TIMEX 1950s Scotland / Great Britain Fixed-Lug Watch. Seems very rare. Nurse watch?
Hi, this is Alan. Contact info is below, at the bottom.) Thank you for visiting. Here is a neat, little 1950s TIMEX that I know essentially nothing about. It seems very rare, to me. Small, 26.8 mm horizontal diameter, chrome plated round case, and *fixed lugs* which are exceedingly rare with TIMEX from any era.
[NEW: I now have two of these, the second one with original strap. See pics far below.]
Looking at the back, you can see that the lugs are an unbroken bar across the middle. No springbars. Lugs like this can accept a single "pull through" strap, or a two-piece leather or cloth strap in which the ends are either glued together, or otherwise fastened around the loop of the lug. Proto - TIMEX Camper, haha.
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The dial is a classic white dial with simple Arabic numerals, dial marks at every minute/second, and TIMEX, SHOCKPROOF, and MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN on the dial. Black metal hour/minute hands, and red seconds hand.
Here is the view with the caseback, and movement holder removed. The mechanical TIMEX movement is probably #21, and has TIMEX SCOTLAND stamped on the plate. This was made at their factory in Dundee, Scotland, which operated for decades until it was closed in 1993. The copper-colored tension spring on the right holds the stem of the crown in place. The other tension spring puts tension on the mechanism that controls the seconds hand. To the left is the balance with the F -------S lever to regluate Fast and Slow. This lever shortens or lengthens the balance spring (hairspring,) which in turns makes the watch run faster, or slower, respectively.
Above is a different watch, also from the 1950s, this one made in the USA, almost certainly made in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a pendant watch that hangs from a self-retracting spool that pins to your shirt or uniform. It is in the form of a "nurse watch." I show this here, as the dial is very similar in appearance to the one I am showcasing here. White dial, black metal hands, black numerals, 60 hash marks, red seconds hand with the same shape. This nurse TIMEX also has red marks every 5 minutes/seconds at the dial edge. Link to that watch is here.
This makes me wonder if this also was a nurse watch. Fixed lugs were more commonly used for military watches, where having a springbar break, resulting in the loss of the watch, was not considered acceptable. The soldier wore a fixed lug watch, and a pull-through single piece strap, making it very hard to lose a watch that is properly buckled onto your wrist.
Maybe the same concept applied to nurses? Fixed lugs for a solid, working watch. But the truth of the matter is, this is just speculation on my part. I really just don't know.
Side view. Case has fair bit of wear. The acrylic crystal had a fair bit of scratches, some that were deep, but I buffed them with out with some effort.
I love the caseback. A design worth celebrating, unto itself. TIMEX in the center, surrounded by a circle with four equal-sized quadrants containing various information. Back when SHOCKPROOF (instead of shock protected) was used. The V-CONIC ESCAPEMENT part is pretty interesting. I think I'm going to actually write up a page on this, as it was such a crucial part of the success of TIMEX as an emerging brand in the early 1950s, and probably late 1940s. TIMEX figured out a way to make an inexpensive, but also reliable and sturdy watch, and the V-CONIC was key to that.
Prior to this, inexpensive zero-jewel (or often 1 "ceremonial" jewel) movements were "pin-lever" mechanisms, ticked very loudly, and were probably less reliable and durable. TIMEX described the tips of the V-CONIC as made of a metal called "Armalloy." This must have been an extremely hard metal, but I don't know the composition of it. It you Google Armalloy, all you really find are sites dealing with motorcycle parts, ballistics, and other industrial application. Sometimes this is spelled Armoloy. I'm not sure if this is all a coincidence, or if TIMEX sold the rights to the name "Armalloy" or if it may not have even been trademarked by them as a name, and some gun makers just started using it, because it has the word "alloy" and also "arm," as in arms, guns, etc.
I now feel like I need to learn more about the TIMEX Armalloy, and V-CONIC movement.
Here is the movement holder. It sits over the movement, between it and the inner caseback. Lightweight, probably aluminum. Looks like a piece of art.
Speaking of caseback, these marks were scratched on the *inside* of the caseback. They are watchmaker's notes. 6/63 means the watch was serviced in June of 1963. I don't know what the 2308B refers to. I've seen this before. Date and a code. Could that code refer to the actual watchmaker, like they all have a unique registered number, so you know exactly who serviced it, and when? Does anyone know.
Just a closeup of the back of the movement. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy TIMEX SCOTLAND.
If anyone knows more about this watch, please let me know.
Thanks for reading. I hope you will like it.
Alan
Contact:
Website: Alan's Vintage Watches
This is the second of these I've found, also obtained from the UK. Identical case and dial as the first one I had. But this one has a leather strap, and though I have no way to say with certainty that it is original, I'll be it probably is. I still believe this to be a pretty rare TIMEX
You can see how the two-piece strap feeds through the fixed lugs and is secured in the back by bending two metal tabs to hold it all in place.
A closer look at the caseback, below. I love this caseback.
