Post pics of your watches Part II
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Basically KH; in the mid to late 1960's when the Swiss industry as a collective was getting together to build their first quartz movement the Beta 21, Girard Perregaux with some input from JLC went their own way. Building the first Swiss quartz with a stepping motor(the Beta used a tuning fork setup to drive the hands) and came up with the 32768 Hz frequency that became the standard for the majority of quartz that followed right down to today. The GP movement was also less delicate and complex and more modular than the Beta. It was also cheaper to produce, though cheaper is a relative term as in period these were still expensive watches. Beta watches ran about 1000 dollars, Longines Ultra-Quartz around 600, these were 3-400(an Omega Speedmaster was around 250, ditto for a steel Submariner). It also had superior torque so could use normal sized hands and a quick change date. It used Teflon bearings instead of jewels so never needed oiling and was the first quartz to pass observatory chronometer testing(much higher standard than chronometer). So I had an interest in them(and very early quartz in general) and consider them one of the most important movements in personal timekeeping.
Anyhoo; this particular "Tron" dial with the Motorola chip image in blue and gold versions(the gold being a one colour print, the blue a three)featured in their marketing of the time.
For me this was doubly cool and not just for horology, but also for the early days of computing and especially personal computing. Today we're so used to IT in damn near everything we use, but it's easy to forget that in 1970 unless you actually worked in the rarefied world of computing or somewhere like NASA, MIT, there were no "silicon chips" in your daily life and certainly not in your personal life. It was very much an analogue world, with at best "solid state" transistors only recently moved on from valves. It could be argued these early quartz watches from the Swiss and Japanese were the first real "personal computers".
and I wanted one sooooo badly. 😁
Problem was none of the early quartz collectors and horologist types had seen one "in the wild". The only example known was in GP's own collection(with an incorrect strap). On the various watch forums the Accepted Truth© came to be that they were only ever a promotional thing, never for sale to the general public. Feck! said I, but I kept my eye out. Saved Google and ebay searches. One trick I used to use was add searches with slightly incorrect spelling and of course not just on ebay.ie/com, but ebay.fr/de/es etc.
One evening a result popped up on French eBay. Listed as Girrard Peragaux(sic), non working, with a single photo taken with a myopic potato, at night.
That's after I enlarged and enhanced it too. Auction, two days to go, no bidders, opening bid 180 quid. Fortified by a Tesco Merlot of questionable parentage I threw a snipe of 220 quid at it. Last of the big spenders.😁 Two days later of nail chewing to the quick I won it as the only bidder. A few days later it was in my clammy hands. Tbh not being the sharpest knife in the drawer it took me a moment to figure out how the Milanese bracelet worked… The watch wasn't working, even with a new battery, but I noticed if I wore it after a while it would start up. Taking it apart I noticed someone had oiled the Teflon bearings(not the first I've seen with this). Doh! Gave it a clean and result! The first of these "in the wild".
Since I got my Tron dial fewer than a dozen, blue and gold, have come to light, four with the original strap(mine the only one with the original Milanese bracelet). Including one a Hodinkee contributor found. He didn't realise how rare they are. Maybe they were a promotional item? The only one I've seen still in the same family from new had been a retirement present in 1974 to a Motorola employee. My own suspicion is the dial was also a little too "out there" for what was an expensive watch and more conservative buyers would have gone for something less garish so they were a non seller?
Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,074 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59003
Just seven years after the above GP Seiko came out with this:
It wasn't the first calculator digital watch, Pulsar had been first with their LED version, followed closely by Hewlett Packard of all people(and the only watch they produced). While analogue quartz had been a mostly Swiss enterprise with Seiko in the mix(first out, but barely and in tiny numbers), the digital was very much an American thing initially. The early bursts of Silicon Valley drove the tech pioneering different forms of display to market and progress was rapid. Then the Japanese kicked in, with more features, more rapid development and at a much lower price point. The Pulsar had been 4000 1975 dollars… Seiko's offerings more like 250.
IMHO it was this, the Digital Crisis that fecked the Swiss, not quartz itself as is usually stated. The Swiss offerings were always behind in tech and features and far more expensive and never caught up with what was becoming the trend in everyday watches at the time.
The above Seiko was just pipped to the post by Casio for the title of first LCD calculator watch. Both came along in 1977(mine's from December of that year). Funny enough it had a more fully featured calculator than Seiko's later replacement model with things like percentage, square root and a memory function. It came with a stylus to press the buttons so practicality was a bit meh. 😁 The later 80's Casio calculators were much better in this regard and could be used without a stylus.
The manual says it's not water resistant at all, so fair enough. Some translations are interesting too. Note how "spring bar" is written..
Very Japanese. 🙂
Note too they reckoned the LCD would blur or fade after five years and would need replacement, yet over forty years later it's still going. Original "Spling bars" too. Even the bulb still works(and it is a wee bulb). Then again this was my dad's and he only wore it on high days and holy days and my choccy covered kids sticky fingers of mass destruction were kept at a respectful distance at all times.
An interesting quirk is how you set the time/date. It's through the middle "crown" and you actually pull it out like an analogue crown to set it. Inside it has a setting lever like you'd find on a mechanical watch. To crank up the calculator you push the same crown in.
Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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That's a very nice watch, really looks like a lot of watch for the money.
I'm trying to track down a NOS set of hands for my astronaut. The watch wears it's age well and I don't want to go down the restoration or repainting route but, for the sake of legibility and keeping the watch useful as something other than a bangle 😉
I'm happy to leave the dial and everything else, "as-is". I'd keep the original handset too on the off chance I ever move this on.
I've included a pic of the current state of original handset, particularly the decayed lume.
I've had a quick trawl through Google and the usual sites but I can only find 3 hander sets and all those have a different design to the hands.
If anyone knows where I may be able to find a suitable handset? I'd be very grateful.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,074 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59003
Fwiw B I'll do a bit of digging and keep my eye out. Matching dead/missing lume is handy enough too. Wearing this today and even as a 24 karat rank amateur I relumed the (flaky and horrifically atomic radium) hands on this:
The dial lume is original(far less nuclears going on). I even went fully OCD and made them ever so slightly darker than the dial lume as that's how the original lume looked, and now 'cos Seiko base lume they also glow in the dark like an 80's Ready Brek kid.😁 An actual pro would do a better job again so I'd still keep that as an option myself.
Having relumed all my originally radium stuff to remove the potential hazard and make them nighttime practical again too(purists be damned I say) I found the aged tan colour lume like yours the easiest to duplicate, the pale to grey stuff was much harder to match IME. I've also replaced original lead/leather seals where present with modern rubber ones. Seems to work too, at least for the purposes of the pissing rain, handwashing and the occasional dunking. I figure sensitive restomods are a thing with classic cars for practicality's sake so… 😁
Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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This weekend has been a vintage Saturday and a German utilitarian Sunday. I need the bezel to time a couple of post football steaks ⏳😁
The end of last week and yesterday was covered by my Astronaut.
Today and maybe even the rest of the week, will be the Sinn steak timer's domain😉
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Some more naughty oem builds. Neither "exist" in seikos line up.
Top is spb317 case with the 151 willard dial and handset. It's what seiko should have released in the 317 imo. The full polished 151 hands tested me to acquire. Best wearing case ever for me, glad I bought two.
Bottom is spb149 dial and hands in a US release only special edition spb419 62 mas case. This was especially hard to source. The case is beautifully finished and has a super bezel action.
The spb419 case is also common to the 421, (Michigan blue ice/Alaska Moulins release) and I loved the case/bezel but hated the textured dial pairings. I had a hunch the moody chameleon like 149 dial would mate well and it's possibly my fave mod now. Oem bracelet is inbound with a marine master adjustable clasp too.
Anyway, done with fish. For now…
Post edited by H_Lime on11 -
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Yeah I dig it too, it's to be my daily beater on an uncle tropic strap. It's on an uncle gl831 here.
The stock 317 doesn't tweek me and I think the slightly patina'd off white spb151 lume has a far nicer appearance than the 317's. I prefer the full polished hands as opposed to half polished half brushed too.
The 317 case is amazing on wrist, so wearable, light tidy and trim.
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I've pulled the trigger on a set of old hands from the UK. Not NOS, but better IMHO as they have a little tarnish and wear their age which will suit my watch.
The hour hand really is illegible in anything but straight on and decent light.
I'll drop the watch into the local watchmaker to see if he has a tool that will open the case and get him to do the swap. If he doesn't? I'll see if I can figure out myself...
What could possibly go wrong. 🤔
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A question for the more experienced here, particularly with an eye towards vintage.
Someone shared some photos of an Omega Constellation piepan on FB.
Based on the photos I think that it's a gold capped ref2852, based on curved lugs, 2-tone case back and octagonal crown.
Now I am basing that ID on photos taken via a potato, of what may well be a very poor condition watch. I am hoping that the condition of the case back, points to a scuffed crystal rather than a ruined dial.
Anyone with a better eye? Please, jump in and steer me straight.
**Edit**
I've had some advice from TZUK that leads me to think that my ID is in the ballpark, but that given the wear on the plating visible on the lugs, caseback and crystal that it may very well not be worth the effort of saving unless it had sentimental value.
The hunt for a decent piepan goes on.
Post edited by banie01 on1 -
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,074 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59003
I think you're right. It looks too far gone for anything but a sentimental reason.
1975 French made (preproduction example)Lip "Mach 2000" by industrial designer Roger Tallon, housing their in house quartz. French Futurism on the wrist. 😁 And of all the watches I've ever owned one of the only ones that gets commented upon by Normal People™
Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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I meant to post these here and it slipped my mind completely.
I'm going to blame the post op meds for my forgetting as I had already posted them elsewhere and thought, that was everywhere 🤣
I'm sharing these as an example of what a good polisher can achieve with a rough looking watch and plenty of skill and patience. My Omega had seen far better days than it's drab matte finish would have anyone think.
I stumbled across a polishing service offered by a lad from Birmingham over on TZ-UK, a thread with examples of his work.really is well worth a look
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?534731-Bracelet-Polishing-Done-Right&p=6346041
Anyway after a few messages and confirming that I had an NI address that he could post it back to. I sent Alex my Omega GMT and I think his work on it speaks for itself.
The ones with a red background are the "before" pics and the difference is stark!
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