cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
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Care & Feeding of a Watch Collection 2: Education & Understanding
Education and Understanding
Dear Purist/Collector,
This is part 2 of a many-part series, all revolving around building and maintaining a watch collection. This post deals with information about watches that is of interest to a collector.
It's possible to know "all about" watches, in general, and still not understand the watches you might find yourself buying for your collection. Thus you might find yourself needing an education AFTER a purchase, in order to understand what you have bought. Ideally you might think you would learn BEFORE buying, but that would apply only to the extremely rational ones of us; but sadly rationality is not a prerequisite for collecting!
For example, when I first started, I was given a Zodiac "mystery" watch by a friend. Not a great mystery perhaps, in retrospect, but I did want to know how it worked without having to take it apart. I learned that the hands and mystery dot were on separate glass sheets which revolved to display the time. A similar approach is used with clocks and was adapted by a newer company called Quinting for their transparent watches.
Later I got a YES watches, which introduced me to a 24-hour dial, single hand, varying background representing daylight and nighttime, moon phase, etc. I needed the user manual to understand what I was seeing. This watch helped me understand a lot more aspects of time, beyond minutes and seconds. Eventually the digital movement and large case got to me, and I sold it, but I still enjoyed the journey of learning about the brand, the rationale and the concepts it represented.
For example, in the photo the upper half of the dial is displaying the hours of sun and the lower half shows how much darkness we'll have this day. It must be winter.
My next example is the Accutron Spaceview. The lack of a dial forces you to ask the question - why does it hum? How does it work? After buying 4 of these, I also ended up buying a Accutron Repair Kit complete with microscope, tools and instruction books. (curse you, eBay!) But now I know how it worked (past tense - it's now dead). And how if I was talented enough and had the parts, I could fix it.
Or for another example - this beautiful AP star wheel -- how does it work? It's been too mysterious and too unlikely that I'll buy one, so I haven't figured it out.
I realized that I knew almost nothing about watches. Here's one with a 24-hour dial. What's that about? How easily can you re-learn to read a dial? It really irritated me after awhile.
Or should you bother with a one-hand watch. Could you be happy with just the vaguest of hints as to the time?
I stupidly sold this one, or I should say I quickly sold this one and rapidly (or stupidly) bought another. At least this one makes me smile.
Here's an Oris Regulator. Why does a watch (especially a diver) need to have a "regulator display" and how many different configurations of "regulator" hour and minute hands are there? I learned there were many. Maybe I can eventually find my folder full of regulator dial variants and make it part of this thread ...
Moving on to another question to be answered, regarding this Omega. Why is the movement sideways in the case? What were they thinking?
Moving on to another question to be answered, regarding this Omega. Why is the movement sideways in the case? What were they thinking?
One possible answer is that it's a driver's watch, and you strap it so the watch is on the inside of your wrist, that way you can see it easily when your hands are on the wheel. But are there other explanations?
How does lume work? Is it really radioactive? Is it safe? Can you use a Geiger counter (if you have an original Rolex dial)?
What about t those Ball watches with lume in little glass tubes? Is the material in the tubes radioactive? How does it differ from regular lume? I know you don't have to charge it in sunlight...
When you have found what you are looking for, come back and share with us! Because the watches of the past, present, and future are here at PuristSPro.
PuristSPro is an ideal spot for education and understanding. Look through our list of forums, go to the forum that interests you, and participate.How does lume work? Is it really radioactive? Is it safe? Can you use a Geiger counter (if you have an original Rolex dial)?
What about t those Ball watches with lume in little glass tubes? Is the material in the tubes radioactive? How does it differ from regular lume? I know you don't have to charge it in sunlight...
I bought this one on a whim, was disappointed that it doesn't light up the room at night, but still am charmed by its 63-tube glow.
Final example - apart from the fact that this Ventura has a "kinetic generator" inside, how did they make the crystal curve in multiple directions? How could they live with such a cool, clean dial when most watches are filled with explanatory text and logos? Who thought of putting little dots over the numbers on the date dial to indicate 10, 20 and 30 (so the numerals could be centered in the date window) ...
and so got this perpetual moon phase watch:
which eventually became far too involved to keep my interest, and so I now leave it to those with a more contemplative state of mind.
and for the extraordinarily intrigued of us, look at this dial and imagine the gear train which drives it. (photo credit MTF)
If you are interested in these sorts of questions, you should visit PuristSPro more often, and ask for help, or opinions. You can visit the WatchTech forum and increase your understanding.
If you want to go beneath the surface (or the dial) you can locate technical or parts manuals, just so you can study how your watch works, or how it is constructed. These can be obtained from manufacturers or some watch repair web sites.
Books
Remember Books? Don't forget books. I was always fascinated by the full moons that appear each month over my house ...
and so got this perpetual moon phase watch:
Prompting me to try to understand the magic behind the dial:
which eventually became far too involved to keep my interest, and so I now leave it to those with a more contemplative state of mind.
and for the extraordinarily intrigued of us, look at this dial and imagine the gear train which drives it. (photo credit MTF)
Exactly which watch did you buy?
A newcomer to the watch scene might think it's obvious that one knows exactly what "year, make and model" one has bought, but I've learned that we can easily buy cars AND watches without really knowing what we are getting. At that point we are stuck doing our research AFTER buying rather than before.
There are resources that can help inform us before we buy, or after the fact. PuristSPro of course is one of those resources.
In the case of Seikos, which is the brand I know best, one excellent resource was started by John Gauch, once known as Jayhawk. It's a photo repository where you can locate and identify your Seiko or other Japanese watch by its photo, and learn its factory code number which does NOT appear on anything except the hang tag or outer box. This database has been up on the web for about 10 years now. It can be found by searching. [Disclosure: I have contributed dozens of photos of my watches to this database]. Here's a listing to show you the potential riches:
PHOTOS
MARKETING MATERIALS & USER MANUALS
By searching the manufacturer site or the entire web, you are also likely to find collections of user manuals. They will give you instructions on setting your watch and using its complications.
Don't overlook the marketing materials, as they contain handy tips too, such as this introduction of the tachograph scale on the Daytona.
But the user manual may not be the kind of resource you need if you want to understand the background of the watch's development, or the cultural context into which it was launched.
BROCHURES and CATALOGS
You may want to read old brochures, period watch reviews, and acquire related accessories and documentation.
If you have to search farther afield, here's an example of what you might find online -- this is a screen listing for Seiko brochures - mostly Japanese market.
Stay tuned for more episodes in this SERIES
LINK TO POST THREE (later)
Care & Feeding of a Watch Collection 2: Education & Understanding
Education and Understanding Dear Purist/Collector, This is part 2 of a many-part series, all revolving around building and maintaining a watch collection. This post deals with information about watches that is of interest to a collector. It's possible to ...
This series of posts is a great idea. Of course it is better to do your own homework
Before rather than after your purchase. It is safer. But understanding how it works, how it was made, the idea behind the Watch is the only way to fully appreciate the tic tac you bought or you are considering to buy. And Watchprosite is THE ressource! Be...
