Vintage Watches as Modern Accessories
How many of you wear a vintage watch in your usual rotation?
Like many things, I find doing so is full of trade offs. For instance, you might gain the ability to wear a watch easily with long sleeves, enjoy a beautiful acrylic crystal, get more “brand” for your buck, and open yourself up to movements made in countries that no longer produce movements at all.
On the other hand, the watch will likely suffer from poor accuracy, you’ll probably have to assume it has no water resistance, finding straps can be a pain, and you might find it looks out of place with certain outfits.
The watch I’m wearing here is a 34 mm in diameter and has one 17.5 mm lug width and the other is 17.0 mm. It also loses about 15 seconds every hour. I love looking at it though and I like the fact that it probably has an American made movement.
Love the looks of vintage, but not the materials used or the delicateness required for handling them.
Pop the back on that and look at the movement. I haven't seen "American Made" on a vintage Elgin (this is normally the sort of thing that @fancy_man would know). You should be able to regulate to keep better time than that. I am tolerant of old things, but more than a minute during an eight hour day is too much. It is pretty. It should keep better time than that.
I am a street preacher in the Church of Vintage. They are the right size, interesting in ways that modern watches rarely are, and plenty tough (contra @JBird7986 above). Just don't swim or shower in them, not much of a trade-off at all.
Currently some of my vintage watches run well. Others not so much. I need to get them all serviced and that gets pricey. I do wear my vintage watches but they are more of an accessory since I can't rely on them for accurate timekeeping.
Pop the back on that and look at the movement. I haven't seen "American Made" on a vintage Elgin (this is normally the sort of thing that @fancy_man would know). You should be able to regulate to keep better time than that. I am tolerant of old things, but more than a minute during an eight hour day is too much. It is pretty. It should keep better time than that.
I am a street preacher in the Church of Vintage. They are the right size, interesting in ways that modern watches rarely are, and plenty tough (contra @JBird7986 above). Just don't swim or shower in them, not much of a trade-off at all.
I stepped on his domain and @Aurelian be like:
Easy there chief! I was referring to the acrylic crystals that can scratch, the plated base metal cases and the lack of shock-protection on a lot of vintage pieces. I will concede that they're not going to spontaneously combust, however.
Pop the back on that and look at the movement. I haven't seen "American Made" on a vintage Elgin (this is normally the sort of thing that @fancy_man would know). You should be able to regulate to keep better time than that. I am tolerant of old things, but more than a minute during an eight hour day is too much. It is pretty. It should keep better time than that.
I am a street preacher in the Church of Vintage. They are the right size, interesting in ways that modern watches rarely are, and plenty tough (contra @JBird7986 above). Just don't swim or shower in them, not much of a trade-off at all.
Thanks for the advice. I wouldn’t know what I’m looking at but maybe I’ll open it up and post a picture.
Currently some of my vintage watches run well. Others not so much. I need to get them all serviced and that gets pricey. I do wear my vintage watches but they are more of an accessory since I can't rely on them for accurate timekeeping.
Yeah, you can tell by my username that I’m not likely to spend a few hundred for service 😆
Nice watch man!
I have a couple of vintage (90's era) Vostoks that get wrist time every few weeks or so! 😎
First thing I do when I get a new vintage watch is have it checked by my watchmaker and have any needed service done. This approach has served me well.
Thanks for the advice. I wouldn’t know what I’m looking at but maybe I’ll open it up and post a picture.
See that -/+ and the little lever? You can push it one way for slower (-) and the other for faster (+). Always use wood to adjust (something that won't scratch or break off into the movement).
Small adjustments can make big changes.
I try not to be too overprotective, but I need to be a little more selective as I stopped a Russian vintage with no impact resistance by forgetting it was on my wrist while hammering. Mine are recently serviced so, except for the dollar pocket watch, they all keep time well enough for me not to notice. I'm not a watch dunker, so the water stuff does not apply.
Right now I wear a different vintage watch almost every day. You can scroll through my posts in the daily WRUW threads if you want to have a look. All of them are Seikos. I love the variety both in style and design.
The compromises you mention don't really bother me much. Vintage Seikos can often be brought back to factory spec or very close to it if accuracy is a major concern as well. Most of the ones in my collection are at least as accurate as my modern Seikos and a few are even better in that regard.
See that -/+ and the little lever? You can push it one way for slower (-) and the other for faster (+). Always use wood to adjust (something that won't scratch or break off into the movement).
Small adjustments can make big changes.
Awesome, thank you
Never 😂
Right now I wear a different vintage watch almost every day. You can scroll through my posts in the daily WRUW threads if you want to have a look. All of them are Seikos. I love the variety both in style and design.
The compromises you mention don't really bother me much. Vintage Seikos can often be brought back to factory spec or very close to it if accuracy is a major concern as well. Most of the ones in my collection are at least as accurate as my modern Seikos and a few are even better in that regard.
Yes you do sir,your collection is amazing.
Mmm, love that Lord Elgin. I agree it can keep much better time, provided all else is in order. Those things had a serious rep back in the day.
The vintage numbers that are staying in my collection (there's a trio of Hamiltons on their way out, including an early-70s chronograph I was going to have restored, but now letting go as-is), are a pair of Seikos: a 6139 chronograph which was actually serviced by Seiko a little under two years back; and a late-60s LordMatic, which is currently suffering from a well-known malady which screws up the Quickset mechanism (and gums up the rest of the movement on account of the disintegrating Delrin plastic the offending part is made from). Since both are on very nice original bracelets that actually (luckily!) fit me, I have no plans to put an alternative strap on either. Just need to sort out how to get the LM working again; supposedly someone's been 3D printing the necessary replacement component in metal, so I'll need to investigate further.
