Ed's Watches

Hey Woodsy,

Got the time?

No?

Neither do I. I have the watches, but the batteries are all dead, LOL!

I have ended up with a few odds-&-ends of watches as well as a couple of clocks. Here's the few watches I do have:

-Lionel wristwatch

-Lionel pocket watch

-Harry Potter pocket watch

From Vegas 'Watch'-Tower

Ed

Watch This!

Woodsy,

In keeping with your current “Watch” theme, here’s an old painting of mine.

Rob C

USA

My Life in Watches by Brian B

Hello Woodsy

As a child I had a series of wristwatches from around age 10.

Early ones were Ingersoll which claimed they were indestructible, they weren't.

On a holiday in Switzerland in 1962 as a teen I was given a watch, brand unknown, that came from the equivalent of a Woolworth Store.

That survived through college until 1971 when my parents gave me a Tissot Sidereal watch. The attraction was a fiberglass case and plastic band as my skin was reacting to treated leather bands and some steel watch cases. The disadvantage was the band wore out frequently and was replaced free of charge by Tissot. Careless technicians would break the fiberglass case and when replacing the case, dirt got into the movement effecting the self winding mechanism. Tissot claimed that was my fault. That so annoyed me that I avoid Swiss made watches and switched to a mechanical TIMEX made in the US.

Working in the advertising industry I would wear different advertising watches and when my daughter was born in 1984, I was wearing a mechanical TIMEX Heinz Ketchup watch with a ketchup bottle as the sweep hand. I now wear it once a year on my daughter's birthday.

As an uprooted Londoner, on trips back to London I might wear my quartz London Underground watch.

Some years ago I discovered a company that customized watches to supplied designs. For a small charge they would make one sample so over a few years I made first a Desperate Dan watch and then my Dan Dare watch.

On a daily basis I wear a cheap Casio quartz watch which keeps good time and the only attention it requires is putting the time forward in the Spring and back an hour in the Autumn, with a new battery around every 18 months.

On remembering these watches I recalled a watch that I bought for a young cousin in the UK as a gift. I kept one, it dates from the early 80's, made by GameTime in Hong Kong it played video games like Space Invaders. I played mine on the flight to the UK and it put me off video games for life. Just brain numbing play. I dug it out for the attached photo. I think the then 10 year old cousin enjoyed it.

Brian B

NYC

Time You Got a Watch

 I used to love my Timex watch as a kid.

I dunno, there's something a bit James Bond about a watch.

Here's a few I spotted online. 

This is like Mother's. Watch with Mother!

Ha ha

The glorious Gilbert 007 boxed watch. Shaken, not wound.

Some chunky walkie watches for the local militia.

A modern Spy X.

A gorgeous old FBI timepiece. The eagle's carrying dynamite! 

A not so secret MI6.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service wrist.

Not so clandestine CIAs.

Do you wear a watch?

Did you as a kid?

Nuclear Wristwatch

 

An old pal, these Space Watches from Japan are on a card depicting a fabulous nuclear ferry.

The watches were once a blog exclusive offer here about 15 years ago when a US seller agreed to sell loose ones cheaper to MC readers.

Do you have a space watch of any kind readers?

Bug in a Box

Having given my Grandson, Junior, a few things over the years, it's always fun to spot them still in his room. 

This Soviet watch was a gift earlier this year. With the telltale red star, I think it's a commanders watch. I have another one with a picture of a sub on it.

And who doesn't love the Lunar Bug! This one I restored for Junior a couple years back, putting his initial on the nose.

Junior had another car inside his bug. What did you put in yours?

Kevin's Evertime Space Watch

Hi,

I have been searching for one of these for years and finally ebay came good. I had one of these watches when I was about 12.

I also think that the watch that came with the Spacex 2 LEM was the same as this, I know that was a Newmark watch but the graphic is identical.

On the LEM gift set box, it refers to a sweep module. That is what this watch has, the second hand is in the form of a clear disc with an Apollo csm on it that goes round once a minute!

Mine works too!

Kevin

UK

: Search

Watch this Space

 

I love the way the astronaut is checking his watch on this card art!

These Guisval watches from Spain sum up the twin delights of the space race and owning your first watch.

Do you recall your first watch? After several toy ones, mine was a Timex I think.

WATCH THAT SHUTTLE

 

We may have had this on MC before. I just love this carded space watch toy I saw online. Japanese, its got everything; cool card art, great graphics of the Shuttle and a watch that fires disks! Whats not to like!

You like? Got anything like it?

SPACE SHUTTLE DISC LAUNCHING WATCH

 Japan produced some of the best space toys.

Here's a super neat Space Shuttle watch on a blister card. What do you think?

Looks like its a disc launching watch. I presume the launcher is inside the watch itself.

The card art is ace. A big shuttle and a fab telescope satellite, a bit like our friend the Triang SpaceX ATS shown here courtesy of Bill.

Have you anything like the watch or the ATS readers?

TIME YOU GOT A WATCH!

What a fine Christmas gift this must have been back in the day, the Bradley space explorer watch! This one was auctioned a few years back.

