Buying a Rolex or Chronosport

[Styles Bitchley]

Thank you for sharing that thread. I'll check it out. You may have already spoken with him, but I'd give Jack a call to see what he recommends: https://www.internationalwatchworks.com. He has a lot of experience with the Chronosport and may be able to offer some advice/help.

Best,
To The Regiment

Yes! Jack is the guy who took over from the guy who originally serviced Chronosports after the company shut their doors. I've been in touch with him in the past but I should really get back in touch about the bezel!

[eagle]

To the Regiment: Agreed with Styles Bitchley: Congrats on that Squale acquisition! Those are great watches.

For myself, right now I don't have much in my watch collection -- during the kickstarter campaign, I bought a Maen Hudson for my son whose name is Hudson. I wore it for a little while but have put it away to give to him when he can appreciate it -- age 16? 18? HS graduation? -- we'll see. I have the Steinhart Pepsi GMT, which I absolutely love and wear every day. I have several Swatch Irony Chrono units that I no longer wear because the crystal (plastic?) is all scratched up. (The Maen & Steinart crystals still look brand new despite being years old.)

I'd like a quartz watch in my collection, and I'm starting to think I want a 2-watch collection (not including any beater I might buy). I'm thinking I'll have the bezel on this Steinhart replaced (it's a little scratched up), and give it to my oldest son, then I'll establish a collection of two Magnum-oriented for myself: a Tudor GMT for the Rolex, and then something for the Chronosport -- the Squale looks great and I like Squale, but it is automatic and I want a quartz (yes I really did say that, and I'm feeling fine right now, thanks for checking). That CWC looks like a winner, if I can find one. I do think I'd like a model like the one I liked earlier, with the day and date, to be more authentic-looking.

Anyway, that's my current thoughts...

[To The Regiment]

Thank you for sharing that thread. I'll check it out. You may have already spoken with him, but I'd give Jack a call to see what he recommends: https://www.internationalwatchworks.com. He has a lot of experience with the Chronosport and may be able to offer some advice/help.

Best,
To The Regiment

Yes! Jack is the guy who took over from the guy who originally serviced Chronosports after the company shut their doors. I've been in touch with him in the past but I should really get back in touch about the bezel!

That's who I spoke with the other week about the banged up Chronosports on eBay. He responded to my email in just a few minutes. The next thing I know, we're on the phone talking about Chronosports for 30 minutes. He was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. If I ever land a Chronosport, I'd take it to Jack to repair/restore/maintain. No question.

He told me the bezel on the Chronosport is the most important piece of the puzzle when looking for one to buy. The two Chronosports on eBay had some deep gouges and he recommended passing on them because of that. But he may be able to whip up some sort of watch wizardry to fix a Chronosport bezel. I don't know him personally, but my guess is if it can be fixed, he'd be the one to do it. Good luck! And please let us know how it turns out.

Best,
To The Regiment

[To The Regiment]

To the Regiment: Agreed with Styles Bitchley: Congrats on that Squale acquisition! Those are great watches.

For myself, right now I don't have much in my watch collection -- during the kickstarter campaign, I bought a Maen Hudson for my son whose name is Hudson. I wore it for a little while but have put it away to give to him when he can appreciate it -- age 16? 18? HS graduation? -- we'll see. I have the Steinhart Pepsi GMT, which I absolutely love and wear every day. I have several Swatch Irony Chrono units that I no longer wear because the crystal (plastic?) is all scratched up. (The Maen & Steinart crystals still look brand new despite being years old.)

I'd like a quartz watch in my collection, and I'm starting to think I want a 2-watch collection (not including any beater I might buy). I'm thinking I'll have the bezel on this Steinhart replaced (it's a little scratched up), and give it to my oldest son, then I'll establish a collection of two Magnum-oriented for myself: a Tudor GMT for the Rolex, and then something for the Chronosport -- the Squale looks great and I like Squale, but it is automatic and I want a quartz (yes I really did say that, and I'm feeling fine right now, thanks for checking). That CWC looks like a winner, if I can find one. I do think I'd like a model like the one I liked earlier, with the day and date, to be more authentic-looking.

Anyway, that's my current thoughts...

Just give it some time, Eagle. That "2-watch collection" will eventually become four...then six...and then all bets are off! If you enjoy and appreciate watches, it truly become addictive, LOL. Good luck and please post some pics when you add that next watch to your collection!

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

Just give it some time, Eagle. That "2-watch collection" will eventually become four...then six...and then all bets are off! If you enjoy and appreciate watches, it truly become addictive, LOL. Good luck and please post some pics when you add that next watch to your collection!

Oh I know.

Here's the current watches in my drawer:



Unfortunately I don't have any of the watches I had as a teen in the 1980s -- back then I bought 1-2 Casio digital watches a year, whether I needed them or not -- I've always liked watches.

