From Tic-Toc to Hummmmmm

I was wondering if anyone else here enjoys using watches from before the Quartz Crystal days? I find myself wearing watches from the 30s through until the advent of the early electronic watches and getting by with them without seriously compromising my schedules or mega world peace and prosperity.Some are family heirlooms, the Lord Elgin my dad bought when I was born, my grandfathers Hamilton, the first "Nice" watch I bought and others I've just kinda 'cummulated over the decades.Here is that Lord Elgin: And here is one of my newer watches, an early electronic watch:

I'll stick with cheap but reliable digital watches.I had a pretty good self-winding traditional watch for many years. But digital is better.I just want the damn thing to tell me the time. I don't need to wear jewelry.

$30 Timex Expedition for me.
Also, have a cheap pocketwatch on a carabiner to hook on a beltloop. Simple and effective.I too have no use for jewelry. These watches are the only things I have that could be termed "jewelry". Oh my wedding ring. Not sure if that will even come off.

I get my watches for $10 at Walmart. I guess that's two strikes against me - shopping at Wamart and using disposable watches.I had a nice (digital) pocket watch once but unfortunately pockets get washed....I find it interesting though that almost every watch I see has an analog face. When watches with numbers were in vogue you'd tell somebody it was "quarter to two" and they'd look at you like you were speaking a foreign language. Now we seem to have come full circle and you get the same reaction when you say it's "one forty-five".

Well dunno if its before quartz crystals or what the difference is, but i did find a 1000 EUR omega watch in the midsts of some toys a tenant left behind, he "forgot" to to pay the last electric bill so i forgot to tell him what i found. Its some 30-40 years old. I wore it when i was drunk one night and it got banged up real bad, so i went to have it fixed, when i showed it to the watch guy he went, do you know what that is, i said a watch, the cheapest of those go for 500 EUR and its not one of the cheapest.

What watch ... I don't need no steenkin watch ...

I'm with you, jar. I still have my Timex Automatic from 1965. It has a small weight in it that moves with my arm rotation winding the mainspring. Quite accurate with a drift of about 5 minutes a year.Your Elgin is a beautiful piece. Looks like you take care of it well.Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

My dad had one of those. He was a carpenter so there was no shortage of arm movement.(For the youngsters in the audience, carpenters used to use a prehistoric tool called a "hammer".)

My kids and their friends (20's) don't wear watches - they just use their smartphones.I would like something thin and light with an analog face and a digital window with a timer function, but that function has gone out of fashion and is hard to find. The Timex Pathfinder has this, but the analog hands obscure the digital window (though only when you're trying to read it ). I had one for a while, but when it failed I didn't buy another. Here's a picture of the shape/configuration I want, but I want it with a timer function, and better looking than this, of course: 20 years ago I had such a watch, but they don't seem to make them anymore. I now have a simple analog watch that I bought because I liked the way it looked: --Percy

A few years ago I was going through some stuff that had been in the house when mom died and found a couple cigar boxes that had mens watches in them, some wrapped in paper towels, a few in wash cloths or even hand towels. Most looked to be either my fathers or grandfathers. Some started and ran fine from the moment I wound them and a few newer ones needed batteries (including batteries no longer sold in the US) and others needed to go away for a Spa Day.It's pretty neat to be able to use something made 85 years ago that still functions as it did originally.Here are a few more examples.

Ah, jar, lower left with the light brown band, is that really an old Hamilton Radium w/ glow-in-the-dark numbers? I mean like a real 1930-40's vintage? Even if it's a 50's model you should maybe have it appraised. It won't make you super rich but, if it is a Hamilton Radium and it still glows, it might be worth a nice chunk of change.

Actually it's like a 1928 Hamilton with glow in the dark numbers and hands and yes they do still kinda glow. It also keeps time really well. It has a few small chips in the crystal but that's not a major flaw. There are also a few fairly early but still working Bulova Accutrons, a 1932 Bulova Phantom and a Hamilton Lyndon CLD that was only made for two years IIRC.Edited by jar, : hit post instead of preview.Edited by jar, : fix Phantom date

1928 Radium Watch??? Whoa! Collector's item. Put in lead safe.

Now I am envious. Marvelous collection. Keep it safe.One piece of free advice, and worth it too.The chips on the crystal have already lessened the value somewhat. But, leave them alone. To replace it with a new crystal will detract from its value considerably more. The same for the rest of them. No repairs, no new bands, no nutin'. The collector's value is in the "as made".Beautiful set, my man. Congratulations.

Ah, but they are just watches, not something to sit and be pretty rather to use and enjoy so they get new bands, new crystals if needed, repaired if not working correctly. I don't redo faces, I let them age naturally but they all get worn regularly.AbE: closer look at the dial and crystal. Edited by jar, : see AbE: