Another cheap watch ...

With a grody case ...
Goodwill Strikes again. I could not resist this for $9.99 USD + S&H.

I guessed correct and it is an A Schild 1187/94 movement. I have a soft spot for black dials. This one also has engraving on the back. L. H. Brooke 7-20-43. Not a Military watch, but it could have been used as a personal watch.

One thing about the charity shop watches is they are often untouched. This one was full of DNA. Does not look like it has been opened for a while. The plating is shot. Which is probably why no one else bid. Movement looks good. The balance is good and it ticks for 5 seconds when shaken. One of the case screws is missing. There are not a lot of service marks.

I have another watch expected to arrive in the next few day. It is always interesting how these things come up in batches. I was hoping to get another Baylor watch, but was outbid in the end by a dollar. I still think these 1940s/1950s watches are underrated. They are easy to work on. Parts (and whole scrap watches.) are easy to come by. They often have nice and interesting dials like this one which is marked Crawford. Many of these house names also can be found on chronographs.

The only downside is that I find with the longer days, I do not spend as much time on the bench as the garden needs constant attention. So much of this seems to be more about the chase than about the actually acquiring the item.

Now if I could only find a half dozen or so cheap Landeron 48/51 watch cases ...

The vintage watch collector's maxim 😉

And the next one ...


Always nice when you get what you expect. The only thing is that when I removed this from the packaging the movement fell out of the case. At least this has an incablc. There is no stem so I can not wind it. (I probably have a spare stem somewhere.) I did lightly press one of the gears and it ticks. Not sure the condition of the mainspring.

I noticed that the one I got a few days before ticks a bit when bumped. These watches should clean up well.

I grabbed a screenshot from the auction to show the back of the Hilton watch. Better photo than I could take. I also noted that I had bid on about 5 lots with out winning any since I won this one. All that seems to do is to make the other person pay more for the item. Does get anoying when there is only a dollar difference. Must mean that the item is close to it true value. That two people are willing to pay close to the same price.

Most of the time i grossly underbid. Almost halfheartedly. The item is only interesting if it can be had on the cheap.

There are exceptions. Like for empty specific model omega or Landeron cases but those are the proverbial hens teeth. Sometimes it is more fun to simply look at the items in the watch list. A bit sad when they go a way. It was nice to make their acquaintance, but the relationship never really would have worked. (Or will sit in the projects box waiting for that proverbial rainy day.)

Right now it is sunny and mild. The garden awaits ...