# 1920'S / 1930'S Mens And Ladies Watches



## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

My sister is having a party to celebrate turning thirty, so she is holding a 20's to 30's party where everyone has to dress in 1920's or 30's outfits.

Naturally, my first thought was to what to put on my wrist!

I'm on the look out for watches for me and my wife. Her's is quite easy, as cocktail watches didn't really change for 30 years. Any cheap brands i should keep an eye out for? If i'm going to keep mine then it has to be 34mm or more, but no converted pocket watch monsters.

Any recommendations? Definately under Â£100, and the cheaper the better.


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## bjohnson (Oct 2, 2007)

scottswatches said:


> My sister is having a party to celebrate turning thirty, so she is holding a 20's to 30's party where everyone has to dress in 1920's or 30's outfits.
> 
> Naturally, my first thought was to what to put on my wrist!
> 
> ...


Cocktail watches for ladies became popular after the dirty 30s. You should be looking for an art deco model. There are plenty of brands but you can't go wrong with Bulova since they are plentiful, good quality, and they seem to still have lots of parts available.

For yourself, wristwatches were just becoming popular for men so you will find that many of them are low jewelled versions or converted pocketwatches (the factories often used ladies pocketwatch movements and put them in wristwatch cases .. so even though they came from the factory, they could be considered converted pocket watches). For around Â£100 you might be able to get a Hamilton or an Illinois, but Bulova is again a good suggestion for the availability and cost factors (if the movement has a symbol instead of a letter/number code, then it's from prior to 1949).


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

If it was me, I'd be looking at this:

*Wolbrook, 17-jewel, manual wind - Â£29!*










OK, it's from the 50's/60's I reckon but it has the right look about itÂ  Â Other than that, I fear you'll need to consider some of the fashion brands like Sekonda or Accurist that both do quartz, rectangular, "Tank" style watches for around Â£25-Â£50. Â Or Citizen do a similar Eco-Drive for around Â£80.Â


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## bjohnson (Oct 2, 2007)

For ladies you should be looking for something like this (circa 1920 to 1940):










or this (circa 1900 to 1930):










rectangular watches were also popular.

and for you, this 1914 one (image lifted from some hapless victim)










You'll have trouble finding a man's watch from that era that is larger than 34mm.

Here's my 1926 Waltham in gold case (it's 27mm wide and above your price limit)










Here's a 1929 Waltham










and a 1926 Bulova (a lot of the filth is actually a discoloured crystal):










The Bulova web site www.mybulova.com has a lot of vintage ads from the 1920s and 1930s to give you an idea of the styles available at the time.


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