Watches

[rlwhitetr3b]

and a Wittnauer wrist watch
and a Wittnauer wrist watch
and a Wittnauer wrist watch

I think he said FIVE times. I only count three.

 

[Don_R]

now you went and made me drool....

good friend of mine has a very nice key wound civil war vintage pocket watch but it ani't as nice as yours..

 

[DrEntropy]

and a Wittnauer wrist watch
and a Wittnauer wrist watch
and a Wittnauer wrist watch

I think he said FIVE times. I only count three.

Obviously it tongue-tied me...

"and a Wittnauer wrist watch"
"and a Wittnauer wrist watch"


There. Can't seem to do five in a row.

 

[Guest]

now try it backwards...

 

[Banjo]

Nice Moses. I love it!
"Hctaw tsirw reuanttiw!"
"Hctaw tsirw reuanttiw!"
"Hctaw tsirw reuanttiw!"
"Hctaw tsirw reuanttiw!"
"Hctaw tsirw reuanttiw!"
There! how's that?! hehehehehe

 

[DrEntropy]

HEY!!! It's ~easier~ backwards!!!

 

[AngliaGT]

I have an Elgin pocket watch like moseso's that's
been in the family for ages.Looks a lot like his.Too nice
to use daily.

- Doug

 

[aeronca65t]

Ladies & Gentlemen, (or not, as the case may be) meet Uncle Louis' Waltham pocket watch.....

Moses:

Great story and what a GREAT watch!
I wish I had a "family" watch with that history.
That's a real gem! :thumbsup:

Sounds like Doug's got an oldie but goodie too.

By the way, regarding those $9 WalMart watches.....I usually buy them to strap to one of the front roll bars of my various racers. I sold my last car and the cheapie watch was still in it. The previous car was a rental-racer and I left the watch in when I returned it.
#909 Spridget has one right now.

Also, that Seiko Titanium I wear (at the beginning of this thread) wasn't super-expensive. It can be bought for about $175 in Amazon.

And the reason I have it is because I don't allow my students to use cell-phones for <span style="text-decoration: underline">any</span> purpose during class (I'm an absolute <span style="text-decoration: underline">bear</span> about this). Sometimes, they might just be checking the time, but mostly, they are texting.
So I figure if <span style="text-decoration: underline">they</span> have to keep their phone out of sight, I should too.

 

[judow]

I'm drooling. It's fabulous. When can I borrow it? I don't care that's it 'masculine.' :angel:

 

[DrEntropy]

It really is. One of my friends (and a client) is a jeweler. His dad trained with Waltham. Quite a process as I understand it. They turned out ~watchmakers~ not just jewelers. His dad has been gone a while now but some of the pieces he created, I've seen. Remarkable. Another lost art, I think.

I have my grandad's South Bend, not much of it left. And an electric fob watch, seldom called to duty, tho.

 

[Moseso]

More stories...
I did a little math... Louis' high school class pins came with the leather fob on the watch. Los Angeles Polytechnic H.S. 1915. Louis hadn't even been born when that watch was made...

There was a rash of burglary in the early '30s, as talk of going off the gold standard increased the lust for gold and silver. Several of my relatives lost their wedding silver, etc. As this was a working watch, in Louis' pocket, not his drawer, it was spared.

I went looking (thought it was here somewhere) but couldn't find the pic of Louis on his Harley. Maybe some other time. According to my dad, Louis wasn't really a bike fan -- it was just a cheap(er than a car) vehicle. He is said to have dumped it and broken both of his arms. Subsequent to that, he drove cars.

 

[Moseso]

Ha! Found something...
Not the Harley... The bike that came before. Don't know what it is.
Louis at the handlebars, his sister, my grandma Esther on the seat, their older brother Joe, behind. The oldest brother, Ben, not pictured.
L.A., ca. late teens. Check out the horn!

 

[Guest]

Wow. what great finds! Those folks don't look
old" enough. You know, that "look" that all them old folks have on old pictures. Most of 'em aint smilin' neither. Looks like a fun happy bunch. Musta been preety cool to live back then.


You old guys got to have all the fun !!!!

 

[Banjo]

Moses, you can almost make out the name on the gas tank of that bike. the bike looks strikingly similar to a Curtiss. But the first letter of the name sure looks like an "S". I'd put it in the 1906-1910 range. I'm gonnz do some more digging later and see it I can pinpoint it.
That is a cool picture!

 

[William]

Total watch person-my cell phone is usually in a pocket somewhere, so the watch is always more convenient, even if I'm wearing a heavy coat or something. I currently have a Swiss Army, which has been very reliable and looks nice without being flashy. I also have a few Fossil specialty watches, my favorite having a cast bronze toned face shaped like license plates (needs a battery, now I think of it). Oh, I have an Armani chronograph as well (expensive watch, I got it for $45 at the Fossil store!)


Slightly more unusually, I have a Waltham <span style="font-style: italic">ladies</span>' pocket watch that I got from my grandmother-it belonged to a relative on her side (I think her mother) and has a photo of someone I presume to be great granddad pasted inside the lid. It dates from the early twenties. It's a nice piece-it doesn't look "feminine" like ladies' wristwatches do, it's just a bit smaller than a big railroaders' pocket watch. Keeps great time-I don't do pocket watches so it just sits.

-Wm.

 

[judow]

Moses, you can almost make out the name on the gas tank of that bike. the bike looks strikingly similar to a Curtiss. But the first letter of the name sure looks like an "S". I'd put it in the 1906-1910 range. I'm gonnz do some more digging later and see it I can pinpoint it.
That is a cool picture!

I think it's a Marsh made in Brockton, MA and possibly a 1904. See https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1904-marsh.htm

IMHO

 

[Moseso]

Jude --
Definitely some similarities, but Louis' bike has a lot more levers on the left side than the Marsh. The era's about right, though...

 

[Brooklands]

For years I wore a pocket watch that had been my Grandfather's (as well as his Muhlenberg College 1914 fob) when I used to wear a three piece suit in to special events, and I did have one I got from my step-kids on my first Father's Day, plus I have gone through a number of good and cheap watches. For the last two years I have been wearing my Tag Heuer Formula 1 as my everyday watch. It has held up beautifully too.

 

[Guest]

That's not a motorcycle. It's a big watch with wheels needed to move it around. The levers are how you set the day, time and date.

 

[Banjo]

The only pic I could find of a bike with the same lever is a real early Indian, But the script on the tank is definitely different. Only a few had the "flag" under the lettering, Curtiss is one, but his flag was much thinner,And it still looks like the name starts with an "S". The tank off the front of the engine is distinctive too, and fits the Shaw, but Shaw didn't have the shift lever or the flag under the script, Marvel made a bike very close to that, and early models used a Curtiss motor. Info on pre WWI bikes id tough to find, and like cars of the same era, there were countless small manufacturers who disappeared after a few short years. It could be several different types.
Moses, any chance you can decipher the name on the tank from the original pic? It got a bit grainy when scanned.