Post by ianmedium on May 18, 2014 12:49:37 GMT -6
I know this probably should be in the frugals section but what the heck, it is officially a vintage as well and I think it deserves a bit more status!
I have been researching a great deal about Timex of late and having a great deal of fun finding out about the brand and what it represents in its place in horology.
Its an easy brand to knock but now owning a couple of vintage pieces I am wondering why its knocked as much as it is.
The movements are pretty much bullet proof and build quality when one thinks of the cost is excellent. They have pioneered a few things as well Vconic escapement, armaloy bearings both of which lead to low maintenance and exceptional shock resistance.
Then there are the electric movements which were really sophisticated for the time and now my latest revelation about the brand, their automatic movements!
What I found out is that most of them work on the same principal as the ones in IWC watches. Functionally the movement in the watch on its way to me is almost identical to Albert Pellatons famous patent for IWC.
Now, in no way am I saying the movement is of the same quality, of course not, its very basic looking and finished but it has a 54 year history of working well and longevity. Most of them that are still around work perfectly and keep good time, good enough for pretty much any circumstance in the real world anyway!
Dr Ranfft wrote this about the movements..
"Despite the poor finish, this is one of the most sophisticated automatic designs, and many
highest grade movements look pretty poor in comparison. And therefore it should not miss
in any collection of automatics."
And also this on his Timex automatics pages..
"pin-lever escapement
Sophisticated excenter self-winding with just one gear stage (Fig.4, 5):
An excenter on the rotor arbor moves a lever, which turns a ratchet wheel via two clicks. A planet differential gear on the dial side transmits the sum of automatic winding (small center wheel) and manual winding (peripheral gear) via the two planet wheels to the barrel arbor. So it implements both, different gear ratios and perfect decoupling of both winding sources."
www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&a&2uswk&Timex_M32
The one on its way to me was made in 1973, classic 70's cushion case in gold plate and the seller has fitted a lovely period Kreisler gold filled expansion bracelet with crocodile inserts, the bracelet looking around on its own goes for more than the offer i put in and was excepted was ($37)
It looks to be in excellent condition for the age, very little in the way of wear on the case and the dial and crystal are pretty much perfect.
The seller says its working perfectly and keeping excellent time. And to put the icing on the cake, this Elvis 70's bling style watch comes from its spiritual home.. Las Vegas!
Here is a picture from the seller, better ones once it gets here!
I have been researching a great deal about Timex of late and having a great deal of fun finding out about the brand and what it represents in its place in horology.
Its an easy brand to knock but now owning a couple of vintage pieces I am wondering why its knocked as much as it is.
The movements are pretty much bullet proof and build quality when one thinks of the cost is excellent. They have pioneered a few things as well Vconic escapement, armaloy bearings both of which lead to low maintenance and exceptional shock resistance.
Then there are the electric movements which were really sophisticated for the time and now my latest revelation about the brand, their automatic movements!
What I found out is that most of them work on the same principal as the ones in IWC watches. Functionally the movement in the watch on its way to me is almost identical to Albert Pellatons famous patent for IWC.
Now, in no way am I saying the movement is of the same quality, of course not, its very basic looking and finished but it has a 54 year history of working well and longevity. Most of them that are still around work perfectly and keep good time, good enough for pretty much any circumstance in the real world anyway!
Dr Ranfft wrote this about the movements..
"Despite the poor finish, this is one of the most sophisticated automatic designs, and many
highest grade movements look pretty poor in comparison. And therefore it should not miss
in any collection of automatics."
And also this on his Timex automatics pages..
"pin-lever escapement
Sophisticated excenter self-winding with just one gear stage (Fig.4, 5):
An excenter on the rotor arbor moves a lever, which turns a ratchet wheel via two clicks. A planet differential gear on the dial side transmits the sum of automatic winding (small center wheel) and manual winding (peripheral gear) via the two planet wheels to the barrel arbor. So it implements both, different gear ratios and perfect decoupling of both winding sources."
www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&a&2uswk&Timex_M32
The one on its way to me was made in 1973, classic 70's cushion case in gold plate and the seller has fitted a lovely period Kreisler gold filled expansion bracelet with crocodile inserts, the bracelet looking around on its own goes for more than the offer i put in and was excepted was ($37)
It looks to be in excellent condition for the age, very little in the way of wear on the case and the dial and crystal are pretty much perfect.
The seller says its working perfectly and keeping excellent time. And to put the icing on the cake, this Elvis 70's bling style watch comes from its spiritual home.. Las Vegas!
Here is a picture from the seller, better ones once it gets here!
