automatico

Re: Rolex Wristies thread - Page 144 - The Rolex Area - RWG Fourth post down. After wearing the quartz '5513' for a while, I came to a few conclusions: 1...An old 5513 runs at 18000 beats per hour, the quartz '5513' runs at 14400 bph. Not much difference and it is not obvious to most 'watch watchers' unless they zero in on it. 2...The vast majority of 'drive by' wristwatch observers think all rolex! watches have smooth sweep second hand motion like an Accutron. Therefore, they think every old rolex! they see is fake. 3...A late model replica rolex! running at 28800 bph fools most of the observers if the watch looks pretty good. 4...What the rep-rep world needs is a quartz movement that runs at 18000 bph +/- and one that runs at 28800 bph +/- with the correct date font/offset and hand sizes. 5...High beat sweep second hand quartz movements are a low cost reality. 5A...Bulova Precisionist technology proves it. 5B...Three volt batteries make it viable. If our hero (rolex) decided to make a New! Improved! top grade 'oysterquartz' movement with a high beat sweep second hand as an option on their popular models, they would have a big hit on their hands...and a hell-of-a-lot-less warranty claims. One problem comes to mind...they would need to figure out how to justify a $300 movement in a $10K stainless steel watch. ...but they have already done that. Ha! Imho.

Re: "You can't beat an old Rolex." Posted above. "I have a 6430 Speedking, new from an AD in 1972 ($125US), worn only a couple times shortly after I bought it. The watch would probably pass for nos and I always thought I paid $130 for it but I looked it up just now and it was $125 OTD (out the door). I never paid any attention to the markings on the dial and always figured it had tritium lume, but the dial developed what appears to be 'radium burn' where the hands were left in the same position for over 40 years. I have not looked at it in a while and I'll take a picture of the dial next time I run across it, according to my notes it was made in 1969." Looks like I was wrong. Again. I dug the 6430 Speedking out of hibernation and the dial is slightly faded but shows no sign of burn from the lume material. It is a tritium signed dial, the marker dots are faded, the lume in the hands has turned dark and is eating on the hands, but no 'burn streaks' appear anywhere. For what it's worth, this is what a watch might look like after being stored 50 years in a dry, heated safe...the age shows mostly on the lume and dial. It still runs, keeps good time, and the lizard strap is not cracked or brittle...unlike myself. Ha! Something else... While digging through 'old Rolex watches', I ran across two more that are about the same age (mid to late 1980s), one nos while the other one has been worn quite a bit. They are close to the same age, have the same reference number (6694), and the worn example shows what sunlight etc. can do to a dial. The nos example (without bracelet) still has the same dial color as it did when I bought it new in 1989. The nos watch also came with an Oyster bracelet and it is stored with the watch. No signs of tritium corrosion on either watch, just dial fade on the used one. The lume looks the same on both watches, no lume fade on the used one. Both have the same pointed hands and neither one has ever been apart or polished. Both have 21600 bph cal 1225 hand crank movements. My conclusion: After looking at my tritium lume watches and literally hundreds of pictures, plus reading a LOT over the years...I can say I have not seen dial finish (paint etc.) damage directly caused by tritium. Tritium damage to hands...Yes. Tritium damage to markers...Yes. Tritium damage to the dial finish...Not yet. But I could be wrong. Again.

'Yeller Oakey' from 12 or 15 years ago... Still nos and wrapped up. Steel case/bct with DG automatic movement...it's heavy at 170 grams. A '1016' in a 16220 case with hollow mid link 'oyster' bct (13 links) and ETA 28xx weighs 94 grams. Pic taken 10-21-22.

With one runner-up. Mine... Exp 1016 Sub 5512 Exp II 1655 Runner-up... DJ 1603

"Anyone know or have seen this type before and how to regulate?" If I ever saw one like this, I do not remember where it was. Looks like an ETA bal-[censored] -c-c-c-ock! You probably regulate it by turning the weights (because of the slots) or sliding the weights in or out. Could be from a run of special movements made for a specific brand of watch. One example being the Wyler 'incaflex' balances with flexible spokes to absorb shocks without shock springs on the balance staff jewels.

The dial looks very good! You can't beat an 'old rolex'. I have a 6430 Speedking, new from an AD in 1972 ($125US), worn only a couple times shortly after I bought it. The watch would probably pass for nos and I always thought I paid $130 for it but I looked it up just now and it was $125 OTD (out the door). I never paid any attention to the markings on the dial and always figured it had tritium lume, but the dial developed what appears to be 'radium burn' where the hands were left in the same position for over 40 years. I have not looked at it in a while and I'll take a picture of the dial next time I run across it, according to my notes it was made in 1969. If it does have tritium, could trit also cause dial burn? I never heard of it. Have a nos 6694 serial 88xxxxx ($925 OTD from AD), parked since 1989 and it shows no trace of 'dial burn' on the tritium lume dial. The $925 figure was probably list price because I bought it on 'The Rolex Plan' where you paid for the watch in 12 equal monthly installments. At least they knocked the sales tax off. Q...Why would I buy two new watches and put them away? A...Because they were manual wind oyster case rolex watches...the end of an era. A fellow who worked at RUSA NYC back then told me the 6694 was from the last run.

'Gubelin' Bought this Baylor watch in November 1990 with a faded dial. Had the dial refinished in Nov '92 and it came back as a Gubelin so I left it that way. The trademark on the dial is similar to Gubelin and the dial company made a mistake. Steel case, gold bezel (?), acrylic crystal, 20mm crocodile strap...the pusher at 8 sets the day of the week. I've had a lot of dials refinished and there have been a few mistakes made by the dial companies. One dial company refinished a ten diamond rolex dial and sent it back without the diamonds, just ten holes in the dial but they found them and made it right. I've also had vintage 'snap back' Bulova, Elgin, Hamilton etc. dials sent back with the wrong brand names. Baylor is a 'House Brand' of Zayle's Jewelers and there were some very good watches made with the Baylor name on the dial. I bought one of these in Sept '92 for $140 and traded it away of course; Baylor 4213 GMT Chronograph stainless steel VX 724 dates 1970's (fabsuisse.com) Baylor info: Baylor | OnTheDash Baylor Watch Company is from Texas (chronocentric.com)

Have not found my Dad's folding alarm but ran across these two while looking. LeCoultre 8 day alarm, wide open... Case closed... Cyma Sonomatic... On the back it says '15 jewels, lever, Swiss Made'. Has cleaning dates 2-18-56 and 11-27-69. Back view, different clock but exactly the same model... Could not find the stand for mine. And one Cyma wristwatch... Swiss made, ETA, stainless, sapphire, nos.

You might also look for older used watches with ETA 2824 or 2836 movements on eBay etc. Make sure there is a clear picture of the movement and look for rust, ruined screws, scratches etc. Rust often collects around where the stem enters the movement because of a defective crown, also look for water spots on the dial. Look for nos obscure brands with ETA 2824/36. About 12 or 15 years ago, I stumbled into some new in box 'Oniss' brand day/date watches with ETA 2834 for $65 each in fancy wooden boxes with b/p, but they are all gone now. Edit 10-27-22...found four of them, pic below. USA Walmart stores sold 'Swiss Gruen' automatic watches for a while about 15 or 18 years back with ETA 2824 movements and they blew them out to wholesalers when they did not sell. I still see one for sale now and then for a fair price....$120 or so. Here are two examples of what to look for... Gruen Swiss Automatic Watch, Running, Sold as is #1160 | eBay mens Gruen Authentic ETA 2824-2 Swiss Movement Automatic 25J Jewels watch GSM043 | eBay Here is one on Etsy at a pretty good price... Rare Gents GRUEN SWISS 25 Jewel ETA 2824-2 Automatic Display - Etsy They also made a diver style but they do not come up for sale very often... wristwatch: PREOWNED GRUEN SWISS AUTOMATIC GENTS DIVER'S WRISTWATCH (beautifulwatche.blogspot.com) "A good deal is where you find it." Show and Tell... Here are a few of the watches I bought for a small percentage of their list prices years ago just to get the movements. Many are worth a lot more now than I paid for them back then. Nos Oniss with ETA2834-2: The Oniss watches came in nice wood boxes. The $199 tag was our store price, retail prices were crazy. Btw, I paid $65 each for them, I changed it above from $60 to $65. Nos Jaques Prevard dive style with ETA 2846: Ole Jaques needed a lesson in bezel compatibility. Had 10 or 12 to begin with but I used/traded/sold/gave away some over the years. One ETA 2824 OCTO (!!) and a few ?? Can't remember the name and I have already put them up. All nos. When was the last time you saw an OCTO? Nos Swiss ETA 2824 Gruen: Odds and ends: And one Val 7734 for a Toot MC project. When? Never. Nos ETA 2879, one watch and five movements: Put a nos ETA 2879 in my MBK '5512'. They run at 21600 bph and are good for vintage projects. If I posted what I paid for them, there would be a bounty on my head.

"Nice! where did you source the watch hands? They look pretty good!" Thanks! The hands are pretty flat and came from ST...'Tudor Style Sub Hands'...RH-TD/SUB-W. Got the bracelet from a 'Crazy Sale' AK/Explorer from 'Paul' @ Abay, 2005 or so. The dial came from RWG member 'Stilty' around 2011 iirc. The case from a guy on the 'net in March 2003.

'New' 1016... New as in different case and bracelet but same dial and 'combo' ETA 2824/2846 that was in my JMB '1016'. Sold the JMB cases and the guts ended up here. Genuine 16220 case, ST bezel, cut to fit GS 22 crystal. Lug holes bored out for oem 1016 spec spring bars. This case already had spring bar holes all the way through the lugs. This same case had a 1570 and genuine 1016 dial for a while in mid 2008. The bracelet is a cheapo with hollow mid links. The screw holes in the removable links were blind on one side and I drilled them out and pressed short pieces of stainless pins in them and finished the ends to look like ends of the screws. Made a new brass spacer to position the movement in the case and cemented the 'no foot' dial to the spacer. Case clamps and screws keep it all in place. This late 1980s (L serial) 16220 case may look a bit more like a later 1016 than an earlier model. The 2824 base movement is a good fit in this case but a 2836 would be a hair too thick. A 2836 is a better fit in a 16000 type case. The earlier '1016' with the JMB case looked new but this high mileage case looks the part. More or less. Note the worn lug tips from a bracelet on the side view and below, this takes place over years of daily wear. The left lug is shadowed and gives the impression of heavy wear but the other side gives a more accurate impression. This happens when the hoods and bracelet connecting links wear and allow the bracelet to rub the insides of the lugs. It looks pretty bad in this close-up but it does not show much at all on the wrist. The 'new 1016' (16220) case above compared to a replica 36mm 'modern explorer' case that is similar to a replica 162xx DJ etc. This modern type 'explorer' has an A21 in it and the case will accept an ETA 2836-2. I have one that came with an ETA 2836 and they are identical except for the movements, hands, dials, and dial foot location. This one has silver/gray writing on the dial and the ETA 2836 models have the correct white writing. It is 15+/- years old but looks like the same cases they are selling today...maybe the same as an unmodified JMB '1016' case? It will accept oem crystals etc.

"Nice!" Thanks! "Did you make your own movement spacer?" Yes, it is made out of a brass flat washer. Can't remember the original size but I had 6 or 8 machined and now they are 31.6mm OD, 24.0mm ID, and 2.25mm thick. Only the OD was cut down at first, the center hole is same as when purchased. A friend cut them on a shop lathe because my Sherline lathe is small and would take too long, it is Ok for sizing the rough cut spacers to cases and movements though. These spacers work fine for projects using cases made for rolex 12.5 ligne and ETA 11.5 ligne movemets. The ID is a little bit too big for the Hattori movement as it is 23.6mm so I had to push a thin metal movement spacer in between the movement and brass spacer. Not a very good solution but it works. Next time, I'll use a spacer with the correct ID if I can find any flat washers to make them. All I have to do myself is use the Sherline lathe to machine the brass blanks to fit a specific watch/movement.

