What watch you're wearing?

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1950's Helbros invincible

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Lume is still nice and bright.
 
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1950's Helbros invincible

View attachment 68465
Lume is still nice and bright.

Wow. The very sight of this takes me back to the days of my early youth. It's amazing how that works. It is identical (or practically so) to the one my dear Mom gave me. I'm planning to go through some 'old stuff', and I hope it turns up in there. :)
 
Wow. The very sight of this takes me back to the days of my early youth. It's amazing how that works. It is identical (or practically so) to the one my dear Mom gave me. I'm planning to go through some 'old stuff', and I hope it turns up in there. :)
Another oldy but goody
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Elgin automatic on a Duchess stretch band.
 
Their complete mods and NOS/Vintage prices are absurd. Don't even consider those.
The parts are of good quality and fair price generally.

Building or modding a watch for yourself (especially Seiko NH3x based) isn't terribly hard or complicated and quite a fun hobby. Far cheaper than you'd think. Lots of parts vendors out there.
iacchus thank you. I'm a total novice here so maybe you could answer a question. If I have a watch that just says "Quartz Movement", is there a way to identify the movement? Its a cheapie so I'm not worried about taking it apart to have a look.

Just for clarity, its an Invicta Model 26970. I don't like it for several reasons so I was thinking of just giving it away, but now I reckon that it could be a learning experience.
 
iacchus thank you. I'm a total novice here so maybe you could answer a question. If I have a watch that just says "Quartz Movement", is there a way to identify the movement? Its a cheapie so I'm not worried about taking it apart to have a look.

Just for clarity, its an Invicta Model 26970. I don't like it for several reasons so I was thinking of just giving it away, but now I reckon that it could be a learning experience.
I think that one has the Seiko PC32 in it. Or is supposed to anyway.
Identifying quartz movements can be a bit tougher. Is simply a matter of less people caring to know, really.
Best bet is usually to open the caseback and take a look.
 
I think that one has the Seiko PC32 in it. Or is supposed to anyway.
Identifying quartz movements can be a bit tougher. Is simply a matter of less people caring to know, really.
On top of that, nearly all quartz movements for decades have been made incredibly cheaply. Even the really good ones. So yeah, no one really bothers distinguishing them apart from each other.
 
On top of that, nearly all quartz movements for decades have been made incredibly cheaply. Even the really good ones. So yeah, no one really bothers distinguishing them apart from each other.
To a degree, but there are still many quartz movements which are well known by designation and lauded for their performance.
The Seiko VH31 (sometime referred to as a mecha-quartz for its 2Hz movement)
The Swiss Ronda Powertech 515 is known for its quality.
The rhodium-plated Omega 4564 is very well regarded, even if it isn't in-house.
And of course, the Miyota produced, Bulova branded NP20, w/ its absurdly high 262KHz frequency.

There are quite a few others that are well known and respected. Plenty of enthusiasts still bother to differentiate between them and even track specific ones down to have in the watch box. Quartz lives matter.
 
Yup, there are lots of "good" quartz movements. Some even have sweeper second hands. Now with a $12 wrist watch you get what you pay for no doubt.

Lot's of bitter beer face about quartz watches. But pound for pound they're pretty good. Like flashlights, even bad watches aint bad these days. My $9 Mickey Mouse is on the 3rd battery, each one lasting about 2 years.
 
Please can we see the Micky Mouse watch.

My first watch was a Micky Mouse mechanical watch. Of course I over wound it and killed it. I was hard on my watches as a kid.
 
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Please can we see the Micky Mouse watch.

My first watch was a Micky Mouse mechanical watch. Of course I over wound it and killed it. I was hard on my watches as a kid.
All boys are hard on just about everything. I once had an electric train set. I reasoned that if it went fast on the transformer, it would go even faster connected to the mains direct. It did go very fast for about an inch, then fizz. No more train set.
 
To a degree, but there are still many quartz movements which are well known by designation and lauded for their performance.
The Seiko VH31 (sometime referred to as a mecha-quartz for its 2Hz movement)
The Swiss Ronda Powertech 515 is known for its quality.
The rhodium-plated Omega 4564 is very well regarded, even if it isn't in-house.
And of course, the Miyota produced, Bulova branded NP20, w/ its absurdly high 262KHz frequency.

There are quite a few others that are well known and respected. Plenty of enthusiasts still bother to differentiate between them and even track specific ones down to have in the watch box. Quartz lives matter.
True, but to be honest, most of the time; even the average watch enthusiast doesn't bother. The quietest sub-form on the biggest Watch forums on the internet, gets little traffic compared to the other sub-forums. I'm talking about the ones that discussed quartz movements. Outside of the ones you mentioned, plus the very rare discussion of Rolex quartz models from back in the day, that sub-forum was filled with cob-webs and crickets chirping. Ernie sold the site more years ago than I can recall now, and over 95% of the regulars left. As usual, I stayed too long at the party.
 
True, but to be honest, most of the time; even the average watch enthusiast doesn't bother. The quietest sub-form on the biggest Watch forums on the internet, gets little traffic compared to the other sub-forums. I'm talking about the ones that discussed quartz movements. Outside of the ones you mentioned, plus the very rare discussion of Rolex quartz models from back in the day, that sub-forum was filled with cob-webs and crickets chirping. Ernie sold the site more years ago than I can recall now, and over 95% of the regulars left. As usual, I stayed too long at the party.
Interestingly I bought a cheapie off Am'zon recently to learn more about watches without risking anything I liked. I was surprised to see that the movement was tiny (only about 20/21 mm) and made of a lot of plastic bits. There was a plastic "filler" to fit it into a large case which was about 41/42 mm.

I also took apart a "steampunk" fob watch (again a cheapie) with the same result. The guts were tiny and the case was about 50/55 mm.

I'm certainly learning!
 
Interestingly I bought a cheapie off Am'zon recently to learn more about watches without risking anything I liked. I was surprised to see that the movement was tiny (only about 20/21 mm) and made of a lot of plastic bits. There was a plastic "filler" to fit it into a large case which was about 41/42 mm.

I also took apart a "steampunk" fob watch (again a cheapie) with the same result. The guts were tiny and the case was about 50/55 mm.

I'm certainly learning!
That is common even in some higher end watches like Omega, but they would use a metal spacer. The Chinese do it like plastic.
 
Interestingly I bought a cheapie off Am'zon recently to learn more about watches without risking anything I liked. I was surprised to see that the movement was tiny (only about 20/21 mm) and made of a lot of plastic bits. There was a plastic "filler" to fit it into a large case which was about 41/42 mm.

I also took apart a "steampunk" fob watch (again a cheapie) with the same result. The guts were tiny and the case was about 50/55 mm.

I'm certainly learning!
Yes, that's very common. Tiny, but works. And, the average person will never know.
 
That is common even in some higher end watches like Omega, but they would use a metal spacer. The Chinese do it like plastic.
Not just them. If you've got a TAG Heuer, that spacer is made out of black plastic.
 

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