Seems to me that I have used toothpaste and Kleenex tissues to polish scratches out of my Hamilton Khaki's crystal which is supposed to be sapphire.
Bob
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Seems to me that I have used toothpaste and Kleenex tissues to polish scratches out of my Hamilton Khaki's crystal which is supposed to be sapphire.
Bob
I have the Polywatch on hand for clean up from scuffs and scratches.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1500_.jpg
I have used CD scratch remover before worked though seems slower than Polywatch. Might be good for a finish polish.
Another little secret I discovered myself is the use of Mother's Mag Polish. Gives the same results as poly watch.
Photos taken a few years ago when I needed to remove some odd pitting in the Hesalite crystal in the Speedmaster. None of these polishing agents above do a thing beneficially to mineral glass crystals.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
Don't do this at home kiddies!
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
I have a new set of those sanding pads already. HUH. And I found a new crystal for 20 bucks. I don't know what it would take to replace a new crystal but I do know how to wet sand. I guess I will give the wet sanding a try first. If its too bad I guess I can always take it to a watch repair shop. Thats what the wife wants.
Sapphire is hard stuff. You need diamond or sapphire to polish it. Most Sapphire has a non glare coating on it which scratches over time. You probably removed that coating and with it the scratches.
Sapphire is hard to scratch. You need totry really really hard to do it.
Yea but it's the cost benefit ratio this time the cost being your time. Most watch repair guys will replace mineral glass for around 50 bucks. You can get sapphire for around 150 or so unless of course you send it back to the manufacturer and then you get soaked real good.
Or you can spend a solid day or more trying to polish glass and of course it depends how deep the scratches are. Superficial ones take long enough. Deeper ones simply aren't worth the effort.
The chatter about pocket watches had me digging through my storage chest. I bought this Baylor from Zales when I was a freshman in College. I needed something to wear with a 3 piece suit with vest. It still runs great. I didn't like any of the design options at the time, as a 19 year old, but settled on the horses. Little did I know that later in life I'd be an avid Horseplayer;
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I bought this Wetclox "Scotty" when I was about 10 years old with allowance money from a Rexall Drug Store. I carried this to school every day. It stopped running about 25 years ago and I somehow lost the crystal. I should get it repaired for nostalia's sake. I have very few items from my childhood;
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These were two watches I bought in my early 20s when I got my first job out of college. A Seiko "Faceted Crystal" (stainless) that still runs superbly, and a Bulova Accutron (gold) that does not run. This is the Bulova that was a generation PAST the tuning fork. It was pure quartz, but with a second set button to set the watch to the exact second you wanted. WHen it stopped runnin in about 1998, I sent it to a Bulova dealer and he told me that it was unrepairable. He said the parts were no longer available. In hindsight now, I wish I had purchased the previous generation with Tuning Fork. It would probably still be running today;
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I did inherit my grandfather's pocket watches. I don't have them handy to photograph. He was an Engineer for a railroad and carried a very large (Elgin?) watch for time, and for dress on Sunday he had a solid gold pocket watch. I will try and dig them out soon and photo them for here, and so that I can see them again. The last time I looked at them was probably 25 years ago.
Actually the original Accutrons have passed their service life. I have a few and the only one that actually runs is an Omega F300. The battery the watches called for doesn't exist anymore and the closest replacement depending on the model may or may not work.
Parts are simply not available anymore.
The Westclock probably is not repairable. Those movmts were not designed to be repaired. If you have someone who specializes in vintage and antique watches you may be lucky.
Thanks. It's a crying shame that the Bulova Accutron Quartz is non functional - permanently. I probably only wore that watch two or three times. And for what I paid for it when I was in my early 20s, that was a huge waste of money. Oh well, such is life.
I do have a jeweler (local) that says he can (probably) repair the Westclox, but even if he can I'm thinking, why? It's just a relic from my childhood. I don't recall but I probably only paid a whopping $5.00 for it when I was a kid. It has no value to anyone but me. And I'd never wear it with a suit or anything. I will probably just enjoy looking at it once or twice a year, as it sits.
Quick "small world" story on that Westclox. I was at a hotel in Orlando about 20 years ago and enjoying a cocktail in the lobby bar. A group of people were at the bar and I overheard them talking about where they were from. It happend to be my hometown. As I listened more, I also heard that they were actually a group from my old school that I moved away from when I was about 12. I introduced myself, and a few of the men remembered me. They were actually in my class in elementary school. What are the odds? Then one of them said to me, "I remember you. You had the neatest pocket watch that you used to carry!"
Yep, I did. It's funny what people remember from their childhood.
As I recall I was running from one bus to another sometime in the 1960s and I saw this pocket watch-Westclox bullseye sitting in the window of a Tobacco shop. I think I paid ten bucks or so for it and that was my first pocket watch.
Hmm I wonder what ever happened to it.
Im starting to think i should be looking for watches at yard sales and such as i bet nobody under the age of 40 wears one.
Five or ten dollars represented more of an investment back in those days.