Older '5513' with a twist. Top view... Bottom view, Mary 'foldoyster' with a flipper locker... Inside view with the twist... The twist is a Hattori (Seiko) VH31A continuous sweep quartz movement. It ticks similar to an older rolex with an 18,000 bph 1530 etc at 5 whacks per second. This movement makes 4 whacks per second but it is better than one whack per second. It already had a 'me first' dial so it is period correct for the slower beat rate. Ha! The 'A21J' went south and I did not want to screw with another automatic so I went this route. I can hang it up, wear it, or pitch it in a drawer for a couple months...automatics can't beat that. Hands are TAG Heuer ETA 955.xxx quartz replacements (1.20/.70/.20) aged in strong coffee. It was a quickie job and the next one will be a bit neater, maybe a '1016'. Case origin is unknown for sure (JKF?) and the bez assembly is a spring wire DW takeoff with a GS crystal. Update 10-8-2022: Found the specs on the VH31A. It makes four (4) whacks per second, not 5 so I changed it above. Seiko Instruments (SII) VH31 / VH31A watch movement | Caliber Corner 10-26-22... Quartz '5513' observations... - The Rolex Area - RWG Update 11-18-22... With rubber strap, RIYI strap hoods, and deployant clasp... Clasp cap and fliplock... Blades and latch...

I've said this all before in bits and pieces. Here it is, all in one spot. All imho. Below is a 'Cliff Notes' version of my experience with 'Quality vs Junk' watch movements and I've had my share of each to say the least. Almost all of the 'Quality' part of the experience was witnessed before I mis-adventured into the wide-wide world of replicas. I have owned many quality genuine mechanical watches including Bulova, Longines, Omega, Mido, Girard Perregaux, Zodiac, Rolex, Patek, V&C, AP, JLC, Cartier, and others. A few had common A Schild, ETA etc. movements, some had modified A/S, ETA etc. while others had 'in house' movements. What brands gave the least trouble? Looking back, I would say Bulova/Longines/Rolex manual wind, and 1530 base automatic Rolex...plus most brands with ETA, A/S etc. Two of my favorites, Zodiac and GP were Ok but their modified A/S movements have overly complicated date works, especially if they have a day and date. Many Bulova models had slightly modified Swiss movements made for Bulova and were easy to work on and find parts. Brands with ETA movements do not give much trouble and when they do need c/o and/or parts, they are easy to work on and parts are easy to find...for now. No doubt the friendly Swatch outfit is trying to cut ETA parts off just like every other swissy NP-FY watch company. I can't really comment on Patek, V&C, Cartier, Patek etc. because I never owned one very long or wore one much at all. I do not want to get stuck with one of these brands with an 'in house' movement needing parts. I could get parts from PP, JLC and a few others in the past but my connections are all long gone along with just about everyone else's connection. My Cartier watches had ETA mechanical movements, ETA 2000 in Tank Franchaise, ETA 2892 in Pasha, and ETA quartz in a Santos. They were all older models and it looks like Cartier has gone 'in house' or using exclusive movements now...anything to keep the $$$ 'in house'. Have a couple quartz Ebel watches needing Cartier type 'in house' movements and I will probably substitute an ETA movement for the 'in house' movement. Already fixed a couple Ebel 'Sport Wave' watches that way and the first one has been running since June 2010. Now for the JUNK: Almost ALL of the JUNK was a replica of some sort with an etaclone or miyaclone movement. Also had some trouble with ST19 Seagull chronographs but not much. Have a few A7750 watches but they are still nos because to tell the truth...I do not have the guts to wear one because I do not want to have to fix it. To be fair, I have had pretty good experience with most of the Miyota clones...Seagull ST16/NN/DG etc, but have had more than a few duds too, mostly assembly mistakes, dry of oil, or dirty. The ST16 is a Miyota/Seiko clone with Miyota type running gear and a version of the Seiko 'Magic Lever' winding system. Most Seagull ST6 autos have been Ok. Parts are not much of a problem for the '21 jewel' clones in general because you can buy another movement for $25/$40 or get needed parts from a 'parts movement'. You are always going to have a few 'parts movements' if you work on this...shall we say it politely, JUNQUE. Never owned any of the current crop of 3135/3235/4130 rolexaclones but from what I have read they are either Ok or NOT Ok off the bat or soon after...many being NOT Ok. When one goes out of whack, parts are a big problem and some who work on them buy high $$ genuine parts to replace defective replica parts, but that runs into a LOT of $$ quickly...plus labor. So...it looks to me like everyone is basically on their own with rolexaclones. I for one do not need the hassle because finding and buying parts to fix a genuine rolex is bad enough. A DJ/OPD/AK/5512-13/1680/16610 etc. with a freshened swisseta 28xx would be a better bet for me. Typos are free.

