Wrist Watches again?

I have a pretty sizeable collection of antique American pocket watches, including some very special, rare, and desirable pieces.

With that said, my "go to" every day is a Rolex Datejust from the 1980s. This is a ref. 16013, two-tone 18K yellow gold and stainless with a champagne dial and the older 3035 movement. It was given to me as a graduation gift by my parents several years ago-they wanted to get me a Rolex and I advised to save a bunch of money, get a good used one from a reputable dealer, and get that specific reference
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. It's accurate to within a few seconds a month, although recently I've noticed it drifting a bit more and I'm planning on sending it off for service some time this year. I'll have to find something to wear in the interim-I'll probably get out some of the old Hamiltons and Illinois that I never wear and give those some exercise, although I'll need to service them before I start wearing them(fortunately I can do those myself).

As far as back wrenches go-I have a box full of them. I have a bunch of pressed steel ones that are made to fit a "6 notch" back but are manufacturer specific, although they can be made to work with anything similarly sized. I also have a full set of Rolex "propeller" wrenches, and then an L&R adjustable tool for notched backs. The L&R is similar to the cheap ones that you see everywhere, but is MUCH better built. Current watchmaking practice frowns on the use of a hand wrench, and instead the preference is to use a press-type tool with an appropriate die for the back. Basically, the watch is put into the tool, a jack screw is used to crank the die down until it is on the case back, and then the die is turned by hand. This saves you having to both push down and turn at the same time, makes sure the forces are exactly where they need to be on the case back, and makes scratching the back basically impossible if used correctly. I don't work on enough wristwatches to need one.
 
I bought a NIB Victorinox (Swiss Army) wristwatch at a local thrift store about 5 years ago for $12, but it wasn't working. All it needed was a new battery. Although it is out of production, the original MSRP was around $200. It is Swiss-made and keeps excellent time. I wear it daily, and just had the battery replaced again (3rd time). The batteries are lasting about 2 years. I replaced the original plastic sport band when it broke with a nylon and velcro sport band. Luckily, there is a jeweler in my town that works on watches for very reasonable prices. I recently located a stainless Seiko watch my wife gave me in 1992; it hasn't worked for almost 20 years, but I will take it to this same jeweler to get it evaluated for repair.
 
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
I have two Movados that I can no longer wear because over the years, my hands have gotten meatier (thanks for the genes, grandpa!
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) and can no longer fit thru the band even when unlatched.



They do make longer wristbands....you could be back into your Movados later today.
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
I have two Movados that I can no longer wear because over the years, my hands have gotten meatier (thanks for the genes, grandpa!
lol.gif
) and can no longer fit thru the band even when unlatched.



They do make longer wristbands....you could be back into your Movados later today.

Or he could add extra links to the existing bracelet.
 
Some of my favorites:

Alpina Extreme Diver 300m Auto Chrono

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G-Shock Cockpit Series

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C. Ward Trident GMT 600m

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Victorinox Dive Master 500 Mecha

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Currently wearing this one:

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And I bought this a couple of weeks ago...yeah, yeah, Invicta.
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Seiko movement and no problems so far. I can live with the name.

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I'm a watch fanatic myself and have quite a few of them. Most of them are dive watches which I prefer but I do have several digital watches from back in my college days. I just found them in a drawer and put batteries in them to see if they still would work and they do. A couple of them are over 30 years old.

My higher end Watches are Doxa, made famous by Clive Cussler's main character, Dirk Pitt, in many of his earlier books.

Lately I've been wearing a Dive watch named Scurfa which is a quartz watch. They are reasonably priced between $200-300. I have several of these.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
Currently wearing this one:

[Linked Image]


Nice one. Not too big. I might pick up the white number version of it.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by opus1
Currently wearing this one:

[Linked Image]


Nice one. Not too big. I might pick up the white number version of it.

I definitely recommend it. The watch is very light and since it's not as chunky as the other Tough Solar watches, I tend to not hit door knobs with this one.
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Several in the box… Tissot, Citizen eco, Seiko, several Casio so had to make my new Apple look like one:

77AC1EEC-658F-4833-AB98-DE5A9E749DD0.jpeg
 
Originally Posted by wtd
I'm a watch fanatic myself and have quite a few of them. Most of them are dive watches which I prefer but I do have several digital watches from back in my college days. I just found them in a drawer and put batteries in them to see if they still would work and they do. A couple of them are over 30 years old.

My higher end Watches are Doxa, made famous by Clive Cussler's main character, Dirk Pitt, in many of his earlier books.

Lately I've been wearing a Dive watch named Scurfa which is a quartz watch. They are reasonably priced between $200-300. I have several of these.


I too love dive watches. Mostly sporty type watches as well.
Over the last ~50 yrs, I have gone back & fourth on what I like to wear. These days, I've been wearing watches with leather straps. I prefer to buy watches with bracelets and later change them to straps(keeping the steel bracelets) and maybe swapping'em out now & again just to change the look.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
I definitely recommend it. The watch is very light and since it's not as chunky as the other Tough Solar watches, I tend to not hit door knobs with this one.
lol.gif

Got mine today. Seems to be a pretty good watch, and the size is perfect. I like it.

[Linked Image]
 
Originally Posted by Smokescreen
Originally Posted by csandste
Guess you want to talk about things of beauty and not cheap digital crap, but I just pay ten bucks for a Casio F91W-- ... Gains no time, loses no time. ...
I am wearing this exact watch as I type. $10, tells the time/date has a stop watch and alarm. It delivers all that I ask of it with precision in a very retro package. Casio F91W ....
I'll have to buy one of those to replace my even simpler (no stopwatch, light, or alarm to confuse me) Casio F-28W , because it has been discontinued. I like the F-28W because it's easy to remember how to set, it's even thinner and lighter than the F-91W, and it tells me everything a watch should tell without having to press any buttons. The buttons don't jam and stop working like those of every metal-body digital I've had, including more expensive ones. Its Achilles heel is its back, which is susceptible to sunscreen and easy to crack.
 
Orient Bambino. I have several of these in different styles. Great time-keepers. BTW: Orient is a subsidiary of Seiko and is technically Japan's oldest watch maker.

For everyday, after work, I wear the black dial Seiko. All my watches are automatics and all these are holding-up great over the years.





Bam1.JPG


Bam2.JPG


Seiko1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by opus1
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by opus1
Currently wearing this one:

[Linked Image]


Nice one. Not too big. I might pick up the white number version of it.

I definitely recommend it. The watch is very light and since it's not as chunky as the other Tough Solar watches, I tend to not hit door knobs with this one.
lol.gif



That is a good looking and functional watch and for $26.39 I believe we have a winner. https://www.amazon.com/Casio-AQS800...;qid=1557237990&s=gateway&sr=8-4
 
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