I fixed my dad's watch!!!

[twall]

@ Jetblast:

Thanks. I always liked the watches that are different. If you've seen one Rolex, you've seen 'em all......well, not quite, but I tell myself that anyhow....

LOL @ your RC heli description.........I fly micro helis, and I'd rather work on a watch, sometimes. Although I did take the inner chassis totally apart on my Syma 107, to replace the main rotor shaft. That was NOT fun.

Me and this watch go waaaaay back, long before dad gave it to me!

I'd always snuck into my parent's room as a kid and snooped in my dad's jewelry box. He didn't have much in there....but this watch was always there. He never wore it. I didn't really know what it was. I thought it was some kind of calendar, but I was still enamoured with it anyhow. It shocked me when he gave it to me, and FURTHER shocked me to learn it was a digital watch! I'd fallen in love with it before that, though (my dad probably already knew I was in his stuff snooping - I never took anything, but I always loved looking at that strange metal calendar thingy in there. :wink:.) As an aside, i never snooped in his stuff again after he gave me this watch.....that's the only thing I snooped for! It was some kind of innocent magnetism to it.........strange how that works sometimes, eh?

 

[173abn]

Twall,my most expensive automatic which is a chronograph w/moon phase and calander I keep in a watch winder which auto. windes it at preset times.I used to wear it but I do so much manual labor around my place I did'nt want to ruin it.They aren't that expensive,there's tons of em on the net.The regular watch I wear is an Eco-Drive chrono.Good watch ,not heavy on the wrist don't have to worry about replacing the battery because it's powered by light.You don't want the battery in it to go down though,it has a meter that shows the charge.If it don't get enough sun I set it by a light to charge the battery.I gave my Nephew a Special Ops. watch when he got back from his second tour in Iraq.It had a carbon fiber face and had a 10yr rechargable battery .It had a saddle shaped charger that you would place the watch on and it would charge through the case.A word of caution,don't ever by a watch made in China,especially automatics and chronos.JUNK!don't ask me how I know!..russ

 

[twall]

Hmmm, my Dashtronic is a Chinese movement, and I have never had a problem. I also have a Stauer Graves, with day, month, date, and sun/moon dials. Also a Chinese auto. Again, not a hitch. Unless you're talking a less-than-reputable Chinese Rolex (or Omega, IWC, TAG, etc....) rep, I have yet to have a problem with China movt.'s......

Although, when a gen Seiko 5 can be had for $51 on Amazon with free shipping brand new - the Chinese autos seem risky. But, that's not based on my exp, I have had a lot of good luck with the jeweled movements......

Citizen (makers of the Eco-Drive you mentioned) makes a fine watch. I have a shoebox full of Citizen automatics I just won on ebay. I'm gonna get a small real toolkit, and see if I can turn a dime on these things........

Did I mention I did the transplant on my watch without proper tools? A 99 cent "precision" screwdriver set, tweezers, and an xacto knife was it....:biggrin:

Stauer Graves ( a very nice nod to the pocket watch ordered by banker Henry Graves in 1933 - the Supercomplication) 27 jewel automatic movement (Chinese movt.):

 

[173abn]

wierd because that's what these two chronographs are,Stauer.Both the same timepiece,both 31jewels and both with the same problem.When in the chrono mode the 60 sec. hand won't advance the minute hand.The watch's themself are beautiful watches and they keep good time but if the stopwatch part don't work I got no use for them,they go in the box and are put away.When I was a junior in high school back in 65 I ran crosscountry and track so I saved my summer caddy money and bought me a really nice windup Tissot chronograph,cost me $100.00.That watch lasted me my high school career,I don't know how many parachute jumps in the Army but didn't make it through Vietnam,it got shot off my hand in a firefight one night and I never saw it again...russ

 

[twall]

wierd because that's what these two chronographs are,Stauer.Both the same timepiece,both 31jewels and both with the same problem.When in the chrono mode the 60 sec. hand won't advance the minute hand.The watch's themself are beautiful watches and they keep good time but if the stopwatch part don't work I got no use for them,they go in the box and are put away.When I was a junior in high school back in 65 I ran crosscountry and track so I saved my summer caddy money and bought me a really nice windup Tissot chronograph,cost me $100.00.That watch lasted me my high school career,I don't know how many parachute jumps in the Army but didn't make it through Vietnam,it got shot off my hand in a firefight one night and I never saw it again...russ

I do believe Stauer chronos do not abide by any known standard as far as the chrono movement goes.....they are not NOT true chronographs, I am sad to say. Stauer no longer offers ANY mechanical "chronographs", and the quartz ones are like you say, not a true chrono. I also own the Stauer quartz Flyboy chrono, and like you, I was not happy with the chronograph function. I have a Casio Atomic Wave Ceptor that is a TRUE analog chronograph.....and the face charges the batt, like the Eco-Drive.......

So, in that realm, you are correct, but not because the movement doesn't WORK (which is my definition of junk), but because it doen't work to any known standard.........it works just fine, but in a cheap non-standard way. I probably muddied that all up, but I hope you get my drift.

 

[twall]

I must say, I also belong to a watch forum. I could only get a couple of 'that's a wierd watch' and 'congrats' from them. But, I have a 14 reply thread here. This is a LAWN MOWER FORUM!!!

This truly speaks to what a great place this is to be.

Thanks again to all!

 

[KennyV]

Well there is a close association between watches and mowers...
A watch can tell you when it's time to mow...
and I see it is now time to mow. I'll leave you all here for a few hours and burn some diesel... later. :smile:KennyV

 

[twall]

Well, I visited my dad on Sunday (wearing the fixed watch). I said "remeber this?" You should have seen the look on his face! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: All he could say (twice, in fact) was "Well, I'll be damned"........:laughing:

Think I was happy to have fixed that watch? Dad didn't even know I still HAD it! Very happy man......:wink: Guess he didn't know himself what that thing meant to me......:smile::smile:

We got talking about it (my mom was amazed I still had it, too.....), and it came from Present Co. (dunno if it was a nationwide chain, or a NE thing), and it was VERY expensive. I do remember my mom having a snit over giving a kid such an expensive watch......."he'll just break it or take it apart" was what she said......:laughing:

HOW WELL SHE KNOWS ME!!!!

 

[Jetblast]

Nice payoff. :thumbsup:

 

[JDgreen]

Have not worn a watch since late '02 (retired about that time) but sometimes miss wearing one. HTF do you measure seconds when your Blackberry clock only lets you count minutes or hours?

I would download a stopwatch application, if I could just find the TIME to do that....:laughing::laughing: