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

[Marc Chevalier]

Thank you so much, GranadaGuy and Scottyrocks! That reassures me a lot.



.

 

[Feraud]

As has been noted the long rectangular links of the chain and engraved smaller links work beautifully with the eight sided case and deco styled watch face.

The lines of the knife might work better with the overall aesthetic but I would leave the mechanical pencil. It's perfect.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... I would leave the mechanical pencil. It's perfect.

I will take your advice. Thanks again, Feraud!

.

 

[Ray George]

Got a question...

My dad used to have a wrist watch that I always admired,
but to this day, have not seen the brand around anywhere
for sale...

Lord Elgin

I always had hope he would leave me the watch in his
will... Unfortunately, his second wife's son snapped it up
before I knew what happened...

Such a loss...

Anyone have any Lord Elgin's around...

 

[ScionPI2005]

Anyone have any Lord Elgin's around...

I have a Lord Elgin from the 60's. It's the bottom watch in this photo:

 

[feltfan]

Anyone have any Lord Elgin's around...

I posted one a few pages back:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=777790&postcount=617

As you can see, it was a quality designation, or product line,
not a specific design. Varied greatly over the years.

 

[JEEP]

do the chain and watch truly work together?

They are a perfect match. Though I do like the pencil more than the knife.


Regards.

Jakob

 

[Ray George]

I posted one a few pages back:
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=777790&postcount=617

As you can see, it was a quality designation, or product line,
not a specific design. Varied greatly over the years.

The one in the middle, in your photo, is the closest to what my Dad had.
His was gold, but square, and just a bit more fancy...

How I wish I had that watch today!!!

 

[Unlucky Berman]

I was told by the seller that this was a nurse's watch. The second face with just a second hand is to use for checking patient's blood pressure and heart rate. Its very petite, and delicate, much smaller than I was expecting it to be.

Would be a perfect match for the mens watch from Hamilton, the Seckron of the 1930s. That was advertised as a doctor's watch and had the same kind of dial with an extra large subsecond. :eusa_clap

 

[DragonJade]

Got a question...

My dad used to have a wrist watch that I always admired,
but to this day, have not seen the brand around anywhere
for sale...

Lord Elgin

I always had hope he would leave me the watch in his
will... Unfortunately, his second wife's son snapped it up
before I knew what happened...

Such a loss...

Anyone have any Lord Elgin's around...

They can readily be found on ebay.

If you have questions concerning vintage watches, I'd recommend this site:

http://forums.watchuseek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11

There are some very knowledgeable people there.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.



Here's the coolest 1930s pocket watch in the whole universe:

.

 

[Talbot]

WoW!!!

That's impressive

 

[Talbot]

Got a question...

My dad used to have a wrist watch that I always admired,
but to this day, have not seen the brand around anywhere
for sale...

Lord Elgin

Ray,

Ditto to the others, the Lord Elgin was the premium end of the Elgin Watch Company's offering.

Do a search on ebay, they pop up fairly often. Nice watches, but nothing will replace the sentimental value. Sorry you missed out.

Talbot

 

[Moby]

Pocket watch mainsprings.

Hey, guys get ready for a big increase in the price of American vintage pocket watches. I collect and repair vintage pocket watches and wrist watches. I always replace the mainspring in any watch I restore.

The only maker of mainsprings for vintage American pocket watches in Switzerland decided that there was not enough demand for them so they quit making them.

Until about a couple of months ago I was paying between $4.00 and $9.00 for American pocket watch mainsprings. Now because of the limited supply I am paying between $35.00 to $64.00 per mainspring. That's for one mainspring!

Needless to say, my prices must go up. If I buy a watch for say $50.00 and then put in $40.00 for a mainspring, $10.00 for a crystal I'm at $100 without even doing a proper service on the watch. Add in a possible $45.00 to redo the dial and now I'm into this watch for $150.00. That means a very common 12 size pocket watch will now be over $200.00

I have been told by a watch parts supplier that another company may take up the slack and begin making mainsprings for a reasonable price. We'll see what happens.

 

[Mossyrock]

New Gruen Swiss Curvex Wrist Watch?

Greetings All,

Whilst looking for classic 1930's watches on the Bay of Evil, I ran across something interesting...it is a new-production Curvex watch by Gruen Swiss. Now, I know this current Gruen company has no connection other than name to the old, classic Gruen company. Most of the current Gruen watches you see are on the discount table at some big-box store...hardly classic. This new watch, however, looks like it may have some potential. Has anyone seen one in the flesh or actually OWN one? If so, how about a report? I need a vintage-inspired semi-dress watch, and this might be a likely candidate.

 

[NyteFire]

This is a link to my 1904 Elgin...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=818328&postcount=94

Its in the "Show us your most precious vintage item" thread.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=818366&posted=1#post818366

 

[davestlouis]

I have a couple of real Gruens, 30s and 40s vintage, and they are way too small to look right on my 7.5 inch wrist, which is a shame because they are cool, but it looks like I'm wearing my wife's watch.

I don't know anything about the new ones.

 

[ron521]

Watch fashion has changed a lot, and what used to be considered a "normal" sized man's watch, say, near the size of the standard Swatch, is now considered rather dainty for manly wristwear.
The 40+ mm Rolex Submariner was considered HUGE when it came out, same with the Omega Speedmaster.
The smallest watch I wear is a 36 mm Hamilton, others are in the 40mm range.
While I don't object to rectangular or square watches, the originals seem too small to suit me, I'd likely go for new, larger interpretation instead of an actual reproduction or replica.

 

[Shangas]

Hey, guys get ready for a big increase in the price of American vintage pocket watches. I collect and repair vintage pocket watches and wrist watches. I always replace the mainspring in any watch I restore.

The only maker of mainsprings for vintage American pocket watches in Switzerland decided that there was not enough demand for them so they quit making them.

Until about a couple of months ago I was paying between $4.00 and $9.00 for American pocket watch mainsprings. Now because of the limited supply I am paying between $35.00 to $64.00 per mainspring. That's for one mainspring!

Needless to say, my prices must go up. If I buy a watch for say $50.00 and then put in $40.00 for a mainspring, $10.00 for a crystal I'm at $100 without even doing a proper service on the watch. Add in a possible $45.00 to redo the dial and now I'm into this watch for $150.00. That means a very common 12 size pocket watch will now be over $200.00

I have been told by a watch parts supplier that another company may take up the slack and begin making mainsprings for a reasonable price. We'll see what happens.

And I JUST sent my other Waltham in to have it serviced...Cripes I hope my watchmaker doesn't ring me up with some sort of bad news...

 

[Flivver]

The company that now owns the Gruen name has been making Curvex replicas for some time now. I have two of them...purchased about 15 years ago at Filene's Basement for $39.95 each.

As has been said, they appear rather small to today's eye for a man's watch. I think that's why they often wind up being closed out at bargain prices.

These replicas compliment a vintage outfit very nicely. I'm very happy with the two I own. They have performed well for 15 years.