My Watch Collection

Thought folks might enjoy this. I don't really think of this as a collection per se but rather a set of watches that are meaningful to me for various reasons.



Top, left to right:

Omega caliber 9002 pocket timer, also known as a stop watch. Neck strap not pictured. I used this when I was running the pits in rifle matches to know when to pull the targets down.

Omega Seamaster 300 caliber 552. Watcho. After having a Speedmaster for years, I wanted a Seamaster with big lume. Spent the extra money because Watcho claimed that the caliber 552 movement was NOS.

Waltham "William Ellery" grade Model 1873. Made in 1883. This watch, according to my mother, belonged to her grandfather. Was in quite a state when I received it but restored and running and keeping time as well as it can with its original mainspring.

Omega Speedmaster Professional caliber 1861. Started life as the "'57 Replica". Changed it to modern bezel and hands; going to change it to alpha hands. Bought new by me in 1997 with money I made working after hours. Bracelet since upgraded twice to 1998/849.

Ingersoll Midget, circa 1917. Original strap. Luminous material replaced with Luminova. Actually keeps time well enough to wear on the odd day or two! Lots of fun.

Bottom, left to right:

Otto Frei with caliber 6497 Unitas movement. Took the movement out of a pocket watch I hated, and bought the case, dial, and hands from Otto Frei. Local watchmaker serviced the movement and put it all together for me.

US Army Air Forces, Elgin Type A-11. Looked NOS except for the second hand; internally, it was a mess. Fortunately parts are plentiful. Currently on a NOS JB Champion shell cordovan strap.

Bulova Accutron, caliber 218-D. Who doesn't like an Accutron? Period mesh strap. Circa 1967.

Walthan 0s Model 1907. Good quality Star gold-filled case and Star gold-filled buckle. NOS crocodile strap, glued on. If you're going to have a gold-cased watch in your collection, this is one way of doing it with style!

Fererro trench watch, circa 1920. Put together from 3 similar watches. Sterling case, relumed. New custom strap, glued on... with original sterling buckle! A good size at 33mm, doesn't look small at all. New glass crystal I installed myself by heating the bezel until the crystal went in. Matches the case contour exactly!

Not pictured:

Elgin "Pershing dial" military watch, circa 1917, out for repair. New crystal, new lume, worn case, unpolished. I wanted to restore its original black finish but couldn't figure out how it was applied... chemical? paint? the world will never know.

Hope you like it.

Tom

I love the line "it's not a collection...." Great way to justify it to the Missus.

I haven't had a "Missus" in 15 years, so no justification required.

I have an "accumulation", not a "collection". There is no theme. There is no reason. There is no coherence.

Just watches that I liked because of various reasons.

Tom

Ah, an acquirer rather than a collector.. 😀

Edit: meant to say, nice aquisitions! Even though there's no theme or whatever, that is a nice group of watches. Thanks for sharing.

Indeed!

Tom

look up "parkerizing"..... it was a popular black finished very common around 1917

I have multiples! I find that when I wear the watch with the crystal guard, it's harder to tell the time.

Tom

Parkerizing, as near as I can tell, works only on ferrous metals? (Gun owner, here!)

But... maybe. I find that there is a certain charm in the black-worn-off case... and I have a period-correct (sorta) pigskin strap with a buckle (like the Fererro above) that has that same aged look.

The case is officially "silveroid", which is a nickel alloy. It was a hard decision whether to pursue it. If there was documentation, maybe....

Tom

Yeah....won't work on nickle alloy.... too bad. I've run into a few "gun metal" cases on old Swiss pocket watches from before WW1, they look great.

You're right, it's probably not that old. I assume it wasn't replaced because there wasn't a mainspring in my bag of "these are the parts I replaced".

Not that this watch is a stellar timekeeper; railroad grade it's not.

Tom