Let's See Your Watches! The Vintage Watch Thread.

jamespowers said:

Your Constellation is very similar to mine. The difference being that mine has numbers at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 and mine does not have the word Constellation on the dial. Mine is from 1952. What year was yours made? They were made between 1952 and 1980 so there are variations. Some say the first were made in 1949 but records are sketchy at best. Don't worry about the wrong crown as the movement was also used in the Seamaster. Mine came with the same crown yours has.
You can get an idea of what was made when from here:
http://users.tpg.com.au/mondodec/calibres.pdf

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James, thanks for the link, useful information . I'm not in a position to pop the back off, but I got my watch guy to look it over when I got it. Going from memory, its a 24 jewel movement adjusted to 5 positions. The serial number matches a 1958 manufacture.

Talbot

Talbot said:

James, thanks for the link, useful information . I'm not in a position to pop the back off, but I got my watch guy to look it over when I got it. Going from memory, its a 24 jewel movement adjusted to 5 positions. The serial number matches a 1958 manufacture.

Talbot

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No problem. Us Omega collectors have to stick together.
Your watch tells me that they didn't change much when they figured they did it right.

jamespowers said:

The reason he can fix a vintage watch so fast is that he and his father had been in business so long that they still have a huge inventory of spare parts. You should see how much he has sitting around in their original boxes. Nobody I know has that ability to pull from.

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In the Diamond Districts of both NYC and Chicago there are dozens upon dozens of repair shops, many having been in business over a century. Their cumulative inventory of old parts is staggering and they traditionally share their parts with one another. Not only do these guys know their own inventory but the know that of all their neighbors as well.

Tomasso said:

In the Diamond Districts of both NYC and Chicago there are dozens upon dozens of repair shops, many having been in business over a century. Their cumulative inventory of old parts is staggering and they traditionally share their parts with one another. Not only do these guys know their own inventory but the know that of all their neighbors as well.

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I am sure he knows a few sources as well if a part is needed. They all tend to know each other and source parts from each other---even here.

Illinois Santa Fe Special

My Grandfather gave me this years ago, he said he got it off some cabbie in New York, I don't know if that means he stole it or bought it!

It seems to only run in the upright position, I'm guessing that isn't normal.



I have no idea who WCB is, maybe the cab driver?




I'm also guessing the case isn't original, it's made by the Star Watch Case Company, I'm also guessing it's stainless steel because I've never had to polish it.

If you have any information on this watch I would love to hear it.

Holy Crimony! You hit the mother lode there! He gave you a very high grade railroad watch that is sought after by collectors. Thank him very much---no matter how he got it.
When you look at the movement, what you are looking at is a work of art. Some would consider jewelers art. The settings are all gold jeweled settings---screwed in with gold tone screws. It looks like a few have been replaced over the years but it happens with wear. Sometimes they crack etc. The gear in the center of the movement that you can see is solid gold as well as a few others that you cannot see. You can see one more to the top of the center wheel. Rather than fawn on and on about your watrch, you can get an idea of what it is and how significant it is to horolgy at:
http://collectionoftimes.com/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=5
What you describe as being wrong with the watch seems to come from a balance staff problem. That is the wheel to the left of the movement in your photo. The pivots sometimes become worn or broken and the watch will not run correctly. A competant watch repair man can easily clean and fix this watch. It is well worth repairing. Don't sell it to him for $20. I'll take it for that.
It is also missing one case screw. This secures the movement to the case. The other screw is not in the right position either. So be careful if you unscrew the cover bezel as the movement will fall out of the case.
That case could well be the original case judging by the marks left by the screws. What most people forget is that railroad workers were required to own a high quality watch movement like this. They were expensive. So the workers saved money on the case. The case didn't have to be gold or anything like that. The cases were sold separately from the movement. A steel case would have saved a railroad worker quite a bit of money in those days. You would expect to find them frequently.

GWD said:

My Grandfather gave me this years ago, he said he got it off some cabbie in New York, I don't know if that means he stole it or bought it!

It seems to only run in the upright position, I'm guessing that isn't normal.

I have no idea who WCB is, maybe the cab driver?

I'm also guessing the case isn't original, it's made by the Star Watch Case Company, I'm also guessing it's stainless steel because I've never had to polish it.

If you have any information on this watch I would love to hear it.

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James, I was just reading your link and found this paragraph,

"One of the figures in developing the railroad watch standards was Webb C. Ball of Cleveland, Ohio, the general time inspector for over 125,000 miles of railroad in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Ball was authorized by railroad officials to help establish the timepiece inspection system. After Ball presented his guidelines, most American manufacturers se tout to meet those standards and a list of the different manufacturers producing watches of the grade that would pass inspection, was soon available. These standards changed from year to year."

Wouldn't it be wild if the WCB on my watch is Webb C. Ball!

GWD said:

James, I was just reading your link and found this paragraph,

"One of the figures in developing the railroad watch standards was Webb C. Ball of Cleveland, Ohio, the general time inspector for over 125,000 miles of railroad in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Ball was authorized by railroad officials to help establish the timepiece inspection system. After Ball presented his guidelines, most American manufacturers se tout to meet those standards and a list of the different manufacturers producing watches of the grade that would pass inspection, was soon available. These standards changed from year to year."

Wouldn't it be wild if the WCB on my watch is Webb C. Ball!

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It would indeed be interesting and funny really. He had his own pocketwatch line so him owning a Illinois would be quite an endorsement.

GWD,

What you have there is called a RAILROAD CHRONOMETER (Also called railroad-standard pocket watches).

RR standard watches lasted from the late 1800s until about 1970. Yours is probably in a nickel case, and features a very handsome "Montegomery", 'double-sunk' dial, meaning that all the minutes are marked out numerically around the watch-face. 'Double sunk' means that the dial has been sunk twice (that is, it has two depressions. A big one around the hours and minutes dial, a smaller depression in the sub-seconds dial).

Such a watch as this, properly serviced and inspected by an EXPERT watchmaker...should keep nothing short of PERFECT time; they had to - if they didn't, people died.

As James correctly says, these watches are HIGHLY desirable. They are very expensive and can sell for upwards of $2,000 in mint condition. I sent my RR pocket watch (which was $160 at the flea-market) to the watchmaker's last month. I should it back in a few weeks.

If I were you, I'd send your watch to a reputable and qualified watchmaker of vintage timepieces for a professional servicing. Treat this watch very carefully and look after it. Certain people (watch collectors, mostly) will be very displeased with you if you break it.

I strongly suspect, and agree with James, that the case is indeed original.

Back in the "old days", a railroad man had to pay for his watch out of his own pocket. Watches were sold in two components - the movement and the case.

Since a railroad watch had to be SUPER ACCURATE, the railroad guy would splurge on the movement; he'd buy the best he could. And then he'd cheap out on the case, since that didn't have to look great. So most RR watches were top-grade movements, mediocre nickel cases.

Of course, you could get lucky and find something like mine, which is a gold-filled case and a top-grade movement, but these were rather rare.

Enjoy your watch in good health, get it serviced, wear it proudly...and GET A CHAIN for it. Never wear a pocket watch without a chain, and especially not one as vauable as this.

Your watch is an Illinois Santa-Fe Special. The serial number is 4393334. This watch was made in 1923.

This being a railroad watch, it means that it's LEVER-SET. Do not pull out the crown to set the time, this will break the watch. You unscrew the bezel and pull out the setting-lever (at either 10 or 2 o'clock positions) to set the time. Once the lever is out, you TURN the crown to set the hands, and then you push the lever back into the watch, screw back the bezel and watch it tick your life away.

Thanks for the great information guys, I have a whole new appreciation for this watch. Now to find a good Vintage Watch Repair guy.

Hey GWD,

Glad we could help. Your timepiece which your grandpa stole from the cab-driver is a nice, Roaring Twenties railroad pocket watch. You should be proud of grampy's pickpocketing skills...

...I kid, I kid.

Seriously; a very nice watch to own.

The only vintage watch I have. An Elgin from 1911.

skillbilly said:

The only vintage watch I have. An Elgin from 1911.

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Is the Masonic dial original to the watch? I have never seen one like it before on a Masonic watch.

It is the original dial and is fairly common as far as the the black dials go.
In fact there is one on ebay now, but the movement is different.
I've seen greater variety in terms of Masonic design, with watches that have the white dials.

skillbilly said:

It is the original dial and is fairly common as far as the the black dials go.
In fact there is one on ebay now, but the movement is different.
I've seen greater variety in terms of Masonic design, with watches that have the white dials.

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Ok, I am not that familiar with Masonic dials. Nice.

sixties.nut said:

I am a big fan of the citizen brand, it never occurred to me that they even produced mechanical watches much less an automatic. And here it was I thought I was a vintage watch man.

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The Citizen brand dates back to 1924. I wonder what the chances are of finding a Citizen watch from that period?

Oooh wow. I've never seen a freemason's watch like that before!

1926 Illinois

Elgin 1918


No Crystal, but $29.99 with chain and box and running and winding smoothly.

You did just fine with that one. Nice watch with Art Deco details on the first one. :eusa_clap