Vintage Elgin 21 Jewels

Today I'm wearing this vintage Elgin 21 jewel handwind watch. I couldn't find a reference for the serial number on the movement, but I would estimate this to be from the 1940s or 1950s. The movement looks good, but it's not running well right now. Also the crystal tend to pop out so I've been very careful with it. This is my first Elgin on the blog but I believe I have some more, possibly just pocket watches. Elgin was an immensely popular watch brand so their vintage watches are still very plentiful today. For some reason I can't find as much information on the Elgin 599 movement as for some others I own, but I did notice it shows up in quite a few Lord Elgin models (a more upmarket line) so it is possible it's one of Elgin's better movements. It's a little plain and has a fairly common design for the time, but the dial is actually quite nice with its fancy applied numerals, and the hands, while plain, are in good condition. A nice watch that is probably deserving of a good servicing and a nice leather strap.

Vostok Komandirskie Paratrooper

Today I'm wearing my Vostok Komandirskie (Commander's) watch. These were designed originally for the Soviet military. This is the paratrooper version, hence the planes and parachute on the dial. If you're not familiar with Vostok, here's some good information. I've found that many watch collectors, even if they're not "into" Russian watches, have had one or more Vostoks (or Raketas, the other popular Russian brand.) I bought this one close to 20 years ago, when the USSR still existed. Even so, it's obvious this watch was made for export from its "Made in USSR" engraving on the back. This was definitely my first watch to have a screw-down crown. I don't recall what color strap this originally came on, but I believe it was brown leather. It's long gone so I fitted a red leather strap which coordinates well with the red dial and bezel details. This used to have a more green or teal dial, but it has faded over the years to this brown, olive drab-ish color. It's a neat watch and has held up over time pretty well. The stainless case is much more durable than the chrome plated brass cases of some other Russian watches. Similar watches are still available and can be found with many different dial designs. It's nice to see an item that has been in production since 1965, through the Cold War, Glasnost and the fall of the Soviet Union, and is still being made today.

Vintage Timex

(No, I didn't forget, there was no post on Friday as I was out of the office all day.) Today I'm wearing this Timex from the early 1980s. It was my grandfather's, and I'm almost positive I was with him when he bought it at a local discount store (I'm also almost positive the store was called "Nickel's" but I'm not sure how it was spelled. It was in Mt. Penn, near Reading, PA.) I know I've mentioned my grandfather a lot and I recall looking through his dresser drawer full of watches that either stopped working, had broken bracelets or straps, or were possibly too nice for everyday wear. I'm not sure what prompted the purchase of this one, but I'm almost positive it was cheap, something like $15. Probably because the strap or bracelet on one of his other watches got broken and it was cheaper to just replace the watch with this. I don't know when Timex stopped making watches with mechanical movements, but I doubt they made them much later than this (more recent watches notwithstanding.) Amazingly, it's still running fine and kept excellent time the last 24 hours. The last couple times I've wound it and picked it up it always seemed to run in fits and starts. I really didn't expect it to keep running all day, but I guess the movement of wearing it freed up some sticking gears or something. It's a pretty good looking watch, it looks like the watch you'd get if you handed a kid a box of crayons and said "Draw a gold watch" (and the kid was born in the 1970s, I suppose. These days you'd get a drawing of a digital, or a cell phone.) I'm sure it has no collector value, which is good for me because I would never want to consider selling it.

Vintage Gruen Precision

Today I'm wearing another vintage watch similar to many of my other vintage watches: It's from the 1950s or early 1960s, hand-wound, gold plated, has a non-original but probably also vintage expanding bracelet, and is from a well-known American watch company. This one has a Swiss Gruen 510 movement, but is inscribed inside the caseback with "Cased and Timed in U.S.A. by Gruen Watch Co." I suppose it has a pretty typical design for the time, although it does have a unique "bark" finish to the dial which does add some visual interest. The crystal has some crazing, possibly from some pressure placed on it, but overall it's an attractive watch that has held up pretty well over time.

