Watches

[Lozart]

Slight tangent but does anyone know much about  vintage/antique watches? I've recently inherited a couple of JW Benson pieces, one pocket watch and a wristwatch and was wondering if there's a way of dating them? Neither are for sale for sentimental reasons but it would be nice to know what they are and how best to look after them. The pocket watch is quite tarnished but is silver from what I can work out, the wristwatch used to be my Dad's daily wear watch so it's well used.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Lozart said:

Slight tangent but does anyone know much about  vintage/antique watches? I've recently inherited a couple of JW Benson pieces, one pocket watch and a wristwatch and was wondering if there's a way of dating them? Neither are for sale for sentimental reasons but it would be nice to know what they are and how best to look after them. The pocket watch is quite tarnished but is silver from what I can work out, the wristwatch used to be my Dad's daily wear watch so it's well used.

You can try here, lots of old watch experts

 

http://homage-forum.com

 

 

[Jez_Armstrong]

12 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

Ahhhh cool thread I hadn't spotted before either!

Loving those Seiko chronos, I've had a soft spot for all things Seiko for many years, I quite often wear my dad's SQ 4004 Quartz that he bought aboard the SS Canberra back in the late 70's.
I've got a SARB035 which is a lovely thing, but desperately needs to get regulated.  It was about 30 seconds off a day, I decided to 'improve' it, and naturally enough it now runs at 5 minutes off a day ?  
I'm sure I could actually sort it with some more trial-and-error, but in the absence of a time-grapher, I'll just get the jewellers to sort it for me, some day.

I'm not wearing many of my collection these days.  I sprung for a Tudor Black Bay Pro recently 

 

which is a cracking watch.   But no sooner had I bought that than I got "The Call" from the Rolex dealer (after a year and a half on the waiting list!), and a few weeks ago I picked up my grail watch... Oyster Perpetual with blue dial.

 

Wearing it every day, it's not an investment piece.   I absolutely adore it, it's just so beautifully finished, and perfectly proportioned. 

 

If you're happy to open the caseback and regulate it yourself get yourself the TOSCA app and sit in a very quiet room and give it a go ?

[Cannonfodder]

II picked this up online in the summer for the princely sum of £16. It isn't loosing or gaining time and at that price I'm not too bothered if it gets shot out in a game 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I nearly went with airsofting as a good excuse to buy a proper field watch, maybe even a Hamilton Khaki, but then thought how upset I'd be if it got shot, so went the AliExpress bargain-bin route instead, and got one of these:

 

... which cost £8.97!

[RostokMcSpoons]

12 hours ago, Jez_Armstrong said:

If you're happy to open the caseback and regulate it yourself get yourself the TOSCA app and sit in a very quiet room and give it a go ?

I've had a quick look, presumably I need to pay for the Pro version to get actually timing rather than the 'good/bad' readouts?  I can see it works though, probably well enough to make the watch wearable again

[Jez_Armstrong]

8 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

I've had a quick look, presumably I need to pay for the Pro version to get actually timing rather than the 'good/bad' readouts?  I can see it works though, probably well enough to make the watch wearable again

To be fair I've not noticed the difference between the normal and pro version! 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I haven't tried the iphone-only app mentioned before, yet, maybe that'll be the better option ($10 pcm I think).  
The poor old SARB definitely needs some love, I may not have wound it up fully but its still ticking today... it just happens to be 12 minutes slow already!

[Jez_Armstrong]

Just be very careful when you regulate, it only takes a knats cock of a movement to adjust the time, no big swings

[RostokMcSpoons]

4 hours ago, Jez_Armstrong said:

Just be very careful when you regulate, it only takes a knats cock of a movement to adjust the time, no big swings

I just checked the SARB again, it's now 20 minutes slow.  I think it's fair to say there were no gnat's cocks in the amount of swing I put on the regulator ?
 

 

[Jez_Armstrong]

Do you have an eye glass? Probably best to try and adjust the arm with one of those it only takes the slightest of nudges to adjust it ?

[Emergencychimps]

On 28/09/2022 at 22:21, Jez_Armstrong said:

If you're happy to open the caseback and regulate it yourself get yourself the TOSCA app and sit in a very quiet room and give it a go ?

 

Thank you for this, used this on my tudor black bay and came back with great readings. I was getting worried about whether it needed a service, 5 years old etc and to see it's still ticking by so well is a huge relief. Can delay that service now! 

[Jez_Armstrong]

Time to bring this thread back from the dead 

 

As a watchmaker I'm always working on other people's beloved luxury time peices so over the last two months I have launched my own micro brand "Armstrong" 

 

I have been using pocket watch movements, for me they are a tad easier to work on and can be housed into wrist watch cases 

 

I have been stripping each one down as they come in, cleaning all the parts in my Elma cleaning machine and putting the movements back together, applying the correct oils in all the places that need them and then regulation them on my machine, rather then just grabbing a movement and throwing it in a case I don't quite trust the origins of the cheapest labour of who puts them together and what random oil they use so rebuilding a movement takes me around 4 hours 

 

I have also been customising the dials with my own logo, choosing a case I most like the look of and have been pairing them up with a choice of 22mm bison straps 

 

Being a big movement the power reserve is 46 hours between winds and it isn't an automatic movement but rather a manual one hence the need for winding 

 

I've been making these in small batches to sell to friends but if anyone is at all interested please drop me a message, I sell them for £135 with your choice of dial and strap color 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

What's the lead time on these please @Jez_Armstrong?

[Jez_Armstrong]

4 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

What's the lead time on these please @Jez_Armstrong?

Around 2/3 weeks at the moment 

 

Unless I have a particular one ready to go now, which one did you like the look of? 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

17 hours ago, Jez_Armstrong said:

Around 2/3 weeks at the moment 

 

Unless I have a particular one ready to go now, which one did you like the look of? 

I'll ask my Dad.  He collects watches and one would be a great present for him.  Think he would prefer a blue face, but I'll see.  They look fantastic tbh.

 

Could you do one with stainless body and strap?  

Edited July 30, 2024 by Tactical Pith Helmet

[Jez_Armstrong]

15 hours ago, Tactical Pith Helmet said:

I'll ask my Dad.  He collects watches and one would be a great present for him.  Think he would prefer a blue face, but I'll see.  They look fantastic tbh.

 

Could you do one with stainless body and strap?  

The cases are steel but I'm yet to find a decent bracelet that I'm happy with 

[LMKipper]

Ah those are lovely @Jez_Armstrong

 

What's the case diameter?

[Jez_Armstrong]

1 hour ago, LMKipper said:

Ah those are lovely @Jez_Armstrong

 

What's the case diameter?

They are 42mm

 

Just the right size I'd say! 

[Jez_Armstrong]

Green dial with silver indices built this afternoon on a light tan bison 22mm strap 

Not advertised yet so if you want it, it's ready to claim ?

[leadly]

They are stunning!!

 

Great work!