Let's See Your Watches! The Vintage Watch Thread.

[Matt Deckard]

I keep sweating through my wristbands.

 

[bburtner@moran]

Boulton

Nice Boulton Matt,that 982 19J movement in that timepiece was Hamiltons best,some watchmakers agree it was Americas Patek! Enjoy.

 

[John in Covina]

Protection for the leather.

I keep sweating through my wristbands.

***************
just wondering if it would be possible to use a leather protectorant or dressing on the leather band. Apply let soak in polish and let dry for a few days before wearing.

 

[John in Covina]

I saw this in a catalog:
http://www.signals.com/signals/Item_1930s-Reproduction-Watch-Mens_VC7653_ps_srm.html

Gold and brown leather strap with arabic numerals.

I prefer arabic numerals over roman on a watch and like a lighter, milk in the coffee type tan leather strap.

 

[bburtner@moran]

Coolvintage Watches

Matt: Jon at Coolvintage Watch has nice bands that are resistant to sweat,they range from 80-200 bucks,If you want genuine alligator or croc ,ostrich he has them.Sharkskin is the best for sweating through.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

If anyone is looking for one of these beauties, or like watches, allow me to recommend the ebay sales of my friend and watchmaker (the man who does ALL my watch work), Mr. Rich Kuhn. He's an expert full time watchmaker, and his auction information speaks for itself. You can find him listed under his title 'watchmakerfinds' at ebay. I highly recommend him, his wares, AND his work. All top drawer and high quality. He stands behind what he sells, and what he works on, all offered with warranty.

watchmakerfinds at ebay

Regards. Michaelson

GOING BACK EARLIER IN THE THREAD

Michaelson,

I can't get the link you posted to bring up anything on Ebay. It says: "the seller UserID you entered was not found."

 

[leicanthrope]

A couple of my favorites...

An early 1940's Bulova:

A 1930's-1940's Zentra:

Both were flea market finds. The Bulova, cost me a whopping $15.

 

[JEEP]

Beautiful Bulova "tank" :eusa_clap


Regards.

Jakob

 

[David Conwill]

Helios watches?

This thread seems to be getting quite a bit of traffic once again, so I'll try with a question I never got answered before - what can you tell me about "Helios" watches?

I have one, but it's in pretty bad shape.

Sorry for the crummy photo.

I'm wondering if it's possible to get it restored and what its origins might be. I inherited it from my grandfather, but I have no idea where or how he acquired it.

-Dave

 

[Edward]

I keep sweating through my wristbands.

I used to have that problem too - I'd go through a leather band about once a year. I actually "solved" it by gonig over to the old way of wearing a metal bracelet day to day, and reserving the watches with leather straps for "occasional" wear. I suppose if you wanted to wear leather regularly you could rotate between a number of watches - should give the leather time to 'breathe' between wearings?

My watches are all contemporary, though all in a classic style. I have one manual wind, a Timex (I believe 1960s, though I'm not sure how old the design is), that belonged to my grandfather. The body is gold coloured, and I keep a black leather strap on it. The other eight or so that I own are automatic (self-winders). Obviously, a self-winder still needs some manual winding and setting if I've not worn it in a while, but for a daily wearer, it's ideal - worn 12 hours a day, it needs only occasional resetting - never rewinding. I agree very much with the views expressed above about the pleasures of wearing something mechanical. While, of course, a quartz watch will always be more accurate as a timepiece, I just can't beat the sense of wearing a precision instrument that clockwork gives me. Funnily enough, these benefits were something i discovered later on - my original motivation to switch to automatics was purely based upon the attraction of being able to have several watches without needing to spend on batteris for them all - especially if one or two were gonig to be reserved for dress wear!

 

[Fire for Effect]

John,

If you're interested in the look of the vintage watches without having to wind one, Hamilton still manufactures a line of its vintage designs, to include the Boulton model that Mr Deckard sports. That I can tell, they all come with quartz or crystal movements.

http://www.hamiltonwatch.com/webapp/en-us/collection/?c=AC&y=120&p=22

I have an old Hamilton Brock that belonged to my great-grandfather. The watch is in need of some repair and cleaning up. Can anyone recommend a watchmaker who will do repair work for customers off the street?

Very Respectfully,
Jeffrey Myzie
Middlesex Co, Conn

 

[Sertsa]

I hope this is ok, since none of this is about tank watches.

I've been looking a lot at watches lately, needing a new one and not wearing one for a while (I stopped after being laid off some years ago).

For the last few days, I've been wearing a '64 Bulova. I just took it out of a drawer, gave it a shake to start the movement, set it, and it's been accurate for a few days. It's pretty small, however, and with today's standards, it looks like a ladies' watch.

In my shopping and research, I am finding that there are a lot of impressive looking mechanical watches still being made. Most are automatics (self-winding), but there are manuals as well.

Several of the more affordable ones (under $500, at least) that I've found are made by Hamilton, like the Jazzmaster--which comes in quartz or mechanical versions--as well as the Khaki (there's a manual wind version, too. UPDATE. The manual wind Khaki isn't a US model. Argh.), (http://www.hamiltonwatch.com) as well as some Seikos, but the mechanicals are mainly sold in Japan.

I've also discovered some smaller companies focused on military/pilot style watches. I'm really tempted by the PRS-53 here (which has manual and automatic versions and is based on a 1953 Omega):
http://www.timefactors.com/precista.htm
There are leather straps available, but it comes with a NATO (nylon) strap. It would probably be tough to sweat through, but would likely not look right on a vintage tank watch.

