Practically Classics Forum

Top left is minutes for the chronograph, top right is tenths of a second, it only shows a reading when you stop the chronograph, the bottom is secondds for the watch.
I like odd watches hence the venturas This is what i am wearing today (it really needs a polish!)

Ooh! That's somewhat different. Sort of "Star Trek meets Picasso", but with some art deco flair thrown in for good measure. Is it an automatic or does one have to wind it by hand?

Have you ever thought about adding an Omega Constellation to your collection? I didn't think I wanted one, but then I found someone who actually wanted a Tudor, out of choice and I had one that I'd grown to loathe, so a swap was done and I bagged a Constellation just like this:



That's a random web image but the spec is the same apart from the leather strap as I get blisters from anything that isn't stainless steel, gold, titanium or clothing by my skin. Mine is currently in millions of tiny pieces as the hairspring decided to birds nest itself without any obvious reason. I have a donor watch that has the correct parts to do the job, but like everything else, it's about finding the time and the inclination.

That's cool.
The ventura chronograph is a quartz. The skeleton is "self winding" and seems to survive a few days being worn without being wound but it's more art than a practical watch.
Ventura skeleton: Unusual Seiko watches just because if I was taking one pic I may as well take some others too.

Terry G wrote:Quartz..

Some horologically inclined folk would find that word disturbing!
The fact is of course that there are high quality electronic movements too but the ones I have can match, rather than beating comprehensively, the accuracy of the high end pocket watch movements built to railroad spec, a set of criteria involving the number of adjustment positions, jewel count and that such watches, although crown winding had been around since the early 19th century in America's factories, must be pin or lever set so that they cannot be adjusted accidentally when pulled from a railway employee's pocket as a crown setting watch might have been. It actually excites me that a purely mechanical device so small can be so accurate.
OK, so a certain clock in the city of London achieves even better, but that has a very long pendulum and its accuracy is in the hands of the brave souls who add or remove weight to that pendulum - using a selection of old coins - in order to keep it telling the time truthfully.

I appreciate both electrical and mechanical engineering. The "problem" with electrical engineering is it doesn't do anything you can see. The "problem" with mechanical engineering is i want to see it.
I love having a skeleton because you can watch everything that's going on, the ventura chronograph is just the "sensible every day" version of that. It looks similar without being delicate and i don't have to worry about servicing, etc (I know someone will skin me for saying that).
The Lloyd ticks like a watch should where as the chrono and seikos are all silent but most of the time, i'm at work and i just want something i can glance at and know when my next meeting is but i still want something interesting. My other half says life is too short for black socks, i say life is too short for boring watches. If i'm going to watch time tick away i want to watch something good looking
I've just paid £11 for these from ebay because i thought the modern watch looks cool. It's almost certainly cheap chinese rubbish as i've never heard of it but it isn't boring and if i scratch it or lose it (or a button falls off), it's cheap enough not to have to worry.
The gents watch is a Waltham 17J and "runs when moved". The ladies watches don't run and are an Elgin and a Hamilton. If you or anyone else would like them unless SWMBO falls in love with either of the ladies watches availabve FOC to anyone that would like to make them run or needs the spares.

In the unlikely event that your other half doesn't see the appeal of classic American watches, I can always use spares, so that's a yes please to anything you don't need.

My mantle clock sometimes strikes to the full extent of the spring at midday, on a completely random basis and has just done so again (I counted 117 strikes ), so that'll be apart later for some work to its rack and/or the snail cam, the latter looking just like the mini or Reliant kitten brake component of the same name, these apparently only last for 104 years. Bah, no wonder British craftsmanship is criticised so much. I also wonder whether a Moprod snail cam kit could be repurposed for this, which would blur the boundaries between timepieces and cars very nicely!

My long case has struck 13 times at midday/night a few times. Normally if it has been disturbed and i haven't got it sitting quite right again.
Clearing out a relatives flat, i lifted their mantle clock which i'm told hasn't run since 1985, the thing gave the full midday blast of the westminster chimes almost as soon as i moved it It's now at the mother-inlaws running perfectly needing nothing more than sourcing a correctly sized key.
Some bits of engineering just want to work.

i have a watch, somewhere..

on your wrist?

rich. wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 26, 2017 12:12 pm

i have a watch, somewhere..

TerryG wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:31 pm

on your wrist?

Tell ya what, Rich. When I lose mine, I simply use another one and then, a few hours later when that too goes awol, I invariably find the first that I'd lost. This pattern has given me some insight into how to find lost stuff and I am able to tell you now where your watch is: It's in the last place you'll look. Seriously, I've found several things recently, things that had vanished in the house and, with the exception of my beloved old Sykes-Pickavant DMM which I've owned and relied upon since the eighties, every lost item has been found in the last place I looked! QED..
Oh, and the meter? That was under the passenger seat in the Corolla, where it must have lain since 2015. Fortunately, although the case was icy cold to the touch, the DMM itself was and still is still working perfectly.