. I may try to polish the scratches out some time, but successfully polishing glass is a lot more hard work than polishing acrylic.

 

 

The one with the roughest dial became the parts watch, and I have this one running well (within a minute per day, which is acceptable in my book for an ancient cylinder movement), and a second one running, but still not quite in beat.

In fairness the poorly running one had a pretty bad case of hairspring salad, so the fact that runs at all is pretty good going. It has an acrylic crystal, so it has obviously had some work done to it in the past.

The one I am wearing is almost completely original, but for the winding click mechanism which was too far gone to be saved, so the donor (which also had a broken mainspring) provided that. The donor also provided a minute hand, following a minor calamity where the original one experiences some strange quantum entanglement event and winked out of existence. 

It may wink back in to existence again when I clean the area under my work bench, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that. I've already crawled around on my hands and knees there for the required half hour trying to appease the horological deities, but nothing quantum related occurred.

 I grant you, the Beaucourt it is not quite as elegant as the "Defiant" in the previous post, but it is ticking away nicely, and I rather like it. 

At least yours is working Andy, mine is not, as well as the 1/2 litre of chip pan oil it is swimming in it also has a broken staff pivot. . 

[AndyHull]

2 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

At least yours is working Andy, mine is not, as well as the 1/2 litre of chip pan oil it is swimming in it also has a broken staff pivot. . 

If you can identify the movement, you might be able to find a balance or at the very least a balance staff for it.

[Neverenoughwatches]

4 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

If you can identify the movement, you might be able to find a balance or at the very least a balance staff for it.

No identification on top, maybe something underneath to work from. If not then will be my first movement search. All i may have is a serial number.  It has an overcoil so I'm thinking an expensive balance assembly. 

[AndyHull]

Today I got a chance to look at a 1972 Kelton Armachoc.

This is pretty much identical to a 1972 Timex Marlin, although it may or may not have been produced for Timex in France, rather than at their Dundee factory. Some of the parts may have originated in Scotland as there seems to have been some cross pollination between the two factories.

I paired it with a rather nice Moralleto new, old stock strap, from a job lot of such straps I picked up on ebay around the same time I purchased the watch.  The watch was somewhat scruffy when it arrived as, curiously enough,  most of the 404 club members are. It cleaned and polished up very nicely and is running well too.

Edited July 14, 2022 by AndyHull

[Neverenoughwatches]

41 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

Today I got a chance to look at a 1972 Kelton Armachoc.

This is pretty much identical to a 1972 Timex Marlin, although it may or may not have been produced for Timex in France, rather than at their Dundee factory. Some of the parts may have originated in Scotland as there seems to have been some cross pollination between the two factories.

I paired it with a rather nice Moralleto new, old stock strap, from a job lot of such straps I picked up on ebay around the same time I purchased the watch.  The watch was somewhat scruffy when it arrived as, curiously enough,  most of the 404 club members are. It cleaned and polished up very nicely and is running well too.

Nice. Simple yet frugally elegant. Like a well dressed tramp

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

Nice. Simple yet frugally elegant. Like a well dressed tramp

Oh and if thats your jumper its laid on Andy then you need a new wardrobe mate.  

[Tiny]

just giving page for a new jumper lol

[AndyHull]

20 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Oh and if thats your jumper its laid on Andy then you need a new wardrobe mate.  

Sorry to disappoint you, but its a cushion cover. Well at least you didn't assume it was my underpants.

Edited July 15, 2022 by AndyHull

[Neverenoughwatches]

2 hours ago, Tiny said:

just giving page for a new jumper lol

Eyup Tiny. Good to see you back matey x