Beautiful watch
I love the look of vintage watches I’m sometime on the lookout for a really
Good deal one in even if it’s a none runner I would try my luck on servicing it to see if I can get it back up and running. I would definitely wait until I polish off my skills a little more before attempting on though.
Love the looks of vintage, but not the materials used or the delicateness required for handling them.
I understand the feeling. Namely the crystal for one. Being not as scratch resistant and tough I am a little nervous to get one damaging the crystal and now being able to fix it. I mean I guess there are always parts you can find to replace the crystal but still.
Pop the back on that and look at the movement. I haven't seen "American Made" on a vintage Elgin (this is normally the sort of thing that @fancy_man would know). You should be able to regulate to keep better time than that. I am tolerant of old things, but more than a minute during an eight hour day is too much. It is pretty. It should keep better time than that.
I am a street preacher in the Church of Vintage. They are the right size, interesting in ways that modern watches rarely are, and plenty tough (contra @JBird7986 above). Just don't swim or shower in them, not much of a trade-off at all.
That is a good point. There should be some kind of regulation you can adjust but idk if cheap horologer will feel comfortable enough to attempt a regulation adjustment. Definitely don’t want to go swimming with it. That would be a mistake especially if it hasn’t been serviced in a long time and the gasket is warn.
Currently some of my vintage watches run well. Others not so much. I need to get them all serviced and that gets pricey. I do wear my vintage watches but they are more of an accessory since I can't rely on them for accurate timekeeping.
Roughly how much does it cost to have 1 vintage watch serviced? Yea honestly o would expect a vintage watch to run anywhere near accurate and they are needed more for eye candy then anything else. I have 2 cell phones and I weare an Apple Watch with my mechanical or quartz watch so I have plenty to get the accurate time withough relying on a vintage watch 😂
I stepped on his domain and @Aurelian be like:
Easy there chief! I was referring to the acrylic crystals that can scratch, the plated base metal cases and the lack of shock-protection on a lot of vintage pieces. I will concede that they're not going to spontaneously combust, however.
Lol you have to be explicit when you speak on vintage watches or the vintage guardians will draw there sword 🗡️. Shock protection is also a good point. Some vintage watch can be quit fragile in that accord so even more so reason not to make it a daily where just safe it for when you are going to have a light day.
Thanks for the advice. I wouldn’t know what I’m looking at but maybe I’ll open it up and post a picture.
If you confident in doing so that might be a good idea just to see what going on then I would ask someone with experience from the community so asses how you can make the adjustment without damaging the Watch. Good luck with your watch hope it works out.
Yeah, you can tell by my username that I’m not likely to spend a few hundred for service 😆
Lmao yea that’s what it comes down to. Cost vs what you think is value for the Watch being serviced. You might be able to also reach out to watch revival channels on your tube and off a video for the Watch service in exchange. Just fruit for thought. Good luck 🍀
Nice watch man!
I have a couple of vintage (90's era) Vostoks that get wrist time every few weeks or so! 😎
How are they holding up? Have they been serviced before? If not how are they running? Those watches are definitly a marvel to where and feel good that they are part of your weekly rotation. Congratulations 🎉
First thing I do when I get a new vintage watch is have it checked by my watchmaker and have any needed service done. This approach has served me well.
That will definitely take care of performance of a vintage watch. I would imagine that not everyone has the extra money to service the Watch right away unless they prepared and set money aside to factor that cost in.
See that -/+ and the little lever? You can push it one way for slower (-) and the other for faster (+). Always use wood to adjust (something that won't scratch or break off into the movement).
Small adjustments can make big changes.
Good man. Took matter in your own hands to show a visual explanation! I didn’t even think about doing that my self. Maybe add in watching a YouTube video on it to make sure you don’t damage the watch.
That will definitely take care of performance of a vintage watch. I would imagine that not everyone has the extra money to service the Watch right away unless they prepared and set money aside to factor that cost in.
I mentally factor the service into the buying decision. Mind you not all have had to be serviced after being checked over so that money often rolls. I also recently just got a vintage watch that I know had just been serviced so that one I did not factor in service on it. The seller I and my watch maker all know each other and the watch maker had just serviced it recently so I knew I was good to go.
How are they holding up? Have they been serviced before? If not how are they running? Those watches are definitly a marvel to where and feel good that they are part of your weekly rotation. Congratulations 🎉
To be honest, they run but they don't run flawlessly. Both lose a bit of time over the course of 24 hrs or so and both sometimes stop running for no apparent reason and need a slight whack with the hand to resume running! I've heard that Vostoks sometimes exhibit this trait, particularly older ones.
They never been serviced either, at least not in the 20+ years I've owned 'em. Probably could use it, but service would definitely cost more than buying a new Vostok.
So, I'll continue to enjoy 'em as is, every couple of weeks or so, until I can't anymore 😀
Lmao yea that’s what it comes down to. Cost vs what you think is value for the Watch being serviced. You might be able to also reach out to watch revival channels on your tube and off a video for the Watch service in exchange. Just fruit for thought. Good luck 🍀
Thanks for the suggestion. Since posting this the watch’s accuracy has improved greatly, to the point that it’s maybe 20 seconds fast at the end of the day. I’m thrilled about it.
Nice band pairing.
#elgin