How To Buy A Vintage Military Watch - An ORD DEPT Elgin Watch

[@RjBenjamin353]

I have my dad’s Longines watch he used in WW2 when he was in Italy and France. It still works.

[@adventureswithtime]

That is a great thing to have. I wish I had my father's WW 2 watch.

[@panofish]

Good info and nice delivery. Good inflexion and speech pattern... I wish I had that in my videos. Gone is the golden era of ebay (back before 2010) when you could get such watches for a steal. I have a mint never issued WWII military watch that I paid very little for.

[@adventureswithtime]

Wow, that was a great find. Other than this watch I purchased, I haven't bought any watch on eBay. I don't really look at eBay for watches. I have sold on eBay but their fees are high.

[@panofish]

@@adventureswithtime Yeah, ebay is still a good place to find hard to find stuff, but not cheap.

[@TheGrenadier97]

Good review sir. Always enjoyed the simpler and practical looks of old military watches.

[@adventureswithtime]

This watch worked out great and I love the bund strap I had made. Did you see that video. Please share with your fellow watch enthusiast so that I can continue to bring valuable content.

[@ericmaldonado4212]

This video was very impressive, sir. Subscribed.

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you for the nice words.

[@leonardbeefbroth6287]

Fantastic review helped a lot because I found a Elgin OF while going through some of my dad's things doesn't work but I hope I can have it serviced.

[@adventureswithtime]

Wow that is great. Such a great memory to have. I’m sure you can get it serviced.

[@TheJOKEY-bk5gc]

Bulova did manufacture branded dials with their 10AK Ordnance Department watches.

[@adventureswithtime]

Thanks

[@rjliska5191]

Recently purchased a Elgin ORD-DEPT watch, would love to discuss it with you if possible

[@adventureswithtime]

Send me an email

[@tcuker6819]

Great review! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like the watch, but I must say I know very little about vintage military watches. Still, just having a watch with such history is wonderful. I have my father's 1949 Omega bumper automatic and 1964 Accutron. They are both running well, and I feel something special when I wear them. It is a connection that is for me priceless.

[@adventureswithtime]

That's why I got this one. Even though the size is small for me, its the history and thought of what my father used in WW2 that is what I enjoy. Thanks

[@tyronejones-ux2ky]

I have that watch how cai sell it would you please send me the info or better still allow me to put it on my favorite

[@malickfan7461]

I recently won an American military watch and wanted to get more information about it. This video was very helpful.

[@adventureswithtime]

I’m glad you found this video helpful.

[@panofish]

I used to think the brown staining on the dial was from sunlight damage fading the dial where the hands rested and blocking the sunlight and causing a darker spot. But, actually it is from the radiation caused from the radium. Most watches this old survived their journey through time because they sat in a drawer for decades ... and therefore, you get a splotch from the radium where the hands remained in one position for so long. Great find.

[@adventureswithtime]

Very interesting information. How did you figure that out? I would think that over the years, the radium would decay and no longer have an affect on the dial.

[@BadMovieRealm]

​@@adventureswithtime Radium-226 has a half-life of over 1600 years, meaning that while most of those watches no longer luminesce, it isn't because the radium has decayed, but rather the luminescent properties of the paint have been destroyed by the bombardment of radiation from the radium. The dials are often affected as well, especially if the hands have been in the same position for a number of years. In fact, if you held a geiger counter to your watch, it would definitely still pick up noticably elevated levels of radiation, and will continue to for many hundreds, if not thousands of years. Mostly harmless levels with limited exposure, but quite startling to see in person, nonetheless. Considering this video is over 2 years old, I suppose it's a bit late to recommend that you exercise some caution (gloves, proper ventilation, mask, etc.) when opening a watch with a radium dial. The radiation emitted isn't really a huge concern, but accidentally inhaling or otherwise ingesting dust from the radium paint can have detrimental effects on your health. Now, unless you're a watchmaker who is constantly exposed to these watches, you'll probably be just fine, but I do think it's worth considering the potential risks for anyone looking to get into vintage watches and clocks of this era. All that said, I am far from an expert on the subject and would highly recommend anyone who is interested in the history and safety concerns of radium dial watches check out a lecture from the Horological Society of New York entitled, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Radium Dials," by Kathleen McGivney: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXzIqGNqhsyWZ6s It's really a fascinating subject once you start down that rabbit hole. Just my two cents. I very much enjoyed this video and now I may have to track down one of those watches for myself. I quite like the look of it and my late grandfather, a greater man than I'll ever be, served in the China-Burma-India Theater during WWII in the Army Air Force. I think occasionally wearing one of these on say, his birthday, would be a nice little tribute.

[@adventureswithtime]

@@BadMovieRealm This is a very good explanation. Thank you very much.

