# Manufacturers Of Modern Pocket-watches.



## Shangas

Hey everyone,

I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be with the watch I bought, since I still really want a hunter-cased one. So I'm selling the watch I bought last time and heading out tomorrow to buy another one. I'm still struggling between buying a mechanical or a quartz movement watch.

I want to know who the best makers of modern mechanical pocket-watches are these days? What brand can I buy that will definitely be quality? And barring that, I'll probably just buy a quartz one.


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## Mikrolisk

Why won't you have a look at the old pocket watches? If you want a GOOD pocket watch, you have to spend really MUCH money for a modern pocket watch, or less money for an old pocket watch.

Andreas


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## blackandgolduk

Mikrolisk said:


> Why won't you have a look at the old pocket watches? If you want a GOOD pocket watch, you have to spend really MUCH money for a modern pocket watch, or less money for an old pocket watch.
> 
> Andreas


Agreed. What's your budget? I'm sure Andreas will be able to recommed a few - he's the resident expert! I'd say Molnija are worth a look if you're after something new-ish - they're about Â£25 on the bay.


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## Julian Latham

Shangas said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I wasn't as happy as I thought I would be with the watch I bought, since I still really want a hunter-cased one. So I'm selling the watch I bought last time and heading out tomorrow to buy another one. I'm still struggling between buying a mechanical or a quartz movement watch.
> 
> I want to know who the best makers of modern mechanical pocket-watches are these days? What brand can I buy that will definitely be quality? And barring that, I'll probably just buy a quartz one.


Shangas,

Have a look through previous posts on this forum and the sales forum for submissions from James. He has shown some outstanding examples of American watches. Many of the older Elgin and Hamiltons are works of art in their own right, as well as accurate if made as 'railway' watches. I understand Ball also manufactured high quality railway standard pocket watches.

I have found that, with a service, once regulated the old CCCP 18 jewel Molnijas keep very acceptable time. Working examples with cases in very good condition can still be picked up for under Â£30 on e-bay, add Â£25 for service and you have a cheap, interesting and accurate pocket watch for everyday use.

Quartz ? Only thing I can think of is ................ why? No charisma, just reliability and accuracy :lol:

Julian L

EDIT ............. Sorry, couldn't resist adding a picture of Molnija case backs


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## Shangas

I'm not buying an antique or vintage pocket-watch for the pure fact that I simply cannot find one that I like. That's why I'm going modern mechanical or quartz instead. I want one with a hunter-case with the crown at 12 o'clock. And almost no vintage watch has that configuration.


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## Julian Latham

A quick google for new mechanical/wind-up pocket watches didn't offer much encouragement - most appear to have the crown @ 3 o'clock. Prices made me blanche  .

Good luck, be interested to see the piece that 'scratches the itch' 

Julian L


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## Shangas

I used to have a very nice watch when I was younger, but I broke it. I've been seeking to find a suitable replacement ever since. Damn dad and his constant meddling and provision of bad advice. If not for him, I would have a new watch by now that I liked. But...well...I'm off tomorrow to find a nice pocket watch. I happen to know a place in town where they may be found in abundance (and I mean abundance. I've never seen so many in one place before!).

So in the words of Mr. Farragut: "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"


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## adrian

I know Tissot is making quartz pocket watches but I don't know about the price or style you are looking for. Good luck with your watch hunt.


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## Shangas

Today, we head off into the great unknown.

Wish me luck...


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## Jeorge

Good luck! :lol:


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## Shangas

That was extremely direct! :lol:

Well, I bought the watch. I did not like the chain, however. And the lady who sold the watch to me happily replaced the chain with a nicer one. It was some disgusting dark brown bronze piece of junk which clashed horribly with the rest of the watch. I selected a nice, gold chain and she swapped it. I made one little alteration of my own after I bought the watch. I removed the clip which originally came with the watch and replaced it with my own clip. It's stainless steel, but it's only a small spring-clip so it doesn't clash with everything else too noticeably. I wanted a different clip on the end of the chain so that I could clip this securely to my buttonholes and belt-loops and whatnot.

The watch is a nice, gold hunter-cased pocket-watch with a skeleton dial. The case feels sort of rough and fuzzy. It's all done up in a sort of brushed gold effect  It's easy to tell where the lid is because the watch is a little thicker on one side (lid) than the other (caseback). It's got a nice band of silvery metal running around the rim of the watch-case between the lid and the caseback.

This watch is a little different from the one I had as a child. For one, it's mechanical! (My original watch was quartz), it's significantly fancier (my first watch was an extremely plain, smooth gold-cased watch), this one has Roman numerals!! (A very nice touch! My old watch had Arabic numerals) and this one feels a little bit smaller. I think my original one was larger than this. But then, I was younger at that time. Perhaps it's just the size of my hand that's changed!!

It winds fully, runs properly and keeps time like a dream. No more slipping gears and non-winding mainsprings!! If it can keep pace with my computer clock, it's doing great! I cranked it up at just before noon today (about 11:30) and it's now almost 7:00pm. It's still going strong and hasn't lost a minute of time. I did wind it up a little bit more at 6:00pm just to be sure. I'm going to leave it alone now, and see just how long this puppy can run for*.

Feel free to ask for photographs if you'd like to see it 

_*out of curiosity, how long *can* a standard pocket-watch run for? It's supposed to be something like a day and a half, right?_


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## blackandgolduk

Yup, we need pics here! Fully wound it should run for at least a day and a half without winding. To keep it running continuously, I'd say wind it a bit each day at around the same time


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## Shangas

Hey 

Photographs coming as soon as I can take them. Probably in an hour or two.

