Absolute Analog
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Watch #9 Rolex Air-King 5500
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Watch #8. First salvage of discarded watch Casio Forester FT-500
This Casio Forester FT-500 is a valueless watch. But, with an analog dial it looks cool and has been traveling around in my broken watch bags for years. Someone had started to do a battery change and lost the small screws holding on the back cover on. It was being thrown out so I snagged it from the waste can. These are tiny screws not found at the local hardware store. I looked at ordering a random box of watch screws from Amazon but the cost exceeded the value of the watch. Not hard to do.
Recently I purchased a watch lot off eBay. There was one movement I needed to restore a Seiko, the rest of the watches I could not care less about.After harvesting the desired movement, I noted one of the watches had a similar backing to the Forester. They were a little longer but did not bottom when I put one in. Of course yet another battery size to be acquired. A 1.55v 364/363 Energizer is now driving the movement and it runs perfectly.
I use it as my weekend watch. Frankly I don't need another weekend beater. But hey, there is some satisfaction in breathing life back into an unwanted watch. Patience and care gets you there. And like all quartz watches, you can lay them down for a week or two. Pick them up and they are still running with the correct time. Although I marvel and love mechanical watches, I think we, including myself, all too quickly kick to the curb the reliable quartz watch.
Monday, March 4, 2024
Watch #7. Grandfather's 1988 Seiko Quartz 5Y31-8009
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
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.Tuesday, November 29, 2022
New image for my #1 watch, the ephemeral Timex
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.