Bulova Accutron II 'Moonview' made in 2015, purchased in September 2016 ... I've changed the 3 volt 2016 cell every 2 years and it keeps time within a few seconds a month. No hour wheel trouble...yet. The damage to the plastic hour wheel might happen when the date is changed manually during the time it is getting ready to change on its own...just a guess but I have not heard of a no date Alpha having hour wheel trouble. Bulova stopped selling hour wheels and movements so I bought a 36mm lady style Precisionist for spare parts...same P102 movement, different date wheel and movement spacer. The bezel does not turn on the Moonview. With a GMT hand, rotating 24 hour bezel and screw down back, it would have been a huge hit. Snap backs on 'water resistant' watches should be against the law imho. Mesh bracelet from an eBay seller (20mm) and the clasp from another eBay seller... Mesh bracelets are fine but they are a hassle to cut to size. Have to be careful not to cut the wrong loop or it can ruin the looks. Do not know what the 'Y' stands for...Yet.

'IF you are going to collect one of the "most faked models " from Tudor, you might as well have some really good fakes.' You got that right! Fine looking toots!

I do not know much about these clocks but my Dad carried one similar to it (darker dial color) through WW II in Patton's Third Army...Battle of the Bulge etc. If I can find it, I'll post a pic of it. The Memovox movements in the clocks were in reality wristwatch movements. I had a couple yellow gold filled Memovox watches but sold them 20+ years ago. A friend bought one for $150 about the same time assuming it was yellow gold filled but it turned out to have an 18K case. It came with a steel case back so the alarm would make more noise. I have had this one for many years, an 8 day LeC alarm clock. Had it c/o and a new balance staff in the late 1990s and it still runs fine. Edited 10-29-22...My Dad's Jaeger LeCoultre alarm clock from WW II... Layout of the back... The movement is slightly different. I wound it a couple turns and it still runs almost eighty years after WW II with no service. As an officer, the clock was issued to him along with his ACP .45 etc. It was originally painted 'OD' (olive drab) to lower reflections and the dial has radium lume. I still have it all along with 8 or 10 German swords, a box of medals etc. he brought back in a 32" long X 22" high X 22" wide steel footlocker. Included was a complete set of works, weights, pendulum etc. for a tall case German 'Grandfather' clock that was stored in our attic for 40+ years until one of our relatives made a walnut case for it. I have cleaned/oiled the clock two or three times and it still runs and keeps time within a few seconds per day. One of Dad's caps: A WW2 German Luftwaffe 2nd Pattern Officers Dress Dagger from the swords etc. he brought back: Also have the original scabbard with blue velvet backed brocade hanging straps that go with it.

I was afraid someone would try to beat me down on the price. I should have turned it over. Anyway, I'm not coming down one thin dime. Q...Why not? A...Because it was bought new.

From a rarely worn 'Weekend Watch'. Slight wear, but only on one side. Guaranteed 100% genuine. Threads are fine. Never polished. CA$H only. No trades. No IOUs. I kept this one because it is the worst I've seen. Maybe peel the gold off and sell it for $crap.

