Here is a Rolex that I picked up a few months ago. It is circa 1932, 18j with a Rebberg Ultra-Prima Chronometer movement. When I got it it had a silver crown, but I found a proper gold replacement. I'm not crazy about the dial and will probably replace it with a white-enamel specimen at some point in the future.

Here is a shot of the movement. Pretty clean and running great.

Very nice. It looks quite big for a 30s watch (like Panerai size). What's the approximate size?

I always figured those cushion cases at 32mm x 32mm.

Not counting the crown or case tube, I measured it at 31.95 — so Dana is correct. I think a combination of the macro lens setting and my skinny wrist made it look much bigger than it really is. My wrist size is one of the reasons I have no use for the wrist watches they are selling today...they are so big they hang off each side of my wrist

LOL well that saves you a lot of money! Nice looking watch and looks perfect on your wrist. I have a 20s WG Longines with 4 diamonds that would fit you to a tee! Beautiful watch, but way too small for me to wear.

Bruce,
A beauty of a watch. Thanks for showing the Rolex to us. It looks great on your wrist.
Tony

I agree and wish it was on my wrist instead of Bruce's.

This old Hamilton has been one of my favorites lately.

Here is another old Rolex that still needs a bit of work. I already polished the case, cleaned the dial (had one tiny hairline), added NOS stock hands, and added the military style black band. The front bezel isn't snapping down very well, so I still have to fix that, and I may do a COA because it loses about 1 1/2 minutes in 24-hours. Other than that, I really like the watch. P.S.- Bill, really nice Hamilton!

Bruce,, My arm must be sort of like yours. The small to medium watches fit my wrist better also. I have a divers Casio but I would need to wear it over a jacket to do it justice. :-) That would be my type of Rolex. Its nice looking and not so gaudy and it looks smaller!

Bill, some of these old wrist watches from the teens and 20's are sometimes even too small for my skinny wrist. What I do in those situations is mount it on a wide strap. Seems to get the job done

I have never found a man's watch that was too small for my wrist but I will say that the majority are too big. I wear one that measures 36mm post to post and still have to use the very last hole on a standard length leather strap. I even go so far as to cut off the ends of those straps so that they are not visibly protruding from the underside of my wrist when looking at the watch as it is worn. The circumference of my wrist where I wear a watch is only 156mm or about 6 3/16 inches.

I've never liked large watches. You can't beat the tank watches from the 30's for comfort as far as I'm concerned.

here is my speedmaster caliber(ref#)175.0043

Can't help but like the Omega. Nice watch!!

This is my new favorite wrist watch (for this week). It is a private label 0s Waltham for E.P. Miller of Albany, NY. This first shot is what it looked like when I took delivery about a month ago. The movement was 7 jewel with a bad staff. I found a nice Seaside movement on eBay (period correct) and did a COA on it. The dial had a serious amount of hairlines, but to avoid fading the lettering on the dial, I went real modest with the soak (two hours total). The hands were corroded due to the old plastic crystal, so I fitted a nice pair of gilt Louis XIV hands.

This is after restoration. I kept the alligator strap because I believe it may be original based on the hardware (not shown). The watch runs great, keeps good time, and total cost was under $100.

nice watch and the dial clean up nice as well.

Very nice Bruce,
Good job!

Good going Bruce! Very nice results for a modest outlay. I love that RN dial.

Peter, Dave and Ed, thanks for your kind words concerning this recent project. It was fun to do and will be fun to wear...isn't this a great hobby!!! Ed, concerning the Roman numeral dial, that was just "frosting on the cake"...I absolutely love RN's, especially the bolder ones (like my Rolex wrist watch higher up on this page).