The Turtle

[Stewart H]

I know Kommis has one of these because he posted pictures of it in another thread but I recently bought one off eBay. It was described as "not working". What really attracted me to this watch was the fact that it has the NSA bracelet - rare to see one of these.

When it arrived, I gave it a gentle shake and was rewarded by a horrible tinny rattling sound - no wonder it was described as not working. The good surprise was that it started ticking and ran for a good 45 minutes before stopping so there's not too much wrong with it. I guess the seller had tried to take off the back to photograph it and had failed because there are scars in the case back from a Jaxa tool. Fortunately, they gave up before damaging the cut-outs. Having failed with the rubber ball, I took the back off with my Horotec Mini Press. I would implore you all to invest in a decent tool to avoid causing damage to your watches - you'd be surprised how grateful you will be.

Anyway, here are the pictures:


First the NSA bracelet.

A good tight clasp and no discernible free play in the links.

Original crown



The case back. Note some of the apparent damage is actually reflection.



The worst of the three Jaxa scars




A bit of a poke around and the cause of the tinny rattle was obvious - a broken staff for the oscillating weight. A quick trawl around the internet and I sourced a new one for €20 rather than the £36 from my usual parts supplier. When it turns up, I'll update this post with a quick fix for a not uncommon problem.

 

[cicindela]

No pictures/

 

[Stewart H]

For some reason, the site wouldn't let me upload images from my hard drive - only upload files or URLs

 

[cicindela]

No problem for me. What procedure are you using? BTW images are files.

 

[MMMD]

Only seeing the first photo so far, but I like it. Looks like you have elevated your photographic game. Nice watch too.

 

[kyle L]

Nice watch, I can see all the pics now.

 

[Stewart H]

The photography is a cheat. I didn't want to waste valuable watch money on a macro lens so I dug out the old 50mm F2.8 lens from the SLR box, stuck a Hoya close up (+3) filter on it then bunged that on the DSLR - zero cost upgrade but no depth of field.

 

[LouS]

Yet another in the string of late 60s-early 70s Zenith odd to look at, but which work remarkably well on the wrist, the turtle-cased Captain was an initial turn off for me until I got to handle one. Instant 180 degree change of opinion!

Glad this one is going to be an easy fix - I love it when a watch-buy gamble pays off!

 

[styggpyggeno1]

Hi
Is this the official turtle thread?
regards
JE

 

[dsio]

styggpyggeno1

Hi
Is this the official turtle thread?
regards
JE

Welcome mate, that's a lot of turtles you have there!

 

[LouS]

styggpyggeno1

Hi
Is this the official turtle thread?
regards
JE

That's right - welcome to the forum - glad you found your way here, JE! I know you have a particularly bad infestation of turtles at your house.

 

[styggpyggeno1]

Thanks!
Yes, but I actually let one of the gold ones go just yesterday. The one with the anglo-word order. It gets a happy home with a fellow collector here in Sweden. How is the the "french connection"-watch doing?
regards
JE

 

[LouS]

styggpyggeno1

Thanks!
Yes, but I actually let one of the gold ones go just yesterday. The one with the anglo-word order. It gets a happy home with a fellow collector here in Sweden. How is the the "french connection"-watch doing?
regards
JE

Spectacular. Sacrilegious to say it, but I like it better than the Cairelli.

 

[styggpyggeno1]

That is good to hear. I have ventured in to UG - and in particular Polerouters, since we last corresponded. Please have a look at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45306161@N03/8067423724/in/set-72157622817879727/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45306161@N03/8227284015/in/set-72157622817879727/

 

[LouS]

styggpyggeno1

That is good to hear. I have ventured in to UG - and in particular Polerouters, since we last corresponded. Please have a look at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45306161@N03/8067423724/in/set-72157622817879727/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45306161@N03/8227284015/in/set-72157622817879727/

Those are brilliant. You have a particularly good collector's eye for gold, and a fair bit of photographic skill to make those watches look extremely rich.

UG is the most ignored watch manufacture on the WWW. There are lots of connoisseur collectors, but not a forum to be found.

 

[Stewart H]

Confession time.

I had nothing small enough to unlock the oscillating weight (the jewel and locking ring is only just over 2mm in diameter) and I couldn't find anywhere to buy a special tool. As the weight has "Chronometer" engraved on it, I didn't want to try brute force and leave myself in the position of having to replace the weight with a service part, so I took it to a local watchmaker with the new pivot. £150 for a service and to remove the scratches seemed like a good price. Hopefully, I'll have it back this week.

 

[MMMD]

Way to recognize the fine line between watchmaker and watchbreaker. You're already one step ahead of many professionals.

 

[Stewart H]

..... and here it is, collected at lunchtime. They have done a fantastic job on the case - the Jaxa scars are completely gone, as are the minor ones on the side of the case.

 

[LouS]

That really turned out rather well. Amazing how well the appropriate bracelet works on these pieces.

When you have a moment, do you suppose you could post a pic of the endpiece? I believe that these NSA endpieces have no code on the reverse, so I'll have to find one by pattern recognition.

 

[ulackfocus]

Now it definitely meets the "ooooo, shiny!" mandate.