Who knows about pocket watches??

[mjr]

I'm wanting to buy one. Preferably mechanical wind, and one where I can see the "insides" of the watch, too. I forget what it's called. "Skeleton" or something.

I go back and forth on whether I want the outside to be engravable or have some sort of design on it.

I've heard that "silver" ones are better to get than "gold" ones. Though I'm not averse to the gold, or even antiqued gold look.

I'd prefer something made here in the U.S., but I understand that may be beyond my price range. I'm looking at somewhere in the $100-$150 price point.

I'm mainly interested in manufacturers at this point. I saw a nice one from Gotham:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UB0IYQQ...=ISK52LFK0654I

But that's no longer available.

I've even heard that Mechanical wind don't keep time as good as quartz.

I know very little about these, as this would be my actual first pocket watch purchase. I've even heard people suggest "Vintage", but I don't know what's good and what's not.

One thing I have noticed, though, is that they can get VERY expensive VERY fast...

Anybody got any thoughts on this??

[dendawg]

Self-winding pocket watches are available. Maybe look at those?

[mjr]

Self-winding pocket watches are available. Maybe look at those?

I hadn't considered self-winding. Thanks! I'll check into those.

[TheSHAD0W]

You probably don't actually want to buy one there, but I suggest going to your local malls. There are watch specialty stores that might stock some pocket watches.

[mjr]

You probably don't actually want to buy one there, but I suggest going to your local malls. There are watch specialty stores that might stock some pocket watches.

IIRC the last time I went to a mall near me they only had wristwatches...beyond my price range.

[Nunavut Pants]

"Skeleton" watches are the ones where you can see the movement and gears and such. I had a Colibri one for a while; it worked tolerably well as I recall. A very quick Google search turns up a couple of skeleton pocketwatches in the sub-$100 range now.

Most of what I have looked at were antique watches, though. I wound up with a recent quartz watch but that did not survive its first battery replacement. (It turned into a cat toy.) I have one old railroad watch from my grandfather's father, which I inherited in the past ~5 years when my dad died.

[wolfie]

Fun fact: wrist watches for men originated roughly 100 years ago. Pocket watches were the standard men's watches, but were inconvenient to use in the trenches of the Great War, so soldiers started strapping them to their wrists so all they'd need to do was glance at them to tell the time, rather than pulling them out.

[Crossbow]

I have several pocket watches (I hate anything on my wrist. I only grudgingly deal with a Disney Magic Band, and that's it), but they're all very inexpensive. They've all served me well, though.

Modern American made pocket watches might be out of your price range... You can find some very good vintage ones, though. Waltham, Elgin, and Hamilton are the brands I'd look for.

If you're willing to move out of American made, Charles-Hubert makes a number of models that show the inner workings and are in your price range.

[mjr]

I have several pocket watches (I hate anything on my wrist. I only grudgingly deal with a Disney Magic Band, and that's it), but they're all very inexpensive. They've all served me well, though.

Modern American made pocket watches might be out of your price range... You can find some very good vintage ones, though. Waltham, Elgin, and Hamilton are the brands I'd look for.

If you're willing to move out of American made, Charles-Hubert makes a number of models that show the inner workings and are in your price range.

I've seen some of the Charles-Hubert ones. I'll check out those vintage ones, too.

I also saw something recently from Gotham I liked, as well as a few from Regent Hills.

[Crossbow]

I also saw something recently from Gotham I liked, as well as a few from Regent Hills.

Both brands have good reputations. I've just found it hard to find them in my budget (a bit lower than yours. I'm a cheapskate. )

[mjr]

Both brands have good reputations. I've just found it hard to find them in my budget (a bit lower than yours. I'm a cheapskate. )

Well, honestly, I may consider lowering my budget, too...depending on what I find.

[Chromatix]

Japanese railways still swear by a standard model of Seiko pocket watch. There's an alcove for it on the driver's console of each train; each driver carries his own and is responsible for keeping it wound and accurate. With those watches, Japan runs timetables specified to five-second precision; when passing a timing point, drivers check if they're ahead or behind time by even a few seconds, and adjust their speed to compensate.

Mechanical escapements are inherently less accurate than a quartz-crystal oscillator - that's true. The most accurate type of mechanical escapement is found in marine chronometers, which are usually too large for a pocket, and still require a correction to be added to their displayed time based on long-term observed calibrations. They're still carried aboard many ships as part of a backup navigation resource.

With a mechanical watch - which doesn't have the gimbals protecting it from rotation, nor the over-engineered bearings for maximum precision - expect to be comparing it to known reliable time references and adjusting it regularly. That's just a fact of life.