Tank-style watches like this one were popular throughout the 1940s and early 50s. This particularly clean example is also dimensionally larger than typical tanks from the 40s, so it looks a bit more modern on the wrist than many similar examples and it still makes for an elegant dress watch. Typical for Gruens of this era, the 425 movement is Swiss, while the case was manufactured in the USA.

I honed in on this Gruen pocket watch from the 1920s for its lovely gold relief dial. It’s interesting to contrast the relatively simple finishing of the Swiss made movement in this watch with the relatively elaborate finishing on contemporary American-made pocket watch movements. The keyless works design on this watch is also very much in line with the Swiss designs that would come to dominate the wristwatch industry, in contrast to keyless works designs on American pocket watches, which were designed quite differently.

I have restored several Girard-Perregaux pieces for sale in my shop, but this is the only one, so far, that I’ve decided to add to my own collection. Something about the deep relief of the prominent dial indices on this watch looks particularly good to my eyes. The 39 jewel count of the GP 31 movement is impressive, but a bit of a cheat, with 14 of those jewels incorporated into the pawls of the automatic reversing wheels. Still, it’s a nice, accurate movement, with a high (for the era) 21,600 bph rate. This watch was in pretty good vintage shape, except for the hands, which had experienced significant finish oxidation and looked much rougher and older than the dial. I went ahead and refished them, with fresh rhodium plating. Re-finishing watch hands is definitely a tricky operation (for me at least - I’m not a jeweler), but I think it turned out quite well in this case.

This is a really clean example of a 60’s Eterna, and the simple silver and black look goes great with the dark grey band I got for it. It’s not quite as pretty as my favorite Eterna, but still a very handsome & reliable watch. The 1481K movement exhibits typical Eterna quality.

Here’s another one of my favorites and, IMO, one of the best-looking watches in my collection. There’s something just “right” about the design of the watch face, and the gold capped-stainless case is also very cool. Eterna was always on point as far as the quality and engineering of their movements, and the 1428U in this example was a joy to service. I particularly like the way Eterna handles the automatic reversing wheels so that the full wheel is visible. The only thing I don’t love about this watch is the tiny semi-recessed crown, which looks great, but which is particularly difficult to grip when manually winding.

This early 1970s Elgin is highlighted by an unusual and striking “basket weave” dial. It is powered by a Swiss-made FHF manual wind movement with surprisingly nice finishing, cosplaying as an “Elgin 394.”

Representing the last gasp of American watchmaking, we have this elegant Lord Elgin automatic. Elgin certainly pulled out all the stops for this one - the 760 movement has a highly innovative and unusual integrated automatic mechanism resulting in a very thin automatic watch, even by today’s standards, and the balance is free-sprung, eliminating the need for regulator pins. Unfortunately, all of this innovation makes servicing these movements a bit of a headache - they are not particularly watchmaker-friendly. The automatic winding mechanism is also a bit delicate and most of the moving parts are fully engaged during manual winding, so you definitely want to minimize manual winding of these movements.

There’s nothing actually “military” about this early 1930s Cyma, but with its tan dial and green nato strap, it certainly looks the part. The fixed lugs on this watch are a bit battered (not that you can see them with the strap intalled), but the nickel-plated case is otherwise in very good shape,. The Cyma/Tavannnes 15 jewel movement is some variation of the 182 family (there were several, and the differences aren’t clear) and, with a fresh mainspring, is still a strong runner.

Produced at the gloriously named Second Moscow Watch Factory by Slava in the twilight years of the USSR, this watch was slated for European sale under the Cornavin brand name. It’s certainly an interesting design, with its unusal hexagonal case. The Slava movement is also unusual and quite innovative, with an indirect drive mechanism, oversized balance, and twin mainspring barrels for space efficiency. It also has the customary soviet industrial finishing on the movement parts. However, even if it isn’t very pretty it still tells time well!

