Day 25 WRUW Tuesday October 25 Wear A Watch With a Story

[cd_god]

It is October 25th (somewhere)

Day 25 of the October WRUW daily theme.

Today's theme is “Wear a watch that has a story behind it and share the story” e.g. the watch you got for graduation, your grandfathers watch, the watch you wore into space, etc.

Show and share what you got.

If anyone else can relate to someones else's post reply to it or comment 3 Degrees and share your story too.

8

[trilo]

This 8223 came to me 3 or 4 years ago. This was one of my first quartzes, first black dialed watch ever and a first proper service I executed on a watch (all though I was using sewing machine oil and clover vaseline back then)

It was working when I got it and I wore it to work. Suddenly it stopped and I had to do the service mentioned above. It didn't work and I asked for help in here, which got me far! I remember Louis also sending me two spare 8223, but they are still on their way from Hawai'i

Eventually I got it running. Later I swapped the crystal, but accidentally broke the inner bezel, which I managed to fix quite well in my opinion. Recently it has started acting up, as the calendar doesn't work properly (keeps good time though), which explains the wrong day and date. I'm quite certain it has something to do with the budget oil I was using back then . It will be treated proper sooner or later!

Good learning experience overall and good memories!

[pip]

This is one that I was offered by a friend for a very good price a couple of years ago. Trouble is that the dial was badly water damaged. So I paid a watchmaker I know who specialises in dial painting (nobody in our community in case you are wondering who) to redo the dial. He gave me a great price and I gave him the go ahead. He did a very good job. And I have regretted it ever since in some ways. I now have a watch whose dial I know to be incorrect, although it’s not AM, it is the original dial. The reprint of some of the dial text is a little out when you compare to an OEM and it’s missing the small text around six. So I’m happy I’m not trying to pass it off as original. But still.

Saying all that, I wouldn’t have worn it at all without the dial being done. Funny world we inhabit isn’t it?

[inboost]

This one picks up from yesterday nicely, and is perhaps one of my most treasured watches mostly for it's story. My girlfriend gave this to me in the fall of 1993 to celebrate our first year of dating. We're coming up on our 30 year dating anniversary this month and have been married for 26 of them. This watch did have exactly the life @cd_god described of a typical quartz watch in that after a time it went unused and died. The battery lost containment and the movement was destroyed. It languished for as least 20 years in that sad state, tucked in a dark corner. My hobby interests came and went over the years, and just recently I came to love the art and science of horology. This watch had to be saved and I now had the means to do it. It was a symbol of our enduring love, worn on my wedding day, and meant to go on just as we will so I set about getting it going again. It took some time I managed to rebuild it using a like watch as a donor and today it ticks on just as it should. I'll be more careful this time, I promise!

I just hope we don't have a day coming soon of, "Wear an engraved watch" as this is my only one specifically engraved for me

[tempelkim]

I think I don't have a watch with a 'big' story. My grandfather didn't come back from the war and neither did his watch. My father has a couple of watches with a story, but he insists on keeping them. My first watch most likely was a cheap digital one from the early 80s - but I don't remember it.

However - most of my watches are about 50 years old, so most certainly have stories - but they are unknown. I like it when they have some engraving on the back thus revealing a tiny part of their story. Pip's GS is such an example as I have the same, but with an engraving regarding some jubilee at the Idemitsu petroleum company. I like finding out as much as possible about any watch entering my collection.

And then there is the story added by myself when servicing or restoring them. Sometimes nothing special occurs, but most of the time I stumble into problems I didn't expect. This Seahorse was the second or third watch I tried servicing myself - and I miserably failed. I couldn't get the balance in. I tried and tried and wrecked it. I bought a replacement at speedtimerkollektion - and wrecked that as well. I put all the parts in a box and left it in the darkest corner of my cupboard for years. This summer I gave it second chance and immediately noticed I had a wrong screw in the pallet fork bridge making it impossible to set the balance. There is some more 'story' about the guy I bought it from, but it is probably not that interesting.