Left to right there we see the first Swatch Chrono I bought (in Interlaken, Switzerland in 1993), then a couple of digital watches I had while at university, the rest of my Swatch Irony Chrono units, the Maen Hudson, the Steinhart GMT, and 3 watches from my grandfathers.

I guess I already have the beater watches -- that Timex & Casio. I should replace their batteries.

When I said "there's only 2 watches in my collection," I really meant "only two nice watches."

The astute observer will note that the GMT hand on my Steinhart is set to GMT time, and the bezel is set to HST -- so that I always know the current "magnum time," whenever I need it. I often announce "it's currently __:__ magnum time" to my wife - lol.

[Styles Bitchley]

The astute observer will note that the GMT hand on my Steinhart is set to GMT time, and the bezel is set to HST -- so that I always know the current "magnum time," whenever I need it. I often announce "it's currently __:__ magnum time" to my wife - lol.

That's awesome. Love it.

This year I bought my son a Scurfa for his birthday. If you're not familiar with them, they're incredible tool watches - and really made for diving. The owner is a commercial diver who spent his professional life on the floor of the North Sea. All those guys used Rolex and Tudor Submariners back when they were actual tool watches, rather than impractical luxury items. When the vintage watches became worth too much for old timer divers to wear day to day without worrying about them. So he made the watch he thought was a natural successor to these old Rolexes.

I got him the quartz Diver One with black case. Amazing value.

[eagle]

I got him the quartz Diver One with black case. Amazing value.

That's a sharp-looking watch, friend! Very nice watch, and agreed, good value for the price!

[To The Regiment]

Just give it some time, Eagle. That "2-watch collection" will eventually become four...then six...and then all bets are off! If you enjoy and appreciate watches, it truly become addictive, LOL. Good luck and please post some pics when you add that next watch to your collection!

Oh I know.

Here's the current watches in my drawer:



Unfortunately I don't have any of the watches I had as a teen in the 1980s -- back then I bought 1-2 Casio digital watches a year, whether I needed them or not -- I've always liked watches.

Left to right there we see the first Swatch Chrono I bought (in Interlaken, Switzerland in 1993), then a couple of digital watches I had while at university, the rest of my Swatch Irony Chrono units, the Maen Hudson, the Steinhart GMT, and 3 watches from my grandfathers.

I guess I already have the beater watches -- that Timex & Casio. I should replace their batteries.

When I said "there's only 2 watches in my collection," I really meant "only two nice watches."

The astute observer will note that the GMT hand on my Steinhart is set to GMT time, and the bezel is set to HST -- so that I always know the current "magnum time," whenever I need it. I often announce "it's currently __:__ magnum time" to my wife - lol.

Great collection! Watches that are handed down are the absolute best.

Styles: that Scurfa looks cool! I know nothing about the brand, but I look forward to learning more.

Best,
To The Regiment

[To The Regiment]

Gentlemen, following up on our discussions about all things Chronosport, Squale and CWC. Here is a vintage Chronosport-Squale dive watch that I just ran across on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373695168834?h ... SwAW9gzpPf

I then did a Google search for "Chronosport Squale." Apparently, Chronosport used Squale components/bases for some of their watches, too. Fascinating.

Best,
To The Regiment

[To The Regiment]

Thank you for sharing that thread. I'll check it out. You may have already spoken with him, but I'd give Jack a call to see what he recommends: https://www.internationalwatchworks.com. He has a lot of experience with the Chronosport and may be able to offer some advice/help.

Best,
To The Regiment

Yes! Jack is the guy who took over from the guy who originally serviced Chronosports after the company shut their doors. I've been in touch with him in the past but I should really get back in touch about the bezel!

Styles, any update on your Chronosport project?

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

I'm bidding on one of the Chronosports that's on eBay right now... hope I get it!

[To The Regiment]

I'm bidding on one of the Chronosports that's on eBay right now... hope I get it!

Looks like a nice one! And it's the Quartz model that Magnum wore, not the Sea Quartz that came later. VERY cool. Good luck with bidding!

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

Thanks. I think it looks really good for a 35-40 year old watch. I don't care about the missing bracelet, since it's getting put on a tropic strap anyway.

[To The Regiment]

Thanks. I think it looks really good for a 35-40 year old watch. I don't care about the missing bracelet, since it's getting put on a tropic strap anyway.

If you'd like to know what a restoration could achieve on that particular watch, send the eBay link to Jack at info@internationalwatchworks.com and ask him. He's the Chronosport guru. He'll be glad to tell you exactly how far he could restore it and give you an estimate. He might be able to make it look like new, especially since the bezel looks to be in good shape.

Best,
To The Regiment

[eagle]

Thanks - I just called and spoke with Jack. Super nice, knowledgeable guy, and he said that the example I'm bidding on looks good.