pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 22, 2022 23:40:19 GMT -8
Same as yesterday then. Get to da choppah!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 22, 2022 4:05:54 GMT -8
One that I bought as a bit of a junker and brought it back to the land of the living after a few mis-steps along the way.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 21, 2022 5:52:55 GMT -8
Day 20 a fifty year old watch... Saving that one for another day. Decided today even though its dressy to wear it to but not at work today. This little guy gets a special spot in the jewelry box with a select few, relegated to plastic storage boxes in odd places. Girard Perregaux was said to have started in the late 1700’s, and made the first commercial wrist watch in 1880. Long before the early 1900’s when guys were converting their pocket watches in the trenches...This one has a very deco look. I would put it squarely in the late 30’s to the early 40’s. Having a painted dial though maybe to keep cost down because of the depression it was more likely 30’s???Not a fan of Roman numerals but one can’t get it all. Not a very popular brand but has a very long history and is well respected. If the holy trinity has room for three on the top floor this brand, I think should reside just below. This ticks a couple boxes of mine for collecting at the time. Rectangle, Stainless, Seconds at 6, Quality Swiss brand...oh and affordable. I don’t think I could buy this now this is back when people set reserves on items they had listed. I can’t remember the last time I saw one on a watch auction. Can you? I messaged the seller when the reserve was not met, he told me what it was and I agreed thinking it might not pop back up. It might have cost IIRC $125. Not a big Great little watch, has a FEE 86 movement and they can be found alone (cases traded in for scrap gold) anywhere from $25-$100. I don’t wear this except for a special occasion here and there so set the time and wind and I’m good for the night out... Comparison shot next to my 777 That’s very nice. I do like a bit of GP, the older the better!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 21, 2022 1:59:36 GMT -8
Can it be true? That I hold here, in my mortal hand, a nugget of purest green?
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 20, 2022 6:12:55 GMT -8
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 20, 2022 6:12:09 GMT -8
One of my BYM watches, so sadly it meets the 50+ criteria although I wish it was nowhere near haha!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 19, 2022 13:34:33 GMT -8
I have a few pocket watches and related. Tend to start on this size of movement when you start watch school as they are so easy compared to normal watches. Plus I’ve gathered a few more over time. I wore this one to the office today which has a pocket watch movement in it. And here are a couple more… This is as gifted to me by my dear departed neighbour. This one I picked up at an auction recently, it is an issued watch around the end of WWII That’ll probably do, the two most famous watch houses. I also have another Omega that is toast (a long term project) a couple of cylinder escapements, an Elgin and a couple of others.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 18, 2022 10:12:53 GMT -8
Sorry, been running late all day as I had too many commitments in my diary I couldn’t get out of. So a dark photo tonight. And behind it is a little piece of heaven for me at the moment, the woods at the edge of the village we have just moved to. Lovely place. That’s where the garden ends and the woods start. We have the Thames just round the corner, and Henley not far down the road. Loving it here. So to me, very scenic. To you? Maybe not so much.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 17, 2022 12:46:29 GMT -8
I always wonder why people use this expression. I mean come on, are you really saying that after you found what you looking for, you stopped looking for it? Haha... I wrote that entirely tongue in cheek, my attempt at deadpan humor. Used to love saying that to my kids when they were pulling out their hair searching for something... "You'll find it, it's always in the last place you look!" I always think similar when there's an american tv show on and they say, "I could care less." I'm sure you could, what you are actually saying is that you care enough that it could be lowered. Rather than the English version, "I couldn't care less." Which makes a lot more sense...
