My Grandfather’s Watches
Neither of my grandfathers were into watches. They wore them out of necessity - to tell time - not much else. Things were much simpler before cell phones and smart watches… but I digress.
These two Timex Marlins belonged to my grandfather on my dad’s side. I received them after going through my dad’s watch drawer with him last year - I refurbished a few pieces for him which he wears regularly now, and he gave me a few pieces to keep. Both of my grandfathers were frugal, especially when it came to watches - my grandfather on my mom’s side had a Fossil which I’ve posted.
The two-hand Marlin began ticking right away after a wind, and I put it on this army green canvas strap last year. But after a few weeks of wear it stopped ticking. The three-hand never worked, and it had a chunk taken out of the crystal (hence the green discoloration on the dial). I bought a new crystal for the three-hand, and last night I decided to completely disassemble the watches and get them running again. As per the Timex instruction manual, after removing the hands and dial I simply submerged the movement in lighter fluid. To my surprise they both started ticking right away. So I dried them off and reassembled.
I picked a green canvas strap for the two-hand Marlin because it reminds me of my grandfathers Air Force uniform. But the three-hand has its own bracelet… I guess straps weren’t readily available back then, because my grandfather seems to have made a watch bangle bracelet out of a strip of metal with his World War II wings riveted on to form lugs.
I still have some fine tuning and oiling to complete. But with the dial cleaned up and a new crystal, I had to see how the three-hand looks with Pop’s wings. Father’s Day is coming up, so I think this will end up in the watch box I bought dad last year to replace his drawer.
Real Estate investor based in northern New Jersey. Though I have loved and owned watches since 2010, I decided to start over in 2023. My goal is to build a collection that is meaningful to me. My tast...
I'd heard of this but never seen the source material. Just so nobody gets the wrong idea, this is for pin-lever non-jeweled movements only.
Those steel cuffs were pushed as a moisture-proof hygienic and wear-resistant solution, at least the Don Juan style. They never really caught on because they are just as comfortable as they look.
I'd heard of this but never seen the source material. Just so nobody gets the wrong idea, this is for pin-lever non-jeweled movements only.
Those steel cuffs were pushed as a moisture-proof hygienic and wear-resistant solution, at least the Don Juan style. They never really caught on because they are just as comfortable as they look.
Thank you for the info!
The two-hander is running well, but I’ll lightly oil it when my oilers arrive tomorrow.
The three-hand is ticking, but I put the hand on wrong so I don’t know if it’s keeping good time yet. The bigger issue is it doesn’t wind well. I’ll have to give it another look. Scenario, I have another marlin I can disassemble for parts