[@Tara-xp6ki]

Radium

[@stevem863]

Wow, very nice purchase. Seems like you lucked out. I really enjoy military/field watches and have just recently backed a Trench Watch by Vario on Kickstarter. Looks almost exactly like yours, except bigger and new 😊. One day I’ll have the gusto to buy vintage.

[@adventureswithtime]

Buying vintage is/was tough for me. Trying to get a good watch without hidden issues was a bit frightening. But I got it.

[@piquetuk]

Congrats, I too have ordered the Vario 1918 trench, if you want to try vintage without breaking the bank I've recently bought several vintage Vostok from Etsy, great fun & all working well so far.

[@stephenlee7256]

This such an awesome video, Bob! Congratulations and enjoy the piece

[@adventureswithtime]

Thanks. I really liked making this video.

[@toddkennedy5714]

Congratulations on your amazing find! I look forward to seeing how it looks on the new strap. Thank you for the video

[@adventureswithtime]

Did you see the final video with the strap?

[@martyinoregon8543]

That was so interesting! Tight editing and script. What a cool watch. The details paint a compelling picture. Cheers, mate.

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you for the nice words. When you have an interesting watch with history it sort of writes its own story.

[@seanjett5395]

Where did you find the mil spec manual? I would love that reference for this as well as the a-11. My grandfather was a ww2, Korea and Vietnam aviation vet.

[@adventureswithtime]

I just did an internet search. I don’t remember the exact site

[@vintagepen2002]

That is a very nice watch and movement. Thank you for sharing.

[@adventureswithtime]

And thank you for watching

[@ChristopherYotz]

I've been looking through the comments to try and find the answer: Does anyone have a link to the ordnance specs document for this period watch?

[@robertsmelker2614]

There were different cases used too and the 1917-h was also issued in Korea.

[@michaler3137]

Hi, was the radium o the dial? I have 2 pieces of this watch (hands are the same) and wondering is this radioactive and how much.

[@adventureswithtime]

I think it does. But I will not open the watch case. I don't want to take the risk.

[@mtcp122]

Very nice purchase Bob! Glad to have helped with this a bit! Where are you getting the strap from?

[@adventureswithtime]

eBay.

[@Pj-gl2wk]

What words did you use to search? I’m having a hard time on eBay searching for what I’m looking for.

[@adventureswithtime]

I had a couple. "ord dept watch" and "elgin ord watch". Good hunting

[@borsaamericano]

Excellent review! Just what I was looking for, thanks a lot.

[@adventureswithtime]

Glad to be of help. I learned a lot from other content creators who talked about vintage military watches.

[@wendyglasgow6394]

Bund is a good idea to enlarge the appearance , would like to see it completed. Enjoyable video and like your criteria of purchase. Thank you.

[@adventureswithtime]

I have received the strap and did make a video of it. Came out really nice

[@Okido24]

Great video Bob!

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you. I enjoyed researching, hunting and reviewing the watch.

[@bobsmiley06]

At 11:30, one of your queries shows the production year as 1945 and the other 1943. How can you be sure that 1943 is the correct year it was made? Thanks.

[@adventureswithtime]

I think I went by the serial number on the movement

[@bskrishnamurthy7258]

Old is gold

[@adventureswithtime]

So much history

[@MrLudwigburn]

I have world war 1 watch.. 1st omega PATRIA, 1912 the watch have engraved at the case back, under the name of william burkhart officer of schnitzelbank club, and one of original member of american legion

[@adventureswithtime]

I want to learn more about WW1 watches. Maybe I'll eventually get one and make a video.

[@bigriceburner]

That is one beautiful watch!!!!! New subscription..

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you for subscribing

[@oddjob428]

If that watch could only talk.

[@adventureswithtime]

Agree. I wish there was a way of tracking its ownership to see where this watch was used.

[@kevinbaker4907]

A tool to perform a job with a history of its own.... What a quality watch...If you bought a strap and a bund you've probably noticed by now that they are real dirt traps....beware all, they can seriously damage case backs!

[@adventureswithtime]

I haven’t had any problems yet

[@Surge1045]

Buy a timegrapher!! They are not too expensive and will save you a ton of time and provide more information regarding the health of the movement.

[@adventureswithtime]

I have one

[@newton9837]

if ww2 watch manufacturing practices are anything like ww2 firearms manufacturing practices it is distinctly possible that manufacturers may have shared surplus parts with each other. Often with firearms some manufacturers were better equipped to produce certain parts like stocks or barrels, sometimes they had more experience in manufacturing guns and part say like singer sewing machine company, international harvester or even IBM, so the big.outfits might ship/sell them some parts to complete their guns and meet their quota.

[@adventureswithtime]

Interesting theory. I bet it is true.

[@luisloya1120]

Hello, great video. I gave the exact same watch. Bought mine 10 years ago for only $75.00. I never wear it, it just sits in a Beautiful Elgin art deco coffin case.

[@adventureswithtime]

What is a art deco coffin case? That sounds interesting?

