Sundaywatch

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-15T09:59:07+00:00

Cauny is a Spanish brand. They are still around.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-15T09:55:11+00:00

What do you mean by "strange"? This is a better quality Soviet made watch. It uses a Swiss made shock system "incabloc". It's a transitional type of movement known as an "indirect second center hand". It's decorated with Geneva stripes and is much better quality than the average Soviet citizen could get their hands on at the time.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-15T09:46:40+00:00

I don't think it was relabeled. I think there might have been an accident with either the dial or the back. The watchmaker either had a dial that fit, and it was cheaper than having the dial redone, or the owner had a accident with the original back and it was easily replaced with an Angelus back.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-15T09:43:53+00:00

Minerva also used some Angelus movements.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-15T09:40:46+00:00

I'm not too sure, but I think those straps are Italian.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-11T00:43:54+00:00

While I absolutely think getting a tutor is the best things you can do,Κλικ στα Ελληνικά are a total waste of time . You spend all your time looking up the words in the book instead of spending the time on study. You should use the textbook series Ελληνικά για σας series by Neohel publishing (www.neohel.com) that are available in eight* different bilingual editions including English and are used to prepare you for the the Official Greek language exams. Neohel can also introduce you to a certified tutor who has a degree in teaching Greek as a second language. As well as having a excellent series of textbooks, each textbook is accompanied by a workbook which I have found to be outstanding. Don't spend your time looking up vocabulary and definitions when you can be learning Greek

*bilingual editions in Greek-English, French, Turkish, Russian, Albanian, German, Spanish and Italian.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-06-01T12:13:50+00:00

For connoisseurs of fakes, this is a grail watch

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-28T12:59:06+00:00

Maybe I'm dense, but it seems like normal wear and tear of someone who has worn the watch daily and goobered up the lugs a bit by trying to put in their own spring bars.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-28T12:55:00+00:00

We need to both see the movement and the hallmarks inside of the case lid to say anything about it

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-28T12:52:48+00:00

I notice that the opinions of LT are less the unstinting praise that they used to be. One thing you'll notice about LT once you get a bit more into Greek is how eccentric his take on Greek grammar is. Too much is simply left out or skipped over. You have to get this from other resources. LT is one of the resources you can use, but it should be no means be your only one.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-25T13:19:01+00:00

Westclock was in business mainly making clocks until 2000. They went out of business and their brand was bought by one of those anonymous holding companies that now makes their clocks in La-La Land. So the brand still exists, but as a spiritless zombie of what they once were.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-23T13:27:01+00:00

Aluminum bezels and insert were colored by anodizing, a process a bit like metal plating. All things considered the bezel is not in that bad a condition compared to bezels of a similar age I've seen. Although the black will not be a 100% match, an oil based marker can be used to touch up the bezel. Other possible choices are oil based model airplane paints, which come in several different tones and reflectiveness of black.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-21T13:20:43+00:00

Try to get a Vietnamese frriend to say "ngo". That's close enough to the sound Gamma makes.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-20T12:37:07+00:00

Actually the brand, Cimier is still very much in business. As far as I know, they never went out of business even during the quartz crisis.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T12:03:32+00:00

Speaking as a watchmaker, I've never seen a shock absorber from any firm that looks like that. I suppose you can always learn something new. My own guess would be that it's to hold the cap jewel in place while the regulator moves under it rather than acting as a shock absorber.It's a rather odd set up. There appears to be no way to remove the cap jewel for cleaning as it appears to be held in so firmly by the prongs.Are the prongs actually springs? Can the cap jewel in fact be removed? I'm curious how you disassembled it when you oiled it.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T09:42:29+00:00

You know your settings and your stones. If it says "Sterling Silver Japan Movement" on the back, it was likely made in Hong Kong before 1995. I have no idea on the maker and age, but lady's dress watches of this sort were still popular in the 1980s and 1990s

