Post pics of your watches Part II

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119174894#Comment_119174894

Same! We are off to Mexico in 3 weeks and we need the break. Sun, good food and some craic, as bad and all as the last couple of years have been?

We are facing a tough run when we get back. That's if we are allowed to go, we are flying out on the 27th but there is a good chance that at an appointment pre then, we may be grounded.

So if we can get away? We are going to party like the last days of Rome 😉 In a decent resort on the Riviera Maya before coming home to what awaits. Mad thing is? 14 days all inclusive in Mexico is still better value than anything local 🤷‍♂️

Wibbs

Mexico sound fantastic Banie and ye well deserve the break. 🙂

Today I went all 1974. As you do.

Had a bit of an issue with this and thought ah feck it's gone and died, but I could see it trying. The stepping motor on these is like a wee propeller suspended between magnets and you have to look very closely to see it trying to spin, but it was. While it has decent enough torque for a quartz(and the time, though the GP 350 is far superior) one problem with this kinda setup is it's kinda floppy, so it has an indexing system to prevent backlash and make sure the seconds hand hits the markers exactly.

This consists of an index wheel with 60 teeny teeth and a pawl the arow points to which engages with them that makes a blonde one look like a giant redwood, adjusted by the dark grey screw that even if you look at it funny the pawl moves. So I turned it so the pawl completely disengaged with said teeth and off she ran and strongly. Well.. because of the oddball stepping motor it would run, but wobbly and every so often run backwards for a few seconds. Like a drunken man trying to walk home. It was getting there, after a fashion. 😁 So I slooooooowly and imperceptibly brought it back in contact. No. Too far, ohhh, ahhhh OK(with my tongue stuck out the corner of my mouth). I got it on the ball indexing away. Sorted. I do not know how guys servicing tuning forks do it and those teeth are literally microscopic.

It's clearly had a couple of services in its life going by the screws and scratches in the caseback. I like to see that. Even though it's a quartz, these were an expensive watch and Omega had ploughed millions(in 70's millions too) into the tech back then and it shows. That circular bit with the numbers is a teeny hologram which was sicfi back then. It's got a timezone function so you can adjust the hour hand(and day) while it's running and by a series of magnets and magic it sets the hour hand to the correct position when you click the crown back in. It has two buttons either side of the crown. The bottom one advances the date, the top if pressed once moves the seconds hand forward in one second intervals, hold it in and it stops the seconds hand, all to get it to set to the exact time. It's very much a quality Omega movement. Back then they could do that I suppose, when you consider their Marine Chronometer had an RRP twelve times that of a Speedmaster. The above Seamaster was twice the price and given they sold them from 74-80 and the numbers still around clearly they sold well. Going by the day wheels a large percentage of them seem to have sold in Germany.

Values these days? Well dealers look 1000 and up depending on condition, box etc. Ebay auctions run to aorund 5-700 depending.

njburke

Very interesting, does that index pawl exert a force on the toothed wheel to bias it into forward motion when the pulse arrives?

There must be a hard jewel on the tip of it and why does that not wear out the wheel?

Ive been watching the bidding on a constellation mega quartz, same movement I think but nowhere near the condition of your seamaster. Your watches are in such good condition because you've been selective, I'm relying on luck mostly. Btw, I have that 7458 coming my way.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119176541#Comment_119176541

Very interesting, does that index pawl exert a force on the toothed wheel to bias it into forward motion when the pulse arrives?

Exactly.

There must be a hard jewel on the tip of it and why does that not wear out the wheel?

Funny enough there isn't. It's just bare steel rounded off. Plus quartz have so little torque compared to a mainspring the forces are absolutely tiny. Even a puff of air from one of those watchmaker dust blower thingies will stop, or slow one down. I've seen quartz movements stopped by the tiniest dust particles and I don't think I've ever seen one with worn pivots or arbours. The industry spotted that early on in the pursuit of cost cutting and started to drop jewels as bearings.

banie01

Off for my retinopathy screen appointment and this is me taking a last go at reading the time easily until this evening 🤣

Those dilatory eye drops play havoc on any ability to focus for a few hrs

Creamy Goodness

Haven't been on holiday in three years and making up for it this year. Been to Florida and I have France and Maldives and Dubai left. Trusty Seamaster Pro done me well in Florida and trust it'll do the same for the rest. Ireland is great when the sun shines (no place like the Irish countryside with a blue sky) but it's just not dependable enough for my liking, need to get away from it to truly appreciate it.