And I'm pretty struck by the Archimede Pilot:
http://www.archimede-uhren.de/EN/Pilot-M.htm

And Stowa (more expensive)
http://www.german-watches.com/

 

[Sertsa]

I'm trying to find my new, special watch. They're mostly just been utility for me, but I'm torn between the Hamilton Jazzmaster:

The Archimede Pilot:

And Fortis Fleiger:

And copies of the 1953 RAF Omega

But I love this the Fortis IQ. Too bad it's $1,500 (and way too big for my taste):

 

[de Stokesay]

I purchased a new manual wind Precista PRS-53 a couple of years ago and absolutely love it. I had my watchmaker speed it up a bit as it originally lost about 10 seconds a day (it now runs -1.6 seconds a day on my wrist), and when I asked him how much the adjustment would cost, he said I could just buy him a coffee sometime.

I have gone swimming with this watch on (strictly surface - no diving) and wear it everyday that I am not using my 14k gold Waltham Vanguard pocket watch.

I particularly like the uncluttered, easy to read dial that I think looks quite old-fashioned. It has great luminous properties and I can still read the time after 13 hours in the dark. I also really like the high, rounded acrylic crystal as it does not reflect light and there is no glare, it's shatterproof and any scratches are easily polished out. It also gives this watch a very old-school look.

This is not a shiny, ostentatious watch with multiple functions and complications, so if that is what you are looking for, look elsewhere. Rather, it is an old-fashioned watch with modern waterproofing (to 50 metres), and a modern swiss movement that will provide you with accurate time-keeping in a subdued, classy, traditional style that you can read in the dark. It is also an extremely affordable price. I am not sure where else you can buy a manual-winding or automatic swiss watch (not Chinese) for under 150 pounds sterling.

I absolutely love mine and wouldn't have anything else for an everyday watch (dresses up and down from a dinner jacket to jeans) very well with only a change of the strap. That being said however, as this watch is made in the style of the old-time military watches, it does not have spring-bars. It has soldered fixed-lugs instead, and as such requires either a NATO style strap or one of the many open-ended types available on the internet.

Overall, this is a terrific watch, and I would highly recommend getting one while Eddie still has some. A look at his website will show that he has a bad tendency to sell out of his watches as he has them made specifically for his company in very limited quantities. When they are gone, they are gone, and as such, they tend to be much more exclusive than Rolex, Omega, or the other big names.

 

[Sertsa]

de Stokesay - Thanks. I keep going back to that watch and nearly ordered one last night. I have this tendency to absurdly research something like this before making a decision, however.

At the beginning, I was just trying to find a simple, vintage-sized (not enormous), classy, understated watch, manual, if possible, without a lot of gold, on a leather band. That turned out to be pretty tough to do, so I begin this journey into the world of watches to find if anyone made such a thing.



Matt and Edward: I don't know if this will help, but there are waterproof leather bands. I'll link to them at a site, but I've never tried one, and I don't know anything about this vendor other than the BBB seal checks out.
http://www.thewatchprince.com/watch-band/100m-Water-Resistant-Straps

 

[Lucky Strike]

This thread seems to be getting quite a bit of traffic once again, so I'll try with a question I never got answered before - what can you tell me about "Helios" watches?
-Dave

The top one is very similar to the German WWII military watches. Are there any markings on the back? If it's a military issued German watch it should have a "D" (for Dienstuhr - service watch)in front of the serial number, and likely an "H" (for Heer - army) after the serial number. Like this: D 593733 H.

If this checks out, the movement could very likely be the A. Schild 1130 (AS 1130) "Wehrmachtswerk".

Wehrmacht issued watches had the serial number recorded into the service member's pay book and the watches were expected to be returned to the service upon discharge. The watches could also be purchased by the service members, this would be entered in their paybooks.

A few examples, made by various contractors: http://www.militarychronos.com/category.php?cid=18

 

[Mark G]

All my leather straps are "water resistant" and they all have to be replaced in about a year. Leather and sweat just don't go together. I've found the best thing to do is to find a place like http://www.ofrei.com/index.html and buy a few. They are very inexpensive about $7 and look great. On buckles with logos I just swap those out as well.

I do find I can make the strap last longer by soaking it in alcohol for about an hour then dressing the leather with lexol to replace the oils. Most of the time I think its the bacteria in the sweat that breaks the leather down.

Matt, that Hamilton is a beauty.

 

[feltfan]

Metal watch band?

Why not go for one of those expandable metal watch bands?
I've had years of bad luck with unreliable leather bands...

Actually, I'm currently looking for a source for vintage metal
watch bands. Need one for my father's early 60s Omega
Seamaster. 18mm. Ideas or sources?

 

[Mossyrock]

Why not go for one of those expandable metal watch bands?
I've had years of bad luck with unreliable leather bands...

Actually, I'm currently looking for a source for vintage metal
watch bands. Need one for my father's early 60s Omega
Seamaster. 18mm. Ideas or sources?

Take a look here:

http://www.ofrei.com/page582.html

 

[JEEP]

Why not go for one of those expandable metal watch bands?
I've had years of bad luck with unreliable leather bands...

Actually, I'm currently looking for a source for vintage metal
watch bands. Need one for my father's early 60s Omega
Seamaster. 18mm. Ideas or sources?

I have a huge pile of original 60's/70's classic filoflex bracelets, both steel and a few in golddouble. Shoot me a PM if you are interested.


Regards.

Jakob