Vintage Bulova Automatic

I'm wearing another vintage piece today, a Bulova from 1953. One of the reasons I'm doing this blog is to catalog my watches, including a number that my father collected over the years. Many of the watches that used to be my father's I haven't even taken a good look at yet. I was very surprised when I pulled this one out as it's a little different than many of the other vintage watches you see here. First off, it's automatic. It's something that we kind of take for granted today, but I believe this would have been a more expensive watch than many of my similar handwind models from this era. Second, the case seems to be all stainless (including the screw-in caseback) with gold plating. This means the case has stood up very well over time. Where a regular gold filled case would probably have pitting or heavy wear on the elaborate lugs this has little to none. The ends the lugs are still pointy, and the lines down the sides are still well defined. Since it's from 1953, I believe it's my earliest watch with these relatively advanced features. Not to mention it's still a very nice looking watch. I might have to think about getting a nice leather strap for this one as I think it's a keeper and the expanding bracelet is a bit unattractive and mundane.

Vintage Bulova

Today I'm wearing this vintage Bulova. It's from 1960 and the case and screw-in caseback are stainless steel. It's pretty nice with an interesting pattern on the dial. It looks like the dial has been defaced by some felt pen or the like, as it has black marks on the hour markers and some other places, but I don't know what happened to it.

Vintage Wyler Incaflex

Today I'm wearing this vintage Wyler from the 1950s or early 1960s. The "Incaflex" on the dial might or might not be the model name, but it definitely refers to the balance wheel anti-shock system used within. From an interview with Jean-Claude Biver: (a 30+ year watch industry executive who's primarily responsible for the exciting rebirth of the brand as "Wyler Geneve")

"Wyler became well-known in the past because of their invention of the Incaflex balance wheel with flexible arms that could help absorb horizontal shocks. This they used in conjunction with the more commonly used Incabloc shock that absorbed shock on a vertical axis. Now, when you have something that can deform on both the vertical and horizontal axis in the car industry, they call this variable geometry. Only Wyler had this because they had the patent on the Incaflex balance wheel. In 1956, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this system, Wyler took the watch to the top of the Eiffel Tower, placed it in a special container, and threw it off. When they opened the container, the watch was still working…"

More recently, Wyler drove a car over one watch and dropped another one from a height of 10 meters for the brand's launch in Taiwan. Wyler Geneve is definitely a brand to watch with exciting designs and impressive innovations. Unfortunately, they have equally impressive prices, so this might be the only Wyler I ever own. This watch seems to be typical of vintage Wylers with the Incaflex system, a mid-size case (about 30mm) and a stainless steel "waterproof" case. The design is quite understated, appealing more as a practical "tool watch" than a decorative accessory. This one has a unique stainless steel mesh band with stainless steel links that slide over it, and the two ends of the band overlap as you can see in the pictures below. This is most likely an aftermarket band. I wasn't really familiar with the Wyler watch brand before I saw this one (which my dad bought sometime in the last few years) but I'm glad to have it. The company has some interesting history and some exciting models now and coming in the future.

Vintage Gruen Curvex

Today I'm wearing a vintage Gruen Curvex that I got from my father. I'm certainly no expert on these but I'll pass along what knowledge I have. The Curvex was so named because the movement was specially designed to fit inside a case curved to fit the wearer's wrist. The problem with making a long, narrow, curving watch case is that a normal full-sized movement will be too large. This watch is 48mm long but less than 21mm wide. One way to fix this is to fit a smaller movement in the case which was done by Gruen (before the Curvex) as well as some other manufacturers. Gruen developed a series of movements that were full-sized but had the necessary curvature on the dial side and clearance on the back for a heavily curved case. Here's a comparison diagram from a vintage Gruen advertisement. This watch contains the original Curvex movement, the calibre 311, which was released in 1935. I don't know for how long the 311 was produced, but in 1937 the calibre 330 was released which was thinner and more curved. I haven't found a source for Gruen serial numbers that makes sense to me so I can't put an exact date on this watch, but based on the movement it's probably from between 1935 and 1940. It's an exceedingly attractive design, slender but masculine, simple but with very nice details on the dial and bevels on the case, and with a slightly domed crystal that serves to accentuate the curve of the dial and case. It is truly an iconic art deco design. Some great information about Gruen can be found here. This particular watch has been serviced throughout its lifetime, but not recently. As a result, it only runs sporadically and is definitely in need of a good cleaning. This will go on my list of watches that will be taken to my watchmaker the next time I go.