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

[Warbaby]

Very sweet Elgin! The dial is in amazing condition - I don't think I've ever seen one that clean on a watch that's over 50 years old.

I wouldn't worry too much about the overdue cleaning. I know the experts say you should have a vintage watch cleaned and oiled every 5 years, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's a bit of mythology begun and spread by watchmakers. IMHOP, as long as a watch is running fine and keeping accurate time, the oil hasn't started to gum up and all's well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[dh66]

Beautiful watch. I really admire the old square and rectangular ones. I'd like to get one one day.

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[jamespowers]

Very sweet Elgin! The dial is in amazing condition - I don't think I've ever seen one that clean on a watch that's over 50 years old.

I wouldn't worry too much about the overdue cleaning. I know the experts say you should have a vintage watch cleaned and oiled every 5 years, but I have a sneaking suspicion that's a bit of mythology begun and spread by watchmakers. IMHOP, as long as a watch is running fine and keeping accurate time, the oil hasn't started to gum up and all's well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

All that and if you get it cleaned and adjusted then you an go quite a while as modern oils do no gum up like old fashioned oils did.

 

[Tomasso]

All that and if you get it cleaned and adjusted then you an go quite a while as modern oils do no gum up like old fashioned oils did.

Yep, I have a ten year old Reverso that is running like a top but that according to JLC has missed two vital service checkups which would have cost me several hundreds and months of wrist time.

 

[jamespowers]

and months of wrist time.

Life is too short for that.

 

[kaiser]

Yep, I have a ten year old Reverso that is running like a top but that according to JLC has missed two vital service checkups which would have cost me several hundreds and months of wrist time.

I have a mechanical Seiko SKX009 Diver that is 17 years old and has seen a great deal wrist time without a single service. Currently running about 1 minute fast per week.

 

[jamespowers]

I have a mechanical Seiko SKX009 Diver that is 17 years old and has seen a great deal wrist time without a single service. Currently running about 1 minute fast per week.

I just dumped a new battery in a 30 year old Seiko that actually has a movement with gears etc p) and it has been running decently after sitting for decades without service. Probably never has seen service. I did have mercy enough to oil the watch before I started it though.

 

[Warbaby]

What kind of oil did you use? Is there a particular brand of watch oil you'd recommend or are they all the same stuff?

 

[jamespowers]

What kind of oil did you use? Is there a particular brand of watch oil you'd recommend or are they all the same stuff?

Use Bergeon oil with the correct size oilers. That way you won't overdo the oil.

Oilers and set up:

I used to do a lot more but my eyes can't stand the tiny stuff anymore.

 

[Annixter]

My watchmaker once mentioned that he uses three different viscosity oils--what weights I have no idea.

 

[jamespowers]

My watchmaker once mentioned that he uses three different viscosity oils--what weights I have no idea.

I am not too sure about that. I just use one but I don't exactly specialize in oil or oiling watches. I just do if they have been sitting and look dry.

 

[dh66]

Here's one that doesn't really fit the pattern around here, but it IS true vintage.

I was 11 back in '77, when SW came out so it was right up my alley. Got this for Christmas that year. You push(ed) the button on the side to make the numbers light up in red. I'm sure some around here can remember that technology, it was cutting edge for back then.

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[jamespowers]

Here's one that doesn't really fit the pattern around here, but it IS true vintage.

I was 11 back in '77, when SW came out so it was right up my alley. Got this for Christmas that year. You push(ed) the button on the side to make the numbers light up in red. I'm sure some around here can remember that technology, it was cutting edge for back then.

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I think the Hamilton Digital worked the same way. I have one and they are HUGE. It looks like this one:

I have to dig it out an replace the batteries just to see it work again. I say batteries because the dang things took two big batteries. lol lol
They were way ahead of your 1977 watch as they were made in 1973. Your watch was old tech by then.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Here's one that doesn't really fit the pattern around here, but it IS true vintage.

I was 11 back in '77, when SW came out so it was right up my alley. Got this for Christmas that year. You push(ed) the button on the side to make the numbers light up in red. I'm sure some around here can remember that technology, it was cutting edge for back then.

