Rebuilding My Watch Collection

Kintarō Hattori

Folks,

I'm wondering if you lovely people wouldn't mind helping me out on a little journey. Earlier this year the good lady and myself bought a house. To help with the furnishing, appliances, buying our first car and so on I sold most of my belongings including my watch collection

I kept a few, a basic Seiko 5, a Poljot I picked up in Prague, a Timex Expedition I bought for work, a Rousseau I was given as a present and a few novelty watches I picked up from eBay/Deal Extreme. The bulk of my collection was Seiko, which would pretty much be my favourite brand. I don't tend to have a preference as to new or old..... it just needs to be a nice watch.

I realize watch designs vary hugely but I don't want to list a set of guidelines as I don't want to limit recommendations. I'll post below some of the watches I currently have/had have to give you an idea:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/3343298802/in/set-72157614940132266 - Gone
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/3374688952/in/set-72157614940132266
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/3374689726/in/set-72157614940132266 - Gone
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/3374690472/in/set-72157614940132266
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/3564358575/in/set-72157614940132266
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/4383465102/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/4512201631/

Oh I should add for my next watch I want to start small, with a budget of around €50.

Eoin

One of the members is selling this one for 65; it doesn't look a million miles away from your first one.

flutered

Eoin wrote: »

One of the members is selling this one for 65; it doesn't look a million miles away from your first one.

a contributer to this fourm is entitled to a reduction

Kintarō Hattori

Eoin wrote: »

One of the members is selling this one for 65; it doesn't look a million miles away from your first one.

Many thanks for that Eoin. While not a bad looking watch, another one they're selling has caught my attention.

flutered wrote: »

a contributer to this fourm is entitled to a reduction

Woo. Well I'd be interested in this one if you don't mind. Is it a large case or small?

Mycroft H

Vostok Amphibia?

Kintarō Hattori

BX 19 wrote: »

Vostok Amphibia?

Hmnn it's OK but not quite my cup of tea. If I buy a Russian watch then I like it to look REALLY Russian..... if you know what I mean.

I do appreciate the suggestion, so please keep them coming.

peasant

some "real Russians" for ya


http://www.ebay.de/itm/Original-RUSSIAN-Mechanical-AUTO-WINDING-WATCH-SLAVA-/170705015410?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item27becfd272


http://www.ebay.de/itm/SLAVA-MECHANISCHE-UHR-SELTEN-NEU-069-At-/220885304358?pt=DE_Kleidung_Schmuck_Accessoires_Uhren_Armbanduhren&hash=item336dca4426


joking aside ...on a small budget, vintage Russians offer a large variety and usually pretty good quality too

Kintarō Hattori

peasant wrote: »

some "real Russians" for ya


joking aside ...on a small budget, vintage Russians offer a large variety and usually pretty good quality too

Thanks peasant. Heh they are a little too 'bling' for me. I should have mentioned that I don't like gold on a watch. There are generally very few exceptions to this.

Looking over in the 'Todays bargain watch that I'm not buying' you posted some photos from a guy called Leon. He had some watches I would consider, based on style. I have no clue about movements and this is where I really need help from you folk. I quite liked the following two. For me a Russian watch shouldn't be too showy. It should look Russian without the need for a big red star or a hammer & sickle:


http://www.ebay.de/itm/RUSSIAN-VINTAGE-USSR-WATCH-RAKETA-24-HOURS-DIAL-/160681149844?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item256957c594#ht_853wt_1396


http://www.ebay.de/itm/Russian-Mechanical-mens-watch-POBEDA-15-jewels-/160630929865?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item25665979c9#ht_825wt_1396

When I got my Poljot in Prague I really liked it but was disappointed that the glass was in fact perspex. Is this common with Russian watches?

I also quite like these. There's plenty in that thread to give me ideas.

I know the budget is small now but it will grow with each watch. It's kinda hard to justify these expenses with the missus as she's a one woman watch and she tends to be very observant so she'll spot a new watch when it's being worn! :pac:

peasant

To answer your questions ...

Perspex is pretty much standard on vintage Russians ...has the advantage that minor scratches simply polish out.

I have a similar watch to your first one (gold with silver dial). One thing to note about these watches in their many varieties is that they are not authentic. Somewhere in a cellar in Russia there is a stash of old Raketa movements and cases. Somewhere in a kitchen in Russia someone is assembling these into 24h watches with old or new dials and any hands they can find. Some have the original 24h movement, others have other engines from the Raketa stable modified to show 24 hours.

Having said that (if my watch is anything to go by) they are nice watches, well made (for the money) and keep good time.


As for your second watch ...there are multitudes of these ZIM/Pobeda watches out there, from gorgeous to hideous.
These movements do not have shock protection, so keep this in mind when choosing one ...it won't work as a beater


Here is my wife's Zim and my 24h Raketa



One seller I would recommend for genuine Russian vintage watches at affordable prices is this guy:
http://stores.ebay.ie/Soviet-Rarities?_rdc=1
Nice guy, honest seller, speaks good English, will help when things go wrong and his father is a watchmaker, so most of his stock is serviced and he will also handle repairs, if neceessary

flutered

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Many thanks for that Eoin. While not a bad looking watch, another one they're selling has caught my attention.




Woo. Well I'd be interested in this one if you don't mind. Is it a large case or small?

it is large cased, if you are interested you can buy it and return it if you are not happy, just pay the return postage then i will refund you money

Kintarō Hattori

flutered wrote: »

it is large cased, if you are interested you can buy it and return it if you are not happy, just pay the return postage then i will refund you money

Great, who could argue with that. If you can PM me your paypal address I'll send you on the moola today. I'll head over to Adverts and state the same so it's all above board.



I'm Morawa over on Adverts (GF's account). Adverts wouldn't let me logon for years on account of the symbol in my boards username.

Kintarō Hattori

Well it's started. I just bought the above from flutered.

Eoin

Very unusual - reminds me of weighing scales!

flutered

most of my vintage stuff is, shall we say different.

Wibbs

I was tempted by that Yema myself KH. Very cool and great price too.

Kintarō Hattori

The watch from flutered arrived yesterday and it's lovely. It charmed everyone who saw it. I'll post up some images at the weekend when I have some decent light.

I'll post again in the thread when I'm looking for another watch, possibly around the middle of next month.


Many thanks for all the help folks.