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

RockBottom

One of the Regulars
Messages
178
Location
Carlisle, PA
The Old and the New

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David Conwill

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,854
Location
Bennington, VT 05201
As this photo will painfully display, I have not yet mastered the macro settings on my camera:

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The picture shows most of my vintage watch collection - a Helios "Precision"; an Aristo stopwatch; an unidentified French wristwatch; and a Bulova A-11. Everything but the stopwatch belonged to my grandfather in the '40s and '50s. The gold watch says "PACAF" on the front and has something about being the 1958 Senior Doubles Champions on the back.

Unfortunately, they're all a bit worse for the wear. The story of the Bulova has been related elsewhere. It's the closest to being repaired - so hopefully...

-Dave
 

skyvue

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,221
Location
New York City
The wife and I spent a couple of chilly days down in Cape May, New Jersey, over the weekend and I picked up this watch at an antique store there. It's from 1930, white gold with black enamel accents and interesting etchings on the side, 17-jewel.

I like it a lot.

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Lucky Strike

A-List Customer
Messages
387
Location
Ultima Thule
A modern one; I just ordered a custom version of this from http://www.mkiiwatches.com/

I love that the dials are "sterile", that is, logo-less. I'm slightly wary of the size, though, the "length" lug-to-lug is 48 and 50 mm respectively, which may be a lot on my puny wrist; the hands on mine will be orange (except the lume parts in the middle of them, and the seconds hand will have an orange tip). I also ordered a plain crown, without the line across the middle, and AR-coated glass.

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It's an hommage to this US military diver:

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bolthead

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,905
Location
Pennsylvania, United States
Benrus.....

I have this "Benrus" that was given to me by my Grandfather before he passed away, He said it belonged to his Father. I have no idea how old it is, but it still keeps great time & has the original band yet. I love it & only wear it on special occasions.

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Maybe some of the fellow loungers here can tell me more about it, that would be sweet. :D
 

JEEP

Practically Family
Messages
704
Location
Horsens, Denmark
bolthead said:
I have this "Benrus" that was given to me by my Grandfather before he passed away, He said it belonged to his Father. I have no idea how old it is, but it still keeps great time & has the original band yet. I love it & only wear it on special occasions.

Watch1.jpg


Watch.jpg


Watch2.jpg


Watch3.jpg


Maybe some of the fellow loungers here can tell me more about it, that would be sweet. :D

Wow - that is true beauty in a watch! Something could be done to clean up the dial - but it may take away some of the charm and character of the watch. If you go to a watchmaker to have the dial cleaned up make sure to hit him hard if he starts using the word "re-dial" :)

I have these two Omegas on the way:

A 1938 gold watch; http://www.urforum.dk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5513 and a 1950 with original black dial (quite rare to see in such good condition); http://www.urforum.dk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4985


Regards.

Jakob
 

MagistrateChris

One of the Regulars
Messages
127
Location
Central Ohio
The right watch (settle a bet for us).

A friend and I disagree on an issue I'll bring here for your considered opinions. The topic is the wristwatch. I believe that a watch is dressy based upon the apperance of the watch, its design, rather than its materials. My friend, on the other hand, argues that a metal band is meant for durability, not apperance, and that a leather band is far more "dressy" than a metal band. Our own "dress" watches reflect this. I have a fine Tissot and a Seiko, both with stainless bands with gold trim. He wears either a Wittenauer or a Citizen, gold case with leather bands. The bet right now is a bottle of the other's breferred spirit, depending upon what the majority here blieves to be correct.

Any thoughts are appreciated...
 

Josephine

One Too Many
Messages
1,634
Location
Northern Virginia
I agree with you. It's the treatment of the material of the band (and the watch itself) that makes it dressy or not. A metal band can be refined and dressy, or coarse and informal, and a leather band can be well tooled and dressy, or, again, coarse and informal.

Leather not dressy

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metal dressy

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Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
The quintessential dress watch.

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18k Yellow Gold on a Strap, White Dial with Black Roman Numerals, Hobnail Bezel, Diameter: 32mm, Thickness: 5.5mm.