[russtmurray]

Well, it's more the brand than this particular watch that has a story but the story evokes some great memories for me. The author Ciive Cussler was also an ardent shipwreck enthusiast and became a spokesman for Doxa. He wrote a novel called Night Probe which referenced the wreck of The Empress of Ireland in it. I and a number of dive buddies have had the privilege of diving the wreck back in the day and in fact, one of my buddies gave a dinner plate retrieved from the wreck to Mr Cussler. They subsequently met for dinner and exchanged a few laughs apparently. So that's the "story" .....

[rossr]

Seiko 6106-8040
A few years ago, a neighbour of mine mentioned that he had an old Seiko that he no longer wore, and asked if I was interested it. And I was.

He bought the watch when on R&R in Singapore while serving in Vietnam. He thought that he bought it in March 1968, as well as two other Seiko watches - one each for his father and brother - he couldn’t remember what these other watches were.

The crystal was very scratched, and unsurprisingly, he found the watch very difficult to read. I gave it a clean-up, and it turned out pretty good. His everyday watch is an Omega Speedmaster.

[suntzu]

[SteveX]

A story about one of my best Pawn Shop finds ever- I have other great finds/deals from Pawn Shops but this one is tops.

I had originally posted this on 11/30/06 on the old SCWF(?) Network54? And managed to find the repost on TOF.

As originally posted, with original pics:


"Look what I found today... Sorry to gloat, but this really got me excited.
Any comments on originality.. I'm pretty sure it's all original.






This is as found. I haven't even cleaned it. And these quickie pics do not do it justice.

Now, if you're interested, there is a story to go with this find.

Today, I went for an orientation with my new employer. I have been trying for awhile to get my foot in the door with this company, and I officially start tomorrow. (unemployment is not a good thing.)


The location I reported to this morning is not close to my home, not my usual stomping grounds. So when I was done, I cruised the area to hit some Pawn Shops. First one I went into had a very nice Citizen Navihawk, price tag was a little high but I really liked it. told the fella I was looking for a watch to celebrate my new employment, and I might be back if I don't find anything else "up the street."


I hit about 3 more pawn shops, nothing really decent in those. By now I had driven a little further than I planned. I was gonna head over to the highway and just go home, but I decided to back to pawn shop #1 and make the guy an offer on that Citizen.


He recognized me when I walked back in, asked if I came back for it. As I was looking at it again, we struck up a conversation and I told him I am really into watches, mostly Seiko.


"Oh," he says... "I got a Seiko in the back, but it's a diver watch..."
"Oh, uh, yeah, can I take a look at that one please?"


When he came out and handed me this, I almost fell over. It is sort of hard to conceal the excitement and play it cool with your jaw dropping all over the floor...


"Well, this one looks pretty cool, so I think I will take it instead of that Citizen..." I said.


And the price?


US $80. Total. It was Cheaper than that Citizen."


The stars were definitely aligned for me on that one- LOL, I could say, "Well, $80 bucks was A LOT of money back in '06.." Nah.

[leffemonster]

My maternal grandfather died when I was aged 11 and, truth be told, I didn’t know an awful lot about him. One thing I did know though was that he was with the army in India in 1945 as he had it tattooed on his arms. He actually docked in Bombay on his daughter’s 1st birthday. I always assumed he’d been called up when the war broke out, but this wasn’t the case.

When my uncle emigrated to the US a few years ago, he gave me a box file containing some of his dad’s bits and bobs from ‘the war’. Inside were two kukri, some army papers, a regimental blazer badge, an old razor and a photograph album.

The kukri have seen better days and probably couldn’t slice a cake -







Some of his army papers, and blazer badge -



As a kid I had another one of the blazer badges, and I always thought Jellalabad was where he was based. Not so. He served in the 1st Battalion The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert’s) who were involved in the three-month defence of Jalalabad during the First Afghan War, and the regiment were stationed at Jelllalbad Barracks in Taunton.

Here’s a platoon photo. My grandad is bottom row, second from the right.



Ok, this is all very interesting I hear you say, but this is a watch forum! Well, also inside the box file was my granddad’s old long service award wristwatch, which my uncle told me was overwound, hadn’t worked in decades and was probably only fit for the bin.

