GEARS - Watches and Derailleurs

I have loosely limited the watches I sell to a few types from a few brands.   I say "loosely" because occasionally   you will see me breaking my own rule.   My focus is on watches sold by American companies with an emphasis on watches actually made in the United States.   Further, most of the watches with the exception of Bulova Accutrons and an occasional Accuquartz are mechanical watches.   Concerning brands and companies, I sell primarily Hamilton, Elgin and Bulova watches, but you will find some Timex, Waltham, and Benrus thrown in for good measure. On rare occasion I may even list a World War I era trench watch. Although I do not expect this to occur often, I may change my mind at some point since I have over twenty in my personal collection. As the title suggests this post focuses on Hamilton watches. Hamilton US-made Hamilton movements are the most robust and reliable I have come across.   To borrow a phrase from another US-maker, they trul...

Let's be clear about it - vintage watches are about fun and collecting as opposed to being a necessary functional item.   Sure they tell time reasonably well, but still they pale in comparison to the always up to date and split second accurate time on your smart phone. And even among watches, a $25 quartz watch from Wal-Mart will blow away even the most accurate mechanical watch let alone a fifty or more year old vintage watch.   But, like I said, there is something fun about vintage watches with their tiny gears, springs and levers moving repetitively within a relatively small enclosure to provide a wholly mechanical measure of time with no batteries necessary.   With the foregoing in mind, I have expanded Mechanical Aesthetics offerings to include one of the most important American brands ever, Timex.   Sure, Timex watches are not heavily jeweled horological masterpieces but mass produced utilitarian devices masking as a fine fashion accessory. And yet, t...

A Change in Course I initially started this blog with the intent of writing about my personal watch collection and my collection of bicycle derailleurs.  A quick look at the past posts and a lack of new posts in quite some time will show you this blog has not been particularly successful.  I won't even mention the lack of views of the few amazing overlooked posts.  Sigh... SO... It is time for a change. From hereon out this blog will be devoted to discussing the watches and the types of watches I am selling through my online store, Mechanical Aesthetics , on Etsy.    Fingers crossed for greater success and readership.  Ciao, Kurt