The more size and features (seconds counter, date window, etc..)you add to a watch, the less dressy it becomes.

Generally speaking, straps are considered dressier than bracelets.
 

Alon

One of the Regulars
Messages
259
Location
TO, Canada
Oddly enough, this silver pocket watch is from the Soviet Union. It's in excellent condition and given that there are some plastic bits in the mechanism, I take it it's not very old.

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The green is just a result of poor lighting. The design is of a rooster.

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Messages
485
Location
Charleston, SC
Tomasso said:
8879-1.jpg



18k Yellow Gold on a Strap, White Dial with Black Roman Numerals, Hobnail Bezel, Diameter: 32mm, Thickness: 5.5mm.

The more size and features (seconds counter, date window, etc..)you add to a watch, the less dressy it becomes.

Generally speaking, straps are considered dressier than bracelets.


If you own that, Tomasso, I hate you forever. lol

Alligator or Crocodile straps?
 

dakotanorth

Practically Family
Messages
543
Location
Camarillo, CA
Watch of choice

I'm sticking with my Hamilton Ventura.
It has a LEATHER band too- a metal one would distract from the face and shape. Too many prominent features can cancel each other out.
 

NonEntity

Suspended
Messages
281
Location
Southeastern U.S.
The problem is that you have cast the issue in a win-lose form: One must be right and the other wrong for a satisfactory answer. I've noticed that many people in the legal field think that way.

First, there are various levels of dressy, and Tomasso's gorgeous Patek Philippe exemplifies the dressiest end of the spectrum. Second, there are many factors that, taken together, determine that level of dressiness, among them:

Bells & whistles, which Tomasso already mentioned; the fewer the dressier.

The composition of the case--synthetic, gold-tone pot metal, stainless steel, gold fill, gold and stainless, all gold, platinum.

The color of the face--black, blue, gold, white, etc.

The design and styling of the case--thin, medium-thick, chunky, conservative, modern, art deco, aviator, skin-diver, etc.

The style of numbers and/or markings on the face--hash marks, Roman numerals, etc.

The bezel--if it has some nomenclature and how prominent and how ornate.

The band--metal, animal hide, fabric, or synthetic material, and this category further broken down into

what kind (stainless, gold, calfskin, alligator-embossed leather, authentic alligator, linen, plastic, etc.)

How many different colors in it (gold only, gold & stainless, solid-color lizard, brown leather with tan stitching, etc.)

And how plain or ornate the band is.

Finally, prestige plays a role. Everything else being equal, a Patek Philippe would be dressier than your "fine Tissot."

You say, "I believe that a watch is dressy based upon the apperance (sic) of the watch, its design, rather than its materials," while your friend "argues that a metal band is meant for durability, not apperance (sic), and that a leather band is far more 'dressy' than a metal band." It's interesting that you've stated your position here in a rather broad, lot-of-wiggle-room way to in contrast to characterizing his standpoint as strictly either-or. That gives you an unfair advantage. I've noticed many people in the legal field do that.

Does it matter that the watch is reliable and keeps good time? I've noticed that people in the legal field often become so wrapped up in winning the argument that they lose sight of the big picture.

It's time for me to go to bed. Goodnight.
 

JEEP

Practically Family
Messages
704
Location
Horsens, Denmark
bolthead said:
If you go to a watchmaker to have the dial cleaned up make sure to hit him hard if he starts using the word "re-dial"

Jacob


What do you mean by this? :rolleyes:

Re-dialing a watch means replacing the original dial with a new one (mostly a reproduction of the original). It is done on vintage watches with broken/damaged dials and sometimes, by not so honest watch repairmen, in order to make the watch seem in better shape than it is (thus making it more worth to collectors). It would be a great shame to ruin a beautiful vintage watch like yours by replacing the dial.


Regards.

Jakob
 

dr greg

One Too Many
for courses

I always thought a dress watch was one that was not robust enough to wear when brawling with villains on a speedboat or such like. My GP Gyromatic is such a watch, I would only wear it socially and never when any physical activity is possible. Just as one does not take a town car down a stony track in the desert.
 

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