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 17, 2022 0:51:35 GMT -8
I don’t have that many nylon straps. You’ve seen the chicken nato already which at least has a little bit of kudos as it is not one that you can buy. So I chose another, that lives on a watch I hardly ever wear. I think that this is an AM dial and rehaut mod although I didn’t know that when I bought it back in my early days of buying anything that was cheap. What am I talking about early days for, that’s still part of my collection strategy! And I forgot about this one when we did the modded watch thread last week. Although as I didn’t mod it I’m not sure if it met the criteria in any case. It might not be the best watch but it does give a little bit of sunshine. Especially on its magnificent nylon nato!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 16, 2022 1:37:05 GMT -8
Difficult one today. Nearly all of mine are Seiko or Citizen and most that aren’t are Swiss. The Chinese ones don’t tend to advertise it in the dial. But eventually I hit on this one which I got in a lot and got working again (although the day/date is a bit skewed) for my son. Who never wears it. So it went back in my watchboxes so that I can never wear it either! Hong Kong is of course now under Chinese control but at the time this was produced was, I’m not sure of the correct term, under British Protectorate? Something like that. So not Japanese or Swiss. And it says so at six so a box ticked that I thought I would fail to achieve.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 15, 2022 7:01:17 GMT -8
I’m in a similar vein to Nick in that I don’t often hunt specific models, I browse and buy what appeals. However, after buying a bamboo dial KQ from Japan I stumbled across the tatami dial version. Far too expensive for my meagre budget. So I hunted and hunted and eventually found one in my range, albeit as usual it need some serious work (and a proper bracelet), which again as usual I’ve been far too busy to tackle. But just look at that dial!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 14, 2022 3:42:05 GMT -8
As some of you know, I’m now an inveterate and reasonably competent (at least I am sometimes) tinkerer. I’ve serviced lots of watches, three handers, Quartz, chronos. I enjoy it. But, for this challenge I chose one of the two that I paid to have serviced before I had taken any steps on that path myself. I’d only just discovered WS, had yet to even know about TOF, and came across Duncan’s name in some thread or other. So a couple of watches went to him. He said they were somewhat crap (he was spot on) and his recommendation is that they were not financially worthwhile for me to pay him to do (which inadvertently soon after sent me down the servicing rabbit hole) and so I sent him two better watches which he did service for me. This is one of them. I bought it for far too much money as I was very inexperienced and because it is my wife’s BYM and so will always be in that special part of the collection. (Still looking for a March 2011 for my son btw!). All working tip top and lovely. As it should be as I almost never wear it! I really need to get a better strap or bracelet though.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 12, 2022 22:13:39 GMT -8
This one will have to make an appearance again as my only mod, albeit a very subtle one. (I have a couple with the wrong hands but they’re not mods, just incorrect as I consider a mod must be intentional). I decided to change this one to an Arabic daywheel from the standard English/Spanish one. Why? To be honest I just love day wheels that are in a different type of script. Who doesn’t love a kanji after all?
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 12, 2022 10:18:20 GMT -8
pip - the red handled tool on the bench shot of the case and pushers, what is it? A mainspring winder set? I'm very intrigued! Great job on the repair too, I've yet to do a staking job of putting a wheel and pinion back together, I'd like to try and get a feel for it before I need to do it for real. That tool is for disassembling pusher tubes from a watch case. In the pic you can see that I have taken the tubes the pushers run through out of the watch case for cleaning, they are next to the watch. I needed to take the pinion off of that wheel as it was a bit bent which affected the chrono movement and then restaked it. All good fun, at least when it goes well it is!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 12, 2022 2:45:47 GMT -8
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 11, 2022 4:22:18 GMT -8
I have a fair few vintage hand winders. This Landeron 48 chronograph is one of my favourite ones at the moment. It was a shagger when I got it, deformed hairspring and just a mess of congealed oils inside with an old a filthy mainspring. I actually bought it as it was described as a Landeron 248. When I opened her up and found that it was the much older 48 I contacted the seller who offered to either take it back or provide a substantial discount as a part refund. Decent chap. Needless to say, I took the discount. Full strip and clean. Ages spent on the HS and a new MS installed and she runs decently enough now. Not like new, but I didn’t polish the pivots (just a twist with soft wood) and a couple could really do with burnishing. And well, she’s old!
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 10, 2022 11:06:48 GMT -8
So I have any numbered watches? Not that I recall. I’ve had a look through the ‘normal’ watchboxes and nothing in there. What I do have is one of the crusty brigade on a LE numbered and “Not for Sale” nato with a chicken on it. You can only get on if these by having three reviews published in Fifth Wrist. Am I meeting the criteria? I’ll have to appeal to Josh’s better nature for that, although last reports are that he keeps his better nature well hidden 🤣
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 9, 2022 8:03:37 GMT -8
A watch that was gifted to me by a mate; with hands donated by the good King Louis Longbike as the ones when I got it weren’t as good. And a strap that coat just a few quid that I think goes so well with it all. Plus my aged pooch, in the local woods, having a stretch of our legs after my sons rugby festival earlier today.
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pip
WS Benefactor
Berkshire, UK
Posts: 6,174
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Post by pip on Oct 8, 2022 0:41:14 GMT -8
Difficult theme today as like many here I tend to do the opposite; I buy shitters and try to make them look as good as I can. Although this one, one of my crusty gang watches, is one where I learned that just like dogs die in hot cars, watches die on hot windowsills. That was a lesson learned the hard way and luckily none of my best pieces fell to the same fate, although I lost a flake of paint from my Pogue dial. So yes, I wrecked the dial by leaving it exposed on a windowsill during a really hot couple of weeks. A rare combination of events as living in England we don’t get all that many really hot weeks. My best guess on the discolouration is that oil from the movement boiled and vaporised and deposited itself on the dial on an almost atomic level. I have tried, it won’t come off. But do you know what, I have come to love it. And a before shot.
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