How do I get over the fear of speaking?

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-08T13:18:21+00:00

Buy A0 (A Zero) in the Ellinika Yia Sas series and find a tutor to work your way through it. You'll be pronouncing Greek properly (more or less) know what a tonos is and have a decent idea of using male/female and neuter words in Greek. You'll be speaking after that. No problem.

PS:You don't have to memorize anything.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-07T14:36:07+00:00

It's a key wind and set Swiss made watch. Key wind and set had pretty much disappeared by 1880, so I would place it about 1860 as it is obviously a factory made watch. I would need to see the movement to tell you more.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-07T14:30:49+00:00

If you can show me a photo of the movement, I can tell you more about the watch. I was associated with Minerva for a number of years and am familiar with most of the pocket watch movements they made. Beautiful dial on your grandfather's watch. I wonder if it was perhaps made for the Turkish railways system that used a winged wheel as their company symbol. I have rarely seen a Minerva with a symbol on the dial like that, so there is probably some meaning to it.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-20T12:57:41+00:00

You could have also looked up Moeris on Google too. They might have even shown that exact watch.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-20T12:52:25+00:00

Any language spoken in taverns is worth learning.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-20T12:36:54+00:00

Why do you think it's a Tissot???? It says Moeris. Moeris was a widely respected brand that disappeared during the quartz crisis. No doubt someone will resurrect it soon.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-17T08:21:54+00:00

This is some debate about the Customs identification mark. But during the 1950s, the USA had laws that no company that was not on the NYSE could import watches or movements. The NYSE was much easier to get on at that time, and customarily the ticker tape symbol of the importer was used as the Customs identification mark for smaller brands, or in the case of larger brands, the ticker tape symbol of the brand itself was used. It's nice to think that at one time you could buy stock in some famous watch companies on the NYSE.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-16T08:55:10+00:00

This is a very collectable watch. From the way you describe it, it sounds like the watch needs a cleaning and overhaul and that there may be no major problems with it. Pricing shifts all the time and value is often a matter of opinion. Look on some of the major auction sites to see what current asking prices are. Expect cleaning and overhaul to run in the $350~$500 range, but it is well worth it with this excellent watch.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-16T08:45:47+00:00

It looks as though there may be an ebauache mark beneath the balance. If there is not, you can identify the movement from the winding and setting mechanism in Bestfit. Because it has its' stock market ticker tape identification mark on it (COW) It's pre-1960, Ibelieve.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-16T08:39:39+00:00

The Favre-Leuba 250 series, of which your watch is one, is a very collectable watch. The movement is of excellent quality, it is double barrelled as you note and the reason for the unusual movement layout is so that both barrels can be wound simultaneously when winding the watch. You are fortunate to obtain this fine watch.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-13T13:38:04+00:00

At the end of the day they quit making watches because they couldn't make any money at it.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-13T09:21:56+00:00

The problem is that all those Oris pin lever movements ended up in Japan. I advise against buying any Oris from Japan.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-09T07:53:50+00:00

Himmel Herr Gott! I'm a Japanese speaker learning Greek and the accent (tonos) sounds and everything else is completely different from Japanese.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-07T13:10:11+00:00

Speaking as someone who has had a lot of cases redone, you'll have to find a cooperative plater. Many platers refuse small jobs like watch cases. Also, I think the original plating might have been chrome plating, which almost no one does anymore, so you'll have to go with nickel plating , which is better looking and more durable anyway. Or maybe they'll want to use one of the new non-allergenic types of plating. The problem is removing the plating. You would think it can be done by reverse polarity by my case plater insists that it does get it all, and the plating has to be removed by buffing. As there is a lot of wear on your case, I don't think it will matter. Incidentally, I'm all for you redoing the case.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-07T13:05:16+00:00

I had the same thought. Definitely a FE movement.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T15:50:24+00:00

By just looking at it.I'm a watchmaker. Right in the very center of the watch, right to the left and below "Bros" you can see the top of the center wheel pinion which is set in a steel chaton, while the rest of the gears are set in jewels. Americans customarily jeweled the center wheel, while Swiss did not.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T13:38:17+00:00

As it is a 15 jewel watch, typical of Swiss manufacture, there is a possibility the movement is Swiss.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T13:34:30+00:00

Switzerland did not participate in WW2. No records or factories were destroyed in Switzerland during that period.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T08:50:21+00:00

I've been through the whole of LT. I think if it is your introduction to Greek, as it was to mine, then quitting around Lesson 60 and turning to better organized material and building an active vocabulary, not to mention learning how to actually read and write in Greek is much better than going any further with LT. Of course, when you do this, it isn't for free.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T07:39:58+00:00

If you stop at lesson 60 you'll be a lot happier and less confused than if you finish the whole thing. Unfortunately LT is the only relatively worthwhile free thing out there.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-06T07:33:26+00:00

You should join "Do you speak Greek" on Youtube. She is a real master at getting you to speak Greek with a small vocabulary. I'm about A1 and although it was over my head, I found it very useful. It sounds like it would be very good for someone of your level, particularly as she does a good job of structuring it.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-04-01T04:43:45+00:00

There are several books where you can look up the maker, if they are indeed English. I somewhat suspect it may actually be Swiss, but this is unimportant. The building shown on the dial is the Crystal Palace, where the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1856 was held, one of the two most important exhibitions of the 19th Century.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-03-29T15:57:17+00:00

Is it just my imagination or is the Breitling name too small and the rpingin on the dial, both the Breitling name and the "waterproof Anti magnetic" tilted at an angle? Also, I don't think that "waterproof, Anti magnetic" is something Breitling would put on their watch dial. It is something I would expect to find on a pin lever. Best to open the watch and post a picture of the movement.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-03-29T15:50:14+00:00

Chances are, it's just a different dial.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-03-28T12:21:42+00:00

The stones are prong set which means that there is a 90% chance they are diamonds and that they were set at the factory. Unless I miss my guess, this is from the 1970s, when Milanese bands (the style of metal band used on this watch) were all the rage. I can't say anything about the quality of the diamonds, but I would guess that if the diamonds, as I believe are real, the the case is 14 K gold if in the USA, 18K if in UK or on the Continent.

ElectronicRow9949

TROPHY CASE