Please help me identify this watch

[boblalux]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Foryears now, I have been struggling with my ETERNAMAT Kon-Tikit Automat which never kept good time, although I re-adjusted it x times. Someyears ago, I deposited it with Eterna at Grenchen for a clean-up andservice (for an extortionate fee!), I complained that for achronometer, I expected better. After much blurb about "you can'texpect EXACT timing for a mechanical " watch, I left, disgusted.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Myprevious watch was a Seiko 7009 mechanical automatic, which at aquarter of the price of the Seiko, gave me excellent service. MyEternamat suddenly stopped recently, and I am awaiting (withtrepidation) for the quotation for the repair. I am 99% sure that itwill be unacceptable, and I will then return it to ETERNA for them todo as they think fit (dustbin - trashcan).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So,I decided to think about a Seiko 5 quartz. To hell with the romanceof a mechanica). l watch - I want to tell the time with a minimumof adjustment (damn it, my wife's Tissot quartz is slow 2 seconds orso only, PER MONTH!!!). For my present budget, a bit expensive.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Then,in a fit of pique, I bought (attached photos) for 22 euros, aquartz watch. I'm sure it will give me better service than theETERNA![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Onthe face is written " be PoP " and 5 BAR. That's all! Cananyone tell me where and by whom this watch was manufactured?[/FONT]

 

[boblalux]

By the way, The number 2096 is stamped on the back. Does this mean something?

 

[RON in PA]

Probably Chinese manufacture.

 

[boblalux]

Just managed to open the watch (see attached photo). What does the PUSH and the AL32A mean? Anyone heard of S.EPSON CORP?

 

[doug sinclair]

"Push" often has an arrow pointing to the detent which holds the stem. A fine point is used to depress the detent when the stem comes out. Epson is a division of Seiko. AL 32 A refers to the model number of the movement. 5 bar refers to barometric pressure. One bar is (IIRC) equal to 33 feet, so 5 bar would be 165 feet. But DO NOT put any faith in the watch being water resistant in even 2 inches of water. A €22 watch? About all I can say is you get what you pay for. And no more. When it gets to a point that it stops, and a new cell won't make it run, don't waste any money fixing it!

 

[boblalux]

Thanks, Doug, I won't even try in 2 mm of water! But seriously, it keeps excellent time, and should there be any problems - trashcan/dustbin! Much better time-keeping than my ETERNA Kon-Tiki which I will probably trashcan too! I have gone from the romance of a mechanical watch to one which just keeps time, so from now on, i go for quartz movements.
Bob

 

[doug sinclair]

Before you turf the Eterna, please send me a private message! I am so thrilled that so many folks have gravitated to Quartz watches! They are satisfying their sense of the esthetic on plastic, toss-away watches that are a/cheap, b/ accurate, c/ephemeral, d/ obsolete the day they are bought, e/will never be collectible, f/ not worth repair, and g/ boring! Meanwhile turning their backs on some pretty fine mechanical pieces which many of us love to collect. Many of which are deficient only in that they don't keep Quartz time! Our grandchildren will be wading around up to their ankles in discarded Quartz watches! I am today (shamefacedly) wearing a Seiko Quartz wrist watch, and a 105-year old Hamilton grade 952. The Seiko has already been thrown away once (not by me. I got it for free and stuck a $6.00 movement in it. How can ANYONE LOVE such a watch?) The Hamilton is within 5 seconds per WEEK! The Seiko only a bit better. Give me the Hamilton any time!

 

[doug sinclair]

About 35 years ago, I was running a jewellery store. We carried Rolex, Omega, Seiko, and house brand watches. One day, I see a well dressed customer at the Rolex counter. I approached him and greeted him. He told me that, for 17 years, he made a pilgrimage each spring to a Rolex dealer, somewhere, to ogle watches, but that he had never bought one. I asked him about the watch he was wearing, and he showed me a smart, dressy, elegant Seiko Lassale. He told me he had owned it for about two years. I told him that I bet he had a sock drawer with half a dozen such watches that he never wore. He looked at me in stunned disbelief! He asked me how I would have known that he did, in fact, have a bunch of watches he had tired of! I suggested that what he really wanted was a Rolex, but for his own reasons, he had always settled for something else. But had still not found satisfaction. In the process, he had spent more than the price of the GMT Master that he was so taken with! The time was right to have the Rolex, I told him. He walked out of the store with the Rolex on his wrist! For years, he frequented the store whenever he was in town, and told me how much he loved the Rolex! And that he had given away all his other smart, elegant, dressy, quality, next to new QUARTZ watches away. He has continued buying Rolex watches, in spite of the fact they are "clunky", technically obsolete (compared to Quartz), expensive, and not Quartz accurate. But at least they are interesting!

 

[jakematic]

I have gone from the romance of a mechanical watch to one which just keeps time, so from now on, i go for quartz movements.

You are by no means alone in that decision.

I once swore off quartz because you often can't find the right special batteries or need special tools to open the cases.
For years I wore mechanical, and liked the idea. Until they started to fail.

Unfortunately all the repairers I've found are pretentious little men who charge exorbitant prices for even the simplest repair work.
None of them guarantee anything and fill their shops and paperwork with disclaimers of every sort.
Real shops too.. not mall kiosk... one is even a very highly respected jeweler in my area.

