surpur

I think the watches issued by the US Army during Vietnam were Hamilton watches, just read an article about that on some website. Correct me if I 'm wrong

Ever since I saw this model on the arm of a friend some 20 years ago I really liked this Seiko model. He had brought his back from his tour in Vietnam and always praised it as a real tough watch. At that time I just started to get into watches and I liked the looks of this one. What struck me most at the time was the day wheel with a blue color for 'Sat' and red for 'Sun', so cool. But he just did not want to part with it and I don't blame him. Now I found one on the bay, the exact same model advertised as a 'Saigon Special' - great name for this watch. Many Soldiers back then bought Seiko watches either on their way to or in Vietnam, since with the strong Dollar this were like the poor mans Rolex. Seiko automatic movements, the 'Made in Japan' ones are hard to kill. All the original Japan made '5' series automatics are great colletor pieces. It has the original 'grain of rice' bracelet (personalized by someone who stamped 'JJ' on the clasp). You can tell that this watch has been through some tough times, but it still works perfect, is water proof and still a classic beauty. Enjoy:

Recently the magazine 'Watch Time' had an interesting article about the good times in Cuba and a famous watch factory that was in Havana until 1959 when Castro took over. Now a German watchmaker has bought the name 'Cuervo y Sobrinos Habana' and is making several old style models under that name. Limited editions and real expensive. I found that the bay has quite a few listings of the original antique 'Cuervo's' and I bought me one in the automatico 17J version. The Swiss automatic movement on my watch has the 'AS' stamp and the number 1361-N on its plate, from a Swiss company A. Schild. I could not pinpoint the date on the watch to either the 40's or 50', could be either one. It has the Cuervo's stamp on the rotor. It is still going strong and a little oil and timing adjustment made sure it will go for a long time to come The movements of most of the chronographs I saw so far were all Landerons with the Cuervo's stamp on it. Here is my little historic time piece: They sold not only their own brand there in Habana :cool: And now a real good C***n cigar!

Too bad it got sold - the poor buyer.. You can even see the fake bracelet links that are from 1 piece and not many pieces like the gen links of this great bracelet. Now that same guy has a Ladies Rolie DJ up ebay DJ think its for real?

Dito - I hope the crystal is fixed as tight as the crown, or if you find yourself in a sudden decompress the crystal will just fly off... Just being German!

What on earth is a 'Kentucky weld'?

Double sided tape and dial dots might work for quartz watches with no date, but you don't want to have the dial slip later and your date window is off. Its simply not a good way to do this. The template is a greate way to get the positions. But I have soldered the feet on with having no problem on the painted side at all. I used a painted practice dial and I cleaned the spot on the back with a fiberglass pen contact cleaner and used thin solder with a low energy Weller soldering iron for electronics. First put a thin layer of solder on the cleaned spot on the dial. Mark the location for the foot with your template. File down the flat part of the new dial foot as much as possible and apply some solder. Use a rather strong tweezer to hold foot in the exact place and apply some heat. Just for kicks I applied a lot more heat then necessary to see what happens, but there still was no damage on the paint side. So I will not take responibility for your soldering skills - but I see no issue with soldering dial feet. Just do a few practice runs on old dials to get the feel and confidence.

The only thing I am worried about is that the threads on the crown or tube will wear out from opening it all the time. Also that it might affect water resistance negatively. I try to avoid it.

Ref. 2508 - anyone? I guess white was the color it came in... King says this model is not available anymore. Silix the same. If anyone knows where to get it or has one for sale - please let me know per PM. It has a handwound Lemania copy ST-19 mvmnt and I saw it on some other site too, but they didn't have it anymore either. I take also a used one, no matter what condition as long as it has a case and a dial. - Thanks!