Giacomo 1 

Thanks for all of the compliments on my Sky Chief guys!

DD - Yeah, the case is in mint condition, but for some reason nearly all the Sky Chiefs I've seen have immaculate or at least clean cases. The fading lume on the numerals seem to be common among these watches. I've considered re-luming, but the watch is original and likely around 60-70 years old, so the patina will stay. I believe that my watch might have been worn by an AF pilot during WW2, so I wouldn't want to ruin that history!

As for wind-up accuracy, my Sky Chief happens to be very accurate and it has the longest duration wind-up I've ever seen. It has the Venus 178 movement, which Breitling and Heuer also used and made popular. Sky Chiefs came with a Valjoux movement to. I would put this watch up against any quartz or auto as far as accuracy goes. It's been my experience that wind-ups can be very accurate. I own a Benrus chronometer also, and it is also very accurate. A chronometer is a wind-up or automatic watch that was vigorously tested for accuracy and if it passed the rigorous testing it was then certified by the COSC in Switzerland and given the name chronometer.

As far as riding my bike with a vintage watch, I wouldn't do it. They have a lot of moving parts, all of which need to work together for accuracy. They can be a bit fragile to, when compared with quartz...

KerryP

Truly sensational. Iwouldn’t touch the lume either.

AF orAAF? During the war air US air poweroperated as the United States Army Air Forces (excluding Navy and Marine aviation). My dad’s branch so he might have sensitized me to that. He considered himself as “in the Army” but currentday Air Force personnel seemed to think he was one of their own later in life. I guess these days most would have no idea what the USAAF if you called it out as such.

rootboy 

Right. The US Air Force wasn't even extant, until after the war.

I wouldn't wear that particular watch while riding either.

brianinc-ville

Mine are much less high-end than y'all's, but I like 'em anyway.

The Zodiac was a college graduation gift from my grandfather to my father in 1970, and from my father to me in 1996.

The Pobeda is a cheapie for everyday banging around. Not sure how old it is -- I think they made the same model for the whole second half of the 20th century!

KerryP

Since a few off topic pieces have been well received, I’ll add two. The Doxa 8 Day is their self-tribute to their vintage automotive dash clock. It’d be appropriate as a bar mounted clock on my bikes considering the speeds I obtain. The pocket watch is my “watch zero.” It’s the first watch I’ve owned that cost more than $25. My great uncle purchased it and wore it daily as an architect working in Chicago. His widow then passed it to my father. Dad surprised me by giving it to me after I finished grammar school.

markk900

Awesome - and remember - pocket watches also adhere to the n+1 principle, and they're easier to hide....

KerryP

Made me think of Pulp Fiction, ouch.....

spacemanz

Oh wow, I didn't know we were doing old Swiss watches. This one has an awesome looking blue finish, on the hands, but you can only see the blue at a certain angle, otherwise it looks yellow-ish. Going by the Incabloc & the Waterproof markings, it's probably from the 50s, or possibly earlier. The inside of the caseback has that fancy swirled brushed look, like Rolexes & other nicer ones. Wyler was a very high end watch, back in "the day", whenever that was.

seedsbelize 

Without slogging through all 207 comments, I'll simply suggest that it has to do with special relativity.

Giacomo 1 

Here are a couple of more watches from my Benrus collection -

Here is my 39 jewel Benrus. Yes, 39 jewels is far more than necessary for a nice running watch, but the watchmakers were in a jewel war to woo buyers of the time, so they went to ridiculous lengths at times. Classic looking dress watch -



One of the first and best selling day/date watches ever made -



The "mystery dial". So named because the hour hand appears to float or be unattached to anything -



The old Benrus factory in Waterbury Ct.. Hard to believe looking at this that America once built the finest watches in the world. Elgin, Hamilton, Bulova, Waltham and Benrus ruled the market, not to mention employing tens of thousands of workers, and the Swiss were envious -

Drillium Dude 

I know, right? Just like cycling used to be huge in this country back in the 20s and 30s - then we lost our way. Sad, really...

Love the lugs on the day/date and the mystery dial, too. Classics! Looks like you've got quite the collection of watches there - is your two-wheeled collection going to rival it one day?

DD

Giacomo 1 

Definitely a sad ending to what was really an all-American industry. The 70's really spelled the end for American watchmakers when the quartz movement did away with the highly complex wind-up and automatic movements.

