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

[Shangas]

A very handsome Elgin RLK, but it could probably do with a clean!!

 

[jamespowers]

I went to Paul's Watch and Clock repair yesterday to pick up my 18k Omega that went through the washing machine. :eusa_doh: It looks great now and runs perfectly. I aslo had an Illinois 19 jewel rapaired that my son dropped. It runs fine now as well. My Lord Elgin and a Bulova Excellency just needed a good cleaning. I am glad to have them back where they belong---with me.

 

[carouselvic]

I mailed three watches to Paul's yesterday. I am a first time customer there.
Sent my 1974 Zodiac Sea Wolf, American Waltham pocket watch and a 40's Gruen that was my father's.

 

[jamespowers]

I mailed three watches to Paul's yesterday. I am a first time customer there.
Sent my 1974 Zodiac Sea Wolf, American Waltham pocket watch and a 40's Gruen that was my father's.

It is in good hands. He works so fast with a watch it is really something to see. Before you know it the watch is apart and he has found what is wrong with it.
His father was a watchmaker, he is and so is his son so my friend and I figure we will have a source for fixing our watches for quite some time to come.
I told him he might be getting some business from this place.

 

[Lincsong]

Why didn't you tell me so I could have taken my Wittnauer over there????

 

[jamespowers]

Why didn't you tell me so I could have taken my Wittnauer over there????

I left a message. I guess you didn't get it. [huh] :eusa_doh:
We would have loved to see how much you could put away at the Golden Corral near there. lol

 

[Lincsong]

I left a message. I guess you didn't get it. [huh] :eusa_doh:
We would have loved to see how much you could put away at the Golden Corral near there. lol

Let's see both cell phones and the house phone have no messages. I guess you got the wrong number.

 

["Skeet" McD]

My Father's WWII USAAF watch...private purchase: Restoration Before & After

Some time ago my father (who will, God willing, have his 91st birthday on Friday) gave me a bunch of his watches; one was on a nylon military band...and appeared to be the right age. On asking, he nonchalantly replied that yes, it was the watch he wore in the Army Air Force. It is not an issue watch but was given him, used, by a friend on entering the service. It was still running but almost unusable because the dial had darkened and in several areas the finish had flaked away; this is how it looked:
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100454/DSCF1717&bgcolor=black

I wanted to use the watch, so decided to have it restored. This is a choice which won't be for every one, and certainly shouldn't be considered for many watches; but the fact that the watch was not intrinsically valuable save for its personal connection made the decision a surprisingly easy one for me. I sent it to Bruno Park of Vintage Watch Restoration (VWR) in Arizona for a cleaning, dial refinishing, and replating.

This is how the dial and case looked after an initial cleaning:
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100454/IMG_9729&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100454/IMG_9734&bgcolor=black

And this is how it looks now; I just received it and I think the pictures speak for themselves:
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100454/DSCF4945&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100454/DSCF4947&bgcolor=black

Bruno was a pleasure to work with; he was more interested in making sure that I understood the decisions I was making and would be happy than he was in making money; the price I considered low for the value recieved; the work was done promptly and—yes, I am DELIGHTED with the results.

Again (as Bruno says repeatedly himself): restoration is not for everyone; but it was for me—and if anyone here needs a watch restored I most heartily recommend Vintage Watch Restoration.

http://vintagewatchrestoration.com/care/index.html

"Skeet"

 

[Doublegun]

Very nice, Skeet. You are a lucky man to have a watch that your father wore in the service.

Cheers,

Jay

 

[Shangas]

Hi Skeet,

I hope you and your family and your father have a wonderful 91st birthday!

Better not show him that watch...he might want it back now! It looks stunning!

 

[Talbot]

Sharp item Skeet. That is some fine resto work.

Happy birthday to your father and thank him from us for his service. We owe a great debt to that generation.

What was the situation regarding service watches? Were you required to wear regulation issue, or could you wear your own?

Talbot

 

[ScionPI2005]

It is in good hands. He works so fast with a watch it is really something to see. Before you know it the watch is apart and he has found what is wrong with it.
His father was a watchmaker, he is and so is his son so my friend and I figure we will have a source for fixing our watches for quite some time to come.
I told him he might be getting some business from this place.

And getting some business from "this place" he has! I don't think it was this thread, but in a thread a little over a year ago, I wrote about Paul fixing an Illinois pocket watch I have. I definitely recommend him, and plan on using him for other watch repair jobs I may have in the future.

 

[jamespowers]

And getting some business from "this place" he has! I don't think it was this thread, but in a thread a little over a year ago, I wrote about Paul fixing an Illinois pocket watch I have. I definitely recommend him, and plan on using him for other watch repair jobs I may have in the future.

Now that you mention it, I remember that. He did a good job on your watch if I remember correctly.
I like the Illinois brand watches.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Many Thanks!

