Hi All,

I bought this Swiss pocket watch last summer at a watch show. I have no idea what it is. It appears to be about an 18 size hunter, weighs nearly 6 ounces, appears to have a brass case, has a center-sweep seconds hand and a smaller seconds bit, has a 24-hour complication, and appears to have a paper dial. Of course, I can't tell for sure because I can't get the back open to see the movement and get access to the dial. I can't tell if this is a snap back or a screw back, but in any event I can't open it for the life of me. Also, it appears to have some kind of custom beading on the case on top of a very nice enameled rose motif.

Any clue on this would be greatly appreciated. Also, any idea whether it would be worth the trouble to have someone open the back. And if so, any idea who might be able to do this?

Thanks!

Mike

Here's the front . . .

Here's the edge . . .

Here's the bottom edge with the front hinge . . .

And here's the back.

This appears to be of modern Chinese manufacture. Upon opening the back you'll probably find a small, inexpensive movement. It's a snap back and in your 4th image, you can see the cut-away in the lid which accepts a blade type opener.

William

Good eye William.

That lip is normally at 2 o'clock (or 10 o'clock). I have a case opener on my key chain that is much thinner than the normal knife blade style and helps a lot with these tight cases.

Other wise, I get a single edge razor blade worked in to the gap with a rocking motion to get her started.

Nice Chrysanthemums

William and Paul, you couldn't have been more right about this #$%$#@&^%!!! watch. See below for the story . . .

So, rookie watch collector Ol' Mike is walking around another watch club's market this summer. He's all starry-eyed at the assortment of watches at slightly-less-than-Ebay prices. He's looking at the offerings at a vendor's booth when suave-tall-slightly-grey-haired gentleman rushes over to adjacent vendor's booth. "My, those are very interesting watches" says gentleman to adjacent vendor, referring to the watch in this post and another, similar blue-colored offering. "What are they?"

Vendor is not quite sure what they are, but both are available for the bargain-basement price of $65. "I'll take the blue one" says gentleman. "I'll bet it is really rare!"

Ol' Mike thinks gentleman seems to know what he's doing. After all, he is suave, tall and slightly greying. So, Ol' Mike thinks he's getting a fabulous deal when he shells out 65 skins for the red offering,

Coincidence? You decide. Ol' Mike is in fact a pretty sophisticated commercial litigation attorney. Yet, he ended up buying a Chinese cheapie for what is probably several times its actual value.

Regardless of the conclusion to be reached on the above-described transaction, I love this club. Scrupulous honesty, and not "Caveat Emptor," is the watchword here. Thanks William, Paul, and all the others who make IHC 185 what it is!

These make great gifts for friends and family who will think you just gave up one of your beloved possessions just for them...

Or perhaps a grand child in training... Horological training that is.

And, sad truth be known, my lady would be equally happy carrying this one over any other for two reasons... one, no one cares if she drops it or breaks it... and two (the saddest of all)... it's prettier than those big ol' klunky looking things I get so excited about.

Michael, I want to thank you for showing this to me, as I have seen this posted before at other sites, but no one has ever shown what was in the back, so you provided an educational point for all of us to see.

So, it may have been $65 invested to our education, and we thank you!

HIGH regards! Mark

We "Ol Mikes" have all been suffering the symptoms of buyers remorse from time to time. My experience is that $65 is a cheap tuition for a valuable lesson.

I'm with you, Mike. It's not so much the $65 that bothers me, but just the fact that I was dumb enough to buy a watch without checking it out first. But you guys raise some good points. And frankly, I love the way the watch looks, and it keeps really good time.

No grand kids yet, Paul, but I suspect that day will be here sooner rather than later! So, I'll just hold onto the watch until then.

And Mark, once William and Paul confirmed that it was a snap back, that gave me the confidence to force it open with my case tool. I'm happy that the watch has done some educational good!

I have seen those before for great price of $99 so you did good.
Some relatives of yours will be very happy with that watch as the holidays are around the corner.

Thanks Peter!

William said that the watch was 'modern.' Any idea when it would have been made?

1970s

This movement looks like the beginnings of the 2650G or 2650S Chinese mechanical movement. They are usually skeletonized and run about $15-$20 to your door. You can find that movement fairly easily and is a fun little movement to practice on. Something breaks, it is cheaper to buy a new movement than repair it.

I am curious, do all the hands work? The newer ones just have the sweep seconds not the 24hr and sub seconds ...

They do indeed, Dan, but the sub-seconds hand is running about 3-4 seconds fast when compared to the sweep seconds hand. Don't quite know how to fix that other than to pull out the movement and manually adjust.

Someone may have them off by a few seconds so that it doesn't look like a redundant feature. But you are right, un-casing it and removing and replacing the hands would be the only way to fix it really.

On another note, if you check the diameter of the case opening, you might be able to swap out that movement for a nicer one. I replaced one from an engraved "things to remember" gift watch with a Colibri skeleton 6497. It came out great and still kept the sentimentality of the watch but made it more reliable. You might have to make some spacer parts and will need a new crown, but that is only if you really like the case! Otherwise it is really just an execersise in your creativity .