Wow, don't I wish! Watches take up a lot less room than bikes do, so it's very unlikely the bike collection will rival my watch collection...

rootboy 

rootboy 

Kind of like digital has done for film cameras. My old Nikons aint worth sheit anymore. Aside a from a couple of fast lenses.
But, like my bikes from the same era, I still like them.

jaicorra69

seiko diver automatic 7002-7001 1980's.Bullet proof and can be found on E bay at a good price.I own two.If you want one with power reserve,get an Orient Mako automatic.They are resilient!









Movado Museum 1980's,Omega Constellation auto 1954,Longiness Quarts 1985,Festina Chronometer 1990,2 Seiko divers 7002 1980s,Vostok Kommanderskie manual199?Orient Mako auto 2010.

gioscinelli 

My Omega Professional Mark II matches my Gios and Cinelli

RFC

I had the watch jones for a number of years and use to read "Timezone" religiously. It was, at times, sort of like buying and selling commodities. I still have several nice Swiss and German mechanicals and several vintage Seikos, but this one gets the most use.

Drillium Dude 

"International Wristwatch" for me. I could probably finance another watch if I sold off my mid-to-late-90s collection of that rag

Btw, the Rolex Jubilee bracelet fell through - seller sent it FedEx and they couldn't figure out how to deliver it to the US Military Postal System and it was returned to the seller. Just got my refund through Paypal today. But I did receive the spare stainless steel bezel, aluminum "Pepsi" insert and click stop spring for the GMT today; seller described it as dirty and improperly stored, but really it only took a minute with a fine bristle toothbrush to remove the little bit of dusty crud from the inner serrations. The stainless steel bezel now looks mint, and if the red and blue of the aluminum insert is a slightly faded, well - patina is important in the watch world, too

DD

martl

KerryP

Bummer about the Jubilee but there are lots of them out there.

Drillium Dude 

^ Actually, I've seen a number of them, but it seems finding later models (80s and newer) recently is a little difficult, especially if they are in good condition. Lately I've seen a lot of them from the 60s and 70s.

I installed the spare Pepsi bezel last night - figured out how to do it from a short Youtube video

Before:



After:



DD

Zinger

I like these a lot. Can't afford one but I like several of their watches.

Not unlike some of the Muhle Glashuttes

obrentharris 

You people should be ashamed of yourselves! As if I didn't already spend too much time chasing after bike parts, this thread has opened up to me the Pandora's Box of fine watches. I don't want to know how many hours I've spent on ebay, watchmaker websites, and various watch aficionado forums since this thread started. I'm afraid I won't be dropping $3,000 on a watch anytime soon but there certainly are some nice watches that, with the sale of one bicycle, I could afford. I'm quite taken with some of the old art deco Longines watches. There have been a couple of Benrus SeaLords that have caught my eye, and Cuervo and Sobrinhos sold some pretty elegant watches up through the sixties that occasionally sell at auction for less than $500.

But the ever-practical side of me wants something that will last, something that I don't have to worry about getting wet while fishing, something that isn't too delicate to take backpacking or cross-country skiing. There are some 60's automatic Omega Seamasters that seem to fill the bill and can sometimes be found in my price range if they aren't too pristine. Especially the ones with the black dials are nice-looking watches too!

So here are my questions for those of you who know much more about watches than I. The only ones I have found for sale are on ebay and almost all the dealers have a disclaimer that old watches are delicate and that water resistance cannot be guaranteed. Are these older watches really that delicate simply because they have been around for several decades? Is it not possible to replace the seals that would keep them water tight? Can I have this work done at a watch repair shop? Any suggestions of places other than ebay where I should be looking for an old Seamaster that has been reconditioned?

Thanks,
Brent

rekmeyata

Also vintage Tissot SeaStars, their made by Omega but cost less and are fantastic watches plus they were the official timekeeper of most if not all pro bicycle races back in the day! their water resistant too, but like any used watch if you buy one you need to have it checked to make sure all the seals are good.

Drillium Dude 

It's true in varying degrees - the chances of keeping a vintage watch in great running, water-resistant order is in direct proportion to the availability of spare parts. What I would do is search Ebay for spare gasket availability for the type of watch you like and if there are plenty available, you might go that route. Any watchmaker worth his salt should be able to do basic things like replacing seals and gaskets.

There are dedicated watch websites just like BF; you should join one of those and I'm sure the guys/gals there would be able to steer you in the right direction.

I think a Seamaster would be a good value, and replacement parts should be fairly easy to find on the Web.

DD