Attn: Doc, and other watch lovers

[drooartz]

Old pocket watches are just dern cool, and take up a lot less space than cars do... nice find, Walt!

 

[waltesefalcon]

Old pocket watches are just dern cool, and take up a lot less space than cars do... nice find, Walt!

Thanks.

 

[Basil]

Just FYI - I moved all (or at least most) of the gun-related posts to their own thread:

Attn: Doc, and others (not watches)

My typical daily load-out :

www.britishcarforum.com

Let's continue discussing watches here and guns over there.

 

[DrEntropy]

Grandad's South Bend:

 

[waltesefalcon]

Fantastic watch and photo Doc.

 

[DrEntropy]

Fantastic watch and photo Doc.

Thanks Walt. There's a good story about that watch I'll not bore the place with. Suffice it to say my gran trusted me at age eleven to try repairing it.

 

[waltesefalcon]

The other day I mentioned that I own a modern Kon Tiki in addition to my old one and here it is.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Thanks Walt. There's a good story about that watch I'll not bore the place with. Suffice it to say my gran trusted me at age eleven to try repairing it.

I think we need to hear the story behind the watch and how the watch repair turned out.

 

[DrEntropy]

That Eterna is beautiful!

I think we need to hear the story behind the watch and how the watch repair turned out.

Just remember you asked for it...

Grandad showed me the watch, told me how he'd worked on his own property during the depression, digging coal out of his own mine shaft. Bartered the coal for food and supplies in a place called Rodgers, Ohio, to sustain his family. He was also an enthusiast of railroads, had opportunity to deal some coal for the watch. When he had shown it to me as a kid it no longer ran no matter the winding effort. I asked if I could have it to look at and for whatever reason he agreed. When I look back at that I can't help but wonder what his thought process was. Took the watch next door to our home, asked my dad if I might borrow his small jewelers screwdriver set... his reply was questioning just what I had in mind to do with the tools and I showed him the watch and gave explanation that I'd like to try and see why it no longer ran. I was given a bit of a lecture about tools, responsibility and that succeed or fail, his tools would be accounted for and returned as received. I methodically disassembled that watch, tweezers and screwdrivers, noting all parts, positions and trying to see what was out of place. The mainspring had broken at its anchor post! With an "AH-HAH!" I somehow managed to bend the end of the spring to reattach it to the post and carefully reassemble the bits. To my amazement the durn'd thing could be wound and began to run. The adults were all surprised, I got an early insight into things mechanical. True tale. And likely the cause for my life-long fascination of things "wot go CLICK! BUZZ! WHIRR!"

 

[Basil]

Walt that's a beautiful KonTiki. I have sort of a poor man's diver that resembles that except mine is Seiko and a Chrono (Special edition Diver)

 

[waltesefalcon]

Walt that's a beautifl KonTiki. I have sort of a poor man's diver that resembles that except mine is Seiko and a Chrono (Special edition Diver)

View attachment 71089

Thanks Bas, that's a nice Seiko you have. They make really good divers.

 

[DrEntropy]

An aside regarding dive watches, or most other "waterproof to XX meters" ones. If the watch has been on the wrist long enough that it reaches a 90°-ish temp, then subjected to colder water, it will create a rapid cooling of the internals and greater "negative" pressure. IOW a vacuum. Older seals may not cope with the condition and allow water to enter the timepiece. This info from a Waltham and Omega Certified watchmaker, so I tend to believe it.

 

[waltesefalcon]

An aside regarding dive watches, or most other "waterproof to XX meters" ones. If the watch has been on the wrist long enough that it reaches a 90°-ish temp, then subjected to colder water, it will create a rapid cooling of the internals and greater "negative" pressure. IOW a vacuum. Older seals may not cope with the condition and allow water to enter the timepiece. This info from a Waltham and Omega Certified watchmaker, so I tend to believe it.

That's one of the reasons you're recommended to get your watch tested once a year if you are a diver. I really only swim in mine so they just get new seals when I get them serviced.

 

[Basil]

Re-re-resurrecting this fun thread after a an 8 month hiatus

I recently purchased another Chronograph from a micro-brand called "Dan Henry." Dan is a renowned watch collector who started his company in 2016 to make affordable watches that pay homage to period watches. His watches are named after the years from which the design was inspired. I had been looking at Dan Henry watches for a while now and finally decided to pull the trigger on his 1964 Gran Turismo. All his watches are limited to the number of the year, so this model is limited production of 1964 copies. This is available in both "bi-complex" and "tri-complex" and in several different dial/subdial colors. The one I bought, as you can see, is a White "Panda." There is also a reverse panda (black face with white sub-dials) called the "Evil Panda." It is available with or without a date window (I opted for without as I think it looks cleaner). I was attracted to it because of it's Rolex Daytona Paul Newman vibe (without the $10k price tag). On the back there is an embossed image of an Astin Martin DB5. Movement is a reliable Seiko V63 "mecha-quartz" (movement is quartz but the Chronograph is mechanical). It comes with two bands - a polished stainless "beads of rice" band (very comfortable) and the standard black leather with white stitching strap. The one thing I'm disappointed in is that it doesn't have a sapphire crystal. It is sapphire "coated" mineral crystal - in other words - mineral crystal, so I'll have to be careful with it.

 

[drooartz]

Nice watch, Basil. I've had a couple Dan Henry watches over the last couple years, nice pieces and pretty amazing for the price.

 

[Basil]

Nice watch, Basil. I've had a couple Dan Henry watches over the last couple years, nice pieces and pretty amazing for the price.

Thanks. This is my first Dan Henry and so far I like it. It seems well built and solid for the price. A few nits though;
In certain lighting the hands on the sub-dials almost disappear; The crown does not screw down (if it did maybe it would have a bit more water resistance); 4. Lume - almost non-existent; 5. Mineral crystal. Yes, it's "sapphire coated" but I would have preferred a true sapphire crystal. I think “Sapphire Coated” is a marketing ploy.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Bas, I have never had a Dan Henry but I've heard good things about them, and since they are using Seiko movements they should be pretty reliable. At the price point at which they sell I'm not surprised by the quibbles you have.

 

[DrEntropy]

Nice. I like the look of it, but I think I'd have the "Evil Panda" as my choice. I've a Pulsar (non-chrono) with a similar face as yours and find it difficult in low light to read it. Likely just due to my "senior" eyes. I think if I could get away with it ("You have enuff watches!"), one of the "Evil Panda" ones would show up here.

Bas, I have never had a Dan Henry but I've heard good things about them, and since they are using Seiko movements they should be pretty reliable.

Same here, Walt.

 

[waltesefalcon]

This one is one that was just too cool for me to pass up. It's a 1911 Illinois A. Lincoln grade, model 5. It's a railroad approved watch and is marked as a "loaner" watch on the back. If you worked on the railroad you had to have your watch serviced and adjusted once a year to keep it in spec, they could neither gain nor lose more than thirty seconds a week across five positions (for you watch fans that's +/- 4.2 secs/day and within modern COSC standards). I digress, when your watch was being serviced your railroad would issue you a loaner until you got yours back. This one is "Loaner 9, Chickasha, OK." For me this is especially cool because I teach in Chickasha about a mile and a half from the old Rock Island station. The second photo of the dial, taken at an angle, was to show off the ruch plum color of the hands.

 

[DrEntropy]

Nineteenth century timepiece engineering at its zenith!

And the back-story is neat as well.

EDIT: Corrected the century!