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Pocketwatches

Bugsy

One Too Many
Messages
1,126
Location
Sacramento/San Francisco Bay Area
Imahomer said:
I'm very interested in the replies you get. I want to buy a full sized, older pocket watch to carry around with me. Maybe a GF Hamilton, or something along those lines. I'd love to see how people carry them, especially when dressed casually.

I have always loved pocket watches. When I was in college and had a saved a bit, I got my first watch at a hock shop. I still have it; it keeps perfect time and dates from about 1910 I'm told. Try hock shops; you just might find the treasure you're looking for.
 

Nick D

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,166
Location
Upper Michigan
I have that exact Coleman watch, I bought it before I came to England because it has a 24-hour dial. I was always amused by the glow in the dark hands on a fully cased pocketwatch.
 

cufflinkmaniac

A-List Customer
Messages
413
Location
North Carolina
Bugsy said:
I have always loved pocket watches. When I was in college and had a saved a bit, I got my first watch at a hock shop. I still have it; it keeps perfect time and dates from about 1910 I'm told. Try hock shops; you just might find the treasure you're looking for.


Oh trust me,I've been looking at those shops too.I found one in an antique shop,but it was beyond repair.
 

Imahomer

Practically Family
Messages
680
Location
Danville, CA.
cufflinkmaniac said:
Oh trust me,I've been looking at those shops too.I found one in an antique shop,but it was beyond repair.

Well, when buying used, you'll be taking your chances unless you know something about watches.
 

Wolfmanjack

Practically Family
Messages
547
Imahomer said:
I'm very interested in the replies you get. I want to buy a full sized, older pocket watch to carry around with me. Maybe a GF Hamilton, or something along those lines. I'd love to see how people carry them, especially when dressed casually.

Back in the day, many men kept their pocket watch in the breast pocket of their jacket, with the T-bar through the buttonhole on the jacket's label. This was especially common if one were wearing a pullover, etc. instead of a waistcoat under the jacket.

A pocket watch is much more accessible when worn in this manner. Have you ever tried to dig your pocket watch out of your trouser pocket when sitting in the bucket seat of a sports auto or in a tight theater seat?

The disadvantage of this practice is that your watch will come vaulting out of your pocket at unexpected times, e.g., when you bend over, when you leap a puddle, or when you toss your jacket onto a chair.
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
Wolfmanjack said:
Back in the day, many men kept their pocket watch in the breast pocket of their jacket, with the T-bar through the buttonhole on the jacket's label.
Some still do...

gumbel_bryant.jpg


Even while wearing a wristwatch. :eusa_doh:
 

dnjan

One Too Many
Messages
1,690
Location
Seattle
DerMann said:
Seriously, even the lower end watches offered by Elgin 100 years ago were made to a higher standard than modern watches.
This may be true for American-made movements, but the Swiss-made Unitas 6497 and 6498 mechanical movements are excellent. With the dollar exchange no longer quite so miserable, watches with the Unitas movements are again becoming approachable.
 

Geesie

Practically Family
Messages
717
Location
San Diego
MEDIUMMYND said:

About a decade ago, I went to Russia as part of a student exchange program. When my classmates and I returned, our teacher said "I bet you all got those $20 Soviet pocketwatches that stop running after two months."

And yes, about half of us got these things which did indeed stop running after about 6-12 weeks.
 

Dinerman

Super Moderator
Bartender
Messages
10,562
Location
Bozeman, MT
Geesie said:
About a decade ago, I went to Russia as part of a student exchange program. When my classmates and I returned, our teacher said "I bet you all got those $20 Soviet pocketwatches that stop running after two months."

And yes, about half of us got these things which did indeed stop running after about 6-12 weeks.

I've got one of those, a Pobeda, that my dad got mail order back in '88 or '89. I have it now, and it's still going strong. I guess he got lucky.
 

MEDIUMMYND

One of the Regulars
Messages
172
Location
South Shropshire
Geesie said:
About a decade ago, I went to Russia as part of a student exchange program. When my classmates and I returned, our teacher said "I bet you all got those $20 Soviet pocketwatches that stop running after two months."

And yes, about half of us got these things which did indeed stop running after about 6-12 weeks.
I have two Vostoks which have given many years of sterling service
 

miles_archer

Familiar Face
Messages
56
Location
Huntsville Alabama
I think the best way to go is an older watch but not an antique. I had a turn of the century Waltham I loved that was always slow and that I eventually unwittingly broke. I also have a newer WWII era Omega that is very accurate and durable I carry every day now.
 

Sertsa

One of the Regulars
Messages
195
Location
Ohio
As already stated, Hamilton still makes mechanical pocket watches. Here are some at a US site:
http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/hamiltonpocketwatches.asp

But you can probably get vintage Hamiltons for less, or at least in that range.

But while these are quartz, the Mondaine pocket watches look interesting:
http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/MondainePocketWatches.asp

Tissot (another Swatch Group brand, like Hamilton) and Swiss Army also have quartz watches:
http://www.ewatches.com/Tissot/T83855313.html
http://www.ewatches.com/SwissArmy/24720.html
 

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