Jb boin 0 Posted November 14, 2009 (edited) I was stalking eBay since a week for budget gen watches and i found many vintage gen for less than 100$, brands such as Sandoz, Tissot, Titoni, West End Watches, Enicar. I bought my 'refurbished' "Sowar Prima" from "West End Watch Co." (a Swiss brand mainly selling in Asia and Orient which was the first to use Incabloc) which is a manual winding watch from the 50-60s from Old Watch Collection a seller located in India. I paid ~40euros including shipping for the watch. Here are the pics from the eBay auction : I received it after... 2 days and a half (auction won the 10/11 at 2am, shipped from India; i received it the 12/11 at 2pm in France via TNT:mellow:), i dont have to add that i wasnt expecting that this early And it was verry well protected; in fact, it took me 10 minutes to remove all the protections First impression... the watch is even smaller than what i thought (32mm including crown, 30 without and 16/14mm strap)... really like a toy and the "plastic leather" band feels cheap but at least its soft and not too uncomfy. But after that... it really doesnt looks like an old watch, it really look like if it was brand new : the tropic is new, the dial has been repainted (or maybe its a brand new one !) and it has lume (not extreme lume as on their pic but still its as good as on Seamaster/PO reps i got) and the entire case has been cleanly polished. The only visible flaw if the hour and minutes hand where the lume seems imperfectely placed and in fact doesnt light up that much (compared to the hour markers) but its still hardly noticeable. It definitely doesnt feels like an old watch or even a refurbished one and the movement seems to work pretty fine (havent got a caseback opener to verify if its in nice shape) and to keep time well. It looks way better than all the replicas i had that you could find at about the same price, its a real Swiss watch even if some of the parts may have been changed. Wearing it... well... i cant compare to my other watches (they are all Automatic and Quartz) mainly beacause of the size of the watch, its really tiny compared to the 42/45mm watches i have but it is at least 2 or 3 times less heavier and i almost dont even feel it. The movement ticks are at least 3 or 4 times more louder than the 21j/A7750/Quartz i got which definitely doesnt bother me. I definitely want to buy other 'refurbished vintage' watches but in bigger size next time:proud: After about 1 day and a half without rewinding it (definitely not sure i winded it completely), it has just stopped few minutes ago and at most it have kept good time (cannot be precise as i havent saw when it stopped but definitely lost less than 2 or 3 minutes over 2 days). Pics : ps: more pics and impressions to come Edited November 25, 2009 by Jb boin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 294 Posted November 14, 2009 Nice buy and a nice collection you have. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 79 Posted November 14, 2009 Nice find - I've been close to buying from the same seller on a couple of occasions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted November 14, 2009 I was just bidding on one of those from India: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...EOIBUAA:US:1123 I just wanted the Eta 2846 for a vintage sub transplant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jb boin 0 Posted November 14, 2009 And have you won the auction finally? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted November 14, 2009 Nope, came in second, as usual. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
omni 6 Posted November 15, 2009 I definitely want to buy other 'refurbished vintage' watches but in bigger size next time:proud: Very nice review and buy, enjoy it and wear it well. I own two vintage watches, 39mm and 48mm (the latter a pocket-watch-conversion), both won on ebay. Depends on size but I found the pocket-watch-conversions as a wearable vintage alternative to fit within my fondness for the current large wrist watch style. The latest fashion has now caught up with the size of vintage pocket watches, although you can find some pocket-watch-conversions made from women's vintage pocket watches which are in the 38 - 42 mm size. That may not be your ticket for your next buy since conversions knock the average value of a pocket watch down by 2/3rds and don't retain the original case nor are considered all original at that point. But its something to think about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KBH 7 Posted November 15, 2009 Most pocket watches were made in such great quantities that unless they are special, such as railroad grade, very high end manufacturer, or solid gold cases, I doubt if they'll ever be worth much more than the value of the movement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
omni 6 Posted November 15, 2009 Most pocket watches were made in such great quantities that unless they are special, such as railroad grade, very high end manufacturer, or solid gold cases, I doubt if they'll ever be worth much more than the value of the movement. Agreed KBH, Hamiltons seem to be very popular for the conversions. Ergo: "conversions knock the average value of a pocket watch down by 2/3rds" as then really you're paying for just the vintage dial & movement and maybe the new case & work to have fitted it into the new case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jb boin 0 Posted November 15, 2009 In fact i have a small wrist and 38-41mm watches would be the best for me so these vintage watches can be interresting for me, this one is in fact really small but its really nice when you dont even feel the watch, it feels strange now when i wear the other watches Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dingle 57 Posted November 15, 2009 nice pics JB. welcome to the nuthouse BTW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites