Reply With QuoteVery nice.
Especially interested in the Turkish watch having Turkish brother-in-law/sister-in-law and having spent fair bit of time in Ankara. If you ever want to sell that let me know...
Thought I would post a quick thread regarding some vintage watches.
First my Omega Geneve. Has an inscription on the back but otherwise a very clean case etc. Just come back from a service and works like a charm. On a nice Teju Lizard watch strap I just need to change the buckle to an Omega one that came with the watch (Original strap was knackered)
Smiths deluxe. Was very lucky to pick this one up. I have been collecting Smiths watches for quite some time but this is in lovely condition and was just in need of a service which its just had. Even came on its original strap but I have changed that now to a Rios ostrich skin strap which I think works well with the watch.
Atomik Turkish Railway. A very unusual one this, I bought this years ago and got it serviced soon after. On the same type of strap as the Omega I was originally going to get the hands re-lumed but the chap who serviced the watch advised against it as it wasn't really needed, glad I took that advice. What I really like about this is the dial in Turkish and the case back.
Sterling silver cased watch. Don't know too much about this one to be honest, picked it up on ebay and it was utterly knackered. Sent it off for a service more in hope than anything else and after much pain and hard work its come back ticking away happily. Stupid me though got it back and ended up cracking the original glass so back it went again (Doh!) On a nice lizard look open ended Condor strap.
Chronograph. Was looking for a gold chronograph for quite some time and just happened to pick this one up. Really pleased with it the condition is lovely and all the functions are working as they should and not even had it serviced yet! Win all round!
One more silver watch out for service will post that one when it comes back but other than that, excuse the less than spectacular photos they were just taken as and when.
Very nice.
Especially interested in the Turkish watch having Turkish brother-in-law/sister-in-law and having spent fair bit of time in Ankara. If you ever want to sell that let me know...
They all look very nice (even if the pictures could be bigger). I also think the Turkish Railway watch looks interesting and think I've seen other Turkish watches on Ebay - weren't Zenith sold under the brand Billodes in that market. Perhaps it would be an idea to start a railway watch thread and see what else it flushes out.
Edit: We've had a couple.
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ailway-Watches
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...Pocket-Watches
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Lovely collection. Well done for giving them a new life.
Very nice collection.
I love seeing this old stuff.
Cheers,
Neil.
Very nice selection of watches.
You obviously have a trustworthy watch maker to service these,who is it?
Sorry about the smaller pictures will re-post with larger photos. Just on that using imgur which is very user friendly if anyone is looking for an easy way to post photos just (unlike me!) You have to get the right size first hand.
The Atomik watch I bought years ago on another forum I did a little research on the brand and background and all I really gathered was it was some kind of gift watch (presumably long service or some other sort of award) To staff on the Turkish railway. I guess the state company ordered a large batch and that's how they came about.
I know about the Zenith connection with Turkish watches but I thought that was mostly pocket watches (Sold to the Turkish market some of them using the old Ottoman numerals) There is a little info on the Torby watch website which I think is Turkish/German owned.
On that note here is a photo of a pocket watch I picked up, not been serviced but ticks away fine so will leave it for now. I noticed a stamp on the back suggesting this was also made for the Turkish market.
A few more things maybe of interest here.
Smiths watch which I think one of the Timefactors Smiths watches may have took some design ideas from. These can also be found with a steel case but this one is in very nice condition. Crown was a bit knackered when I got it so that had to be replaced but no inscriptions on the caseback and this is a nice example. On a rather basic strap this one.
An Accurist one that I really do like. Lovely clean dial and case and a really nice looking dress watch. Not too sure about the strap but it was all I could find at the time. Not been serviced but works problem free so I will leave it for now something for me to do next year I guess!
And last a Record (Longines sort of sub brand for want of a better word) Still, this arrived with me non working I was a bit worried to be honest I had bought a knackered watch but sent it off for a service and its working like a charm. Came with its original strap and rolled gold buckle and sent the strap off to have the buckle on a new strap (old strap was gone) Got that Fuco aviator style strap for something else but while waiting for the strap to return used that one and kind of liked it (in a weird sort of way)
After several years on the forum I think this is the closest I have every come to a SOTC thread!
Last edited by robert75; 24th November 2017 at 16:27.
Nice collection. The Atomik looks to have the Serkisof logo on the dial - a Turkish watch importer who were the exclusive supplier to the Turkish national railways. A lot of them were rebranded Soviet models and I've no idea if they rebranded Swiss watches.
A Serkisof Vostok:
Back of a Molnija pocket watch:
Really great to see, thanks for posting.
Those are lovely. The silver one has a fairly thick case compared to the others; I’d be interested in knowing if that was merely design or was there a more practical reason. Does the movement give any clues to its history?
Forgot to photograph the movement to the silver one. The case is not really that thick its probably more the shape of the case which is almost like a fob watch in case shape but the lugs are wider so not a converted fob. The movement was really grubby and a bit of a mess when I first got it and even clean and working its still got a few signs of wear. It has a hinged case back but the time keeping now is spot on. Don't know if it really shows in the photo but it has blued hands too.Originally Posted by Tangent
My guess is its an imported watch rather than British made but that's about all I know about it.
There was a recent thread about vintage 18ct gold watches. I don't think you are really buying these for gold content as its pretty thin, the chronographs used to have a base metal cover for the movement at the back which probably explains why so many of them have little dents in the case back. The Smiths Benson watch is a nice one where Smiths made one for W Benson jewelers. I also have another W Benson watch with a basic 15 jewel movement in it and I missed out a while back on a Smiths one that was made for H Samuel (Back in the day) W Benson watches are quite easy to find, I have also come across a few vintage Smiths sterling silver watches but most silver watches I have come across have really damaged cases.
Just a slight correction Robert.
Record was bought by Longines in the early '60's but wasn't a sub brand.
Longines did use some of the old Record movements though and you can tell these because they have Longines "Record" on the dials.
I had one myself.
Record famously made some of the WWW models.
Cheers,
Neil.
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the clarification regarding Record I probably used the wrong words there I wasn't trying to imply they were inferior as my works like a charm and the condition its in I wouldn't part with it. I know about the WWW watches they produced I did look for some of these WWW watches but with the ever increasing prices and difficulty in finding one in decent condition I stuck to other stuff. I have been looking for a nice Longines to add to my collection gold or steel though Record watches are considerably better priced right now than vintage Longines.
I think my next targets after these will probably be American made vintage stuff, I do like the old Hamilton, Elgin etc....
Good choice, some fabulous stuff to choose from.
Cheers,
Neil.
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