What watch you're wearing?

[Chauncey Gardener]

If it works (for your wife) don't fix it.

 

[bykfixer]

My skills are not good enough that I can take the watch apart to see. If it were mine I might try it but its hers not mine. I don't know how the bezel is attached to the watch. Is there any merit in putting some oil in the gap to see if that helps? Its a screw back with nominally 100 M water resistance.

I agree with you. Every watch I have with a bezel moves so the N is always at 12 O'Clock.

Kahuna KAP Watch Adjustable Hook & Loop Strap Rotating Bezel Screw Crown WORKING | eBay

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A similar one at eBay shows the N at 12 o'clock.

Have you tried rotating it counter clockwise? It's probably just too tight. It may have been sat on at some point. DO NOT OIL IT.
If you feel daring....

But first wrap the case with masking tape.

 

[Toulouse42]

Kahuna KAP Watch Adjustable Hook & Loop Strap Rotating Bezel Screw Crown WORKING | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Kahuna KAP Watch Adjustable Hook & Loop Strap Rotating Bezel Screw Crown WORKING at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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A similar one at eBay shows the N at 12 o'clock.

Have you tried rotating it counter clockwise? It's probably just too tight. It may have been sat on at some point. DO NOT OIL IT.
If you feel daring....

But first wrap the case with masking tape.

Thanks for your feedback (all of you). It won't rotate in either direction. I won't attempt any repair so I'll pass it back to my wife unmolested.

 

[bykfixer]

If it becomes like a pebble in her shoe (as in annoying) you can take it to a watch maker who will have the tools and the know how.

The Orient made with Miyota quartz movement diver.

Since it has the original gasket(s) I don't consider it still water tight since the case back has been removed to change the battery. The screw down crown gasket is also original.

 

[gurdygurds]

Well……hear me out 😂. I was at Walmart, and habit has me cruise the watch section. I see a few g shocks, normal ones you always see including a standard DW-5600. As I'm looking at it, I realize it looks a little different than what I'm used to seeing. I ask a worker to take it out of the case and lo and behold… a DW-5600UE. I had no idea this had even been released. So I start googling and yup, upgraded screen (better viewing angles) led backlight and quoted battery life is more than doubled from the DW5600E. Oh, also they reverted back to the styling more like the DW5600C. Just happened to have $60 cash on me. Now I have this watch on me. 🤣 Going to do the Pepsi challenge between these two and see which stays and which gets returned. Two have entered….only one will stay.

Alright, the DW-5600ue has been returned but now a W-59 has appeared. The
g-wm5610u has grown on me a bit and the viewing angle "issue" isn't bothering me as much as I thought it would. It syncs with the atomic clock reliably and is comfy to wear. This could EASILY be my only watch….but at the same time I have a soft spot for these little retro jobbies. To be continued.

 

[GadgetGeek]

 

[Toulouse42]

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.

In an earlier post I said that I didn't like the Invicta 26970 Divers watch. I have to revise my opinion. I don't like Cyclops and once I found I could remove it, the watch got much more attractive to my eyes. It's also very accurate to within a couple of seconds per month. The counterweight on the second hand is a small Invicta logo. Not great but it has grown on me. I also disliked the clasp on the bracelet as the end was too rough / sharp. A few seconds with a fine sharpening stone seems to have improved that. All in all for the 70 UK pounds I paid for it, I can't really complain.

 

[bykfixer]

I've been rotating old Seiko Sportmatic watches from the 1960's lately. Wonderful old casual dress watches that were entry level at the time but some 60 years later still run like new. They were very popular in Japan so there's still a whole bunch available in good condition for less than $200. Closer to $100 in many cases. Investment pieces? No, but certainly some really nice old watches that adorn the wrist of numerous vintage watch collectors.

They came in day/date, date and no date formats. The day/date were the first of the Seiko 5 series. The cases were chrome plate or gold plated brass. The case backs were stainless steel, in snap back or screw down except for the really early monobloc ones where you had to remove the crystal to gain access to the movement.

