you are trapped in here with us
I usually spend Sunday mornings on forums leaving little bon mots in comments on posts to amuse myself while the coffee wakes me up. This morning a comment felt like it was going to run long so I decided to put it over here, in my space, where it won’t get buried under posts from… Continue reading For what it’s worth
In Chris’ vintage buying guide (pinned to the top of our page) he warns about certain brands as being particularly susceptible to being “fakes” or frankenwatches, especially if bought from Asian sellers. And here I was on a Saturday morning, with two of one of these brands in my hands and the certainty that one… Continue reading In the Prize Box
It's been exactly a year since I first started writing for the Escapement Room. I used to do a post every week or so. But eventually that died down to maybe once a month. I'm a relatively new collector. I don't have a lot to say about watches. Mostly I wrote about my preferences and… Continue reading A Year Trapped in the Escapement Room: Heritage, History–and since We’re Alliterating–Hyping Horology
On 31 May, 1961, the Union of South Africa left the crown and changed its name to the Republic of South Africa. They scraped Queen Elizabeth and George VI off of the coins and replaced them with Jan van Riebeeck. Along with this came the change to decimal currency. No more shillings and pence, just… Continue reading Horological Heritage Part One: Union Special
I don't have a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse. I want one. But I don't have the money for something like that. Nor, unless I win the lottery (and what's the probability of that ever happening?), I probably never will. It retails for above 62,000 USD, which is considerably more than what I earn in a… Continue reading Perfect is the Enemy of the Good, Or Compromise is not a Dirty Word
What you see here is a 1920s (I wanna say 1926 but I could be mistaken, this could a model from a later year, maybe 1928) Rolex Oyster. It has a "3-piece cushion case" and is 32mm. Supposedly it's the one of the first, if not the first "waterproof" watch. I have an opportunity to… Continue reading Peak Vintage Rolex
This is a 1920s Seiko trench watch. Or more accurately, this is my newly acquired 1920s Seiko watch. From my very nominal research, the name Seiko first made an appearance on a wrist watch dial in 1924. Before then, the wrist timepieces Seikosha produced carried the name Laurel from 1913 to 1923. In 1923, the… Continue reading In Which I Inadvertently Celebrate Seiko’s 100th Year as a Brand
1. What vintage brand would make the best dress watch for the money? At various times I would have answered that question differently. Hamilton, Bulova, and Gruen all make perfectly serviceable “dress” watches. If you want to pay a little more, Le Coutre, Longines, and Omega were great options, but prices have jumped recently. To… Continue reading Three Questions: Wittnauer
Sherwin: It's been a while since the last round table. Let's get to it: What's the watch you will save if you ever get to a scorched earth situation? Let's say you have to--you don't want to but you have to--what's the one timepiece in your collection that you will keep? And no cheating. You… Continue reading Save One: Round Table No. 12
I like the forgotten and the overlooked and today Wyler has those very qualities in excess. It was a major player once, from the 1930’s to the 1970’s. Wyler made watches that were tougher than the average Swiss brand, but were affordable, and maybe a little stylish. Wyler has had a couple of relaunches in… Continue reading I swear I thought she was older…
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