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LED watches....came out around 1970 or so. The first was the Pulsar, and it retailed for around $1,500, which would be around $9,000 today.

 

[jamespowers]

LED watches....came out around 1970 or so. The first was the Pulsar, and it retailed for around $1,500, which would be around $9,000 today.

The Pulsar was the Hamilton. Same company. It was 1970 why it was introduced. By the time mine was produced in 1973 the price had gone down a bit.

 

[dh66]

This one's made by Texas instruments. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even close to that price range.
The push button LED display was the norm for awhile, but man, when LCD became the standard technology snowballed. I'm trying to remember when the calculator watch came out. They were still pretty top of the heap when I was in HS (early 80s), but seems like by the time I was in college they were commonplace. Heck, free LCD watches have been coming with happy meals a looooong time now.

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[jamespowers]

This one's made by Texas instruments. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even close to that price range.
The push button LED display was the norm for awhile, but man, when LCD became the standard technology snowballed. I'm trying to remember when the calculator watch came out. They were still pretty top of the heap when I was in HS (early 80s), but seems like by the time I was in college they were commonplace. Heck, free LCD watches have been coming with happy meals a looooong time now.

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Texas Instuments killed the Pulsar. After they entered the market the Pulsar's days were numbered.

 

[HudsonHawk]

This one's made by Texas instruments. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even close to that price range.
The push button LED display was the norm for awhile, but man, when LCD became the standard technology snowballed. I'm trying to remember when the calculator watch came out. They were still pretty top of the heap when I was in HS (early 80s), but seems like by the time I was in college they were commonplace. Heck, free LCD watches have been coming with happy meals a looooong time now.

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I first saw the calculator watch in about the 8th grade, which would have been about 1980. They were tremendously geeky, even then. At the time, I had a digital watch that played "Dixie". Now THAT was the bomb in my neck of the woods.

 

[dh66]

I first saw the calculator watch in about the 8th grade, which would have been about 1980. They were tremendously geeky, even then. At the time, I had a digital watch that played "Dixie". Now THAT was the bomb in my neck of the woods.

Ha!! I had forgotten about the ones that played a little tune. The "Dixie" whistling ones were quite popular here as well. I remember those in HS. Seems like they played multiple selections. I didn't have one, or a calculator one. I think the high tech-est I ever had maybe had a stopwatch and alarm.


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[Don Dahlberg]

I have not checked this thread in a while and missed the discussion on oiling watches.

How long you should go without a cleaning depends on the watch, watch case and the oil. When we were using whale oil, it evaporated and became thick in a little over a year. Modern synthetic oils last nine to ten years. Then the issue becomes dust and dirt. A water resistant case is also dust resistant. Watches cases made before water resistant cases or water resistant cases with bad gaskets are very porous to dust. This mixes with the oil and you have a great abrasive. Such watches should be cleaned and oil about every 3 to 5 years depending on how much they are warn on your person.

A watch that is not running does not have to be cleaned.

This is what happens to a non-jeweled pivot hole when the watch is not properly maintained. http://people.timezone.com/library/workbench/workbench631678823983930377

If the pivot hole is jeweled, then the pivot wears. I could not find a picture of a warn pivot.

Finding parts for vintage watches is very difficult and time consuming. Watchmakers charge for this time. Making parts is even more time consuming and expensive.

The whole idea of having a mechanical watch in the quartz age, is to have a watch that can (with care) run for centuries. My oldest watch is from 1818.

Just because a watch runs and is keeping fair time, does not mean it is not slowly destroying itself.

There was another question about the number of oils used. In vintage pocket watches, most watchmakers use three viscosities of oil and two types of grease. For example in the mainspring barrel one uses a grease that will migrate throughout the mainspring. The grease is trapped in the mainspring barrel, so it will not interfere with anything else in the watch. For other parts that slide over each other, one uses a non-migrating grease, so that it does not spread where it will do harm. They did not have these choices of oils and greases when the watches were made, but they make the watches last longer and run better.

Modern self winding and complicated watches require a very large selection of oils. I have seen over half dozen oils used in some watches. Many of these will not function if the wrong oil is used in the wrong place.

Don Dahlberg