As today is Labor Day, I thought we could take a look at a former American powerhouse of watch manufacture – the Elgin Watch Company.

(And before I go to0 far, credit needs to be given to ElginWatches and the large auction site for the info I was able to find.)  Elgin started manufacturing pocket watches right after the Civil War ended, and their very first model was most definitely a working watch – it was certified for railroad use.

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Ahem… excuse me, is that a Panerai? Hell no, it’s a hunk of crap, my good man.

Check out this limited edition wristwatch from DPHMI called the Black Stealth Knowledge. It looks like an Officine Panerai wristwatch. The case has an almost identical look to that of Panerai watches. It looks pretty good to me. It allows less affluent buyers to have the look of a Panerai without the price tag. In fact the price tag is only $199 US and it is not a knockoff. It even has an automatic movement like the real thing.

DPHMI Black Stealth Knowledge Watch [PROFESSIONAL WATCHES]

An interesting WatchUSeek post that can help us all on the ‘Bay:

I am currently selling a fairly expensive watch (>$1000) on eBay as a Buy It Now item. Here is an email I received from a potential buyer with zero feedback:

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It seems very suspicious. But I do not want to alienate a genuine customer. What kind of questions might I ask to make sure this is not a scam? Is a confirmed Paypal account enough?

(I should specify that in my listing I state that I ship CONUS/Canada only)

Umm…. yes. That’s a massive scam and it’s why I seriously doubt I’ll be using eBay anymore. I tried to sell a phone last month and I got four separate winning bidders from Nigeria and one from Canada when I said I’d only ship to the US. eBay, I’m afraid to say, is now useless.

Is this an eBay scam? [Watchuseek Watch Forums]

I hate myself for doing this, but people are silly and they’ll do anything, so here’s a link to the Tauchmeister sale page. Are these watches any good? Not specifically, but they’re cheap and they’re all on sale so you don’t have to fight a bunch of n00bs on Ebay. Purchase with the caveat that you’re buying for looks, not build quality, and be happy.

Prodcut Page [Tauchmeister]

Ah, Aeromatic 1912. You enthrall us all with your magical timepieces. Many an eBay newbie has been drawn to your bold lines and unusual styling, as well they should. You’re taking chances, I suppose, and the only thing folks can say bad about you is that you’re not really a German watch.

That said, please welcome the Tauchmeister 1937 – Diver Craft 1000M Helium-Safe GMT Retrograde. Wow, that was a mouthful.

A diver, to be sure. A big diver—46mm with a 270 mm strap. It has a Citizen GP01 quartz movement and a unique, if unfortunately designed, retrograde GMT hand.

But what lies behind that handsome diver logo and bold orange? Nothing we haven’t seen before and won’t see again.

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Say what you want about this watch, but don’t buy it. Astute reader Einars found this cruddy Big Bang knock off on the ‘Bay. This means that some Chinese factory has geared up enough to pump these out en masse in less than, say, 9 months. Astounding.

Some pertinent specs? Sure!

3 registers are adjustable

date window

leather strap

automatic mov.

meansurement: about 45mm in dimaeter

Works in good order.

Registers are adjustable! Sign me up!

eBay: GREAT 3 REGISTERS SILVER AUTO MEN’S WATCH – 45MM DIAL (item 8920345202 end time Apr-03-06 20:43:07 PDT)

In an effort to find an inexpensive, vintage chronograph, I’ve been hunting on Ebay for Sorna watches. The Sorna brand, which was once a relatively powerful figure in the mechanical industry – laid to waste, obviously, by the flood of cheap quartz pieces in the 1980s – is now being used to flog those selfsame cheap quartz pieces that I had no interest in. The only other Sorna piece I could find, then, was a nasty world time watch that looked like Captain America had just gotten over some constipation. Therefore, I was stuck with considering Jacky Ickx bullhead chronos. Instead of a Jacky Ickx, however, I just picked up just an “Icky” Sorna chronograph that has a certain, if dubious, charm.
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Why do I always do this to myself? Every few weeks, I’ll get tanked on a Friday and pick up an Ebay brand watch just to see what it looks like. I’ve played with Apogaum and a few other watches of dubious heredity in the past, and I keep coming back for more. This time, we’re going to take a look at the Trias Automatic Diver, a 53mm monstrosity that, if it weren’t so hilarious looking, would be the largest hunk of timekeeping ridiculousness ever to traverse the globe.

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Good thread on Newton & Sons, a notorious non-brand on Ebay. Good? Bad? Eh. If you want a cheap watch with little pedigree, go for it. As I’ve learned, it takes all kinds. However, it’s not a respected brand.

Consider this reply, for example:
Right, Newton-sons pretends to be high quality and they are not. That´s why N-S have been blacklisted on a German watch forum some time ago.

Buyer beware, as they say.

Check it out here.

I got one of the combat divers for my dad and he loved it. This guy sells great watches from Hong Kong. Some have ETA quartz and auto movements, nice prices, and great, Bondian styling. The quartz pieces I can do without, but I especially like one shown above, the “ITALIAN SBS AUTOMATIC PVD MILITARY WATCH.” Long name, cool watch.

Check them out here.

Gee, I just happen to have a bit more than three hundred grand burning a hole in my pocket. I was goofing around on eBay and now I just can’t decide between a 1954 Vacheron Constantin 4261 Minute Repeater in platinum or a 1991 Ferrari F40. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

If you need to tell time, and most of us here cherish the act of timekeeping, then check out the Vacheron auction here. Got absolutely no clue if it’s for real or not.

If you need transportation, or maybe to catch the eye of a young lady, then check out the Ferrari auction here.

This excellent condition Omega features the innovative and supremely accurate F300 Tuning Fork movement. Holding a place in history as the first electronic watches it is based on the Bulova Accutron movements. Much preferred by the Omega collector due to the fact that the second hand sweeps round smoothly unlike the jerky action of the inferior quartz watches.

Check out the auction here.

A buddy of mine, Juergen, has created an incredible eBay auction dealie that only shows auctions that are under $1 and have under 1 hour to go. Need a bunch of crappy watches for .99? Check it out. There actually might be some good deals on there…

Check it out here.

But this Ebay sales fella gets an A for effort.

Shout out to TicToc on PMWF for finding such an Ebay gem.

Check out his post here.