The Bulova Quartz Accutron (if I recall correctly) had a retail price of $249 when I bought it. That was a very significant investment for me at the time. That's why when it died and could not be repaired I was really upset. I only wore it a few times in my life. And I like the vintage style. I'd be half tempted just to wear it as a fashion statement. It will still have the correct time twice a day.
It's really rare for quartz watches to just stop. They can take loads of abuse.
I have several Seiko quartz watches from the 80s that work fine and as a matter of fact when my wife and I were engaged she bought me a Seiko quartz in 1977 and it still runs like a champ.
Some more "watch modding" fun....case, sapphire, hands, bracelet and dial with a workhorse Seiko NH-35A movement.
Little tribute to the Rolex 4 Digit 5513 Submariner.....first released in 1962 and ran until 1989, 27 years of production.
This will be my daily for awhile....:)
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Check out the new Accutron, made into its own brand now...new Accutron will runs from $4,000 Cdn up to $24,000 Cdn......you can still find the original Bulova Accutron Spaceview on eBay, working, from anywhere from $500 to $1600 dollars.
New Accutron Spaceview:
https://www.accutronwatch.com/
An absolutely iconic piece, I think I had one when I was younger, but they were big money back then.....
That's nice, especially this one, right up my street.
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The new Accutron is a Quartz based watch. All the baloney is (in my opinion) for a rube goldberg system to power the watch. In my book simple is best. Wrist mvmt, solar, battery do the same job for a lot less money and more accurately.
The original Accutron was a purely electronic watch. It cost around $130 for the basic versions. There is no relation to the new one.
I wouldn't be buying any "Working vintage" pieces. The chances are it would stop working in short order.
My information about railroad time-keeping regulations was obtained from The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors.
https://www.nawcc.org/
Here is a Railroad Report from the June, 1890, CB&Q monthly report of watches is service, we can see that Aurora #72739 was in use by one of their employees (D.C. McKee) and was running 2 seconds slow over 7 days.
https://mb.nawcc.org/attachments/img200-jpg.320693/
Hmm that's interesting because the national standards weren't adopted until 1893. Probably your case is that particular company regulation though that seems way too accurate for that time. 2 seconds over 7 days is way past modern certified chronometer standards and is more what a modern quartz timepiece would be. Modern certified Chrono standards is +5 or -3 seconds a day.
There were specific standards specifying particulars of the case, mvmt and dial which changed as the years went by becoming more stringent. But the accuracy seems to be the same 30, seconds per week.
Went American earlier today, watch and car, on the way to the grocery store for fixin's for a hamburger cookout.
Watch is a 1918 Hamilton with 992 movement.
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The 992 was Hamilton's bread and butter mvmt in all its versions and was a really great mvmt.
Stirring up the watch pot here.
I don't like quartz watches. Don't even ask about "smart" watches.
While a few live here in the "Home For Wayward Watches" I'm not fond of date features or day/date features either.
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Am fond of the lone quartz watch on the place, 'cause I'm fond of the gal who gave it to me. I'm also intensely sentimental. Back in the day I was dabbling in vintage watches and persisted in wearing the few I had on a regular basis. My wife and I went to Europe and the single watch I wore on the trip ran amok while we were there.
So, when I was going to the UK the next year she took me to the airport. As we were parting she presented me with this quartz Seiko saying that she didn't want me to have a occurrence of what happened to me the previous year.
Nope, sorry. Here you have to show a photo of a Rolex to get someone to go ape.
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I just love that I can use the same watch scuba diving, traveling and going to a nice dinner.
[QUOTE=Otto;1962416]Nope, sorry. Here you have to show a photo of a Rolex to get someone to go ape.
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I have a watch similar to that. Certainly not a rolex however. Does that count?
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Today it's one of the most accurate mechanical watches on hand here, a 1962 Longines with the most excellent 30L movement.
https://omegaforums.net/data/attachm...zY3JTLR1Y.webp
It's a base 17 jewel mvmt with 18,000 VPH. It's pretty pedestrian. They did make numerous versions of that mvmt some that were certified chronometers so it depends which version you have.
Of course it can still run very accurately no matter the version.
During that period there were a bunch of outfits making some really upgraded mvmts.
Yea, well, it happened again, got a fantastic deal on this Panerai Luminor Marina 8 Days - 300 meter water resistant, beautiful piece.
8 Day Power Reserve - wind it every Sunday! lol
I was unsure of Panerai, but having this on the wrist, really is a beautiful piece, next one will be an older reference with a Blue "Sandwich" dial.
This is reference 510, early versions of this watch had the coveted "sandwich" dial, and this replaces the Panerai 111 I believe.
These watches were once upon a time developed for the Italian Navy, specifically for their divers, and very early Panerai's had Rolex movements and shared the "Oyster" case. The "Luminor" is no joke, in the dark (or underwater) you could light a room up it's so bright.
Either way, beautiful, completely different style watch.
Attachment 343339
It's a solid watch. It's too big for my small wrists but you can't go wrong with it.
As an Equine Aficionado and a Thoroughbred Horse Racing Enthusiast, I have always admired Longines. You see the brand highligted at high profile races including the Triple Crown. I almost acquired one about 10 years ago, but passed on the opportunity.