[@luisloya1120]

@@adventureswithtime Its a plastic coffin shaped box made by Elgin. Its made out of black plastic and its painted gold or brass. I assume it was used to hold an Elgin watch. It features an eagle on the top cover with its talons/ claws exposed. The inside says " patent no. 1,619,822.

[@luisloya1120]

@@adventureswithtime I wish i knew exactly what it was used for. I wish I could send you some pictures of it.

[@georgenes1]

Such a great video

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you for the nice words. Tell your watch enthusiast friends about my channel so I can continue to bring content.

[@yashkadam7736]

Where can i find these types of watches ??

[@adventureswithtime]

When I was looking for mine I was mostly looking on eBay.

[@louis-philippeletourneau7689]

Hi sir, do you know how identify a A-11 with no lum (no radium) ?

[@adventureswithtime]

Not sure what you mean. Are you saying there are A-11 watches that did not have lume on them?

[@tronskifpv]

@@adventureswithtime the Elgin is the only Ord watch that mentioned radium from the factory in the manual. I bet the rest of them got upgraded to lum while in for service. Not sure about the A-11's. have you ever seen a manual for them? Thank you for the video. I learned a lot from yours before buying my Ord watch.

[@tronskifpv]

Geiger counter, but the old radium paint on the faces seems to look raised, textured, and rough due to the radiation breaking the paint down. Radium on the hands doesn't seem to always look as rough for some reason that i cant figure out.

[@adventureswithtime]

@@tronskifpv I have seen a manual for the ORD watches but I don't remember if I've seen one for A-11s

[@Surge1045]

Thanks for sharing.

[@adventureswithtime]

Thanks for watching

[@jimmyschiel3863]

Very nice!

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you

[@DomP1989]

Do you have a link to the handbook for the watch?

[@adventureswithtime]

I only know about the military's specification document I reference.

[@girishkurlekar-yd6cv]

Very nice , but strong durable watch manufactured

[@adventureswithtime]

I do like wearing it more than I originally thought

[@solidus1995]

I love vintage. I dont mind the maintenance factor. Im saving hsitory. Ive got an elgin from around 1905, a 3rd reich minerva, a korean war bulova and a plastic case benrus from vietnam. Also have a praesidus type 44 so i can wear vintage without worrying about it.

[@adventureswithtime]

How do you find/buy your watches? eBay, Chrono, other places?

[@cjdangles]

Huge Andy Rooney vibes 😂 Great information though. Thanks.

[@adventureswithtime]

You ever wonder?

[@19friday55]

It is the right size for me....want to sell it?

[@adventureswithtime]

No thanks. It’s a watch I’ll keep forever

[@mikejamieson419]

I bought one for $150 but it ran 20 mins fast per day :/

[@adventureswithtime]

Did you have it serviced?

[@mikejamieson419]

@@adventureswithtime sold got a coinedged Elgin a11 that keeps perfect time

[@bigbrotherwatchesdannyboy306]

I want one.. 😮😮😮😮

[@adventureswithtime]

Keep looking and eventually you should be able to find a good one

[@jojojeep1]

I did noticed something about your watch, all military spec watches are supposed to have a hack, yours did not hack. I bought a watch from a woman I know it was her uncles he was in World War II I have the watch in my possession now it also does not hack, a friend of mine owns a shop he told me the ones that don’t hack are usually Dr. watches or military personnel but most likely not used by someone in the field

[@adventureswithtime]

My understanding is that the Air Force watches needed to hack but not those from for the Ordnance Department.

[@marcwitkowsky2219]

Only the A-11 type watches, made for the USAAF, had the hack feature.

[@philsummers7375]

a little industry secret they made these ord. watches easy to service in the field bt the user. if a watch is too slow or fast you can easily regulate them in the field. on the regulator part you'd see f some lines a needle and s for slow. also the dial was easily accessable to service in the field.

[@adventureswithtime]

Wow, that is a great bit of knowledge. Thank you very much. How did you learn that?

[@philsummers7375]

@@adventureswithtime I am a watch enthusiast I don't call myself a maker yet but I know the ropes. The technology has been the same for Yeats neverxchanged so if you look at it from that perspective the tasks don't seem to dawnting

[@Gadelha-cj7vs]

Eu sou do Brasil, gosto muito dos seus vídeos. Sou inscrito no canal

[@adventureswithtime]

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoy my videos.

[@tyronejones-ux2ky]

Watch

[@adventureswithtime]

Watch?

[@mohamedshaheed1270]

Movement is too Royal.

[@adventureswithtime]

What do you mean by "too Royal"

[@pt8208]

This guy is nuts, no seller-unles asking a very high price-is going to indulge this clown in all of these alleged requests. This is not an indication of a disreputable seller as much as it is annoyance over a clown!

[@adventureswithtime]

Yet, many sellers did comply with my requests.