What time is it? Watches and horology

I bought one of these off @rodabod and sold it on here a few months back for the £500 I paid for it...

Do you have tiny wrists? Because it's very, very small...

I used to own an Oyster 34. Nice watch. Avoid the Oyster manual winders as the crown threads end up wearing away.

The same guidelines apply to buying any vintage watch: keep it original, unpolished, and preferably with the movement running reasonably well, otherwise budget for that.

That was the 32mm one, I think? Fine on small wrists, but I think the 34mm is a good modern size. My 34 had a “roulette” date wheel too which was nice.

That listing @mattyc put up is for a 32mm... I'd kill for a 34mm version...

I don't really want to spend more than £1000 as I want to be able to wear it every day and not be too stressed if it gets a few knocks etc... my budget is dependant on how much change I have after a new kitchen... I like the older Rangers but know that they are sometimes not what they seem and many have been made up out of parts etc etc
My father has a late 60s 1601 Rolex Datejust in 36mm (I think) that may one day be left to me. It has a grey face and he has always complained that it is not as legible as he would have liked so I've been looking for something with a black dial to contrast.
First thing I found was the BB 36 but couldn't get over the hour hand shape so started looking at older models. The cheaper one ticks nearly all the boxes, only downside being it doesn't have the original rolex strap... I like the date window and have to have the smiling 'self winding' text
@>>>>>> I don't have particularly small wrists, just think larger watches look a bit naff on me, I'm used to wearing a casio MQ24 so 34mm will be fine I think...
Cheers all!

Ah - hadn't spotted that! yeah that's a bit too small...
Cheers!

Exactly my problem, I took a punt on the 32mm and it was way, way too small... Such a drag, I loved that watch so much...

Yep, I'm wearing it now.

What do you guys think of this?

Can't put my finger on it, but there's something not quite right.

If it didn't say Glashütte on it, you'd expect it to be a $500 kickstarter watch.

I agree I think. Although knowing Mühle it is probably my brilliantly finished if you see one in the flesh.

Great grandfather's watch, any ideas what it is? Case back was plain.

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I don't know the answer to your question but it looks early 1900s (this one was from 1915)

The design itself is fairly generic, I think there were a few firms making those at the time.

EDIT: The more I look at it, the more I think your one is a Gallet & Electa copy from the time. The movement looks a little different to how I'd expect in a real one.

http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/gallet-electa.php

So much on that quote is above my knowledge level.

What is poise re watches?

If you look at the dials and hands on these side by side they’re very different. I much prefer the classic look of the 32mm, it’s perhaps less legible than the much more more modern 34mm but a far more beautiful execution of the DJ family. But as you say it’s 32mm. It’s not really the dial colour that affects legibility, the hands are narrow, what little lume that is there won’t work any more.

Price wise you should’ve looking at £550 for a 32mm Tudor, £1000-£1400 for a 34mm Tudor, £1900-£2200 for a Rolex 1500 (34mm) or £2200 for a Rolex 1601 (36mm). You can also look at an air king 5500. Search back through this thread as I think this discussion was had a while back. I would hold out for one with an original oyster bracelet as it’s quite common for people to trade up. A silver / champagne Tudor in 34mm would complement the 1601 nicely.

Air King 5700 over a 5500 any day of the week! Although more pricey at 3 to 4k

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This is a standard pattern “trench watch”. Yours appears to be quite a high quality example; 15 jewels, and snailing decoration to the movement bridges. I don’t recognise the movement, but these would often be built at the shop with a chosen case (which may be English and silver) and your choice of movement.

The hour hand is repairable and will look like new when corrected. The enamel dial looks good.

Wash your hands after opening the watch as the lume on these watches has a high Radium content.

Poise is surprisingly similar to balancing wheel rims. You know when you add small lead weights to car wheels to make the weight even all round?

Well, the same applies to watch balance wheels. The effect of a “light spot” or “heavy spot” is that it will affect the rate when in a given position (dial up, crown down, etc.) and therefore will make the timekeeping inconsistent.

On a modern balance wheel which has no screws, you can only remove weight by nibbling into the rim.

Deja vue

Pencil hands are growing on me. Premium for scarcity though. I’d rather have two datejusts ;)

@mattyc to be clear there is a Tudor 34mm with the classic look, that’s the one I was recommending

Vu*

(You want the verb, voir)

I've never worked out if it is actual scarcity or perceived scarcity but fair point.

merci! :)

Seems that we’ve appropriated it into English so well that the accents aren’t even necessary, where ‘déjà’ (already) doesn’t need the é nor à. But yea, vu not vue, voir not voire.

Tomato not tomato

Do French (Italian, Spanish, Turkish etc) people text with accents, or do people generally find they’re able to make themselves understood without?
Cos it’s a faff to add them on a mobile keyboard. (My French is awful so the French people I know don’t bother texting me in French)

In German friends sometimes use the long way (ue instead of ü, ss instead of ß), but I noticed with French/Spanish/Italian it was important to use at least a minimum number of accents.

A French friend types in something worse than txt or 1337 speak, you need to know the sounds to understand every abbreviated word, it’s hell.

With the Italians I noticed a greater importance because for example come and com’è/come è mean different things, same for e and è (and/is). Then again I was learning Italian without any class, literally arguing across a lunch table for six months - probably I learned more dialect than formal Italian.

Oh also most people I know of different languages can tolerate mistakes. But I think missing accents is the same as someone constantly making stupid spelling errors in English. More annoying than anything else, according to a couple people I know.