Paddy@CIRL

Took the 'treat yourself' mantra a little bit too far on honeymoon recently.

micks_address

Thats lovely Paddy - is it a new reference or older? I'm on my 3rd affair with a speedmaster. Lovely watch to own and pretty solid in terms of resale value if you ever decide to trade or move on for something else. Enjoy!

Blanchy90

Ugly watch co 100m sport in pink for today, they sent me this one to keep

njburke

After a bit of patience I have ended up with this, it's a 7548. At some point in the late 70s Seiko did what VW did with the egolf, they took what they were already making and switched to electric . The mechanics of this watch are from the 6309, so the baseplate has holes for the mainspring arbour but there is no mainspring. Some engineer in Seiko drew a line through a system diagram and said keep this and innovate that.

So my purchase runs and from the dial and hands it looks like water has not been in.Plan is to have it serviced and crystal+gaskets.

Oh, today I'm wearing the lip nautic ski which was bought dead and revived with a donor movement.

fulladapipes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119182557#Comment_119182557

I am on my third one too. For me, it's as someone said here recently (FitzII?), I'm not madly, madly in love with it, but I miss it when it's gone. Right now, I'm glad to have it. I've tended to keep it on a leather stratp or velcro though - I should put it back on the bracelet.

Deep Thought

Ye all have me thinking about one again.. but maybe a racing dial

Paddy@CIRL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119182557#Comment_119182557

A Speedmaster Professional has always been my dream watch, so hoping to wear it into the grave or pass it down if we ever have kids.

It's the new 3861 movement in Hesalite. I had looked at the 'Sapphire Sandwich', and while it's utterly beautiful, I felt the Hesalite was much more in keeping with the moonwatch history.

I actually had a used 1861 bought & paid for with Bob's Watches in California, but when I went to collect it I was told it needed to be paid for again via bank transfer, so I had them refund the order and bought the new model from an AD for only about $300 more. I have a couple of straps ordered for it already!

Fitz II

Changed watches today for the first time in over a month. Back on the Speedmaster myself.

ednwireland

got this for my birthday

Ouch Chinese Byrne

Holiday watch arrived

dakar

Not quite seven samurai, but I’m getting there.

Cienciano

Orange dial diver is something I need

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193225#Comment_119193225

I have an orange seestern doxa I'd move on if you fancied trying it. Hasn't been worn

Birneybau

Hi folks.

Not my watch but a friend was asking if I knew anything about it. His dad bought it in the 70's I believe. Would the hivemind (Wibbs) have any notion about it?

unkel

Google lens says it's a 60s Chronosport Comnputergraph, 38mm, 13mm thick, Valjoux 7733

Could be worth a couple grand 😀

Birneybau

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193452#Comment_119193452

Thanks very much Unkel.

Wibbs

What Unk said. 😁 Though a couple of grand would be more like dealer prices. The specific divers and ones for yachtists and sixties ones can go for that alright(IIRC the 70's ones say "computer" the 60's ones "computergraph"). Very cool watch. 👌 Fun* fact: they were owned for a time in the 80's IIRC by one Helmut Sinn, yep that Sinn.

*may not be fun.

Birneybau

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193638#Comment_119193638

Masterful. Thanks Wibbs.

Pablo_Flox

New watch came in the post today... This one is for fun!

scwazrh

Well it’s bright anyway

Cienciano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119198278#Comment_119198278

Love those dot matrix display g-shocks

Pablo_Flox

Yeah, the display is slick. The colour might not be for everyone, but the display is the best I've seen.onna digital watch.

scwazrh

”The colour might not be for everyone”

Thats the thing with G shocks , they’re a cheap fun watch not to be taken overly serious .The display is great on that .I’ve a white one which probably wouldn’t be most people’s choice but it’s something different, also have bright red one .

micks_address

Pulled out the steinhart for sneaky Monday pint