This  page  is being  updated frequently.

 

THE GENTLE ART OF  COLLECTING  VINTAGE  WATCHES

Essentially, it is all about what one likes and perhaps with an eye on acquiring value, too.

Many people prefer to focus on watch cases that are stainless steel or solid gold or perhaps silver. Silver cases were popular in watches in the early decades of the last century. Gold plating generally wears off.  Many great collectables were manufactured during and  just after the Second World  War,  and the cases were made of chromed brass because of restrictions and the  difficulty  in obtaining steel , post-war. These are great looking watches, if located in reasonable condition, have  an intriguing  history and are  frequently  well positioned items upon which to base a collection.  The ROLEX  TUDOR  that features in our home page is a good example here.

ROLEX TUDOR (250) (circa 1947)

At the heart of the watch  is the movement,  that amazing complex arrangement of parts that makes it tick, keeps time and that  has controlled the worlds of commerce, exploration and marine and aeronautical navigation since mechanical watches were first invented many hundreds of   years ago.  Planetary mechanics aside, it could be argued that it is  our  human measurement, control and management of time that  keeps our respective worlds spinning.

What is a watch movement,  you may ask ?  Essentially, movements can be grouped onto quartz, and mechanical which  comprise manual and automatic movements. Manual movements need to be wound up regularly whereas automatic movements have a rotating finely-balance rotor  inside that winds the watch automatically depending on the movements of the wearer’s wrist.

There are currently many manufactures of mechanical ( including quartz) watch movements operational today.  Many manufacturers closed during  the  “quartz  crisis” of the seventies and eighties, when cheaper quartz movements flooded the market.   Many of the older watches were powered by Felsa,  Adolf Schild  and ETA ( still prominent  today)  movements, amongst many others and these movements can be found in a variety of, including some  high end vintage and contemporary  brands today.

There are essentially  4 “levels “of watch movement, with increasing levels of accuracy as one goes up the “scale”. These are namely  Standard , Elabore, Top and Chronometre which range in “accuracy” from perhaps 5 to 10 seconds per day to a couple of seconds per day. The word “accuracy” is in some respects  “what it is all about” with some watch geeks  believing this to be the “end all”  of everything. However, accuracy is often a function of  how a watch is worn,  positional variations and temperature being  but a few  of the factors that could  cause a watch to “drift” slightly and so  affect the accuracy of a  watch, from time to time during  their “daily wear”. This is conceptually  a little similar to maritime navigation, where a navigator has to make allowance for plotting  drift, tide wind and weather in order  to steer a “true” course.  Many manufactures quantify accuracy according to various certification processes, with the COSC certification process perhaps being the best known amongst about 8 other certification processes, all of which specify accuracy specs ranging from between about  -8secs o +8 secs up to -1s to +1s per day.

If you find a watch that you like, be brave and collect it now, so as  to enjoy it  later.

FEF 270 BUCHERER BROOCH WATCH

A collector of rare and beautiful things recently asked me to repair her BUCHERER brooch watch.  The crown and stem  had become misplaced, and the owner was unable to re-insert the stem and crown(winder).

I undertook to repair it which required a re-assembly of the keyless works.

Once I had removed the dial and the hands to expose the keyless works, I discovered that some how, the sliding pinion had slipped out of position and was jamming the re-insertion of the stem. This does happen from time to time,  and is generally a time consuming repair. Management of the parts themselves, including the spring,  is always paramount, because replacements are generally unobtainable.

I took some pics because the FEF 270 is a rather a tiny movement and the tiny parts are always a wonder to those fortunate enough to be able to actually view their time pieces being repaired.  The photos include two matches in order to  indicate the scale of what horology is all about. The photos show the  parts and tiny screws that comprise the keyless works. The keyless works are the  mechanism in the movement that allow the watch to be wound up,  and also to move the hands to set the time when the stem/crown is pulled out one click.

Needless to say, one over joyed owner and the BUCHERER is running well  again.