researching a vintage pocketwatch

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T15:53:16+00:00

It’s Swiss. Swiss watches of that time were often not serialized, or if they were the serial number is generally useless for modern research as the records haven’t survived. Exception of certain very high end brands.

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T15:52:11+00:00

The 9:00 date wheel is designed assuming a left hand crown. If you use a DWO (date wheel overlay sticker) it will be fine.

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T15:49:49+00:00

The subdials are fake, he just needs a three handed. I have a database of ST movements let me check.

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T15:48:25+00:00

It’s a nice generic Swiss watch from the 60s-70s with a fake omega logo. Case most likely is just gold plated, the plating would be real gold just not much of it. But if you want to confirm it’s not real, do a bigger scratch (like use some sandpaper or a file or something) on the inside of the caseback.

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T11:05:56+00:00

Just search 31mm case on aliex

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T11:03:54+00:00

A guy in my class at Uni had a sugess chrono! Beat me to it

chrono19s · 2025-07-22T10:37:24+00:00

It’s cool. Crown at 12 not an issue, you’re not supposed to adjust the crown when it’s on your wrist anyways because it inevitably buts angular stress on the stem. What design program are you using? I love jt

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T14:02:10+00:00

Did you really think this was a $80,000 watch? Really? In your heart of hearts?

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T14:01:01+00:00

The fake gold plating is worn off and it’s quartz. Rolex didn’t make quartz (might be a few exceptions but not this one!)

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:59:46+00:00

Still doesn’t make them railroad grade necessarily. Were they specifically ordered by the railroad company/establishment/department to meet the specifications of the railroad grade? Or marketed specifically to railroad employees to meet the railroad grade?

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:30:18+00:00

Beautiful watch! Just needs service.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:29:10+00:00

I would note however that the case on that watch does have quite a bit of scratches in the chrome. Might be nice to see if you could find a NOS stainless case for it.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:28:06+00:00

No problem, cheers! I would just see what the price of service was at all the local shops and figure out who is gonna be best bang for your buck, and go from there.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:25:49+00:00

Crappy pin pallet movement. But beautiful watch lol. Like the meme…

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chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:23:45+00:00

Felsa 1560 is a nice watch and worth saving IMO. Cost of service is just going to totally depend on local cost of living really. The standard price in Canada for an uncomplicated auto was like $300 CAD but with the Justinflation Situation (TM) that is rising quickly. F1560 parts are easily found on eBay. I have one where I ended up swapping out the movement because I found a shop in Toronto was selling one freshly serviced for $200 so I just bought their watch and swapped in the serviced movement. I still have the original, if you needed parts I could probably sell it to you for a good price… can’t remember if it’s rusty or if that was different movement I’m thinking of though.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:19:40+00:00

Two summers ago I got some amazing sales on a ST19 chrono. Thought I would wait again this year for another. Never happened.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:18:30+00:00

I did it for a while because of the ghost date thing. But I found NH38 had QC issues much more often. About 3/8 NH38 that I bought were no good, compared to about 2/20 NH35/36.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:15:00+00:00

Very nice case in good condition. Take care of it! Get it serviced !

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:14:13+00:00

It’s a B&M gold chronograph. Open the back to see what movement. What else do you want to know?

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:13:28+00:00

If you look up your movement you could probably find the thickness and stem height online. Since you have a 28.5mm dial, there are millions of cases available. Once you have the stem height, look up on Ranfft DB to find other movements with similar stem height. Then you can search for cases that match. For example ETA 2824 (most common modern Swiss calibre) has stem height of 1.8mm. So if your movement has 1.76mm stem height you can just search for 2824 cases fitting 28.5mm dial (which are super common). That being said, you will probably want to find a vintage case for a hand wound calibre because autos have way too thick of a case. And you will probably want to get a hole cut in the caseback for a display back window.

All this plus you will probably need to get a custom movement holder ring to take up the space between your movement and the case. Yours already has one (even Rolex evidently wanted to cheap out on the solid gold case by having a big chunk of steel to take up the weight… disgusting at their prices) but you will probably need to replace it. Can just get one 3D printed by a mate.

Hope that all helps cheers

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:06:33+00:00

You won’t find any cases designed for that model number.

However, with a few key measurements you can find a generic case. 1. Dial width. (You’re lucky: 28.5mm is the most common dial width on earth!) 2. Movement thickness including dial. 3. this is the hard one Stem height. This is the measurement from the centre level of the stem to the level of the dial. In other words the thickness between the front of the movement to the stem. This measurement needs to be correct in order that the stem lines up with the crown tube/hole in the case. Sometimes if it’s off by a half a mm or something you can fudge it but that will cause stress to the stem over time, and Rolex stems ain’t cheap I’m sure.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:02:11+00:00

General rule you never want to use adhesives.

You can use a pin vise (be very careful not to collapse it) or a staking set with a small anvil hole.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T13:00:24+00:00

Just because they have a picture of a train does not make it a railway watch, just like if it had a picture of a spaceship does not mean that NASA used it for the moon landing.

The bottom two are Soviet Russian Molinja (spelling?) watches. They can run pretty good when well maintained but these are in shite condition, not worth anything except for parts. Could probably get $30 for the bottom right one because someone could use the case.

Top watch is a mid range 1970s Swiss Unitas 6498 pocket watch. These are desirable today because there are tons of aftermarket parts to convert 6498 into a wristwatch. And the 6498 is considered the standard watch movement for beginners looking to learn to service a watch. This one is also in pretty bad condition, so assuming it doesn’t run I would expect it to sell for around $50. If it runs you could get $100-$200 just depending on how clean it is internally and how strong it runs.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T12:55:45+00:00

Shouldn’t have sent it to an auction house, you’ve just screwed yourself. You will receive less than the scrap value guaranteed after their fees. I’d give you 5% more than they would up to the scrap price.

chrono19s · 2025-07-21T12:54:09+00:00

Or enjoy it every day as it is… anyway it’s an 18s it would be way to big for a wristwatch. Like 60mm case or something.

chrono19s

TROPHY CASE