The fading world of pocket watches

golok

golok

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Oct 20, 2000
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There was a time in my life when I was crazy about pocket watches. I had imagined myself with a pocket watch like the above linked to a gold chain.

The charm of the old world is hard to forget and pocket watches are very much part of this old world.

Few gentlemen have such watches in their pockets these days, if they have any at all.

Back in the old days, good pocket watches are a real piece of art. The inner mechanism is a product of precision engineering and beautiful handwork.

Anybody collects pocket watches?
 
I have my greatgrandfathers gold pocket watch. When I got it,it was a mess and didn't work.Took it apart,cleaned and lubed it...it' a real nice one with the machining design on the cover and key to wind it up. I ordered a gold chain for it since it didn't have one.:)
 
I don´t collect but I have three, all hand winders, two Swiss, one Russian, I got all three some time in the 80´s.

My favorite is a simple and not expensive Haste with decorated face and back, cows and peasants scene. I do use it every once in a while.
 
I've always loved the look of pocket watches but it'd be impractical for me to carry one (don't usually have belt loops on my pants. I love the ones with covers.
 
I don't collect, but I've been looking lately. They are beautiful pieces of work. I love watching the action of a good watch.
 
I have one that belonged to my granddad, but even after a cleaning it fluctuates +- 45 minutes, so I don't carry it. It's a Waltham.
I know a girl who actually carries a pocket watch, just because of the influence of her dad.
The coolest 'pocket watch' I can think of these days would be one of the Victorinox knives with the watch in the handle, the 'SuperTimer', etc...
 
I carried a pocket watch for years until it quit on me (probably dead battery, but I haven't checked it out yet). I decided on a Limes wristwatch instead of a new pocket watch, but I was seriously looking at these Tissots . Pocket space has become too much of a premium these days :( .
 
I have a bunch of pocket watches. It's not that I don't like wrist watches but sometimes I just don't want anything on my wrist.

I have a couple of antiques, one from my wife as a wedding present (it'a a Howard from the 1890's I think, not sure though). I have almost every one that Swatch made (they're kinda neat, and play music for the alarms and such). I also have some modern Colibris and other various pocket watches. One of my favorites is a plain Colibri that has a closing cover that I keep a picture of my wife and son in. It's just a neat place to have a picture. On the other end of the chain, I keep a small Alox SAK. You did know that the chain isn't for attaching to your belt loops right?

Rob
 
if the chain isn't for attaching to the belt loop, how do you carry the watch? does the watch sit in the bottom of the pocket along with the chain and knife at the other end? i want to know, because i've been thinking about getting one myself.
 
I think the pocket watch is supposed to go in your watch pocket(That small fifth pocket in the front pocket of your pants). Then the knife, or whatever it's attached to, goes in the front pocket.
 
In olden days pocket watches were carried in your vest pocket...every gentleman wore a vest. The chain clips to one of the buttons or the vest.
 
I only have a couple of watch chains, but have seen a few, in shops and pictures and people who had them, also have seen some on the net, if you are interested do a search.

Chains can have a ring that clips to a button, or a "T" bar to go through a button hole, or a clip for a loop (which can go on the waist or on a special loop on a vest), or a clip for a belt, some have two chains, one for the watch and a shorter one for some kind of decoration, (I have one like that from the Mexican railroads), there are also small fobs that go on the watch and hang outside the watch pocket (my uncle who past away earlier this year had one of those, I wonder what was of it), some modern watches have a fob that goes on a belt loop and the watch just hangs from there, not long enough to get to a pocket, there are also leather cases or sheaths that go on the belt and hold the watch in a section that opens and folds away so you can see the time without taking out the watch (I have two of these, also from the Mexican railroads).

You can put something at the other end of a chain (such as a small pocket knife as Dr. Nick does) the watch goes in its special pocket and the other end goes in another, the chain can go across a vest and maybe pass through a button hole.
 
Looks like the chain question has been answered but I do have a little something to add.

I like to keep a small knife on the end of my chain although I do have some fobs that I use also. I don't generally put my watch in my main pocket, I prefer to keep in in the watch pocket and the fob or chain goes in my main pocket. That way I can pull the chain to get either the watch or the knife. If I don't have a watch pocket, I'll stuff the watch into the waistband of my pants above the pocket, the pressure pretty much keeps it there and if it slips down, the chain catches it before it falls completely into my pants. The knife or fob acts as a counterweight to keep it from sliding down unobstructed. I like to do it this way to keep the watch from getting banged up in my pocket. Ideally, as DonLuis and Grapevine have said, you can put the watch and fob or knife in their respective vest pockets.

Rob
 
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