The dial were silver, champagne, gold or in rare instances black. Silver linen look was also popular.

The earlier day/date and date models were not quick adjust. The day/date you had to pulled out the crown one click to advance. To advance the day you twisted the crown 9pm to 12, back to 9 and to 12. To advance the day you kept rotating forward. For the date only you did the 9 to 12 thing. Once the marvelous quick adjust feature was invented the movement could advance the date by rotaing one direction and the day the other direction.

The case back after 64 had serial numbers on the outside. Some before that but some were blank. The hands matched the case color. Some were lumed sticks but most had shiney daulphine hands. Some were water resistant to 30 meters, and had a dolphin lightly engraved on the back before 65. After 65 they were embossed. The 50 meter rated ones had a sea horse lightly engraved on the rear prior to 65 and embossed after that. The engraved seahorse back was 64 only. (I have a gold plated one enroute.)

The Sportmatic line was one of Seiko's longest running series from late 1959 to (best I can tell) 1971.

A no date dolphin back Water30Proof from '66

Note how it's lightly embossed snap on case back. Also note the near invisible crown. I really like that.

(Older photo so date is not correct to today)
A date only from '67 with cyclops date window.
It's called an 820 signifying an older movement but by '67 they had upgraded the 820 to a 7625. Same movement basically, just updated to be more accurate and durable. The 820 DNA is still in use today.

One neat feature of the Sportmatic is the rotor winds in from both directions. Basically if your watch has stopped just picking it up will cause the second hand to start moving. Lots of things we take for granted these days came from the Sportmatic. Some ideas were prior to that model but the popularity of the Sportmatic resulted in ideas being improved and/or perfected. Not as sexy as those dive watches but still an icon in the history of Japanese made wrist watches that helped cement the Seiko reputation as a really good watch maker.

 

[DHart]

 

[DHart]

I used to wear mine every day when I worked. Since I retired I only wear a watch when I leave the house so it's always running down.

I retired in 2011, don't often need a watch to tell time, but I wear a watch 24/7 (except in the shower.) I rotate them pretty much daily from my collection, just for the pure enjoyment of looking at them and wearing them. Sometimes I even use them to tell the time! ;-).

Like flashlights, knives, pistols, fountain pens, guitars... watches are a fascinating, enjoyable, and in-depth hobby for me.

 

[Bronco]

Here's a shot of my most recent build.

A few months back, I built a Rolex style polar Explorer homage for my younger brother with the traditional orange GMT hand, the black hour/minute/seconds hands and the black outlined dial hour indices. He loved it and the case and bracelet quality turned out to be so good that I was eager to do another.

For this one, I thought it would be fun to try out silver Mercedes hands and the GMT Master II style GMT hand, creating sort of a mashup between the Explorer and the GMT Master II. Under the hood, it sports a genuine Seiko/SII manufacture NH34A movement.

 

[iacchus]

Here's a shot of my most recent build.

View attachment 69507

A few months back, I built a Rolex style polar Explorer homage for my younger brother with the traditional orange GMT hand, the black hour/minute/seconds hands and the black outlined dial hour indices. He loved it and the case and bracelet quality turned out to be so good that I was eager to do another.

For this one, I thought it would be fun try out silver Mercedes hands and the GMT Master II style GMT hand, creating sort of a mashup between the Explorer and the GMT Master II. Under the hood, it sports a genuine Seiko/SII manufacture NH34A movement.

Great looking build!

 

[Bronco]

Great looking build!

Thank you, sir.

The combo looks really clean in person. I'm also a huge fan of the Glidelock style clasps that are now available in many of these bracelets. They are so comfortable and easy to adjust.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

@DHart -

I like your watch. The picture, however, drove me crazy.

Here ya go -

 

[bykfixer]

A Seiko sportmatic from '64 like my grandpa might have worn.

Some of the seahorse technology was used in dive watches like the fabled 62MAS released in '65. Dive rated at 50 meters was astounding at the time especially for a Japanese watch, but a year later the 62MAS arrived and was rated at 150 meters.