Steel manual wind DOXA from the 1950s... 'Rare' German made steel 'Sliplock' bracelet... Imho the term 'rare' is much like 'near mint' and 'like new' when applied to watches. I call it 'rare' only because it is the only example I have seen in 40+ years. It is similar to a Bonklip. You let enough of the clasp cap end of the bracelet out (at the top of the pic) to go over the wrist, then pull it as tight as needed and snap the two pieces of the clasp back together. I made up the term 'Sliplock' years ago. Modern Bonklip type bracelet... Bonklip Bracelet - 304L Stainless Steel Watch Band - Adjustable Size (josephbonnie.com)

Cool!! Sorta reminds me of this... Hamilton prop watch from '2001: A Space Odyssey'. My 'civilian Odyssee'... Hamilton had to spell the name on the watch differently because of copyrights on the film...'2001: A Space Odyssey'. It is in original condition, the case and crystal are fine but the dial is showing its age. Side view... I bought it in February 1990 for $75, not many of them around now. Also have an original Swiss NSA bracelet for it somewhere. Hamilton Odyssee 2001 (Hamilton Cal. 694)… | The Watch Spot (thewatchspotblog.com)

Bulova Precisionist diver... It's a whopper...about 55mm from the bezel lock to 4:15, 48mm 2 o'clock to 8, and 50mm across the crown to 9 o'clock. It weighs 141 grams. The strap is 24mm between the lugs, 22mm at the buckle. Too big for me but it is all mine, took it in on trade. It is in about 85% condition, the buckle is the roughest part.

You gotta grin at this one... Swiss Face Up to 3 Years in Prison For Violating Heating Rules September 7th, 2022 Via: Summit News: People in Switzerland who violate the country’s new heating rules which forbid setting the temperature above 19°C (66.2F) in the colder months will face up to three years in prison. Yes, really. Under the new rules, buildings that use gas heating systems are restricted to 19°C, while hot water can only be heated up to 60°C and radiant heaters are banned entirely. It will also be forbidden to heat swimming polls and saunas. Depending on the severity of the violation and the individual’s economic situation, fines will range from 30 to 3,000 Swiss francs ($30 to $3,050), while people could also be imprisoned for up to three years. Utility companies and larger businesses would face even more severe penalties for breaking the energy rationing rules. Despite the brazenly authoritarian restrictions, Economy Minister Guy Parmelin asserted, “We are not a police state,” although he acknowledged police would perform “spot checks” to try to catch violators. I can't help having visions of the Haughty Swiss shivering in their beds while wearing a $25K watch and a wool night cap like Ebenezer Scrooge. Our 100+ year old house hardly ever gets up to more than 67 degrees F. in very cold weather (20 degrees F. and lower), especially if the wind is blowing.

