How about pocket watches.

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MyDogsHunt

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I know allot of knifeknutz also collect pocket watches so I thought I'd run this question up the flag pole and see who desicrates it.

My old wrist watch finally died the other day and I'm trhinking about replacing it with a pocket watches.
Don't know squat about em, but I have learned enough to know that I want a Railroad type/style watch but other than that, I'm pretty much in the dark.
I've found lots of Fu-Fu looking gadgets as well as some that apear to be well made, but I really don't have a clue. Found one Japanese made piece at Cabelas that looks pretty good to me, but it has an alarm that I really don't want/need. Probably just more weight, and something else to break.
Anyway, what make and model do those of you who actually use a pocket like?

As usuall, TIA.
Charlie

PS,,, don't want anything made in China reguardless of the reviews.
 
I carry a 120+ year old American Watch Co. {Waltham}. Here's a so-so shot of it with a Walden Knife Co ca.1920's.

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I carry a cheap timex. I took off the band and ground down the sharp corners with a dremel tool.
 
Nice conifer
Any suggestions on a Railroad Watch?
Only thing I've found so far that isn't either to old/expensive or cheap crap is the one I spoke of from Cabelas and the Victorinox Swiss Army model but prices are all over the place with Vic's so I suspect that there's some counterfiets out there and I'm to inexperienced to gamble if ya know what I mean.

shunsui,,,,,, Great idea, don't know why I didn't think of that. :rolleyes:
 
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If your going to get a RR watch then get a RR watch that was made from about 1900 until the late 1920s or early 1930s,it'll be an open face watch size 16 or 18 with at least a 17 jewel movement,in my personal opinion you don't want one with less than 21 jewels.My personal preference is Illinois but the BW Raymond watches from Elgin are nice watches also.Be aware that any of these watches are going to need regular cleaning at about $125 a pop for cleaning and adjusting and being open face,I wouldn't want to be doing anything more than office work while carrying it.Here's a place that sells some really nice old watches,I've never dealt with them so I don't know how they are to deal with,http://www.pocketwatcher.org/category/railroad_grade/ I'd be wary of most anything sold on ebay,there are some that are original but there are also a lot that are put together from parts and unless you spend some time getting to know the difference,it's pretty hard to tell.Here's another site that sells nice modern pocket watches,they used to sell old RR grade watches also but I don't see any anymore,http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/index.html All good modern pocket watches are made overseas,mostly still Swiss and like anything else today,you get what you pay for.Here's my nicest RR watch but I don't carry it except on very rare occasions,I do have a couple of watches that were made in the 1950s or 60s or one old Elgin that I usually carry when I do carry a pocket watch.This is a 1925 Illinois Sangamo Special,17S,23 jewels,the face isn't perfect but the rest of the watch is in very good condition and it runs ok although it does need cleaning again.

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i carry a 1909-1912 (dont really remember the date) Elgin 19 Jewel BW Raymond RR almost every day
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sorry pics arent great

in the late 1800's to the early 1900's Waltham Watch Company made some of the best watches in the world
 
Genuine antiques are the best in terms of quality, from the 1890s to about the 1930s.
The number of people that can service them is dwindling, your average watch shop won't have the parts or the knowhow.

For more modern pocket watches you can search them on amazon.com & find prices on new watches from $29 to several hundred. Pick the price & type you want, those should be serviceable for quite a while with modern movements in either electrics or windups.

Also, consider how you'd carry one. It goes in a dedicated pocket with nothing else in that pocket, or you'll scratch hell out of it.
Don't carry in a jeans "watch" or change pocket, flexing as you bend during the day has been known to spring the post and damage the watch.
Also, the older ones are not waterproof, and pocket watches in general have to treated a bit more gently.

I have a refurbished 1898 Hamilton in a hunter case, a ten year old $29 Field & Stream electric that's still running fine, and a Montana Silversmiths Japanese movement in a Ruger logo case I acquired last Fall, value new about $80.
The Hamilton is too nice & too valuable to carry except for ceremonial occasions, the F&S sits on my nightstand most of the time but occasionally leaves the house with me, and the MS hasn't had a chance for much use yet,
Denis
 
DPris said:
Genuine antiques are the best in terms of quality, from the 1890s to about the 1930s.
The number of people that can service them is dwindling, your average watch shop won't have the parts or the knowhow.

For more modern pocket watches you can search them on amazon.com & find prices on new watches from $29 to several hundred. Pick the price & type you want, those should be serviceable for quite a while with modern movements in either electrics or windups.
Denis
Click to expand...

Thanks for the helpfull and on topic info Denis
Your reply pretty much mirrors what I've been able to find on-line.

