I'm not sure what I'll wear. At this point I have so many that I often try to go for a theme for the week.
Last week, being a short work week, I did Matching or Integrated Bracelets, because I'd just finished fixing the Elgin Curtis, with integrated Hadley bracelet on the left. The Lord Elgin Stratford on the right had been fiished some weeks earlier, and had gotten the correct NOS JB Champion bracelet. That was Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday was this unnamed Elgin Deluxe.
Maybe this week I'll do Elgin's American Made automatics. I'll start with my 607...
I'm not sure what I'll wear. At this point I have so many that I often try to go for a theme for the week.
Last week, being a short work week, I did Matching or Integrated Bracelets, because I'd just finished fixing the Elgin Curtis, with integrated Hadley bracelet on the left. The Lord Elgin Stratford on the right had been fiished some weeks earlier, and had gotten the correct NOS JB Champion bracelet. That was Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday was this unnamed Elgin Deluxe.
Maybe this week I'll do Elgin's American Made automatics. I'll start with my 607...
A lot of my collection is already present in older threads! You just gotta look for it. Try searching on 'Theme'.
I'd observe that quality watches were quite expensive then, but they're still expensive now. Figure an inflation factor of about 10-fold for 1950 to today, and you get these watches selling in the $500-1000 range, which is about where you find Hamiltons and others now. Consider, though - for that price, you got a hand-assembled and timed, fully-jeweled mechanical movement, in a goldfilled case with a layer of gold thick enough to last through a decade or more of wear without brassing. Not so bad, considering!
One thing that HAS happened is that cheaper watches have gotten much, much better. First Timex and their durable and accurate unjeweled watches, and later quartz watches made it so you no longer had to choose between cost and accuracy. The cheapest $10 quartz watch is more accurate than all but the most expensive watches of the 1950s.
This is why I consider vintage American watches such a bargain. I often pick them up for less in 2013 dollars than they originally sold for in 1950 dollars! And they have years more life in them! They just need a little polishing, a new crystal and strap, and a real COA and they're good to go.
I'm sad to say this, but I don't think that's at all original. The case appears to be that of the 17j Lakeside*, but the dial isn't a Lakeside dial, and AFAIK no Elgin ever carried a dial like that from the factory. The closest to that effect would be the Cranston, but it's a completely different shape and not divided as much, nor with the divisions separated by lines.
I have that exact watch. Remember I thought it was a Lord Elgin because it had the American made auto in it?
I still look at that watch and think it is one of the classier Elgin dials for the period. In fact, I think the upscale look was part in parcel why I thought it was a LE.
The quality of the watches in this thread blows me away. I don't know where or whether to jump in with my little collection of mostly Accutrons so I decided to take this off of my wife's wrist and wear it a while myself just so I could post it here.
THANKS! AFAIK, this is one of those 'outside' wraparound crystals, where the crystal snaps over a lip on the bezel. Other Horizon Look crystals had an internal lip that holds onto the bezel, and have to be put on with a crystal press. Neither one can really be removed and replaced with a crystal lift.
Also, AFAIK none of the Horizon Look models are front loaders, which Elgin referred to as "One-Piece Case". I think the two concepts are incompatible. They did, however, make a number of 760/761s in One-Piece Cases, as you know.
Through the 1950s, Elgin made a number of different kinds of 'waterproof' cases. The most unusual are probably some of the non-round ones, which have 4 small screws holding the caseback on. The movement is held in a frame, and there are gaskets on both sides of the frame. One engages the crystal, and the other the caseback. Tightening the screws compressed the gaskets, supposedly sealing the movement. The frame had a tube for the stem, and a standard waterproof crown with O-ring. Great in theory. In practice, the hardened steel screws easily strip the brass threads in the case, or the screw heads rust - they weren't stainless! And based on the condition of a lot of the dials, they weren't really well sealed!
I wanted to post this last week, but I didn't have one pic. Finally took the pic on Saturday, then went to transfer to my PC, and the camera batteries were dead. "No problem" I thought, "I'll just get the other pair in the charger!" No dice. The younger boy used them in his game controller.
FINALLY, the things got recharged, and I got the picture uploaded to Photobucket.
Here goes: Last week, my theme was "15/0 Lord Elgins".
Monday, I wore what's often called the 'Driver', though Elgin didn't ever call it that in any ad from its introduction in 1939 till the last one was made sometime in the early 1950s. It's got a 538, the first 21j 15/0 movement:
Tuesday, I wore this one. It's from the early 1940s, and it's running a 559. The 559 replaced the 538 in 1940.
Wednesday, I wore this Parkton with a 626, the replacement for the 559.
Thursday it was a Kentwood, the very first Lord Elgin I ever got. It's got a 670, the next-to-last 15/0 Lord Elgin movement.
Friday I wrapped up the week with a Townsman, carrying the last of the 15/0 Lord Elgin movements, essentially a 670 with Kif shockproofing on the balance.
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