My dirty confession...

I have thought long and hard about this and I'm not sure how to phrase it. I think I like pin-pallets. Now, before every vintage watch collector burns me at the stake for heresy, allow me to defend my case.

1. I like them because (generally) they're simple. Most of the watches that have come across my workbench were pin-pallets, most of them given to me by my watchmaker, who also started his career working on old Baumgartner movements. I have sort of developed a skill when servicing these. I can now skilfully and efficiently align wheels properly for those cheap movements without jewels where every pivot sits on one bridge. This has allowed me to service an old clock, which brought in a small amount of change, as well as a small alarm clock that I need to create a wooden case for, at which point I can sell it on as a rather nice-looking desk clock.

2. They're cheap, sometimes. Some people are out there selling pin-pallets for far more than they're worth, which is annoying, but occasionally you find these old tickers at estate sales, flea markets, pawn shops and rubbish bins. Hell, my watchmaker's first watch was an Oris he found on the side of the road cycling back from the communal swimming pool with a friend. If you want a bare-bones, basic mechanical watch (please note that the word "reliable" does not appear anywhere here) then a pin-pallet with a BFG 866 won't be too bad of a choice. Take this with a salt flat's worth of salt, because this choice only makes sense when you know how to service a watch and don't mind doing it.

3. Sentimentality. The first watch movement I tinkered with was a BFG 866. I believe it was also my watchmaker's first. I admire the ingenuity of Louis Perron and ideals of Georges Frédéric Roskopf to bring timekeeping to the masses. Sentimentality makes these rather iffy things somewhat redeemable.

While I don't activity seek out pin-pallets, I don't mind them in some watches. Many vintage jump hour watches, even those with 17 jewels, featured pin-pallet movements. I'm willing to bet you can't find a Lucerne or Sicura digital without either a BFG 866 or 582 behind the caseback. The Buler Astromaster, a Royal Oak homage (the exact release date is often disputed, but it's generally accepted that the Astromaster came out a year or two after the Royal Oak) before Royal Oak homages were cool. It features, like my Lucerne Digital Jump Hour, a BFG 582 on the inside. Speaking from experience, the 582 isn't that bad of a movement. Mine was a little temperamental, but any vintage movement exposed to less-than-ideal conditions for most of its life is bound to be.

Please weigh in. I'm already expecting this to be a rather unpopular take, but feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with pin-pallets, or even any pin-pallets in your collection.

This old Reddit post that I stole the photo from

And @ohmystrap owns one too.

And I don't think my 25 USD equivalent Lucerne is too bad.