I find watches fascinating, particularly mechanical watches. They offer the same functions we expect from our modern electronic wristwatches but using tiny, precision-made mechanisms. They're interesting to me from an engineering point of view, and because they represent a lost world - the Swiss mechanical watch industry never recovered from the quartz revolution in the early 1970s. Quartz watches are fine if you want accuracy; if you want character get a mechanical watch.
Though I'd love to get an Omega Speedmaster or Heuer Monaco (to name just two) I'd probably never wear either of them because I'd always be worrying about damaging them. I've bought cars for less than the current value of either one. The watches I have are more humble and much cheaper to buy, which makes them all the more usable.
I'm always looking for interesting items to add to the collection, particularly interesting watches that many collectors ignore simply because they don't sell for a lot of money. So if you've got something you think I might like then I'd be pleased to hear from you - but if it's several thousand pounds/dollars/euro of Patek Phillippe, that's not really my style.
A really cheap Heuer or Omega or Breitling or Chronosport might make me take notice - and if you have a Sinclair Black Watch or an old mechanical Seiko or a Heuer Autavia you really should tell me about it because you might just persuade me to buy it.
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A beautiful 1930s watch with a square face and domed crystal. Another Ebay find. |
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A 1960s chronograph with a Valjoux 7733 movement. The face bears a Breitling badge, but it's clearly been added later. On the back the watch has an inscription relating to Jim Clark's Indianapolis 500 win - but was that added later too?
Ironically, although this is not a real Breitling, it has the same movement as a real Breitling... |
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A blue-faced dress watch, bought in an eBay auction - not because it's immensely valuable or beautifully made, but just because it's a great colour and a clean design. |
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This early 1970s watch has a superb 'sunburst' dial that reminds me of a 1950s Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul guitar. The case is novel too, a gold plated 'Compressor' case which was only in production for a few years in the 1960s/70s and intended to be watertight - the caseback has a divers' helmet symbol. This watch uses the well-known ETA 2472 automatic movement - it winds itself as you wear it thanks to the action of a rotating weight inside. This came from internet watch dealers Timefactors.com. |
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1960s sports watch with a pseudo-chronograph Swiss movement by R Lapanouse Ltd that was probably more for show than for use, and a simple circular slide-rule bezel. The Globa came from an internet auction on eBay.co.uk. It's not sophisticated and the one-jewel movement isn't the last word in precision design, but it's interesting and wearable. I've found a Cimier watch which looks almost identical: can anyone tell me which came first? |
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A restoration project, bought at a car boot sale. |
 Restoration project,bought at a car boot sale. This is an attractive little watch, much smaller and thinner than the flashy Sicuras but no less interesting - I particularly like that 'red arrow' seconds hand. The case appears to be 'gold filled', ie gold plated, with wear to the edges. There's some discolouration to the face, too, but despite labelling this as a 'restoration project' I'm starting to like it the way it is - all I've done is give it a perfunctory clean and polish the crystal. |
 Restoration project, bought at a car boot sale. This is a classic big, heavy diver's-style watch, probably from the 1970s when Sicura were at their peak. It's complete but needs a good clean and some remedial work to the movement - though a watch repairer I've shown it to says the parts needed to fix it are not available. |
 Restoration project, bought at a car boot sale. This uses the Ebauches Bettlach 8800 movement. It has a curious orange seconds (?) hand with another hand fixed to it at 90 degrees - the two hands move together. I can only guess what this could be for - given the 'jogging' theme I wonder if it was to mark the start/end of a 15-second period used for counting heart beats. Can anyone explain? |
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 Bought as 'new old stock' from online watch dealer RLT Watches. I love these huge Sornas just because they are so absurdly over the top. This one is 46mm wide and thick with it, and has a wonderfully excessive colour scheme.
There are no less than three rotating bezels: there's a 'manual' bezel on the outside and then two more on the inside - one for world time and another for elapsed time. The two inner bezels are rotated using the crowns on the left-hand side of the case, the crown on the right dealing with the usual winding/setting functions and the two buttons on the right controlling the chronograph.
The Sorna was supplied on a rather low-rent plastic strap, which I've since replaced with a blue leather Darlena strap. |
 This 1970s watch was one of the first with a plastic case. The material is a black glass fibre reinforced plastic which is identified on the caseback as 'Noryl'. This watch came from Germany via an eBay auction auction which attracted remarkably little interest, I suspect because the photo was blurry and the description sparse.
The result, for me, was a bargain. The postage cost more than my bid on the watch - and gave me an attractive Swiss mechanical watch for less than the price of a cheap modern quartz affair. On receipt the Buler would tick for a couple of seconds then stop, and I expected a service would be needed before it would run properly. But I wore it for a day to see how long it would run, and noticed that it would start up again with a little shake. By then end of the day it was running strongly, and hasn't missed a beat since.
I've had a couple of emails about the Buler. One suggested that its styling was based on a Porsche design watch and that it was removed from sale when Porsche objected... Tonatiuh in Mexico emailed to say he had a similar watch, but with the name 'San Marino' instead of 'Grand Prix'. I'd still be interested to find out more about the Buler, and about the 1970s Cimier 'Hot Driver' watch I've seen which looks almost identical. |
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