spinynorman

Famous last words.

Notched straps? I think that would work with concealed lugs, not so sure with long open lugs like the Newmark.

Yeah - I actually have some sympathy with your aversion to bund, but when the watch has 1960s fashionable 16mm lugs, what can you do? Actually, I don't like the colour of that strap either, I don't know why I bought it.

The Newmark Corvette, from somewhere between 1961 and 1966.

It's on Amazon for £161 ish, looks like the same one. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Designs-4586029-Storage-Drawer/dp/B002S0NM8M/

The movement is an FHF/ST 974 - you can see the logo and number under the balance wheel in your photo. Dates to mid 1970s. http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&0&2uswk&FHF_974 You can look up the history of Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF) in various places, for example https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=Fabrique_d'Horlogerie_de_Fontainemelon And our resident historian @Always"watching" has written about Technos. https://thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?/topic/141956-technos-watches-a-short-account-of-a-long-history/&tab=comments#comment-1462613 I hope you will enjoy your attractive and interesting watch. Pictures embedded for easy reference.

That happens to me. I set the watch to the right time, and later notice it's an hour out. I think it's gremlins mucking about.

I gave up trying to keep the old 6100A movement going in this and decided to try a movement swap. So it's now running a Miyota 1M02. Along the way I learned how not to break a screw-down crown and had lots of practice at hand setting, though I did break the old ones.

Edit - you know that's Hermann Becker, right? Mikrolisk doesn't list any German owners of the trademark though.

Dial code? For different colours?

Movement looks good, do you think the dial would clean up at all? I don't know "Maritime Special", who is that?

Success! The donor watch arrived and, with some help from a soldering iron, was able to gently unscrew the old stem and fit the new one. The new crown screws down perfectly. Thanks for your help @nevenbekriev.

This mornings arrival, another Talis. Very solid brushed stainless steel case and running a 21J AS 2066, signed Solvil & Titus, which is interesting in itself.

This comes under the heading of "why on earth did I buy that?". It's a Sully Special, very beat up dial and equally beat up chrome plated 31mm case. It's been in the sin bin for over a year and I thought it didn't work, but with a little coaxing it's been ticking away on my desk all day. Inside is a respectable 17J AS 1686. Now I'm wondering what to do with it. I do have a NOS case that the works would fit, but is the dial worth it? Alternatives, use the movement to resurrect something else, or get tuppence for it on Ebay. Any other suggestions vintage fans - what do you think?

Thanks Neven. I have found a "for parts" watch with, I think, the same screw-down assembly. It's on the way to me now. Assuming it is right, I will try unscrewing the stem with some heat and hope that works.

@Always"watching" It's good to see this coming back to the top of the pile, Honour. I think it's one of your best. In the spirit of your starting point - that the work would never be finished - I now have access to the archives of the BHI Journal and had a look to see what that says about Accurist. That's thrown up a few things I find intriguing. First, in an article about the UK watch trade during WW2, the writer says the Loftus family were already large importers of watches at the outbreak of the war, but not under the Accurist brand. Then, in October 1949, an advert by the Accurist company themselves announced that the watches would now be "made available to retailers around the country". The advert goes on to say "Accurist watches are nationally known because they have been nationally advertised during the past 7 years, to a greater extent than any other watch in Britain." That means advertising started in 1942, which is also when the first UK trademark was registered. There is unfortunately nothing to say how Accurist watches were sold in the intervening period, but in future there would be two categories of dealer: jewellers who stocked only a selection of models, and Main Stockists, who carried the whole range. Enquiries from national advertising would be passed to the local stockist. In the fourth quarter of 1965, Accurist spent £63,240 on advertising, by far the largest spend of any of the leading watch companies. Their adverts for Xmas 1966 were scheduled for The Sunday Express, The News of the World and The People - so not exactly an up-market audience. The October 1959 issue refers to the launch by Accurist of a new sub-brand "Regency", to be manufactured in France. A Google image search reveals a few of those in the usual places, but here's a clip from the 1978 Grattan catalogue. Regarding "Old England", Richard Loftus is mentioned in a Sept 1967 article on latest trends in fashionable watches. Then, early in 1968, a party from the BHI Cheltenham branch went to Watch Dials Ltd in Burford to hear from the works manager about Old England fashion watches, which were"designed to appeal to fashion-conscious women and retail at £4 to £5 each." The party was divided as to whether Old England had a future or was just a flash in the pan. At the start of 1969, Old England Watches Ltd was reported to have appointed Prescott Clock and Watch Co Ltd as sole UK distributors. In 1971 the company announced a "Motorist Wristwatch", sadly not pictured, featuring a 1 jewel EB 8461. The company is never mentioned in the Journal again, as far as I can see, and no connection with Accurist is ever referred to in any of the reports. Aside from the BHI Journal, I've found "Old England" watches "from the House of Accurist" in Argos catalogues from the 1970s. For example ... As far as I can see, the main Accurist brand appeared in all kinds of other catalogues from the 50s through to the 90s, but not in Argos until the 1980s, when Old England disappears. Make of that what you will.

Citizen Homer 17J cal 0201. I thought "Phynox" was the model name, but turns out it's the alloy the spring is made out of. Though I'd posted this earlier, but clearly neglected to press Submit Reply.