Sharing is caring, right? I know ive been "spamming" you with new additions in my vintage collection lately but I cant help it! Yesterday I bought four watches from my "watch guy" at a local flea market. Its not the most exciting bunch, but I still think they deserve the attention. The first watch is a Bulova A-11. I dont know much about it. It has a coin edge bezel thats less common than the regular one. Its made for the AAF. Ive seen some with the US Army markings on the case back and some without. Either way these were made for the military right? It needs a new crystal, a new main spring and a good cleaning. The second watch is a Longines from 1947. The hands are relumed and the crown isnt original. If you can look passed that I think the watch is beautiful I love the patina, and the 12.68z movement looks great. The third watch is a Ciny from the late 40s/early 50s. I know next to nothing about this, but its one of those watches you have to buy because it looks great... And it costs 1/10 of a similar Omega The fourth isnt in the pictures. Its a Longines Ultronic and the dial/hands are broken. Its been laying around for 30 years without a crystal. The ESA 9162-movement is in good working condition and also the reason I bought it. What do you think?
That Ciny has a nice dial. Shame they're so small. As for the A-11, they were made by three companies: Elgin, Waltham and Bulova. The Elgin are a higher quality. They were made in a hacking and non-hacking version - pull the crown to see which you have. Coin bezel, caseback and crown all look correct for yours. I have quite a soft spot for the A11 and regularly wear mine.
By its very specifications the A11 is a hack watch, so I would swear the movement on all the black dial examples issued pursuant to this specification are supposed to hack— did I miss something? @palkastu they all have the coin edge and if there’s no markings at the back I suppose it might have been skimmed but in principle there must be military markings on the case back for a military issued watch.
It's some time since I read up in depth on them but I'm sure I had read that all the Elgin came with a hacking movement while the Walthams and Bulovas had both. Trying to recall where I read that, I'm going to guess it was MWF ... I'll see if I can find the reference quickly now or else later when I have time to search.
No worries. Unfortunately the website which was the best reference for those (Milspectime, written by MWR memberd) has gone down. MWR should have some info though...
I see! Ive seen alot of these on the internet: The picture is borrowed from this article (Its a good article BTW): https://wornandwound.com/military-watches-world-11-watch-won-war/ This watch has a plain bezel and it has the typical markings on the caseback except "U.S.ARMY AAF".
K, so I may have to eat humble pie. There's reference to "non-hacking" versions of the Waltham A11 but only so far as to ask if they are correct or if they have had parts changed. There seem to be no replies to those two questioners. (Of course, it could be a hacking movement that has failed - do these just have a lever push against the balance?). I think my confusion arises from the later Hamilton 6b which came with a non-hacking 75s movement as well as the hacking version.
From what I’d forgotten about those plain bezels- wondering whether it’s not a silver case. It’s been a long time for me too since I researched those. @jimmyd13 I seem to recall the hacking mechanism indeed is a plate that’s inserted somewhere. @palkastu if you want questions answered about those, the place to go is the Military Watch Ressource forum.
