# Interesting find



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

My wife and I have been clearing out her mother's house as she has had to go into a nursing home and we need to sell the house to pay the exorbitant fees. :angry:

At the back of a drawer we came across this old Roamer which nobody knew anything about. Naturally I grabbed it PDQ!










It appeared to be in pretty good nick, the crystal is pretty well scratch free. It was fully wound but not running.

In the box with it was a receipt dated 1952 which showed that it had cost the princely sum of seven pounds one shilling and fourpence! That's about £180 in today's money I think. A considerable investment when you consider that the average wage was around £10 a week at the time.










I don't know if the watch was new or second-hand, but it did come with a generous 10 year guarantee from the jeweller!










Apparently Browns closed down in 2007 after trading continuously on the same Liverpool street for 177 years.

The movement also looked to be in good shape so I was disappointed that it wasn't working.










I did notice that one of the movement retaining screws was missing (around 2 o'clock in the above photo). I wondered if this screw could be floating about in the movement and gumming up the works, but couldn't see anything and couldn't hear anything rattling about.

It was only later when I enlarged the photo that I noticed this:










At 12 o'clock you can just see a tiny screw jammed between one of the cogs and the watch case. After much fiddling and cursing I managed to unjam it and get it out. The movement immediately sprang into life and has been ticking away merrily ever since! :clap: The head of the screw had snapped off and is still missing.......

I just have to check out the accuracy and see how long it runs from fully wound. I also need to find a suitable 16mm strap as it came on a naff expanding job that's way too small for me anyway.

So, fingers crossed that it keeps going, but so far a great result and I'm chuffed that I was able to fix it myself. :thumbs_up:


----------



## Karrusel (Aug 13, 2016)

What a great find, love the crab/lobster lugs :yes:

Jammie bu++er. :laugh:


----------



## animalone (Apr 11, 2017)

Well done, great looking watch.


----------



## SBryantgb (Jul 2, 2015)

What a great find Jon :thumbsup: The dial and hands look almost pristine, and I guess you know why it went to the back of a drawer. One would assume after 1962.

Been down the Mother in law to the nursing home route, although we finally bought a larger house and converted the garage and a third of the house for the live in carer. Tnow he expense is astronomical. That was 5yrs ago. Looking like we are going to be moving on selling her house soon.

Not a fan of the crab leg case though.


----------



## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

What a great end to a sad day :thumbs_up:


----------



## Pete wilding (Jul 13, 2017)

MARTINZX summed it up perfectly


----------



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

Nice comments, thanks gents. Crab leg case - is that what the design is called? When I look at it all I can think of is chicken. :biggrin:

The good news is it's still going 20+ hours later and appears to be running just a few seconds fast.

Meanwhile....another day, another drawer, another discovery!:










This time a Citizen Leopard automatic, model 67-2068. No receipt, but the warranty card is dated 1975.

One or two minor scratches on the crystal and some of the gold plating has rubbed off in places. The lume on the hands and indices has completely faded.










If I'm reading the numbers right it was made in October 1973, but Parawater? What's that all about?

The movement inside is a very nice Citizen hi-beat 7230, running at 36000 bph. It has 28 jewels and a beautifully smooth sweeping central second hand that hacks. It can be hand wound and has a quickset date. The day is set by advancing the hour hand pass midnight, so that can get a bit tedious.










Design-wise it's perhaps not something I would buy myself, but it's different and I certainly won't be parting with it anytime soon!


----------



## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

i don't see the tiny screw, but that has happened to me a few times. good show! vin


----------



## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

There I am trawling far and wide trying to find watches with box and papers and you keep tripping over them!

Nice finds. The Roamer is a Cal. 400

http://roamer-watches.info/MST351.shtml

These MST movements are pretty good, unlike the crap lesser quality movements Roamer started to use 1975 onwards


----------



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

vinn said:


> i don't see the tiny screw, but that has happened to me a few times. good show! vin


 I've highlighted the little bugger for you. I didn't even spot it with a loupe, only when I enlarged the photo.


----------



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

scottswatches said:


> There I am trawling far and wide trying to find watches with box and papers and you keep tripping over them!
> 
> Nice finds. The Roamer is a Cal. 400
> 
> ...


 Great information, thanks.

KarruseI had guessed it would be a 400 but I have been struggling to make out the number as it's hidden directly beneath the rim of the balance wheel.


----------



## gimli (Mar 24, 2016)

A very beautiful Roamer you have there in very good condition. I'm not surprised it started to tick right away. Vintage Swiss movements (even the lesser quality ones) were of good quality and they can even function while dirty and unlubricated.

Indeed your watch is a 1950s one.

The lugs are called spider lugs because they look like spider legs (not crabs :angry: ). Usually this designed was used in the 40s and 50s but there might be 60s watches with such a design out there, I don't know.

The Antimagnetic on the dial tells us that it was destined for the UK market or USA/the world. As opposed to Antimagnetique which usually meant continental Europe. Antimagnetique ones are rarer and more sought after as far as I know.


----------



## dobra (Aug 20, 2009)

Like the Roamer very much, and glad you have it running again. Good timekeeper ? Would prefer the Citizen with a good quality brown leather strap.....

mike


----------



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

dobra said:


> Like the Roamer very much, and glad you have it running again. Good timekeeper ? Would prefer the Citizen with a good quality brown leather strap.....
> 
> mike


 It's been running just over 27 hours now and so far accuracy seems to be good. It seems to run slightly fast on the bench, but on the wrist it's spot on.

I understand that these movements are supposed to have a 35 hour power reserve when new, so it's not doing too bad in that department either.

I agree about the Citizen strap, that gold mesh is just too blingy for me.


----------



## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Love that Roamer, I've had a couple of similar vintage and they were excellent. Citizen is great too. You need a matching vintage Toyota Crown to compliment it.


----------



## Redwolf (Jun 15, 2010)

Really lovely finds. I hope you enjoy them, and find some more fingers crossed.


----------



## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

WRENCH said:


> Love that Roamer, I've had a couple of similar vintage and they were excellent. Citizen is great too. You need a matching vintage Toyota Crown to compliment it.


 The Crown Custom wasn't a very common car here in the UK, My dad had an estate, Sadly he passed away in 1990, I had the car and ran it for a few years but then parked it up and bought a newer one!

The chassis number of mine was a load of 0's then 72 at the end!!

These pics are as she was! (She's still around but now is a Wolf in Sheeps clothing!)..



















The chap that had her from me has taken the body from the chassis and fitted it to a Subaru Imprezza so I call her a Subarota now!!..

To the OP, Those two watches are fab!!, I especially like the stylised Leopard!! :notworthy:

John


----------



## Chris 37 (Jun 24, 2017)

Great finds there, glad you circled the jamming screw, i couldn't spot it even when enlarging your pic. The paperwork adds so much to the find, congratulations.


----------



## Mr Wright (Aug 6, 2017)

Lovely story Lancman. Awesome little piece too


----------

