Need some help identifying a vintage watch - Arlo Sport?
My fiancée came into possession of her late grandmother's watch. It's beautiful, slim ladies' dress watch. There's a mechanical hand-wound movement inside - a few winds of the crown drives a bit of movement, but I was cautioning against overwinding and potentially damaging the movement, given its age.
A quick search online doesn't seem to reveal much information about it. Would love to have some help from this lovely community if they could find more information about this watch, especially about the movement and perhaps if there's any heritage behind it! It'll also bring more value to this already sentimental piece :)
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milneraj
Came for the pictures, stayed for the conversations
Singapore
Member since
Last active: 1 month ago
Dunno anything about it, but that's really gorgeous 😍.
Sorry I can't contribute anything other than admiration 👍🏻
Nice watch
Some more pictures:
The caseback provides quite a bit more information
Signed crown
There are some Chinese/Kanji engravings on the bracelet
Pre-quartz crisis, most of Swiss watch industry was not big name players, but boutique shops that designed watches and had cases, dials, hands, movements, etc. sourced from various other providers.
If you can remove the case back to view the movement, you might find some info, e.g. A.S. for A Schild, a producer of many movements for the Swiss industry. A few winds, 5 or fewer, shouldn’t be too much stress and you might get a sense of how long it will run. Not at all could be broken mainspring. A few minutes might just need cleaning/service. If it runs for hours, enjoy it!
If you’re comfortable, open the back and see if it has one of the common Swiss movements like eta or AS.
According to Mikrolisk Arlo Sport was a brand of the Ginsbo Watch Company. I found this on the internet:
Pre-quartz crisis, most of Swiss watch industry was not big name players, but boutique shops that designed watches and had cases, dials, hands, movements, etc. sourced from various other providers.
If you can remove the case back to view the movement, you might find some info, e.g. A.S. for A Schild, a producer of many movements for the Swiss industry. A few winds, 5 or fewer, shouldn’t be too much stress and you might get a sense of how long it will run. Not at all could be broken mainspring. A few minutes might just need cleaning/service. If it runs for hours, enjoy it!
It can't be a broken mainspring. It clearly states on the case back that the mainspring is unbreakable. 😉
It's beautiful. My daughter would love it.
Dunno anything about it, but that's really gorgeous 😍.
Sorry I can't contribute anything other than admiration 👍🏻
Yes! I'll be having a chance to see it later in the day to see how it looks like in person too
Pre-quartz crisis, most of Swiss watch industry was not big name players, but boutique shops that designed watches and had cases, dials, hands, movements, etc. sourced from various other providers.
If you can remove the case back to view the movement, you might find some info, e.g. A.S. for A Schild, a producer of many movements for the Swiss industry. A few winds, 5 or fewer, shouldn’t be too much stress and you might get a sense of how long it will run. Not at all could be broken mainspring. A few minutes might just need cleaning/service. If it runs for hours, enjoy it!
That's a great idea and also thanks for the quick history lesson on the movements of the era! It's be nice to learn more especially when it seems like the manufacturer is no longer around. Will definitely give a few winds a try, especially when it seems like a rather hardy mainspring is used.
Anecdotally, the family story goes that it was received as a gift sometime just after WWII. We would also like to check the engraving on the bracelet, as it seems to indicate details of the gift (addressee, year and occasion that's commemorated)
If you’re comfortable, open the back and see if it has one of the common Swiss movements like eta or AS.
I'm not too sure if it's a screwed or friction fit case back. In any case I lack the tools and I'll need to check with my fianceé's comfort level before looking for a vintage watch shop in my city :)
According to Mikrolisk Arlo Sport was a brand of the Ginsbo Watch Company. I found this on the internet:
Wow! Thank you for this, so interesting to hear about the history. And if it were a Swiss manufacturer, it's really interesting to see how it's reached us in Asia, alongside having some Chinese engravings on the bracelet
It can't be a broken mainspring. It clearly states on the case back that the mainspring is unbreakable. 😉
Haha! I was looking up the Nivaflex spring, it seems like quite a modern alloy that's used for the mainspring, offering anti-magnetic properties without requiring silicon/plastics. Interesting that it was a headlining piece on the dial, perhaps that would help to date the watch against when the Nivaflex was all the rage
I'm not too sure if it's a screwed or friction fit case back. In any case I lack the tools and I'll need to check with my fianceé's comfort level before looking for a vintage watch shop in my city :)
The indentations on the case back are for a case opener. It will be a screw on case back. Usually, on the inside of the case back it will also have details or symbols about the watch regarding the gold content.
Haha! I was looking up the Nivaflex spring, it seems like quite a modern alloy that's used for the mainspring, offering anti-magnetic properties without requiring silicon/plastics. Interesting that it was a headlining piece on the dial, perhaps that would help to date the watch against when the Nivaflex was all the rage
Be aware there were fewer consumer protections back in the day. They could say things like unbreakable and waterproof when they weren’t literally true… 🧐