Complete guide to Seiko 62MAS diver's watch

The history of the 62MAS and guide to all of the Seiko 62MAS modern watches, for collectors and enthusiasts. References, movements, technical information.

www.theseikoguy.com

Actually my grandpa probably wouldn't have worn a "Jap" watch because he was probably still mad at them for bombing Pearl Harbor and all that followed.

 

[DHart]

@DHart -

I like your watch. The picture, however, drove me crazy.

Here ya go - View attachment 69509

I know.. looking at it upside down was a little disconcerting.

 

[DHart]

Happy Halloween....

 

[MrAl]

Hello there,

Back in the day I wore an expensive watch but what happened was it got old. I then went to regular priced watches under about $50 but even $20 was good as long as it did not need constant resetting. I had one of the very first LED watches, but it got old.
I was an avid watch wearer, but now, today, I don't wear one because I take my cell phone everywhere I go out of pure necessity, and that as you know has a clock built in that keeps perfect time.
I've seen the "smart" watches, priced from something like $40 up to $400 and more and don't like them that much because they have small batteries that need recharging, and the lower priced ones have questionable functionality.

So I guess I could say it's the end of the wrist watch era for me. Probably will never get another one.

 

[Toulouse42]

Here's a shot of my most recent build.

View attachment 69507

A few months back, I built a Rolex style polar Explorer homage for my younger brother with the traditional orange GMT hand, the black hour/minute/seconds hands and the black outlined dial hour indices. He loved it and the case and bracelet quality turned out to be so good that I was eager to do another.

For this one, I thought it would be fun try out silver Mercedes hands and the GMT Master II style GMT hand, creating sort of a mashup between the Explorer and the GMT Master II. Under the hood, it sports a genuine Seiko/SII manufacture NH34A movement.

Very nice job. I'm still working on getting the hands on without breaking them!

 

[Monocrom]

Hello there,

Back in the day I wore an expensive watch but what happened was it got old. I then went to regular priced watches under about $50 but even $20 was good as long as it did not need constant resetting. I had one of the very first LED watches, but it got old.
I was an avid watch wearer, but now, today, I don't wear one because I take my cell phone everywhere I go out of pure necessity, and that as you know has a clock built in that keeps perfect time.
I've seen the "smart" watches, priced from something like $40 up to $400 and more and don't like them that much because they have small batteries that need recharging, and the lower priced ones have questionable functionality.

So I guess I could say it's the end of the wrist watch era for me. Probably will never get another one.

I will never forget an incident almost 20 years ago. I was unemployed, and walked out of a City based training center that assisted in helping individuals find work. Behind me was a young mother with her daughter. And I mean directly behind me. Daughter asks her mom what time it is. I can hear mom behind me fumbling with her purse. Getting not just frustrated but agitated as she's clearly desperately trying to pull her cellphone out to tell the time. She's getting more and more upset. Her daughter is clearly starting to sound very nervous and worried. We're all, everyone from the training class, trying to head towards the front door.

At this point, I turn my wrist to the side, glance down, and tell the two of them exactly what time it is. Mom was obviously loud enough that everyone could hear. I was the only one who said anything. As I expected, she didn't even thank me for the assist. Who knows, maybe there was an important reason for the daughter wanting to know the exact time. Perhaps she needed to take medication daily at a certain time. Perhaps her mom had promised her ice-cream if the training session ended early enough. Who knows. But in literally the span of one second, I can instantly know the time. Not only will I never get rid of my watch, despite practicing a minimalist EDC lifestyle, I'm currently doing research as to which watch I'll be buying soon after the start of 2025 as my 50th year watch.

Wrist-watches.... There are models out there barely as thick as 4 sheets of paper one on top of the other. Practically weight-less. Nice strap. Looks good on a man. Instant access to time.

I can't help but wonder what my grand-father would say if he realized his method of telling time was now considered, young, hip, and trendy. After all, he used to have to reach into his pocket, pull out a device, push a button on said device, tell the time, close the device, and put it securely back into his pocket.