# Ralco Watch C.1936



## Mr B

Hello all,

I was obviously a very good boy last year, and my wife's Grandfather gave me another of his old watches. I absolutely love his collection as every piece has been a big part of his life.

This year's watch was a Ralco, his 21st birthday present, which I make 1936.

I'd love to post a photo of the watch and the movement, but I'm guessing I can't do that yet.

I would really like to know more about Ralco, where they fitted into the watch hierachy etc back in the 30s. It has a stainless steel case, with a black face, gold numbers and a bronze outer dial. It also has a sub-dial at 6 o'clock which shows the seconds.

So the bad news. The watch doesn't go and the strap has rotten. Can anyone recommend the first steps I need to take about getting it looked at? I live near Oxford in the UK. And if anyone can tell me more about straps that would fit the period, I'd be hugely grateful!

Thank you all,

Garford.


----------



## harryblakes7

Hi Garford and welcome to the Forum!! :welcome:

Sounds like a nice watch, if you look at this forums main page it will show you on the watch discussion site at the top how to upload pictures, these watches mainly had leather straps. Ralco watches were made by Movado, which is a very good quality maker, depending on the movement it may have a lower grade type than a movado movement, would be interesting to see the dial

Regards,

Harry


----------



## AVO

It would help if you were able to post a picture. What is the lug width, and are they fixed lugs or do they need a spring bar?


----------



## Mr B

Ah! Thanks for the tip!

Here are the images:

















Avo, I will have to get back to you on those questions tomorrow! Thanks for the interest!

Garford


----------



## pugster

get some autosol /brasso/polywatch/ light cutting compound on that crystal  , looks to have a nice movment ,look under the balance wheel and tell us if you see any numbers (might need a loop / magnifiying glass)


----------



## AVO

If it doesn't go you will need to get it looked at by a watchmaker. I'd suggest you google "watch repairs oxford" and ring around. In my experience a lot of the best (small independent) people don't maintain a website.

Strap: can't post links directly, but if you google "vintage watch straps" you'll get the idea. Though at a guess I'd say your watch has an 18mm lug width and takes a spring bar, so a strap would be easy to obtain.

Good luck.


----------



## Mr B

Hi Avo, I'd say 18mm, and yes, they're spring bars.

As I'm not sure how many strap changes this piece has undergone, I've no idea what the original strap would have looked like. If anyone has a suggestion for the style of leather strap that they think would probably have adorned the original, I'd be grateful to hear about it.



pugster said:


> get some autosol /brasso/polywatch/ light cutting compound on that crystal  , looks to have a nice movment ,look under the balance wheel and tell us if you see any numbers (might need a loop / magnifiying glass)


Sorry, Pugster, no numbers that I can see. It is apparent, on close inspection, that one end of the spring has come loose, so that would go someway to explaining the lack of timekeeping.


----------



## bjohnson

Picked this up in my internet travels

"Ralco" watches were produced by Movado, the name originating from the first letter of the names of three members of the Ditesheim family (owners of Movado), Roger, Armand and Lucien.

For more information on Ralco watches, please refer to Van Osterhausen's book, "The Movado History".

I think that's a FHF186 movement

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&a&2uswk&FHF_186


----------

