Vintage Swiss Army ladies watch

This is one of my eBay bargain finds.

It is a vintage Swiss Army watch. I am not sure about the model but it is a ladies quartz watch. Found out that it has been discontinued by VICTORINOX, owner of the Swiss Army brand. Looking at various websites, I estimate that it from sometime back in the 70s.

When I bought it on eBay it did not have a strap, the crystal was badly scratched and it was not even running. Opening up the rear of the watch was extremely tough and I can see from the scratches on the back that previous owners had faced the same issue.

I finally got it opened and changed the batteries and found out that the watch works fine - keeping perfect time. That's Swiss quality for you.

I then polished the mineral glass crystal and realised that the lume on the watch is really good. Even brighter than most of the newer watches I have.

I then bought a Nato strap on eBay. It was ideal for my wife but she did not really like the watch. My daughter asked if she could have it but the strap was too big for her. Searching further, I finally found an eBay seller in the US who sold replica straps which look exactly like the original. This is the 14mm Gilden Swiss Army Style Nylon & Leather ladies watch band (US $ 20.48 with postage).

Looks great.

Fortis Sports Tuxedo watch

This is the latest addition to my growing watch collection. It's a vintage Swiss made Fortis Sports Tuxedo hand winding watch, which I got at a bargain on eBay. Like any stuff you buy over eBay, it is a bit of a gamble but this time it paid off. The watch has kept good time since I last set it this morning (as soon as I opened up the package).

I am still new to horology or the art or science of measuring time but I am learning a lot. I learnt that the company is based in Grenchen, Switzerland that was founded by Walter Vogt in 1912. Working with John Harwood, the British inventor of the automatic wristwatch, Fortis came out with the first self-winding (automatic) wristwatch, the Harwood Automatic in 1926. They are also the official supplier of watches to the Russian space agency.

About the watch - surprisingly for a company which has been around for more than a century, there was very little information about the Watch. As mentioned earlier, it has a hand winding movement and 17 Jewels. It is encased in a stainless steel case with an after market black leather strap. The watch measures 36mm (without the crown)

The description on eBay said that the watch crystal is Sapphire crystal but I found out that it is actually clear acrylic glass. Another mistake in the listing was the age of the watch. It was mentioned as modern (2000s) but I found out that it is a vintage watch (1971-1983). It might actually be older than I am.

Some more pics from the eBay listing.

If you examine the last picture carefully, you will see that the movement is made by Camy, an old Swiss brand. I cannot seem to find any information about the brand and seems to have just disappeared though there are a number of their vintage watches floating around on eBay. Does this mean that Camy used to supply movements to Fortis? Or is my Fortis a "frakenwatch"?

Vintage Everite Watch

Got this vintage Swiss made quartz watch at a bargain on Ebay (where else). Stainless steel with gold coloured plating, it still runs perfectly without any loss of time. Estimated to be from between late 1960s to early 1970s.

Found out that 'Everite' was the store brand of H. Samuel of Manchester. Many of them are either solid gold or gold plated but you can get them between £30-£100 on the net.

UPDATE: I am now selling this watch on ebay UK http://r.ebay.com/FWw76k SOLD

Favre Leuba Sea King

I love vintage watches and while ebaying, noticed this nice looking Favre Leuba Sea King manually wound watch. I have heard of the brand before but it was ridiculously cheap.

This Swiss watch brand was really popular in India and I remember hearing that Indian company Titan bought the company in 2011. Not sure how old this watch is, the seller only mentions "vintage (1920-1970)" but I have seen another similar one on a website from 1959. Plus the fact that the seller was from India made me quite suspicious but I decided to take a punt and buy it.

It took several days to reach and was getting a little worried when I finally received it. It was nice and shiny with a brand new leather strap.

I do not really like the huge heavy watches so popular now but I think that it is a bit too small (Case is 34mm including the crown). See the comparison to my old Tissot PR50.


The face is repainted and looks ok but if you examine it in detail, you will realise that some of the dots (for the minutes) are far from professional. They are all over the place. It also does not have the words "Swiss Made" which I see on other original and unpainted Favre Leuba watches.




As for the movement, it has the Favre-Leuba 101 shock protected, antimagnetic movement.

Wound up the watch and it was ticking. However, a few hours later it was dead. I really felt cheated and complained to the seller and he was willing to refund the money but I would have to send it back. It was not worth the effort and I took it to a small watch shop in Coventry city centre. The seller refunded £5 pounds.

The watch shop took it's time but I finally got it back this week. They replaced a spring and have serviced it - all for just £30.

I first thought of selling it on for around £100 and making a small profit but after wearing it couple of times, it has grown on me.

My first vintage manually wound watch.

Falcon cycle restoration project 3

When I started my Falcon bike restoration project in September last year, I never thought that it would take me this long but I have finally done it.

Take a look at the picture of the bike when I first bought it:



And now after the restoration:



During the process, I have learnt so much about bikes, their repair and maintenance.

I found out that there are two main schools of thought with regards to bike restoration project - one group believes that we have to keep the bike as original as possible and even if you have to replace some parts, you have to try to source the exact parts.

On the other hand, there are a number of bike restorers who take the bike apart, completely striping it down to the skeleton frame, and rebuild the bike with modern parts.

I guess I am somewhere in between - I have tried to keep as many of the original parts as possible and apart from treating and repainting some badly rusted patches, have left the bike pretty much as I got it. However, I had to replace the tyres, the brake pads, the chain and also got myself a new comfy Brookes saddle as well.


My new made in India Brookes saddle. Leaving it in the rain was a bad idea.

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New chain

Alligning the side pull brakes were a real pain but a few YouTube videos later, I finally got them centered and working perfectly. I have removed the pannier rack which was badly rusted (but might be salvageable) and the mudguards. The gears are terrible but I have left them on.

I still do not know the age of the bike - I have tried contacting the Falcon cycle people on their website but   have not received any replies so far. However, I think this is just the beginning.


The bike rides beautifully and I love it but I have realised too late that it is probably a bit high for me - this might be a problem while driving in city traffic. Now I am also wondering whether I should have gone for a new paint job - completely stripping the old paint and have it powder coated as opposed to conventional liquid painting. I would still prefer to have it in black but probably with some custom made stickers. I might also replace the gears for something more modern and practical. The same goes for the brakes as well. They are not really effective in stopping the bike when I am going fast. I guess that's the trade-off - between keeping it as original as possible and having a bike which you can use everyday.