So I've gone back to quartz - mostly Citizen EcoDrive and absolutely love them.
Some have been running for a decade, some are newer, but all have a purpose: dress, evening, washing the car, sports, etc.
The great part is they force me outdoors for longer walks with the dog and long enjoyable drives to charge them when they aren't under the lamp.

Have a nice looking thin mechanical that was recently purchased, but it just doesn't hold a candle to the others for me.
Especially knowing that in 5 years I'll have to get it worked on, which fortunately the factory does but if the cost is outrageous it will be sold.
My other mechanicals sit in the safe... unused.

I can still work on clocks even with my failing vision and other problems, but watches aren't something on the horizon.
There are a few member here I'd trust hands down to repair a mechanical, but they are in Canada...

Like most things in life go with what you enjoy, not something that will be a burden mentally and financially.

 

[doug sinclair]

Unfortunately, I don't remember the statistics. But if you were to take into account the percentage of UNITS produced by Quartz watch manufacturers as a percentage of total world production of watches, you'd be impressed. If you were to compare DOLLAR VALUE of quality mechanical watches expressed as a percentage of total DOLLAR VALUE of watches produced world-wide, you'd be stunned! There's a watch for everybody. But when my acquaintance (discussed in my previous post) who bought the GMT Master from me, and dispersed a 17 year accumulation of watches he no longer liked, nor wore, he started to actually SAVE money! He has maintained his Rolex, but he hasn't bought another watch in the past 30+ years! Try that with any Quartz watch!

 

[jakematic]

He was foolish to waste money on something he didn't want in the first place, and unlike me didn't use or wear.
I agree that if he really wanted the Rolex he should have bought that in the first place, and your sales pitch was just the ticket

How often and how much has he spent for each repair/service though ?
Over 30 years my guess would be as much or more than the original cost.

Dollar value of mechanicals doesn't mean much if they continually cost money.
I ditched a $20,000 car in favor of a $110,000 one so I didn't have to worry about repair costs keeping me up at night.
It's now three years old and getting close to time to trade it in before it starts failing too.

There was a Piaget I wanted once, but am not willing to constantly spend enormous sums on it.
Especially when there aren't any competent repair facilities anywhere nearby.
That and I've never wanted "one" watch...

Unless you buy an ultra top end mechanical and are willing to sink money into it ad infinitum, they too are throwaways.
I can buy 120 Citizens for the cost of the Piaget and get far more enjoyment from them.

Collectors don't need to worry about me, and many others, scooping up old watches.
With fewer folks getting into watch repair I'm afraid that after this latest fashion peak is over, they too will go the way many clocks and clock repairers have

 

[doug sinclair]

Perhaps when we step out to celebrate the New Year, I'll wear my 100-year-old Rolex. No, wait! Maybe it will be the karat gold Rolex tank from 1927. But then there's the 1933 Rolex Prince Observatory duo-dial doctor's watch. Darn! So hard to decide! Maybe tonite I'll wear my Rolex Royalite Chronometer from 1941. The 1951 Rolex Precision in the karat gold case would be nice! Oh dear! How to decide when there is my original Rolex Air-King from 1971 (retail then was $215.00), or my Rolex Daytona Cosmograph, or my Rolex GMT Master II, or my Rolex Date-just. Ah! I know what I'll wear! My 1957 Hamilton Ventura Electric! That always turns heads! Whatever I wear, I will leave my 1910 Hamilton grade 952 at home because I won't be wearing a vest. And for sure I wouldn't be caught dead wearing the Seiko Quartz I got for free when someone threw it away! So many watches, so much time! There is usually a dichotomy when someone who collects watches gets together with someone to whom a watch is largely a service item, to be discarded on a whim, or when lack of parts renders it useful only as a paper weight!

 

[Kevin W.]

Doug i vote you wear the Hamilton Ventura.
I mentioned today about wearing a certain watch for New Years, some think i am weird, but then again they are not in the hobby. To me i will always wear my mechanical watches, i just enjoy them so much more than a quartz.

 

[jakematic]

There is usually a dichotomy when someone who collects watches gets together with someone to whom a watch is largely a service item, to be discarded on a whim, or when lack of parts renders it useful only as a paper weight!

Yep, they are just a commodity to most people.
The insanely high costs of repair and the continued decline of the repair industry has helped that concept really take hold... sadly.
That's why it's good that collectors can maintain them for their lifetime before they end up on eBay, and hopefully in the hands of another collector in lieu of some steampunk (uggg) project.

Happy New Year !

 

[doug sinclair]

Thankfully,,I am able to maintain them myself. I don't have deep pockets, so it helps make the obsession more affordable.

 

[boblalux]

OK, I am so happy with my quartz (ca; +-30 seconds per YEAR!!!) that I would like to get rid of the SEIKO Kon-Tiki. The watchmakers reckon a repair of the SEIKO would cost about 130$, so ... how about it? Anyone offer a swop of the SEIKO for a working acceptable quartz analogue?

 

[bobbee53]

OK, I am so happy with my quartz (ca; +-30 seconds per YEAR!!!) that I would like to get rid of the SEIKO Kon-Tiki. The watchmakers reckon a repair of the SEIKO would cost about 130$, so ... how about it? Anyone offer a swop of the SEIKO for a working acceptable quartz analogue?

I also like quartz, but I would love a Kon-Tiki.