Batteries, An Explanation. What is a battery?' Tesla said it best when they called it an Energy Storage System. That's important. Batteries do not make electricity – they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily by coal, uranium, natural gas-powered plants, or diesel-fueled generators. So, to say an EV is a zero-emission vehicle is not at all valid. Also, since forty percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. is from coal-fired plants, it follows that forty percent of the EVs on the road are coal-powered." Einstein's formula, E=MC2, tells us it takes the same amount of energy to move a four thousand pound gasoline powered automobile a mile as it does an electric one. The only question is what produces the power? To reiterate, it does not come from the battery; the battery is only the storage device, like a gas tank in a car. There are two orders of batteries, rechargeable, and single use. The most common single-use batteries are A, AA, AAA, C, D. 9V, and lantern types. Those dry-cell species use zinc, manganese, lithium, silver oxide, or zinc and carbon to store electricity chemically. Please note they all contain toxic, heavy metals. Rechargeable batteries only differ in their internal materials, usually lithium-ion, nickel-metal oxide, and nickel-cadmium. The United States uses three billion of these two battery types a year, and most are not recycled; they end up in landfills. California is the only state which requires all batteries be recycled. If you throw your small, used batteries in the trash, here is what happens to them. All batteries are self-discharging. That means even when not in use, they leak tiny amounts of energy. You have likely ruined a flashlight or two from an old, ruptured battery. When a battery runs down and can no longer power a toy or light, you think of it as dead; well, it is not. It continues to leak small amounts of electricity. As the chemicals inside it run out, pressure builds inside the battery's metal casing, and eventually, it cracks. The metals left inside then ooze out. The ooze in your ruined flashlight is toxic, and so is the ooze that will inevitably leak from every battery in a landfill. All batteries eventually rupture; it just takes rechargeable batteries longer to end up in the landfill. In addition to dry cell batteries, there are also wet cell batteries used in automobiles, boats, and motorcycles. The good thing about those is ninety percent of them are recycled. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how to recycle single-use batteries properly. But that is not half of it. For those of you excited about electric cars and a green revolution, I want you to take a closer look at batteries and also windmills and solar panels. These three technologies share what we call "environmentally destructive embedded costs." Everything manufactured has two costs associated with it, embedded costs and operating costs. I will explain embedded costs using a can of baked beans as my subject. In this scenario, baked beans are on sale, so you jump in your car and head for the grocery store. Sure enough, there they are on the shelf for $1.25 a can. As you head to the checkout, you begin to think about the embedded costs in the can of beans. The first cost is the diesel fuel the farmer used to plow the field, till the ground, harvest the beans, and transport them to the food processor. Not only is his diesel fuel an embedded cost, so are the costs to build the tractors, combines, and trucks. In addition, the farmer might use a nitrogen fertilizer made from natural gas. Next is the energy costs of cooking the beans, heating the building, transporting the workers, and paying for the vast amounts of electricity used to run the plant. The steel can containing the beans is also an embedded cost. Making the steel can requires mining taconite, shipping it by boat, extracting the iron, placing it in a coal-fired blast furnace, and adding carbon. Then it's back on another truck to take the beans to the grocery store. Finally, add in the cost of the gasoline for your car. A typical EV battery weighs one thousand pounds, about the size of a travel trunk. It contains twenty-five pounds of lithium, sixty pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic. Inside are up to 6,000 individual lithium-ion cells. It should concern you that all those toxic components come from mining. For instance, to manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust for just - one - battery. Sixty-eight percent of the world's cobalt, a significant part of a battery, comes from the Congo. Their mines have no pollution controls, and they employ children who die from handling this toxic material. Should we factor in these diseased kids as part of the cost of driving an electric car?" I'd like to leave you with these thoughts. California is building the largest battery in the world near San Francisco, and they intend to power it from solar panels and windmills. They claim this is the ultimate in being 'green,' but it is not! This construction project is creating an environmental disaster. Let me tell you why. The main problem with solar arrays is the chemicals needed to process silicate into the silicon used in the panels. To make pure enough silicon requires processing it with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, trichloroethane, and acetone. In addition, they also need gallium, arsenide, copper-indium-gallium- diselenide, and cadmium-telluride, which also are highly toxic. Silicon dust is a hazard to the workers, and solar panels cannot be recycled. Windmills are the ultimate in embedded costs and environmental destruction. Each weighs up to 1688 tons (the equivalent of 23 houses) and contains 1300 tons of concrete, 295 tons of steel, 48 tons of iron, 24 tons of fiberglass, and the hard to extract rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Each blade weighs up to 81,000 pounds and will last 15 to 20 years, at which time it must be replaced. We cannot recycle used blades. Sadly, both solar arrays and windmills kill birds, bats, sea life, and migratory insects. There may be a place for these technologies, but you must look beyond the myth of zero emissions. I predict EVs and windmills will be abandoned once the embedded environmental costs of making and replacing them become apparent. "Going Green" may sound like the Utopian ideal and are easily espoused, catchy buzz words, but when you look at the hidden and embedded costs realistically with an open mind, you can see that Going Green is more destructive to the Earth's environment than meets the eye, for sure.