Dear Shangas,
Thanks for the kind words. Actually, it's just me and him at this point; my mother, God rest her soul, died a decade ago and I am an only child. He still lives alone in the house that I grew up in.

I intend to show him the watch at my earliest convenience (he is in New York and I am in Boston) and if he wanted it back, nothing could make me happier. I doubt that he will, however; his eyes are dim these days and (as his nonchalant response to my question would suggest) he is none too sentimental about objects: I got all of that, I think!

With best regards,
"Skeet"

 

[ScionPI2005]

Now that you mention it, I remember that. He did a good job on your watch if I remember correctly.
I like the Illinois brand watches.

To elaborate on my experience with Paul just a little more, I first took that Illinois to a watch repair place here in Albuquerque, and after having it for a few weeks, they called and told me that they didn't have the parts required to fix an Illinois watch (they called it the "clicker", the part that holds the tension on the mainspring as you wind it). Paul's had the parts right away.

Not that I have anything against the shop here in town. It's actually co-owned by some very nice knowledgeable watch guys, I just think they have more business than they can handle (being as they are one of a few places here in town). I took my Benrus Dial-O-Rama to them for regular maintenance and oiling, and it took close to four months for me to get it back! They are just seriously backed up on business.

I'll probably send my Benrus to Paul when it needs cleaning again.

 

[Talbot]

Thought I'd better share some recent acquisitions:

Omega Constellation. Getting hard to find honest Omega's these days. Purists will note the crown is not for this model. It had a generic crown fitted when I got it and all I could find was a Seamaster crown in the correct color.

Vulcain Chronometre. I had the watch dial refinished. It was a bit rough previously and I was inspired by a clock in a 1934 Packard. I wanted to feature the beautiful blue steel hands on this watch, but I'm not sure I have done them justice. Its pretty large at 45 mm across.

Cyma. Don't know much about this one, but I love the classic simplicity of a well laid out dial with sub seconds. Also, I enjoy being able to find working classic time pieces and getting change from $50.

Gift. Its a brute aint it? For when I need to get my bling on

 

[Talbot]

Apols if this is O/T

But I thought I'd share anyhow.

Smiths Astral ships clock. Apart from a quartz alarm clock this is the only other clock I own.

The dial markings indicate it was from a ships radio room. My understanding of the markings are as follows:

The red radials at 15-18 mins and 45-48 mins indicate periods of radio silence so distress signals from ships in the vicinity could be heard. I have seen some with red radials every quarter hour. WWII perhaps?

The red markings on the outside of the dial spanning 4 seconds each were used to signal distress. The morse key was to be held down for 4 seconds at a time for three successive periods. Apparently this triggered an automatic alert in other ships/listening posts.

It is very heavy, and is built beautifully. The precision of the door mechanism and latch when opening it to wind is superb.

If anyone here can correct me or clarify I'd be extremely grateful.

Talbot

 

[rlk]

Lord Elgin Self-Winding 30j

 

[jamespowers]

Thought I'd better share some recent acquisitions:

Omega Constellation. Getting hard to find honest Omega's these days. Purists will note the crown is not for this model. It had a generic crown fitted when I got it and all I could find was a Seamaster crown in the correct color.

Your Constellation is very similar to mine. The difference being that mine has numbers at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 and mine does not have the word Constellation on the dial. Mine is from 1952. What year was yours made? They were made between 1952 and 1980 so there are variations. Some say the first were made in 1949 but records are sketchy at best. Don't worry about the wrong crown as the movement was also used in the Seamaster. Mine came with the same crown yours has.
You can get an idea of what was made when from here:
http://users.tpg.com.au/mondodec/calibres.pdf

 

[jamespowers]

To elaborate on my experience with Paul just a little more, I first took that Illinois to a watch repair place here in Albuquerque, and after having it for a few weeks, they called and told me that they didn't have the parts required to fix an Illinois watch (they called it the "clicker", the part that holds the tension on the mainspring as you wind it). Paul's had the parts right away.

Not that I have anything against the shop here in town. It's actually co-owned by some very nice knowledgeable watch guys, I just think they have more business than they can handle (being as they are one of a few places here in town). I took my Benrus Dial-O-Rama to them for regular maintenance and oiling, and it took close to four months for me to get it back! They are just seriously backed up on business.

I'll probably send my Benrus to Paul when it needs cleaning again.

The reason he can fix a vintage watch so fast is that he and his father had been in business so long that they still have a huge inventory of spare parts. You should see how much he has sitting around in their original boxes. Nobody I know has that ability to pull from. Add second and third generation skill to that mix and he does a pretty good job.
He call take apart a watch or clock in fast order. A cleaning polishing and timing of a railroad grade pocketwatch can be done in just two or three days. I am bringing in my Bunn Special 60 Hour next time to test out the speed.