Being a pretty traditional kind of guy I'm naturally drawn to the craftsmanship and nostalgia of the early pieces, but from a practical point of view I've deceided that a newer elec type would serve my needs (and wallet) better so I have a new Victorinox on order. Comes with a more durable mineral crystal as well as a little leather pouch.
During my 40+ years of carpentering I wouldn't have dreamed of carrying a Pocket Watch, but at this point in life I don't really care what time it is so a PW seems like a natural. :o

Anywhooo,,, I'll post pix when she gets here and thanks to all.
Charlie
 
Y'know, I've seriously considered one of the Victorinox PWs for a couple years now.
May still get one someday.
Parts & service should be infinitely easier & cheaper than an antique, and the Victorinox-branded watches are typically good quality across the board.
Good luck.
Denis
 
I dunno, For years I've carried on a daily basis an American made manual wind Hamilton pocket watch. My parents bought for me from LL Bean and gave me in college back in the 70's. It keeps fair time, about ± a minute a day. Not up to RR standards, but good enough for my needs. I get a great deal of enjoyment from it.

I've been considering that, should it fail and not be repairable, I might replace it with an electronic one. While I do enjoy winding my watch, I think it is more the style and pulling it out of my pocket to check the time that I enjoy most. The electronic ones will still do that and then you know what you have and know that it is robust and replaceable.
 
OK,,,, got the watch. Someone had pushed the button and lord knows how long it set there running in the box, so naturally the battery was dead. :confused:
Fortunatly we have a little jewelery store that replaces all watch batteries free of charge so since I was in town today I stopped in and had em fire it up for me.
I think I"m gonna like it, but time will tell.
It came with a thin little leather pouch but since I'm pretty handy with leather, I think I'll make a little combination belt sheath for it and my new CS Half Moon Trapper.
I'll post more pix when I get around to it.
Charlie
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I think I could like that one. :)

I have a sorta "thing" for older=better in some areas, and I do treasure my old Hamilton.
In considering a new PW for actual regular use my normal tendency would be to go old school with a mechanical. But- After the frustration of 15 years of dealing with a quality-made mechanical Regulator wall clock that we acquired just because it was a classic walnut-with-8-day-movement timekeeper like those I remember from my childhood, and noticing that the cheap $3 electric movements keep better time & cost less to repair or replace when necessary, I've kinda changed my outlook on timepieces. :)

The Regulator movement, along with the cuckoo clock I brought back from overseas in '75, both cost far more than I paid for them just to service & clean, and neither ever kept time as reliably as even the cheapest electric clock we have. The Regulator has never kept accurate time, gaining or losing a minute or three about every month no matter how we adjusted the pendulum. Even getting it cleaned nowdays would cost $150-$200.
Finally replaced it with a nice walnut-cased electric wall clock in a vintage style for less than $100. Replacing the entire "box" electric movement would cost me less than $10 if I do it, when it finally dies. I can buy the entire movement & do it myself, or have a clock shop do it.

My Hamilton was acquired from a guy who specializes in old high quality PWs. He buys them & has three or four older watchmakers who know the movements & have accumulated parts for many years totally rebuild and refurbish them.
Those guys are retiring and dying every year, and they're not being replaced by new younger watchmakers. Parts also won't be available indefinitely.
The Hamilton is classy and gorgeous, but it'll never be carried regularly. An 1898 watch isn't repairable at the local mall clock shop. :)

My $29 Field & Stream PW was a gift 10 years ago. Aside from battery changes, it's still running. I never had a windup watch last that long without work. :)

The modularity of the modern electrics are a great aspect if & when they do go wrong. Many use standard interchangeable movements that can just be replaced entirely. Nice to have the older style mechanical where maybe only one or two worn parts need replacing, but service is getting hard to find on the older ones & so are parts.
Denis
 
I owned and carried a Westclox Pocket Ben in the 1970s.

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I bought it at Sears at State & Van Buren in downtown Chicago. People used to call them "dollar watches," but I paid $5 for mine in 1975. Then I found a liquor store across the street (NW corner, State & Van Buren) which sold them for two dollars less. Their main stock in trade was Italian Swiss Colony wine, but they also sold playing cards, dice, hair picks, cheap straight razors and $3 pocket watches.

Dollar watches had pin lever movements with no jewels. Instead of pallet fork jewels, they had simple metal pins:

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For comparison, a luxurious Mickey Mouse watch movement with one jewel:

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Dollar watches kept better time and lasted longer than you might think, but nowadays it is hard to find one that works. They had no water resistance to speak of, but the worst feature was their TICK: they were as loud as a cheap windup alarm clock. I was teaching a visually impaired class at Foreman High School, and the students — most of whom were totally blind — could accurately track me in the room, and also in the hallway between classes. I finally got rid of it because it kept me awake at night: I could hear it wrapped in a towel at the bottom of the linen drawer.

Westclox stopped making Pocket Bens about twenty years ago. This was a more upscale model than mine, with luminous hands and a gift box!

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I carry a 1920 Zenith (swiss made) watch when going out, keeps amazing time...would like to get a sterling silver old American made watch though, something I can carry a little more.
 
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