Possibly the most complex watch I have ever restored, this Clebar combines a full chronograph with a triple calendar & moon phase. Fortunately, these movements are built in clear layers, so the complexity of the chronograph and the complexity of the calendar mechanism become totally separate problems. It’s interesting to note that the small pushers at the 8 & 10 o’clock positions both do double-duty - the lower pusher advances the moon phase with a light press, and the date with a firmer press, while the upper controls the date and month in a similar fashion. The lever design to accomplish this dual-action behavior is definitely interesting. This watch was originally chrome plated, but the plating was in poor condition, so I stripped it and re-plated the watch in rhodium, which looks great. I probably should have done the pushers and crown while I was at it but I was being a bit lazy - I’ll get back to those eventually…

One of two Venus 170-based Chronographe Suisse watches in my collection, this one has a nice golden dial and was treated to a full case restoration with re-plating in rhodium. The hands also needed to be replaced, and unfortunately, as you can see, some of the lume separated from the brand-new hour hand (grrrr.). Watch hands that fit these old chronograph movements aren’t all that easy to find, and I didn’t think it was worth the trouble of re-luming both hands (so they would match), so I left it as is.

This Chronograph Suisse really stands out among its contemporaries with its unusual grey dial. I’m honestly not 100% sure about the provenance of this dial. It shows definite signs of age but is nonetheless in remarkably good condition. If it’s a re-dial, it’s extremely well-done. The movement is a tried and true Venus 170 with its column-wheel-driven top/bottom chronograph layout. I’ve serviced several 170s at this point, and they can be tricky to get operating properly. In particular they rely on tension from a number of rather simple and delicate wire springs that don’t age all that well, and the tip of the main operating level that engages with the column wheel is also subject to wear. With some tweaking however the column wheel mechanism operates smoothly and reliably.

I pretty much fell in love with the silver, tapestry-style dial of this Bulova the moment I say it. Pictures don’t really do it justice, but this is really a great looking watch, and in fantastic condition as well. The USA-manufactured 30 jewel Bulova automatic movement is also in excellent condition.

I was taken in by the sector-style dial of this 1960 Bulova, with multiple thin gold rings creating a halo that joins the dial indices. The Bulova movement is also a nice automatic design that was in great shape and runs well following a service. Unfortunately this watch is also a great example of why watchmakers tend to use stainless steel casebacks, as the plated brass back has eroded to the point where it is being held together with epoxy…

Quality vintage watches with blue dials in good condition are surprisingly hard to find, so I was happy when I tracked down this Bucherer example. The AS 1686 movement isn’t the prettiest, but it’s reliable and keeps good time. The movement is retained with a simple stamped steel case ring - not my favorite arrangement, as the movement tends to want to fall out when you’re trying to regulate it in the dial up position with the case back off.

Have you ever received a watch as a gift, worn it once or twice, then put it away in a drawer? It seems like this watch was one of those. I received it in its original box, with what (I think) is the original band, and in nearly perfect condition. In fact, it was so clean that I thought it was probably much more recent than it is. The first thing that clued me into its true age was when I opened the case and saw the design of the nicely-finished 20-jewel movement, with its above-the-bridge indirect drive center second hand and separate excape wheel bridge. Unfortunately, while it’s distinctive and almost certainly an ebauche of some sort, I have not been able to identify the movement (if you know, please comment!).

This 50s Breitling is one of my favorites. Its relatively large (for the time) size wears well, and the dial is extremely elegant with its recessed indices and gentle patina. It still has the original chrome finish, which is showing some wear but still looks great in person. the movement is a bit of a mystery - certainly an ébauche item modified by Breitling, but it appears to be a variation of the Peseux 170/190 movement family.

This Breitling has a great dial and is in excellent condition, even if it is a bit on the dainty side, size-wise. Like many manufacturers at the time, Breitling relied on ébauche movements, and the manual wind FHF 28 in this watch was no exception. It was actually quite an innovative movement for the time, with a direct drive for the center second hand.

I love the elegant black dial of this Benrus with its slender indices and single numeral at the 12:00 position, and the slender stainless steel monoblock case really wears well, although the thru-crystal design makes adjustments a bit more of a headache than most. Overall this is a great example of 1960s Benrus style. The swiss 17 jewel movement is by ETA.

I love the unique aesthetic of this Anker, which somehow looks much older than it actually is, even with the central second hand and calendar mechanism. It’s difficult to date these watches precisely, but it is likely from the early 1950s. The movement, despite the high jewel count, was inexpensively made, with a single large bridge and a pin palette escapement. Regardless, it still runs well. Anker was clearly very proud of this movement design, because the case back is quite literally covered with patent information, including the Swiss, French, and German patent numbers. I’m not sure about this, but the prominence of the Swiss patent on the back leads me to believe that this was a Swiss-manufactured movement, even though Anker is actually a German company. Restoration of this piece was straightforward, although the case was in pretty rough shape so I elected to re-plate it in 18K gold, which works well with the dial.