# Roamer Brevete



## marius (Mar 11, 2005)

A very hearty Good afternoon. Still being on the hunt for a few old Roamers and Rotary's, I found a Brevete, which arrived today. Shock resist, antimagnetic, 17 jewel. Old. Dirty. But it seems to be running strong and has not gained nor lost noticably since this morning.

I did the due dilligence thing, tried to find some information on dating Roamers, but no luck thus far. Can anyone give me some hints in the right search direction, please?

This one has 215999 and 180459 on the back. I have not been able to look at the movement itself yet, everything comes out of the back in a can. I guess you have to remove the hands and dial somehow to get into the innards. I am utterly disqualified for that.

Oh, I also did bite on the Rotary I asked about a while ago. That also got here a few days ago. Movement looks very nice and also seems to run good, although I have not timed it at all. This one though looks like it has been through a mill. The dial was bent, the seconds hand was the only thing preventing the other two hands from dropping off the spindles, the positioning/spacing ring looks like a homemade bent can top. I found that the dial pins were not completely pushed back into the movement, and it seems that the case was just violently closed, bending the edges of the dial back into a much deeper saucer shape that I guess it should have been. I managed to actually rub the dents out from the back, getting the edges nice and even, I managed to get it all back into place, and now the hands actually sit quite nicely too! Virtually no trace of dents on the dial, all in all looks quite presentable now.

Thanks in advance to anyone with info on the Roamer dating..

Marius.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

And a good night to you









Sounds like you`ve brought the Rotary back from the brink there, well done, a before and after photo would be nice if possible









Sorry I`ve no idea about dating Roamers but I hope someone else can help


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## marius (Mar 11, 2005)

I always get too eager to rip into it to remember to take "before" pictures.

I do think I did save this Rotary, although it still needs some saving before it will be completely saved. It is part of the "Stop the carnage" drive. I have caught a few nice ones fairly cheap, and changed them dramatically by just cleaning the outside. When I used to play with cars, I was always looking for one with a good body and a shot engine, because engines could be restored back to new with much less hassle than bodywork. Now, with watches, it is just the opposite. I know not anything about fixing the engines, so now I look for a good running engine with a bad but fixable body. I shall take a few pictures.

Marius


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## cityman (Nov 13, 2005)

marius said:


> A very hearty Good afternoon. Still being on the hunt for a few old Roamers and Rotary's, I found a Brevete, which arrived today. Shock resist, antimagnetic, 17 jewel. Old. Dirty. But it seems to be running strong and has not gained nor lost noticably since this morning.
> 
> I did the due dilligence thing, tried to find some information on dating Roamers, but no luck thus far. Can anyone give me some hints in the right search direction, please?
> 
> ...


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## cityman (Nov 13, 2005)

marius said:


> A very hearty Good afternoon. Still being on the hunt for a few old Roamers and Rotary's, I found a Brevete, which arrived today. Shock resist, antimagnetic, 17 jewel. Old. Dirty. But it seems to be running strong and has not gained nor lost noticably since this morning.
> 
> I did the due dilligence thing, tried to find some information on dating Roamers, but no luck thus far. Can anyone give me some hints in the right search direction, please?
> 
> ...


i also have this roamer model...it belong to my father,who got it in WW2.

LES


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

hi marius

roamer and rotary are among my favourite old swiss makes,these days unfortunately,rotary have gone down in my estimation







,very shallow gold e/p on more recent watches,and bugger me,i've got one with a miyota movement in it







.

i'm not sure if anyone uses the roamer name these days,i used to own one that was beautiful,the case back was even better with the swiss cross and the brevette mark (what does brevette mean anyhow?,as i've got some very old rolex movements stamped with it)this particular watch needed a balance shaft,as the chap that gave it to me had dropped it on to a quarry tiled floor-ouch!!.

i don't knbow what happened to the watch,it just seemed not to be in any of my boxes or bags of watches/parts anymore









anyhow, sorry but i don't know how to date these watches

regards,john.


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## USEDMODEL (Mar 26, 2005)

johnbaz said:


> hi marius
> 
> roamer and rotary are among my favourite old swiss makes,these days unfortunately,rotary have gone down in my estimation
> 
> ...


Brevette normally means patent or patented.

The numbers on the watch, the two numbers in your original post are Swiss patent numbers.

I have several watches with with brevette and patent numbers and actually traced the patents.

One of my patents 337462 was to do with the winding stem seals another 317573 was to do with the rear case seals, the next 340191 was something to do with the gears.

There is a website where you can trace worldwide patents, on a trial basis but have lost the address, sorry.

Roy


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

ahh,thanks roy,there's always someone that can help on the forum









regrds,john.


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## marius (Mar 11, 2005)

Good morning gentlemen. Thank you for the information. Interesting. The first Roamer I ever laid eyes on also belonged to my father. I actually wore it for about a year in high school, till I got my first Citizen Automatic. This Roamer was the one that my father used to tap on the kitchen table from time to time. He would explain that the hairspring had got hooked over itself while he was doing something or another, and the watch would run like a racing model until he "re-set" it by giving it a knock in just the right spot. Unfortunately, this one also got lost somehow.

I have just two Roamers the "Brevette" and a "Premier". The "Premier" actually has a 10kt gold marking inside the case back. Both running well as long as I remember to wind them. Both dials are old and not too pretty any more, but unless I happen to find a really good dial guy, I am not going to mess with them at all. The minute markers on the one are completely gone, and it is a shame because it has a really nice long seconds hand, now pointing very accurately at nothing.

If I find any more info, I shall report it back here.

It's early in the week, I hope everybody is going to have a good one.


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## Andrew Lee (Aug 21, 2007)

Hi

I know very little about watches (well, nothing in fact) but I've inherited an old watch my father used to wear all the time. It's a Roamer and it's 26mm in diameter. I think it's a pretty standard model as the numbers on the back (215999 & 180459) seem everyday patent numbers. In with this watch, I've inherted my mum's Roamer watch as well, which has its original strap, and another Vogis watch which my father owned, which measres 33mm in diameter. I live in Bath, UK and wondered if anyone knows of a good restorer?

Thanks in anticipation for your help.

Andrew


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

I just picked up an old Roamer last week. It looks to be from the 50's. The movement needs some attention and the crystal is crying for a polish, but for $10.00 it wasn't too bad. It is about 30 mm across, dainty by today's standards.



















Later,

William


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