**Watch this space** 

I have a **TERRIBLE** record with mechanical timepieces, and yet, I still love them. I've managed to overwind at least two clocks, I had one clock which exploded on me, one watch which was a piece of junk (gonna dump that off at a pawnshop and let them do whatever the deuce they like with it) and now I've got my next mechanical watch. I hope this one lasts a damn time longer than the others!

My habit with such machines is that I invariably love winding them. That's why I want one, I just love winding them up...and more often than not, I "overwind" them (yes, I know that's not really a correct term, but everyone says that). I'm trying to discipline myself so that I may wind this watch only when necessary so that it runs, keeps time and doesn't malfunction and so that I can enjoy it for several years to come.

If I were to wind this watch twice a day, once when I wake up and once before I head off to bed, that would be sufficient to keep it going properly, right?

For the curious, the watch is brand-new. It still had the adhesive plastic circle on the crystal to prevent scratching (I've since removed this. I like having a nice, unobstructed view when I look at the time!).


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## Shangas

Here we are!

Closed:










The original chain which came with this watch was butt-ugly. Dark brown bronze thing. I had the salesgirl remove it and replace it with this chain from another watch. I think it's much nicer. Also, the chain came with one of those ugly bulldog-like clips (You'll find them on nearly ALL modern pocket-watches). I despised those clips because you can't clip them onto clothes and buttonholes and belt-loops as easily as some other clips. So I removed that and replaced it with my trusty looped springy-clip which is much more button-hole & belt-loop friendly.

Here is the watch in its opened position:










Apologies for chopping off the bottom of the image! There are no makers' marks of any kind on this watch, anywhere. At least, nowhere that I could find. What attracted me to this watch was the simplicity. The numbers are small, but clear. They're well-spaced and uncluttered to allow for easy reading without having to know what the numbers specifically are. The Roman numbers was a nice touch. The skeleton-feature was very nice. I liked being able to look at the movement swivelling and ticking away when I check the time! 

The mainspring is in the top-left of the movement window, (right underneath the minute-hand, in that photograph) and the balance wheel & escapement mechanism is at the bottom of the window (above the VI for 'six').

---

I also forgot to mention the price! $15 brand-new. I'll let you more experienced and knowledgeable watcherinos tell me if that's a good deal or not.


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## Mikrolisk

Well, 15 bucks are ok for this watch...

Not really after my fancy, but I do not have to wear this pw.

Andreas


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## Shangas

I didn't want a watch that was superly-overly-massively decorated. Everyone seems to want watches that double as pendents. I want a watch that doubles as a timepiece. I picked this one because it was mechanical, it worked, it kept time, it had a nice skeleton dial, and it was plain and not too flashy.


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## adrian

Very nice for that kind of money. Enjoy.


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## Shangas

I have a question or two, for the more knowledgeable around here...

Will 'snapping' the watch-lid shut wear out the spring and catch for the lid-release mechanism? I read somewhere that the crown-button should first be depressed, the watch closed and then the crown-button released to hold the watch shut. Is that correct?


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## Mikrolisk

Yes, you're right. The catch will show increasing wear if you don't press the button when closing the lid. In those old watch manuals you always find a notice about this.

Andreas


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## Shangas

Okay, thanks Andreas!!


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## Chascomm

Shangas said:


> Here we are!
> 
> Closed:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The original chain which came with this watch was butt-ugly. Dark brown bronze thing. I had the salesgirl remove it and replace it with this chain from another watch. I think it's much nicer. Also, the chain came with one of those ugly bulldog-like clips (You'll find them on nearly ALL modern pocket-watches). I despised those clips because you can't clip them onto clothes and buttonholes and belt-loops as easily as some other clips. So I removed that and replaced it with my trusty looped springy-clip which is much more button-hole & belt-loop friendly.
> 
> Here is the watch in its opened position:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Apologies for chopping off the bottom of the image! There are no makers' marks of any kind on this watch, anywhere. At least, nowhere that I could find. What attracted me to this watch was the simplicity. The numbers are small, but clear. They're well-spaced and uncluttered to allow for easy reading without having to know what the numbers specifically are. The Roman numbers was a nice touch. The skeleton-feature was very nice. I liked being able to look at the movement swivelling and ticking away when I check the time!
> 
> The mainspring is in the top-left of the movement window, (right underneath the minute-hand, in that photograph) and the balance wheel & escapement mechanism is at the bottom of the window (above the VI for 'six').
> 
> ---
> 
> I also forgot to mention the price! $15 brand-new. I'll let you more experienced and knowledgeable watcherinos tell me if that's a good deal or not.


It looks like this piece is powered by the Chinese Standard wristwatch movement. More than 30 factories used to make these movements (as in from raw metal to finished piece); not so many now. However there are at least 4 different skeleton styles, and they never have the maker's name. The best ones have jewelled mainsprings, but you can't see that on yours.

Most likely yours was cased-up in Hong Kong where there are many pocket-watch assemblers.

Your watch should have a power-reserve between 36 and 40 hours, so for best performance, only wind it once per day, preferably in the morning. Avoid very dusty environments as dust may work its way in through the lid catch. And the button should be pressed when closing the watch. The sleeved stem can be a bit fragile on some of these, so don't yank the crown to hard when setting the time.


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## Shangas

Thanks for the reply  Will do as recommended. I keep the watch in a small felt & velvet jewellery-box when I'm not wearing it.


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