Monday, March 4, 2024

Watch #7. Grandfather's 1988 Seiko Quartz 5Y31-8009

 

This watch came to me from Liz's side of the family.  I think she knew that watches are always something I have been interested in and it just came my way.  At first it did not strike me as anything of interest and it sat in a drawer for a while.  But at some point I decided to give it a battery and try it out.  

This watch made me take a whole new look at quartz watches!  It opened my eyes!  The movement is (0) Jewel which is rather common for quartz given there is no torque of a mechanical, spring powered movement.  It just keeps time!  Scarry so!!  And that is not all, the watch wears better than my Air King.  Yes, I said it.  I cannot say enough about the wearability of this Z1475.L Seiko band.  Very comfy.  

The 5Y31 is a pretty simple movement.  Nothing special at all but it sure runs well.   

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Watch #6 Impulse Honk Kong airport purchase c. 2003

 

One always arrives early for long International flights.  I was walking around the Hong Kong airport, the new one, and there was a huge SWATCH store.  A short stroll and a watch caught my eye.  Perhaps that Rolex Explorer grail watch look alike...  Well almost.  But I liked it and I especially liked the leather band.  

So why not?  I purchased it and another wild watch for my daughter and yet another watch was added to the collection.  Maybe I was trying to replace my long lost college day SWATCH.  Don't know.  Just fun that I still have it.  The kids tend to wear it occasionally with its universal appeal.  

It would seem this is a GB750 with a RED SUNDAY which is true.  Just never realized the color of the day made it unique.

Watch #5 A gift from my wife after our first 5 years of marriage

She is a smart woman and has good taste.  June 24, 1992 was our 5th Anniversary.  We just had our first child, we had our first home and things were just a wee bit tight.  But she found a way to touch my heart.  Now, 32 years later, I still have the Raymond Weil 5531, original band and even the case it came in.  What is also amazing is how well it keeps time!  True, it is a quartz watch from the early 90s.  They do not command much attention but for me it has obvious sentimental value.  When I recently had a new battery put in, the jeweler was surprised to see it still sported its original watch band.  I have not used it as a daily so the band is in very good condition.  I wear it on special occasions.  

A recent test against time.is showed just 4 seconds lost over 14 days.  Not bad for a watch that may be quartz but still has a drive train and date mechanism to drive.  

I gave her a nice woman's Seiko.  But leather bands are hard to care for.  It has spent most of its life in the drawer.  2Y00-5400 from 1989 based on the serial number. Maybe on another post.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Watch #4 Family Hamilton Cedric

Hamilton Watches!  I have been bitten by the Lancaster PA watch bug.  Hopefully the affliction will subside and I will continue to focus on and enjoy the watches in my drawer and resist the temptation to add to the utilitarian collection.  After researching the history of Hamilton watch company and its rise an fall in comparison to Elgin and Waltham, it was time to have another look at the family Hamilton.  The first time I handled it, it did not aesthetically appeal to me. Maybe in 2023 I would have a new appreciation for this manual wind, Lancaster PA produced vintage watch.   

First step was to figure out what model it actually was and which movement hid behind the dial.  As all Hamilton experts know, their marketing team gave most of their watches names commonly reserved for people.  After some time spent with Google images, my grandfather's watch is a Cedric. My conclusion was driven by a great overview of the watch as found HERE.  Dan's website is a great resource for Hamilton info.    

In truth, the watch is small.  Small by today's standards.  But here is the amazing thing.  My Grandfather (WBU) passed away in 1978.  I am very certain this watch has been a drawer queen until 2023.  45 years laying in wait.  It all began when I started to research my Uncle in Law's family Hamilton K-403.  One things led to another and now I have a new appreciations for all things Hamilton.  

Back to my WBU Hamilton.  I took it out of the bag, wound it and wore it for a day.  To my surprise it kept decent time.  This piqued my interest in this 19 jewel 982 movement.  It was one of Hamilton's primary movements and produced in large number.  I read they were first made in 1935 and were made thru 1951.  Imagine that product cycle compared to today!

I treated the watch to a new band and perhaps someday I will open the case and use the serial number to date the exact year of manufacture.  The Cedric model is said to have been introduced in 1950 and were sold for three years thereafter.  Toward the end of the 982 time frame.  

Intrigued by its performance after its first wind in years, I decided to wear it for a week and see how well it performed.  I set it to TIME.IS on Monday March 6th. After 3 days it has only lost 2 minutes. See image below.  My control, the ever accurate $24 Walmart Casio G-Shock showed the Cedric had lost 2 minutes and my 5500 Air King had gained 1 min 13 seconds. And the Air King was serviced in 2010.  I think that after 45 years in a drawer, that is pretty amazing. 
  