Indeed, it wasn’t in the best shape and didn’t tick, and appeared fully wound. I was right at the start of my interest in watches, and I didn’t even have a caseback opener so carefully opened the back with a pair of needle-nose pliers.



Two bent case lugs, and a dirty, dry non-functioning movement. I put it to one side…

A few months later, after developing my interest further, I came across it again and opened it up. Low and behold - there was life!

wristsushi.proboards.com/thread/9916/smiths-deluxe-back-dead

I bought another Smiths Deluxe off ebay, purely for the case, and sent it off to siralan for servicing, and here it is today.



I mentioned it was his long service award watch. He worked for most of his adult life for the British Aluminium Company, starting in 1937. The watch was awarded to him after 25 years in 1962, so his time spent in India during the war was still counted as part of his employment.



As an aluminium roller he was in a reserved occupation when war broke out, but in 1944 he was called up for National Service, and returned home and was ‘demobbed’ in 1947.

[cd_god]

Who does your watch know?

Anyone hear about 6 degrees of separation?

They even made a wack ass movie about the idea.

Then several years ago the internet "reappropriated" it 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

If you didn't know the theory is you can name anyone in history and through 6 relatives or encounters or whatever you can say you know that person.

You want to know Jesus?

Well you know me (1st degree), I used to work for a man from the Middle East (2nd degree)

That's 2 degrees.

You have 4 more to find someone over there who is a descendant of or a descendant of someone who talked to someone who knew someone who and so on.


Maybe you have seen me post 3 degrees.

I prefer to keep it fate / destiny 3 Degrees.

Think inter dimensionally, act locally.

3 degrees is more along the lines of I said I lost my key ring going on my scenic place post and I and still phuking pissed off to a degree that you cannot imagine but say 2 days from now you lose your keys or a coworker mentions losing their keys.

That's 3 degrees.


So now for my 3 degrees watch.

Anyone remember Shaun Alexander who played for the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Alexander

I worked with his nephew 20 years ago.

Shaun had gifted him a new Mustang when he signed and got paid.

His nephew a year or 2 later traded it for an Explorer and then for another whip.

His current ride at the time was a 1995-1999 Buick Riviera.

He said his car broke the serpentine belt and he was quoted over $100 to fix it and I said I would replace it for him for half.

I bought a belt and had to grab some tools and then drive down to the far Northside to his apartment.

When I got there I discovered that the engineering idiots at G M decided to put the upper motor mount right in the middle of the belt routing.

So now I had to go all the way back home and grab my jack and go back to the Hood and jack the engine up so I could take the motor mount off to put the belt on and then put the motor mount back on.

Anywho I took my $50 from the repair and bought this watch with it.

For some reason I feel like Charlie Murphy on Chappelles show with his "True Hollywood Stories" skits.

Everything I have ever posted is true and if you want to stop by I'll show you the sights and try to find the characters if Cooter hasn't OD'd by then.

[saldog]

I don’t have any stories as good as some of the ones I’ve read here today. Very nice and moving some of them. Bravo.

I think I’m creating some of my own stories with some difficult repair jobs, some made more difficult by my own screw-ups. But I don’t think that’s what we’re going for in this topic.

My grandfather passed away in the late 90’s. He was pretty good to me and I was sad when he was gone. My Dad, as executor of the will and heir to all of Grandpa’s personal belongings, had a box of old pocket knives, tie clips, cuff links, and a few watches. He told me to take what I wanted from it. An old Bulova with an ornate engraving on back didn’t interest me at the time and I’m kicking myself now for not grabbing it. A couple of Timex. A rose gold Swiss watch called Aureole, not running. And what do we have here? Hard to read the dial with the cracked and scratched crystal. I think it’s an Omega. It seems broken because when you shake it, something inside bumps back and forth. It had no strap.

I didn’t know it was supposed to bump like that. I didn’t dare try to fix it myself back then but in 2004, I found someone to replace the crystal and clean it up. I didn’t get a full service back then because I was a dumb cheap ass. It still needs service but it does run fairly well. I found a signed Omega buckle and leather strap for it. I plan to service it myself one day.

[dapellegrini]

Excellent topic for my 1,000th post here.

This is a big one for me, and perhaps to credit (or blame) for much of my collection today. This is my dad’s watch, that he wore around the time I was born:



It was gifted to me in 2020.

