I was thinking about this the other day: We have thousands of threads on OF showing off our beautiful watches, but I’d like to suggest seeing an “uglier” side to our favorite hobby. Drops, cracks, complete obliteration, you name it.

So, if you guys have any ugly ducklings to share before their transformations, please do so! Also, if this thread has been started before, please let me know so we can continue there or combine the two.

I’ll start:

 

I've got 10 beers for that minute hand which ought to be about enough to get the story of how it became straight like a banana ...

 

You know, I really wish I could tell you Eugene. This was my friend’s father’s all original Speedy. My guess is as good as yours, and that crystal is a mystery too.

About having one of those beers though...

 

That watch still has a lot of love left to give...add new crystal Patina is great. Dial looks great (from what I can see through the crystal). Case looks unpolished. I would not change the minute hand at all...its unique-as-hell (not to mention has matching patina as it aged in the watch)...I think this could become my next 'love'...

Great that you know/knew the son/of-the-owner...might not require any beers to get the story out of it! But sure, I would gladly pay a beer to hear this story, and another just for the awesomeness of having a beer with a someone I met here...

 

It does look good for its age. While inspecting it up close, the patina is even throughout, and the case is razor sharp.

Not sure where you’re based out of, but come for a beer if you’re ever in Atlanta! I just ask you bring some of the Speedies in your collection.

 

When I was a freshman in high school I bought a Fossil watch and wore it so much that the metal on the case back started to...erode I guess you’d call it. There is enough metal gone that it can actually cut you. Not sure if you can see it on the picture.

 

Hah it is definitely unique alright.
Patina is one thing, a banana shaped minute hand is another!
I sure would love to hear the story behind this one.
However if it is a good one, that might make me want to keep the banana hand...

 

https://omegaforums.net/threads/time-for-a-little-fun-ugly-watch-appreciation-thread.68200/

 

Haha, I guess somebody tried to advance the time and the min hand got caught on the broken piece of hesalite there. Super rare bananahand Speedy.

 

Well since I fix a lot of "ugly" watches, I have plenty of examples. But here is the latest - this one coming back after I serviced it last year, and the owner dropped it:



You can see that the hour counting hand is missing, as it the post that that hand fits to - jammed under the other hands. I'll show a few photos just of the work specifically related to the drop rather than the full service.

After removing the hands and dial, I see that a section of the hour recorder hammer has snapped off:



Here is the hour recording wheel, and the hour recording hand - post still stuck in the hand, and the part at A should be attached to the part at B:



Carrying on I see more damage - the shock from the drop caused damage to the bushing that the post that is now broken goes through on the hour recorder bridge - you can see the deformation:



I replaced that bushing:



I want to use the hand again, so off to the room where my lathe is, clamping the post in a collet:



Then use my hand levers to remove the hand from the post - the lathe is never turned on, so I'm just using it to grip the post while I remove the hand:



Note that I was NOT the one who used a triangular punch on this hand...but here it is with the broken post:



New hour hammer and hour recording wheel:



The chronograph seconds recording hand was also deformed on the drop (not flattened out yet in this photo) and the rivet has also come loose, so the hand was able to move around. Here I am tightening the rivet between the tube of the hand and the flat portion using my staking set. Very light taps with tweezers is all that's needed here!



And after all the work, back together:



Moral of the story - don't drop your watches!

Cheers, Al

 

Can I just send my Speedy to you if I ever drop it? hah
Awesome work.

 

Slightly hijacking here, but the more I see of @Archer 's posts the more I find myself on the BHI website looking at beginner courses.

 

Funny, the more I see of them, the more I realize I have utterly no business monkeying around inside the guts of my watches

 

Not many ugly watches here.

This just entered my feed...

 

IMO, Nicholas Cage is the ultimate douche bag, to borrow an adjective from another current thread. Check out this article for proof.

https://meaww.com/nicolas-cage-financial-ruin-spending-150-million-exotic-islands-yachts-haunted-house-dinosaur-skull

 

Not a watch, but a clock. Challenge: show us a watch that is a U G L Y as this clock! There’s U G L Y, then there’s
U G H L Y!

 

Most Omega's are tasteful this one has headed a bit too far down the Rolex route.

 

contest is over. There can't be anything uglier than that.