Thread: What types of watches do you like?

Originally Posted by howdydave

I like Railroad Pocket Watches.

I currently have 12 pocket watches in my collection, 9 of them are railroad pocket watches.

My favorites (at this time) are:

1926 Illinois Bunn Special 21j 60 Hour Model 14 Type 1
Attachment 323251


1926 Waltham Vanguard 23j Model 1908 with wind indicator and Canadian dial.
Attachment 323252

Oh my Dave! Those are some real beauties!!!

Thanks John!

If it wasn't for the hairline fracture in the dial of the Vanguard, it's price would have been way out of my range!
This one cost me about $650. (A wind indicator shoots the price through the roof.)

Here are two other favorites:

1921 Hamilton 992 21j


1918 Hamilton 972 17j
I was looking for my ideal of what a "railroad watch" should look like. This is the one I got. No fancy gold or machine turning, just a heavy duty, nickel, working man's watch! This is what the engineer would be wearing in the locomotive, the conductors wore the showier stuff.
Photo courtesy of: Chronified International - Buffalo, NY. (He sold me this watch and is a better photographer than I am.)

There was a commission which dictated what watches had to be purchased by the critical folks on the railroad. Folks like engineers, conductors, switchmen, stationmasters couldn't just buy any watch. It had to be on the list and it had to have certain features which increased as the years went by. Things like lever set and 17 jewels + basic clear legible dials and cases and built in adjustments to compensate for temperature variations and positional variations and more.

The last list was in the 1970s and by then there were quartz based watches on it and Accutrons. I have it somewhere in the house.

Always ready to go. Bought it at a gun show 28 years ago off a guy named Angelo. Looks to be original band with pins. Numbers date it to 1966. Has worked perfectly for me without issue. Now that I have retired, there is more opportunity to enjoy it.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

There was a commission which dictated what watches had to be purchased by the critical folks on the railroad. Folks like engineers, conductors, switchmen, stationmasters couldn't just buy any watch. It had to be on the list and it had to have certain features which increased as the years went by. Things like lever set and 17 jewels + basic clear legible dials and cases and built in adjustments to compensate for temperature variations and positional variations and more.

The last list was in the 1970s and by then there were quartz based watches on it and Accutrons. I have it somewhere in the house.

One of the rules was that the railroad worker was not allowed to adjust the time on his watch.

Watches were periodically inspected to see whether they were running fast or slow.
The regulator was adjusted so that the watch would keep time accurately (to the second,) the watch was set to the correct time (according to the railroad's master clock,) and the watch was marked by the watch inspector on the inside of the back of the watch case.

While on the job, the person using the watch had to keep the inspection certificate for his watch on his person at all times.

I had one just like that, an Oyster Perpetual with a date indicator.
I sold it to my brother in law for a rediculously low price

Hasn’t been any action here in a while. Here are my two favourites, a Rolex datejust 36 I recently purchased and a vintage tank mechanical Cartier. I have small wrists and favour smaller watches.

I like the Cartier

Cartier Tank is a classic and an icon.

As SRP Member Donut (who has a spectacular collection) so eloquently stated on this forum, "Straight razors - the Gateway Drug to Watches."

The Sapphire Crown on the Cartier is always worth a separate shot Badgister, do take one for us :-)

The Cartier is a Must Tank, so synthetic crown. Still pretty.


On a side not, I just received my vintage Omega Genève from my watchmaker this morning. it looks brand new now. It belonged to my father-in-law, so it’s nice to have it back in service.