Thrift store watches

[Beachkid23]

Our thrift store here never has any watches that are worth anything. Always made in China and the overprice them As well. Today they had 4 junk bags... Four bags of junkie Swiss made wind up mechanical and automatic watches! Four dollars a bag there was about six watches per bag and I think I did all right! A couple of them I thought were 14 karat but they're not so I'm just going to auction off some of these. cases aren't the greatest think once it's cleaned up a little bit they will do OK. but here's some of what I got.

14 K gold filled omega. Oh by the way they mostly all work too!

The Lord Elgin but it's missing the dial.

A Hamilton Gladstone from 1931. This one doesn't work. I wish it did!

I haven't looked up these ones yet a couple of more time ask, Bolivia Mason or Manson. Windsor. But they all work.

This one's a 14 K gold filled Bulova ladies watch.



Finished up with another Bulova 23 jewel self winding watch as well.



It sounds pretty cool when I kick the kids out my room and shut the door and just listen to all of them ticking at the same time. It's a good feeling!

 

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[gollum]

That Hamilton Gladstone looks like it wouldn't be that difficult to rehab. New Crystal, relume hands and dial, a little polish, and a new band.

Mike

 

[Beachkid23]

That Hamilton Gladstone looks like it wouldn't be that difficult to rehab. New Crystal, relume hands and dial, a little polish, and a new band.

Mike

Outta my league! I'm going to leave it up to somebody else if they want to. Looks like they go good when working though!

 

[Beans]

I picked up a nice Brighton watch at the local TS. Paid 5 and then another 10 for the battery. They go for about 95 on ebay. The jeweler who put the battery in failed to tell me he scratched up the back when he took it apart. Did not notice it till 3 days later. So it is no longer a 95 dollar watch.

 

[gollum]

Beachkid,

If you are buying a bunch of old watches, it might pay to learn to rehab them. Its REALLY not that difficult. A set of cheap watch tools:

WATCH TOOLS

Access to parts:

WATCH PARTS

............and Youtube has a great number of videos about every aspect of watch repair and rehab.

I started with a COMPLETE rebuild of the SEIKO model 6309 Diver that I bought new in 1981 when I was in the Navy. The next watch I did was a Movado Museum my mom gave me back in the 1990s. The hardest part is learning to buff, polish, and satin finish a watch. Best to buy some old scrap cases and practice on them.

Mike

 

[Beachkid23]

It's a good idea. Where do you find the parts, I know other watches. Like the omega could use a new Crystal but I did not find any on eBay like it. I didn't check any other websites though.

 

[gollum]

It's a good idea. Where do you find the parts, I know other watches. Like the omega could use a new Crystal but I did not find any on eBay like it. I didn't check any other websites though.

Did you follow the links I provided? WATCH TOOLS is a link to a good set of cheap watch repair tools. Most everything you would need to do small time watch rehabs. WATCH PARTS is a link to ESSLINGER dot com. Since you are not familiar with everything, all you have to do is ask them. Send them your old crystal and they will match it for you. Same with crowns and gaskets.

Mike

 

[Beachkid23]

No, sorry. Was getting my kids ready for bed and read it quick while they were brushing their teeth... This is the Hamilton watch. Not a Gladstone. From the email I got on it.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=252056227064&globalID=EBAY-US

 

[austin]

Listen to gollum. A little effort and you will make a freat deal more money. But, just my opinion.

 

[mugsisme]

I'm sitting here with probably 300 watches. I have a ton of good ones

 

[mugsisme]

Ugh, sorry, hit send. I was going to add, I make lots of them for ppl to use for parts. Your saying it makes more sense to hang onto the good ones and learn how to fix them?

 

[JimDon]

Thanks Beachkid. My repair kit is on the way. I have some old junk watches to practice on. Gonna be fun!

 

[JimDon]

I'm sitting here with probably 300 watches. I have a ton of good ones

You are my idol. I have about 20 but only 8 are men's. My wish list is a Corum $20 gold coin watch, a Patek and a top of the line Chronograph.

 

[mugsisme]

You are my idol. I have about 20 but only 8 are men's. My wish list is a Corum $20 gold coin watch, a Patek and a top of the line Chronograph.

Don't be too excited. Most of them are Geneva's and no name watches. I get them in jars and just toss them into a plastic bin to sort through at some point. I have 3 bins full. I try to pull out the vintage ones. There are a bunch of gold filled ones, maybe 20? I got one 14K Bulova that doesn't work. I broke the case trying to get the speidel band off. :-( I'm still going to try listing that one separate. I have maybe 20 sitting on my desk for me to put batteries in and list separately.

 

[gollum]

Thanks Austin. You are correct.

If you get watches that are just cheap junk, then it won't make sense to spend a bunch of time and effort on them. The only reasons to buy a bunch of junk watches would be to have something to practice on, or sell the parts. Antique and rare watches are where you spend your time and effort.

Once you get into it, you will see that MOST watches have fairly similar construction (like a push button to remove the stem).

Mike

 

[Nitric]

Thanks Austin. You are correct.

If you get watches that are just cheap junk, then it won't make sense to spend a bunch of time and effort on them. The only reasons to buy a bunch of junk watches would be to have something to practice on, or sell the parts. Antique and rare watches are where you spend your time and effort.

Once you get into it, you will see that MOST watches have fairly similar construction (like a push button to remove the stem).

Mike

Yep, all basically the same once you figure out how they work. Understand the mechanic part and you will see what is going on. example, like you said, the stem. something holds it, button,detent screw,or split etc.... They are all held with something, once you understand you just look and see. not as complicated as most people think. just have to be gentle and don't force anything. look,understand,before you start prying!

 

[Beachkid23]

Unfortunately at this time in my life I'm more turn and burn. Buy something today sell it ASAP. Save a couple things here and there and move on. I did save the website information you sent me. And I'm going to replace the face or Crystal on the Omega watch I have. And will add a black leather band. What you do sounds pretty interesting and awesome to be able to get something like that working again! Maybe one day, I just have too much sitting to be able to spend the time needed to repair them. So they turn into .99 auctions. I really do appreciate the info though!!! Thanks!

 

[artslinger]

I love vintage watches like the Omegas, Bulovas, Oris, Tissot, Hamiltons, Rolex, and those extra high end ones. Because these watches are very collectable and fine timepieces, I would never work on them, first, I am not mechanical, and second, I wouldn't want to damage anything in the mechanism. I would sell as is, and let the experienced collector do it him/herself, or take to a professional jeweler that is familiar with high end Swiss timepieces! That Omega is a great score! All high end Swiss watches do very, very well on E! Congratulations!

P.S. Does the Omega have the Omega logo on the crown, back? I would not replace the crystal either! Omega signs their crystals as well. In order to see the crystal with the Omega logo, you will need to use a loupe or magnifying glass. It's there if you look very closely, it's right in the center of the crystal! I had an Omega Speedmaster from the 70's, and my jeweler pointed it out to me!

RJA

 

[gollum]

Okay. So, I'll take the Hamilton and the Omega. Where do I send the two bucks?

Mike

 

[Beachkid23]

Okay. So, I'll take the Hamilton and the Omega. Where do I send the two bucks?

Mike

Sounds good... [emoji214]
Hamilton has a bid of $15 so far with a bunch of watchers on it. I haven't done anything with the Omega yet. It's gonna go up tonight. Maybe if I get to it...