re: #182 GeneJockey

Not sure how it is there, but antique and secondhand stores are a lousy place to get watches here. Independent watchmakers often have a number of watches for sale which have the advantage of having been professionally serviced.

I pick up my watches exclusively on Ebay, but then I’m a collector who has made a careful study of one brand (Elgin) from one era (1935-1964), and learned how to do my own servicing. If you don’t know your brand, and you can’t do your own services, it’s like dancing through a minefield.

Seikos - especially the Seiko 5s - are designed to run a long time giving good accuracy without being serviced, with the caveat that they’ll wear out like any other unserviced mechanical watch. But they’ll run more accurately till then. Some of the Elgins I’ve picked up were nonrunners just because of dirt, and ran beautifully once serviced.

Elgin is very nice; my father had about three or four of them in his collection.