|
|
Post by nikeajax on Jun 26, 2014 11:04:17 GMT -8
Been wanting to get an old dive watch, and really want a Timex. Been kinda concerned about the seals and gaskets so I thought I'd look stuff up on how-to... I found this: www.esslinger.com/howtowaterproofawatch.aspxI found this image:  Yes there are fancier watches out there, but there is something to be said for something so utilitarian, not unlike a Healthways regulator... Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by regulator68bj on Jun 27, 2014 4:13:06 GMT -8
Maybe one of these might be an alterative.
john Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by regulator68bj on Jun 27, 2014 4:24:11 GMT -8
Just checked ebait and there is a "Timex 100" on offer right now in the USA.
john |
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Jun 27, 2014 7:29:47 GMT -8
Jaybird,
Where in the world do you get these commercials? That brings back memories. I bought a Timex dive watch while in the USAF, and was on a dive in Okinawa with some of my PJ friends. We only went to about 30 feet on this dive off Naha, Okinawa and when we got back, we looked at their issued Rolex watches. Both watches had leaked, one so bad that sand was inside the watch. They had been issued these watches for our pararescue work, but it turns out that the watches they got were knockoffs--not really Rolex. There were no seals in their watches. Needless to say, I decided not to get a "issue" watch, and continued to use my Timex for several years until I finally switched to my Seiko dive watch. I've gone through at least three Seiko watches over the years, and am on my fourth which is a solar-powered model.
John
|
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Jun 27, 2014 8:00:55 GMT -8
John R, I knew you'd remember those adverts  Here's another one I know you'll like: Concerning the Timex rep as being cheap, it was started by the watch repair shops. Jeweled watches are very tricky to take apart and put back together, and since most, not all Timex watches didn't use jewels, the jewelers couldn't charge lots of money to service them. Times was making its, for my lack of the right word, body parts with very hard metal that didn't need the jewels, actually rubies, for the gear bearings. John-68, thanks for the heads up! Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by rhwestfall on Jun 27, 2014 10:23:12 GMT -8
I still remember the "torture test" advert of them strapping one on the drive of a zodiac and pounding it in the surf...
|
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Jun 27, 2014 10:55:13 GMT -8
As I recall, the only test that the Timex didn't pass, was when they had an elephant step on one  Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Aug 23, 2014 14:39:49 GMT -8
Okay, I finally have one: my wife bought me this today:  I think it just needs to be cleaned and a new crystal, I hope. I haven't been able to find out much about it but the brand is Kingston, movement is Swiss-automatic, 25-jewels and incabloc (that means shock resistant). I think it's from the 1960's. If I can get it to work I will put a nylon strap on for the band, the current one is a Seiko, and I've never liked bracelet-bands, they're too heavy for me. I have been looking a Seiko automatic dive watches, as they are an excellent price, under $200, but they are big heavy watches, but some folks really like that: I don't want to know it's there until I need it, and you can really clobber someone with a big watch if you're not careful! Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 17, 2014 12:24:26 GMT -8
As a dyslexic artist, I prefer my stuff to be simple, aesthetically pleasing, and it should have a wabi-sabi quality to it. I also like knowing that my watch can be rebuilt, I just took it into the shop this morning, and not just replaced when it stops working. I'm sure that your watch will do everything except let the cat out at night, but for me personally, old style analog watches have a mystique about them that is void in digital watches. It's comforting to hear its little heart ticking away, slowly winding its mainspring down, yet being wound up again every time I move my hand... My watch may be even older than I am, as it says, "Waterproof", they had to change this to water-resistant in the mid-1960's because you can never make any watch waterproof, just ask our friend Duckbill about that one  With luck, it will outlive me, and hopefully I can give it to someone special, who will in turn have it repaired when it wears out, or, it will become a donor to make another of its kind live again. I have analog consoles on my regulators because they are simple: if I need to know the time, I look at my watch: if I need to know my depth, I look just above my pressure gauge, and if I need to know which direction I'm heading, it's just above my depth-gauge to my compass. With my dyslexia, I have a tendency to get confused by too much information all at once; at-depth is not a good place for uncertainty because you can't just walk away... Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 17, 2014 17:58:21 GMT -8
HUH?!?!? Wha' hoppen to the post that I responded to: great, now I just sound crazy  "They're coming to take me away, ha-ha!" |
|
|
|
Post by tomcatpc on Sept 17, 2014 18:11:26 GMT -8
As a fellow human blessed with Dyslexia, I can relate! I have a couple of early 1990s Swatch Watches that are suposebly alright for 200 metres...not that the early 1990s are that vintage, and I probably will not dive them anytime soon, but being a youth of that era I love them!
Mark
|
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Sept 18, 2014 9:52:10 GMT -8
HUH?!?!? Wha' hoppen to the post that I responded to: great, now I just sound crazy "They're coming to take me away, ha-ha!" Spammer gone bye bye.  |
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 18, 2014 10:07:04 GMT -8
Linda, yup, I knew one of you got rid of them, but thought I should say something to make it a little easier to follow: why I wrote what I did Jaybird |
|
sidm
Pro Diver
Posts: 219
|
Post by sidm on Oct 1, 2014 16:06:47 GMT -8
"Oh, my grandfather's watch was the finest that's made
By the Timex company.
It's just like those John Cameron Swazye displayed,
Last night on the ole' TV.
Oh, it works underwater so perfectly,
And still makes that ticking sound,
Which my grandfather tried,
Just this afternoon,
And that's how the old man drowned."
Allen Sherman
My first dive watch was either an Elgin or Bulova, can't remember. I bought it when I was in the 8th grade (1960). Lost it in the Fall and my neighbor found it in the Spring after the snow melted in his yard. Watch still worked and I wore it for another six years.
|
|
sidm
Pro Diver
Posts: 219
|
Post by sidm on Oct 1, 2014 16:55:20 GMT -8
My Dad bought a waterproof watch when he was in the Army Air Corps (yes SeaRat, pre-Air Force) during WWII. It is a Zell Brothers Turtle, which I have inherited. I contacted Zell Brothers in Portland, Oregon, and was told that Mr. Zell bought movements from European manufacturers, such as Rolex and Doxa to put into their cases. With out opening the watch up, I won't know which movement is inside, but I am reluctant to do that.
|
|
Here's another one I know you'll like:
With luck, it will outlive me, and hopefully I can give it to someone special, who will in turn have it repaired when it wears out, or, it will become a donor to make another of its kind live again.
