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Watch Ya Wearing

Newest comrade, just back from the repair shop. Raketa Big Zero on purple Cordura leather band.
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I never really put much thought into the lume on watches. Typically, I am never in a scenario where I would notice it, and generally they aren't "charged" enough to show. However, last night while taking the dog out, I decided to charge one with my flashlight. It happened to be the watch I have with the least amount of lume. Then I did the same this morning, with the "best" lume watch I have. So, here are a couple of amateur Watch of the Day lume shots.
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Something quite different for this week, it’s a South Bend Model #1 size 12 pocket watch that has a 411 movement and was made somewhere around 1912 according to the serial number....it peaked my interest as it’s from Indiana which is where I spent most of my time after getting out of the military and plan on going back once I retire.

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Was running about a minute fast per day which I guess is not bad for a 100+ year old watch but was not happy so off to the Timegrapher, the beat error is pretty high and that will take a watchmaker to adjust as there is not a beat error regulator but I was able to oil the pivots and make a correction and as they say time will tell 😉

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Whilliam

First Class Citizen
Something quite different for this week, it’s a South Bend Model #1 size 12 pocket watch that has a 411 movement and was made somewhere around 1912 according to the serial number....it peaked my interest as it’s from Indiana which is where I spent most of my time after getting out of the military and plan on going back once I retire.

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Was running about a minute fast per day which I guess is not bad for a 100+ year old watch but was not happy so off to the Timegrapher, the beat error is pretty high and that will take a watchmaker to adjust as there is not a beat error regulator but I was able to oil the pivots and make a correction and as they say time will tell 😉

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I believe these were made by Studebaker, who also sold watches under the Studebaker brand. Just as Studebaker cars were crushed by the automotive "Big 3," so were their watches--by the American horological Big 3: Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham.

Lovely PW. Enjoy it!
 
I believe these were made by Studebaker, who also sold watches under the Studebaker brand. Just as Studebaker cars were crushed by the automotive "Big 3," so were their watches--by the American horological Big 3: Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham.

Lovely PW. Enjoy it!

Here is a lengthy read on South Bend:

The assets of the bankrupt Columbus Watch Company of Columbus, Ohio, were purchased by two brothers from South Bend, Indiana, in 1903. The brothers were sons of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company co-founder Clement Studebaker. Clement Jr. was named president of the newly formed South Bend Watch Company. Along with George, Studebaker built a new factory in South Bend, Indiana, and hired 145 former Columbus employees, along with watchmaker Walter Cross Shelton, Sr., from the Appleton Watch Company in Wisconsin. The factory was outfitted with mass production machinery, the workers were retrained, and in 1905 production began.

Several styles of pocket watches were manufactured and sold at prices ranging from $16 to $125. The watches were well received and the company was a success. Watch production was interrupted during World War I, when the company was contracted by the government to build gun sights. By the time watch production resumed in 1918, the market had changed, with the wristwatch rapidly gaining popularity over the pocket watch. Regardless, the South Bend Watch Company prospered through the 1920s.

The company introduced the Studebaker Watch, identical to the South Bend except for the name. It was sold by mail order and represented as being from the Studebaker Watch Company. Advertisements included the tagline "Directed by members of the Studebaker family – known for three-quarters of a century for fair dealing."[citation needed]

By 1929, the South Bend Watch Company had 300 employees and had produced nearly a million watches. The Studebaker line was sold on credit, requiring only one dollar down. When the stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, the company found itself with more delinquent accounts than it could handle. On November 27, 1929, the plant was closed. Employees were told it would remain closed until January 1, 1930. The plant never reopened.

Liquidation was completed in 1933. Some 35,000 watches were in production when the factory closed. Shelton, along with two other employees, completed the assembly of those watches and sold them. Shelton continued to operate the company's service department until his retirement in 1954 effectively ended the South Bend Watch Company story. The factory building, which had been used by a number of businesses over the years. This included Kay Line Industries, furniture manufacturer and was destroyed by fire in 1957.
 
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