In 2021 I had it professionally serviced (by Ashton Tracy). Along with a full overhaul, it got a Barrel Arbor jeweling - so it counts 19 jewels now. Shortly after that I started researching the other versions of these watches, which lead to a Google Doc (here) and eventually a full blown website (here).

That early research landed me here - having found several helpful old posts from Rod - l signed up and shared my the fledgling Google doc looking for feedback.

I’ve shared a few world timers this month, I count 7 before this one, and with quite a bit of range - from my “white whale” - the Patek World Timer, to my “Brick and Mortar purchase” Nomos World Timer, to several vintage mechanical and Neo-vintage digital versions. You could say I have a thing for this complication on a wrist watch.

Here’s a write-up of this model: seikoworldtime.com/articles/6117-640X

And here a guide to confirming authenticity (aftermarket parts abound for this watch - and are VERY common): seikoworldtime.com/articles/6117-640X-Validation





My example here is all original except for the seconds hand - which looks like perhaps a transplant from a Bell-matic.

This cities bezel is one of the rarer versions - used (by my estimations) in around 6-7% of the overall production run (when counting black and white versions together). Essentially any watch from 1971 through early 1972. This is the last version of the cities bezel to display GMT and London at separate positions (there were two versions predating this one). The use/acknowledgement of British Summer Time was correct - though these bezels are often referred to as "Error Bezels".

You can read more about the evolution of the cities bezel here: seikoworldtime.com/articles/Cities-Changes-Over-The-Years



More ad and catalog scans here: seikoworldtime.com/articles/6117-640-ad-scans

[59yukon01]

The only story I have on this one is I bought it brand new at a phenomenal price at the time, expecting to try it and then sell it. It quickly became a keeper as I love the dial and bezel.

[raz]

Got this one from a friend who was wearing her while doing some work around the house and a ladder fell on his wrist and hit the watch without leaving him any marks

[small]

Day 25 “Wear a watch that has a story behind it and share the story”

I don’t think needs an introduction, since I have highlighted it before here in the forum, but since it’s a neck and neck competition I’m going to bring it.

As many others have posted today this is my grandfather’s watch. As the story goes while in Vacation with my Grandmother in Hawaii for the first time. Was the Fall of 1972. Being on the beach he felt he needed a “waterproof” watch and found this at a shop in Waikiki, a neighborhood in Honolulu. They spent about a week there and really fell in love with the area. Returning to the islands many more times. They saw Don Ho preform Tiny Bubbles and they just couldn’t say enough about how hospitable everyone was that they met. They promised to take me once I hit 10 because they felt double digits was old enough that I wouldn’t be a bother and I’d enjoy it more…Well the late ‘70’s around here weren’t great and the trip with them never happened.

Fast forward to the late 80’s and I was 19 and had been living been living with them for some time. I noticed that on the counter; was the watch I’d seen my grandfather wear, for at least 12, maybe 15 years. I asked my grandmother what the story was and she said it quit working so he was going to wear his ither watch. Which was a Hamilton Quartz that looked like a Datejust that he got from work IIRC for 35 years service…Well I said can I get it fix and she was like sure. Well I went down to the old jewelry store in town and asked if they could repair it. They said it would be cheaper to buy a new one…I said well let me decide, and I think it was less than $100 but not far from it. Oh, part if it was that I ditched to OMSB for a leather cuff like he “bikers and Hippies wore”. I sported that around for a while until I took a trip to Florida for my first time. I decided to take a plunge in the Gulf of Mexico. About 15 minutes later I saw the watch has stopped! I ran back to the hotel room and took it off. Very upset. Later when I got home I took it back to the jeweler and said WTF, I was waist deep in water this should be good for 666 feet. He told me watches are only waterproof from the factory and can’t be made water proof again after they have been serviced! Funny there was no disclaimer when I handed him the money. I asked if they could look at it and he said no point salt water had gotten in and that was that. Being total bummed I put my Seiko 7a28-7039 back on…For the time being.

After eBay started I was hunting for another one. I found it but the hands were different. I didn’t wear the replacement watch much and it too sat around. I doubt it was expensive either maybe $50.

These watches are more often referred to as Devil Divers because of the 666 but I have also seen reference to them as “Seahunter” which may actually be what Caravelle sold them as. Bulova started branding their lesser line of watches as Caravelle so not to bring a low-cost association to their name brand. Sold more at Department stores I guess vs. Jewelers. Inside beats a Citizen 17j movement 0241 that is a pretty simple three hander. I took a deep breath thinking I was in for a major disaster when I finally decided to service this one myself. I had gained some experience servicing some movements with the help of this Awesome Forum (suck up points never hurt). We’d have to scroll all the way back to 2016 to see that thread.

I was able to source plenty of parts movements for this and determined that the 7 jewel version doesn’t not interchange 100% I learned that the hard way when I went to reassemble and gears weren’t matching up. I have found an extra dial and hand set and have plenty of spare parts going forward. I keep saying I’m going to unload the duplicate but just can’t seem to let it go. FOMO is string and seeing prices jump around for these and some of the other 70’d dive watches I hang on to it. I think there was a blog somewhere that showed this side by side with a Rolex Explorer saying the dials and size were almost identical…

I’ve mentioned that I have made it to the islands. I made a deal with my daughter while she was in Jr High, Middle School 6-8 grade. That if she maintained a “B” average in her honors classes, and stuck it out, even though they were harder, I’d take her and her mom. Well 3 years later she ended up with an “A” average and we went. I of course needed a new watch so I could go scuba diving… and ended up buying a SKX009…I too fell in love with the area and can’t wait to return…I wear this watch most Sunday nights when I meet up with my mom (grandfathers daughter) for coffee and.

[longbike]

 Aloha ,
      This was given to me by a ....Retired U.S. Navy Chief Master Deep Sea diver / U.S. Navy SEAL as a gift. 
This watch he said ... Documented over .... 1000 Divers and used all over The World and he is the Original Owner of it.
    He told me that he could not give me any ....... " Information to the actually places he was at because it is 
.... CLASSIEDFIED INFORMATION ".
      He was then assigned to be on ...The Pearl Harbor U.S.S. Arizona Diving Survivor Cremation Burial Urn Team
that places these Urn's into ....... The U.S.S. Arizona Hull with Ceremonies Given.
         The watch then accumulated placing over ..... 24 Burial Urn Placings then .... Then He Retired for the Navy here at Pearl Harbor.
The Chief Diver :
 



_____________________

This is .... The Present Condition of the ... Citizens C023 I have for the past 4 years.
It's one of my most prized Possessions now. I rarely wear it more then a few hours.

 

 

Louis / Long Bike

[Rod]

I've told this story before but it worth repeating on this "watch with a story day".

What we have here is a seemingly benign 1974 Seiko 66 hand wind, Subaru dealer watch. Not So, lets take a look at the history and my speculation behind this watch.

From the dial side it just looks like a Subaru dealers sales watch, which is quite unusual in its own right, remember Subaru was only a small player in the Japanese car market in 1974 when this watch was made.

1974 was an interesting year in Japan as Subaru was the major sponsor of the Japanese BaseBall major league "The Subaru Cup" so the dial seem to be pointing to baseball.

The case back has a name stamped there, S. Nagashima.

Now this is where it gets interesting, Shigeo Nagashima played for the Yomiuri Giants, the Giants won the Major League from 1965 to 1973, Shigeo Nagashima was considered the best player in the league during that time, winning two Golden Gloves (only two?) well the Golden Glove award was only started in 1972 and he won both the 72 and 73 awards.

Shigeo played his last game in the finals of the 1974 season (they lost) after the game there was a huge ceremony commemorating his retirement from the Major League and his acceptance of the job as manager of the Yomiuri Giants.

This is the short version the full version is here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeo_Nagashima

So the question is, was this watch a gift to Shigeo Nagashima, was it just a souvenir from his last game or that year? I've researched this watch and Shigeo Nagashima and can find no other version of this watch, Either way it's an interesting watch and one I'll never sell.

Another point is the lettering under the serial number "TL", I've seen 66-7109's with "Japan S" and have yet to identify what TL signifies!