# Musical Fool Looking For My First Pocket Watch



## s10lemon (Mar 15, 2011)

Hello All.

I found this forum yesterday and Iâ€™ve been reading through the posts trying to pick up a few pointers, but this morning I thought Iâ€™d start a thread for the hell of it

Iâ€™m in the market for a pocket watch, as on Sunday night and not for the first time I left my lovely Omega Sea master just sitting on a speaker stack in an empty rehearsal room. I remembered about halfway home, and luckily it was still there where I got back.

I take the wrist watch off to play certain bits of guitar stuff and I should put it in my pocket but Iâ€™m an idiot so I donâ€™t always, anyway thats the why.

The what is why Iâ€™m posting, It occurred to me that I pocket watch would sit in the little â€˜condomâ€™ pocket in my jeans ( I donâ€™t need this for condoms as I am married, old and ugly ) , this would prevent the fairly regular heart attack caused by the leaving of the watch. Also they are nice tactile things, and so this is a good excuse to get one ;-)

Iâ€™m thinking of something in silver, ideally with a chain. It has to keep time for about 4 hours twice a week, and even then Iâ€™m not worried about a few minutes s here or there.

And was thinking of spending up to Â£100.

I did look on Flee bay, but I donâ€™t like to buy guitar bits from there, and would have the same concerns with a watch (not the item in the photo, stolen, broken or all 3).

So good people of the Watch forum, what do you think?

Is the budget realistic, is the specification sensible, and where should I look?

I should add I donâ€™t have a lot of free time so I was kind of hoping I could hook up with an enthusiast who might be buying , swapping and selling the odd watch, in a similar way to what us musical types do (if anyone fancies a trade for an Ibanez Gio electric guitar let me know ;-).

Any advice gratefully received.

Best regards

Steve


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hi Steve,

I can relate to this. I'm a pianist and I hated wearing a wristwatch when I played the piano. The extra weight unbalances my hands and makes playing uncomfortable.

A little historical nicknack - Your 'condom pocket' is your watch-pocket. They were originally designed to hold pocketwatches. That's why they're so small and tight - It's to prevent the watch falling out.

A chain is an absolute necessity. You cannot wear a pocketwatch without one...and certainly not in the watch-pocket of your jeans. You'd never be able to yank the watch out without it. You will need a spring-ring chain, like this one:










My 1918 Elgin with a gold spring-ring chain.

This is what it will look like when you wear it:










And out of the pocket...










I can't make any recommendations about buying a silver watch (they don't appeal to me) but I'm happy to help with any other, more general watch questions, that you might have.

I will say this much, though. For a mechanical, silver-cased pocketwatch...no, that budget isn't realistic.

You have to account the following factors:

1. It's mechanical. It requires a servicing by a professional watchmaker. Add money.

2. It's silver. Valuable metal. Add money.

3. It's likely to be antique/vintage. Add money.

You can cut a few corners if you're willing to do stuff like...

1. Buy a watch with a few imperfections (cracks, dents, scratches etc).

2. Buy a nickel-cased watch. To the untrained eye, a nickel watch will look no different from a silver one.

3. Buy a stainless steel modern quartz pocketwatch. These don't look as nice and don't have the charm of the antiques, but they're cheap and reliable.


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## s10lemon (Mar 15, 2011)

Shangas,

Thanks so much for the response.

Not sure I want a bashed or nickel watch if I'm going to buy one I want to get something I want to look at.

So what should I be budgeting?

Steve


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

It depends, really. I've bought a nice, good-quality vintage pocketwatch for about $150 (give or take a bit), so your budget is a bit low. If you boost it up a bit, more options become available without being outrageously expensive.

Then you need to factor in the fact that the watch (if mechanical) will require the services of a professional watchmaker (this is non-negotiable. If you run the watch without servicing, you will damage it). Depending on who you pick, add around another $100 (or more) for that. So...at a rough estimate....$350? Maybe more.


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

Steve,

The small pocket in jeans may restrict your choice, It's a long time since I had a pair and can't remember the dimensions.

Watch sizes vary considerably, there are smaller/slimmer models and some are plain enormous. Older mens watches tend to be larger/thicker

I have a fondness for 50mm open face molnijas - still fairly cheap, robust and good timekeepers. They come in a suprisingly large number of dials and case back designs.

If you are just testing the water an inexpensive watch might be a good start, it will always come in as a beater.

Another favourite is Cortebert, mostly as bought by various state railways.

Have you a preferred case style; hunter, half hunter, open face ?

If you rifle through the pocket watch forum you should bump into something you like.

Julian (L)


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

My rule of thumb is thus: If you can fit three fingers comfortably into the watch-pocket of your trousers, then your watch-pocket is big enough to hold a 16-size pocketwatch. Given that my fingers are smaller than most people's, it should mean that if you can fit three fingers into your watch-pocket, it should be large enough to hold almost anything.


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## s10lemon (Mar 15, 2011)

Julian,

A â€˜starterâ€™ watch might be just the thing.

I think an open face will suit my need very well, I can get 3 digits in the watch pocket, so I think Iâ€™m ready to purchase

where would I find these for sale?

Steve


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hi Steve,

Good. You got trousers with usable watch-pockets.

I suggest looking at places such as www.pocketwatchsite.com and www.pocketwatcher.org. These are nice places to start looking for a pocket-watch. They range in prices from cheap to expensive, fancy to flat, hunter, open, half-hunter...you name it. You should be able to find something that you like there.

Just one thing - Pocketwatches are not always sold with watch-chains. So if you buy a watch, make sure it comes with its chain. If it doesn't, then you'll have to buy a chain seperately.


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

s10lemon said:


> Julian,
> 
> A â€˜starterâ€™ watch might be just the thing.
> 
> ...


Steve,

Email me - julian dot latham @ ntlworld dot com

Julian (L)


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

Hi,

Four years on the advice from Shangas & myself is just as pertinent. I would also add original Limit pocket watches - not the current Limit International - to the list of recommendations.

Using a Swiss movement by Revue Thommen in my experience the watches are reasonably robust and good time keepers.


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