Look at the fab graphics on the inside, a moon base even, like Project SWORD!

There were a few space watches around in the Sixties as the space race took hold, both real ones like this and countless toy ones.

Did you have a space watch readers?

GOING GOING GONG!

I don't think today's kids would like this as a Chrissie prezzy by Gordy International.

Your own wrist bell!

ha ha!

I love the idea that there was a time when the wrist wringer would have been an ideal gift and made some bell-less cherub as happy as Larry.

You could use it, according to the card, for skateboarding, roller skating, biking and hiking!

Good old Henry Gordy, he thought of everything!

Going going Gong!

What do you think?

HALF PAST DAN

Have I a space watch?

The definitive one!

Terranova47

USA

WATCH IT!

I love a good watch. 

This is a Vianni Halter Deep Space Tourbillon 10 Quill and Pad.

Wow!

Also cool is this Spacex-inspired wristwatch.

Having said that this plastic Shuttle watch is pretty darn smart as well!

Have you a space watch readers?

Did you have one as a kid?

TENTH BIRTHDAY MOCKUMENTARY: MOCKING UP A NEWMARK WATCH BOX

A while back this beauty appeared on Ebay.

A Newmark watch display box featuring a Tri-ang SpaceX Apollo module no less.

A really terrific off-shoot of SpaceX toys, you can read more about this and the actual wristwatch on Paul V's superb website.

Paul also blogged about the watch here on MC.

Here's the original box on Ebay [minus watch]

When I saw the box on Ebay I thought I'd have a go at making one. After all, I already have the Apollo module!

With some basic photoshoppery, card, plastic box and letraset, I came up with this [sorry about the photos]:

Front

Side

Rear

Top

Not bad don't you think!

Rough and ready, I donated it to the Bill B SpaceX collection.

have you made any boxes readers?

DARE YOU MAKE A CLOCK LIKE THIS BY ANDY B

There are a lot of very cheap wall clocks about, all of similar design. They have a small black box at the back with the mechanism, clipped into a plastic backing and frame. A clear plastic "glass" cover clips onto this. 

It is a simple job to insert a screwdriver into the slots at the rear where the clear plastic cover connects, and pushing down and forwards, to push off the cover. You can then carefully remove the hands, which just slot onto the main spindle. Next, remove the backing card with the clock face printed on (this is optional, but it helps get the size of the face).

Then, select a new image (eg. a print on card form the computer) for the background. Draw around the original clock face to get the size. Don't forget a few millimetres at the edge of the picture will be covered by the sides of the clear cover. 

Make a hole in the centre big enough to take the spindle which holds the hands. Glue such as UHU will secure the new picture; you can include the oriignal face as a stiffener at the back. Make sure the top of the picture is in line with the recess at thet top rear for hanging the clock. Put the clock hands back on, in the order, hour, minute and second hands. 

Pop the cover back on, and you will have a personalised clock suitable for workroom etc.

Pictured is my second attempt, using as the background a photo of an "Eagle" comic circular jigsaw with characters including Dan Dare. I did make one with small space ships attached to the hour and minute hands which launched from a ramp, then docked (or went behind) a small space station -unfortunately one day there was a loud "clonk" sound when all the hands stuck together and it seized up. Less ambitious the second time.

Originally posted in 2011

NEWMARK'S SPACE WATCH AND THE SPACEX LEM BY PAUL VREEDE

Hi Woodsy

There's some nice watches appearing on the blog, and by coincidence (and luck and patience) I've just managed to acquire one as well. 

It's a nice boy's watch by Newmark, ca 1970-71. Newmark was a British company that used to produce watches in their own UK factories up to the 1950s, but would later buy in watches from Switzerland to be fitted with their own dial faces.

Reason I got it is the special gift set it came in at the time. I'm very grateful to Bill B who pointed it out to me several months ago, and who remembers seeing it in a Liverpool shop window when it was new. You can see it on a new page at my website here: 

http://www.triangspacextoys.info/SpGApack/PppnSetp/PppnSetp.html

Best

Paul Vreede

FOR RUSSIAN WRISTS

Hi Woodsy, 

The recent posts about space related watches reminded me there are various Russian space watches.

Commemorative watches are something of a Russian industry, produced by several manufacturers. The main one advertising now is Vostok, although I have a watch with two jet fighters produced by the Seagull Watch Factory. 

My partner also has a Russian watch with a Yuri Gagarin image on the strap.

A few years ago, at least in Eastern Europe/Russia, they could be bought cheaply (I paid 5 dollars for a new one), but online companies are now trying to charge a small fortune for them.

Be warned, the system Seagull used for winding/moving the hands via a metal spindle (you have to loosen and pull out the winder) means that when the spindle breaks it apparently cannot be repaired (not sure how widespread this system is). 

Also I had one where the spring went (admittedly an old second hand one), and another where (when I bought it) the mechanism had grit in, which had to be cleaned out.

Nevertheless, they are quite stylish timepieces, and as I don't use a mobile phone, still need to use a watch!

Images enclosed from various sources on the net.

All the best,

Andy B