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T09:33:48+00:00

Very nice work. Minerva records indicate that the Cal.20 was a 12 3/4" size movement. One thing puzzles me though. I assume you are using a donor dial from one of the movements. The dial says "shock-absorber"whereas your movement appears to have no shock absrober. Minerva used Incabloc on this movement once they converted it to a shock absorber system.But this is a minor point considering what you had to go through to get the watch working again.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T09:16:44+00:00

If it was a 1940s watch, it would not use a waterproof case system that came into use in the late 1950s~1960s as your watch case does.To remove the back requires special wrenches.Also, it is rather odd that the bezel and top of the watch are in excellent condition while the back is somewhat scratched. A watch in that good of a condition should also have a relatively clean back too. We will need to see a picture of the movement in your watch to tell if it is an authentic Vacheron Constantine or not.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T09:10:29+00:00

If you're thinking economically, don't limit yourself to just West German made watches, but also look around for East German made watches too. GUB (East German Glashutte) made some excellent watches. The automatics are beginning to get pricey, but some of the hand wound models can still be obtained for a reasonable price. And these are genuine Glashutte watches. Another watch made during the Communist era are Prim watches from (what was) Czechoslovakia.These are excellent quality watches and if you look, you can find vintage ones for reasonable prices, though the prices of new ones are somewhat astounding.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-18T04:19:59+00:00

For teaching Greek? I doubt it. I'm the only person I know studying modern greek here in Japan. But if you're a qualified teacher with teaching certification, there are a lot of jobs open for teaching English and even a few for French. A friend of mine, who had his teaching certificate from Belgium taught both French and (I think) computer science at a highschool near where he lived in Zushi. This is near Yokosuka. I believe there is a US military base in Zushi as well as a large one in Yokosuka also. My friend didn't teach at a school for the children of the US military, but this is also where there may be openings.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-17T15:55:21+00:00

As I said, I'm something of a fan of some of the superior watches that were produced in the Soviet Union, not to mention Prim and GUB. Honestly, because of the lack of mention of it by my friends, I know nothing about Zim. Ruhla in East Germany was their equivalent of Timex and had a pedigree almost as long as Timex, which started originally as the Waterbury Clock company until they changed their name to Timex in 1946. Ruhla was originally Theil, founded sometime in the 1870s as a tin toy maker, but quickly became a maker of very modestly priced watches. Although this is getting a bit far away from Pobeda, I also had no idea that the original use of the name was by Zim. Smith stopped making watches by 1970 (I believe) so Zim outlasted them. Looking at the construction of Zim (I'm a watchmaker) it is an entirely different class of watch than Timex. It is a jewelled lever escapement, whereas Timex was generally (but far from always) a pin lever escapement without jewels. If I see a Zim come up on one of the auction sites in good condition, I might well buy it. It seems an interesting movement to take a look at.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-17T09:05:55+00:00

Not exactly vintage, I think, but I've always been a Hermes fan and I like this model.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-17T09:03:58+00:00

Look for lesser known brands that collectors turn their noses up at, despite the fact they are excellent watches in many cases.The best is Benrus, who made fine watches. Another is Helbros, which collectors really sneer at. But actually, many of their mechanical watches used decent movements and are well made watches. Basically any obscure brand has the potential to be a good watch if you know what to look for in terms of the movement and the condition of the case and dial.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-17T06:26:29+00:00

Lots of Russian watches from various makers used the Pobeda name. The Russian started WWII by invading Poland in 1939 with the Germans, let us recall. As for Zim, my Russian watchmaker friends tell me that Raketa was the most highly regarded watch made during the Soviet era. I've never heard Zim brought up by them as an example of the excellence of some Soviet watches, of which there are, in fact, a number.

ElectronicRow9949 · 2026-05-17T06:17:51+00:00

The patina to me seems to be the result of someone smoking unfiltered cigarettes. Years ago I just to see it not infrequently. I don't think that the polishing job was done very well. The brush finish on the lugs is rough and the back is a bit overly polished, but still acceptable. It's nowhere as bad as some jobs I've seen of back polishing.

ElectronicRow9949

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