Found this little Kienzle Markant yesterday in a antique/thrift store. I wound it and it started up. It's 31.2 mm in diameter and it's 37.6 ltl, 16mm lug width. The cristal is cracked. Maybe 20€ was too much, but I couldn't resist.
When I got home I checked how poorly it was running and, well, it's loosing about 5 minutes/day and the beat error is around 3,3 ms which was to be expected. Seeing that it can't pop the case back (well I don't want to brake it) to find out what's inside, I can't really find out much about it.
Now the question for me is, service it or not? I found a comment from Greg @Aurelian a while back saying that Kienzles are generally not really worth it. So I am very undecided at this point in time. What do you think?
Oh, with much better support around the wrist I'm wearing my Junghans today
Have a wonderful day and a good start into your weekend everyone.
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Goodmorning Peter. Very cool vintage piece. You may want to skip servicing the watch. If you are not going to wear it daily the 5 minute variance may not be of consequence to you.
Have a great day!
We all love thrift shop finds, Peter. Especially when they look this good. Pop a vintage strap on it and wear it for fun.. Haven't you heard, 'small is the new cool' 😎
Maybe not quite as cool as your Junghans, though
Looking cool. Maybe It’s your introduction to watchmaking and you can start to service it yourself.
Kienzle made good looking watches. Unfortunately, they almost always house a pin pallet movement. If you want to try you can always clean it like you would an old Timex (look up the particulars, but it is counterintuitive and involves lighter fluid) and oil it a bit and hope for the best. You may get it to within a minute or so.
Goodmorning Peter. Very cool vintage piece. You may want to skip servicing the watch. If you are not going to wear it daily the 5 minute variance may not be of consequence to you.
Have a great day!
Thank you Danilo, I think you might have a good point. The only thing that doesn't work (forgot to mention this before) is that the date can't be sent. At least not by any quite set... Oh it just occurred to me, I'll have to try something else. Changing the date this morning was time consuming (and my thumb hurt afterwards).
I'll will go to my watchmaker and at least get a quote and of course a strap.
Have a great day too.
We all love thrift shop finds, Peter. Especially when they look this good. Pop a vintage strap on it and wear it for fun.. Haven't you heard, 'small is the new cool' 😎
Maybe not quite as cool as your Junghans, though
Thank you kindly John.
It seems all suggestion may be going on the same direction. A strap it will be then. And you are right, first and foremost it is about haveing fun.
I haven't looked into vintage straps yet (the rabbit hole always goes down farther than you think) Thank you for the suggestion. I will enjoy my descent 😀
Have a fantastic day.
Looking cool. Maybe It’s your introduction to watchmaking and you can start to service it yourself.
Thank you kindly. I might have made a hint to my wife yesterday in the direction of watchmaking. I got the glaire (der böse Blick). But it might be a option in the long run anyway. We shall see. 😁
Hab einen schönen Tag.
Kienzle made good looking watches. Unfortunately, they almost always house a pin pallet movement. If you want to try you can always clean it like you would an old Timex (look up the particulars, but it is counterintuitive and involves lighter fluid) and oil it a bit and hope for the best. You may get it to within a minute or so.
Thank you very much Greg. I will look into this cleaning technique. I will be taking it to my watchmaker and at least ask for a quote and for help to open the case back.
Have a good day Sir.
Goodmorning Peter. Very cool vintage piece. You may want to skip servicing the watch. If you are not going to wear it daily the 5 minute variance may not be of consequence to you.
Have a great day!
I tested the quick set and as I expected while responding to you, it does work. It works be repeatedly changing the time over the 12 o'clock position. It's fairly quiet but still painful to the thumb if you do the whole month at once.
That’s a great find Peter! I agree with Danilo if you don’t plan on wearing it daily then maybe you can avoid servicing it. I have a couple of vintage watches that I kept in the state I found them! I love to have them in my collection but it would have been a pain maintaining them. No matter what it is a nice addition to your collection! Enjoy it my friend 🙏
That’s a great find Peter! I agree with Danilo if you don’t plan on wearing it daily then maybe you can avoid servicing it. I have a couple of vintage watches that I kept in the state I found them! I love to have them in my collection but it would have been a pain maintaining them. No matter what it is a nice addition to your collection! Enjoy it my friend 🙏
Thank you Kostas. I am absolutely going to follow Danilo, John and your advice. I am actually on my way to town right now to see if I can find a proper strap (and some polywatch). I will share the result later on today.😀
Thank you Kostas. I am absolutely going to follow Danilo, John and your advice. I am actually on my way to town right now to see if I can find a proper strap (and some polywatch). I will share the result later on today.😀
Perfect! Looking forward to seeing photos of the facelift 👌
Perfect! Looking forward to seeing photos of the facelift 👌
And as usual, when my wife goes along, thing turn out differently. Even though she doesn't understand my passion entirely she is very supportive.
We were looking at a few straps that didn't convince me when she said: you should get the cristal fixed first and then look for a strap. The watchmaker added that a new cristal would better protect the dial from the elements.
I only protested briefly.
So, now I have to wait 10 days or so. That gives me time to look for better strap options.
How does such a little watch get me so excited 😆