I like your Longines very much. It is certainly a fine timepiece that looks handsome on your wrist.
It used to be Longines-Wittnauer and they went back a long time. They made very high quality watches. It's one of those brands that kind of disappeared and then it was reinvented. In this case the modern reincarnation is a good one. These days they make a great watch that punches way above its price.
These days Wittnauer is just a Bulova really meaning Citizen and they make so-so pieces. "When they fall they fall hard".
I always have esteemed Longines. Just kind of seized on the brand and developed an admiration for it. I also greatly admire Omega, IWC, and Zenith. I do think it's kind of finky that, upon acquisition Swatch positioned Longines to be distinctly beneath Omega in the haute horology pecking order. It wasn't always so.
There's no accounting for taste and I'm no watch maker professional. I'm just a watch nerd who admires vintage Longines from the era when they produced their own movements as a stand alone company.
Longines has a fabulous history, made some outstanding watches, and from what I've read was once considered one of the primo watch brand to be seen to own. Rolex's place in the sun is a comparatively recent thing.
I'm not so keen on some of the styling features that the American cased Longines models featured in the 1940s and 1950s, but the Longines factory cased models are quite pleasing. I think some Longines dials were also produced for the American cased imported Longines movements. Apex, Keystone, and Star watch case companies come to mind. I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting.
This 1954 vintage Longines with 19AS movement represents such a watch styled for the American market. I've not looked at the inwardness of the thing in some years. It's a 14kt solid yellow gold case and I think it was made by Star. This watch has an undeniable 1950s vibe.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
This late 1940s Longines with 27M movement was factory cased and features a pleasing 18kt rose gold case. I picked it up at a car boot sale in Barnsley, West Yorkshire for little cash outlay at the time (pre Ebay and low gold prices).
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
Has a neato egg shell white waffle-y dial.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
This Longines is a great running watch, but looks like it needs a clean up on aisle seven and the lugs are damaged. It has the less common 30LS movement with center second hand. I've not decided what to do with it other than to wear it anyway.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
Another Longines in a solid 14kt yellow gold case this one has the 370 movement. I think it dates to 1962. I love the Breguet styled numeral markers.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
This lady's model dates to 1946 and features the 8M movement in a Longines produced 14 kt gold case. It belongs to my wife.
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...720&fit=bounds
My personal very favorite vintage watches are simple hand winding models. It's gratifying to wind them each morning. They need me in a way that no automatic or quartz can.
You have very expensive tastes my friend!
The 1940s and 50s were the golden age for mechanical watches. There were many makers whose pedigree went well back to the 1800s. Even Timex here in the U.S goes back to around 1850. After the "Quartz Crisis" in the 70s most went out of business and some were later resurrected by the big corporations like Richmont. That prcess is still going on these days. There are almost no independent brands left (not counting Rolex).
Yes there are boutique makers producing limited production watches for the price of a new house and because of this there are a slew of independent guys making watches with Seiko and Miyota movements for a song. These days anyone can become a watch manufacture. All you need are some artistic skills and a phone call to China.
To tell you the truth many of these watches are pretty nice and well worth the money. The king of the independents is Christopher Ward based in England. Swiss made pieces for around a grand and very good quality. No they don't look like a Breitling but they aren't 4 grand+ either.
Hi John; It'd be great to indulge expensive tastes in vintage watches. I'm beginning to enter geezerhood. Most of my watch menagerie was acquired between the early 1980s and the early days of Ebay, when "real deals" could be found at pawn shops, antique stores, flea markets, garage sales, and gun shows; a time when gold was $265 per ounce and vintage watches were mostly just old watches. Now folks empty their drawers of a lot of bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, but tack high prices on it as if it was desireable. Then there are the shysters, hawking redials as original, franken-watches, and outright fakes. Hah! I've even collected some of those through the years and yet have a few here at "The Home For Wayward Watches."
Amen to that.
Back in those days I used buy watches at rummage and estate sales and on Eboy and I'd fix em up and get an overhaul and a new strap and sell them for many times what they cost me. Those days are over sure enough. Most folks know what they have or can easily find out. I haven't bought a vintage pocket watch in over 20 years now. The asking prices will take your breath away for junk.
Because I’ve been eyeing a 1975 MG commemorative watch, I have been looking at Sicura. The MG watch is stupid expensive on eBay ATM, more than a 75 mg itself would run you these days, but the maker had a few interesting watches in their portfolio.
Anyway, scored this wind up 70’s model with a pleasing colour and shape that has a couple tired crowns, but works, and has a mechanical alarm to boot.
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Those are posted pics, as it’s not in my hand yet. But what the hell, I dig the 70s vibe of it.
Probably will never be able to score the MG version, but I’m looking..
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I suggested it to my bride as a Christmas gift maybe,, the look she gave me could account for the sudden temperature drop up here..
Just saying…
Cheers gents. Be on time!
Our control room has a couple of clocks and one in particular that I like to use. It said 14:50 and I grabbed my lunch box to get ready to leave.
Then I realized that no one had changed it for daylight savings time.
What a bummer!