Tuesday, November 29, 2022

New image for my #1 watch, the ephemeral Timex

I had a fun trip to two watch shops this past Thanksgiving weekend.  I visited my favorite hole in the wall, Bristol Watchmaker in Concord NH.  I had two watches but I am only going to discuss the Timex here.  The Timex was the secondary objective of the visit as it only needed a battery to get her running again.  I wore this for a few years in College and then my professional watch arrived as a graduation gift and this drug store watch went into the top drawer.  But not lost!!  For some reason this watch's basic simplicity and proportions still speak to me.  While replacing the battery, Mark said it was dry and could use some lubrication which was applied before closing it up.  

While in Portland ME I wondered if there was a similar watchmaker shop.  I found Swiss Time on 86 Exchange Street.  Wonderful shop which I learned will be closing at the end of the year.  So sad but based on the retail outlets on this street, hard for a watchmaker to compete with what I would assume would be high rates.  Hopefully they can remake themselves in another location.   I purchased a 20mm band for my 19mm lugs.  Now my college era Timex looks as it did so many years ago.  Prior post on this watch.




Saturday, November 14, 2020

The WBU Girard Perregaux. Watch #3

In my reading about watches I learned that the wrist watch was the product of war.  Pocket watches were worn in elaborate straps to hold them on the wrist.  Timing was critical and who had radios...let alone a mobile phone!  One thing lead to another.  It became customary to engrave the back of the watch one's name and service.  A form of current day dog tags which were not mandated until 1916 by the US Army.  The tradition continued, even after dog tags were introduced, to engrave the back of a watch with the details of the owner.  All of this investigation and the discovery of my Grandfather's "very" engraved watch connected a few dots.  When my mother gave me my "lifetime watch", she lamented the store would not engrave my watch.  Makes me wonder how Joanne Woodward had "Drive Carefully - Me" on the back of her betrothed's watch?

Deep runs the tradition of engraving an inscription of the back of a watch.  Which to me, makes the WBU watch all that much more interesting.  Perhaps more entertaining than interesting to some.  It clearly  highlights the the practice which seems to have diminished today.  I wonder if the watch was chosen more because it was the most suitable to engrave over other watches in the case?  It seems like an unlikely brand to be in a jewelry store in Westerly, RI.

The watch belonged to my Grandfather.  My daughter now occasionally dawns this watch with a tired alligator band for nice occasions.  I recall with some humor and dismay that she announced the watch was "broken" because it would not run.  That was rectified once I explained to her how to wind a watch.  Imagine!  


As for the watch itself, not much is known.  Google searches have not yielded any specific details for this novice watch collector.  Girard Perregaux was a quality Swiss watch maker unlike Rolex which contracted others to make their watches of the same era.  

Should anyone have more information or can point me to where I can learn more about the watch I would appreciate adding a comment.  The case design is called a "cushion case".  I have not opened it because I am not an expert.  My unprofessional opinion is the crown was changed to make it easier to wind.  It does run when wound.  Dimensions to follow when I get organized. 

A new alligator band would freshen up this watch.  It is too small for a man to wear today and looks best on a woman.  Tastes have changed.  Perhaps someday it will be worn with family pride.

Better photos to come, but for now, this is a start. 

Saturday, October 17, 2020

The MIA Swatch GB704. Watch #2

The watch curiosity continues. Where did this watch go to and why do I still have a Timex and not a more interesting and collectable Swatch?  It was my first replacement or should I say competitor to the trusty Timex M Cell.  The Swatch Watch hit the USA market in the early 80's.  Created in an effort to salvage the struggling Swiss watch industry which was quickly going under with the advent of the Japanese quartz watch.  I do not recall all the specifics of finding this watch.  I think a fun trip to Chicago resulted in this 2nd personal purchase of a watch in its sleek long plastic case.  It met two criteria.  One, looked clean and cool and, only the uncool watch nerd was not experimenting with a Swatch watch.  By Swatch standards this was an ultra conservative style.  I like it today.  I guess I could waste $40 on eBay to replace it but somehow that would be cheating.  

So, where is it?  I went looking for my old Swatch watches.  I think four of them passed through my hands of which only one can be found.  The others are location unknown only in my memory.  This watch saw a lot of action.  I even found a photo of myself wearing it in a  circa 1987 photo post college.  Oddly it is MIA.  It may surface someday.  Or, 8 states, 10 residences later, it simply got away.   For fun and verification a photo below confirms I was still wearing it post college.  A birthday party at my wife's apartment pre engagement in Marblehead, MA.