Watch Magnet

I’ve been on a hot thrift shop watch finding streak. All kinds of interesting pieces. Super cheap but they all need some TLC. The first timepiece I found is this funky Seiko 5 Automatic. It runs well but there’s a divot in the crystal and the crown comes off when you pull it out. My friend and watch repair enthusiast suggests a bead of crystal epoxy to fix the hole and some loctite to secure the crown. I’m a little scared to try this at home but at the same time the watch didn’t cost that much if I screw it up. Will have to order the supplies online. (The Persian miniature painting panel bracelet was another excellent find).

Immediately after buying the Seiko but at a different thrift shop I found this amazing, tiny Oris. It looks untouched and is keeping excellent time. The dial is to die for. The only issue is that the leather on the strap was all dried up and after a day of wearing it it started to seperate. No bother, I’ll find a new pair of shoes for it.

There’s no way I could possibly top finding a vintage Oris in a thrift shop, could I? While perusing Facebook Marketplace I saw a post for a lot of watches for $50. The pictures were blurry but one shape stood out. It was an analog/digital watch that looked suspiciously like the first ani-digi—the 1970s Zenith Time Command. I quickly made an offer and then travelled up to the Yorkdale Mall to complete the transaction.

And yes, gentle reader, it was the real deal. according to Reddit, “Unlike nearly all other quartz watches this one features a jumping minutes hand that points directly to the current minute while the small LED display shows the seconds by depressing the bottom button, or the date and whether it is AM or PM using the top button. The watch uses an extremely unusual oblong 3 gear drivetrain to drive the hours hand (The hours hand moves very slowly for the first 30 minutes of each hour, and then very quickly for 20, then slowly again for 10. The watch also features electronically controlled quick set hours for quickly changing time zones while keeping accurate time, and according to the manual has a function Zenith touted as “synchronization mode” where the entire movement can be turned off and then reset on to perfectly synchronize it to the second with radio time, according to Zenith this was the first use of this feature on an analog watch.”

I have yet to procure batteries so I don’t know if it works yet. And even though I found a user manual online, I’m a little intimidated by the thought of setting it.

In the same lot I also got this 1950s kinda military looking Crawford Automatic. It’s a runner although it’s running fast. My friend Chris thinks that it probably just needs to be demagnetized.

Lastly, I picked up this small pocket watch in KW yesterday. It’s from the 1970s made by a company called Evaco whose biggest claim to fame is that during the same decade that this tiny timekeeper was made, the brand also owned Angelus. It runs but keeps terrible time. But it was priced at $2.99, which is like pre-pandemic second hand pricing, and the hand painted decoration is very charming. I mean a bluebell and a ladybug! Who could resist.