This Oris pocket watch shows that inexpensive does not mean unattractive.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The movement in this watch has a production date of circa 1950, but pocket watch movements were in production for long periods of time. This Oris pocket watch has tritium lume on the hands, shown with a T on the dial, and this tends to be later than 1950 when Radium was more commonly used so we have gone for a circa 1960 date. This is only a guide on this pocket watch though.
CONDITION
The dial and hands are very good, and the only thing that lets this watch down is the chromed case. This was not a premium watch when new – Oris are one of the few brands that have successfully worked up from being an everyman brand to the premium brand they are today. That said they still used their own movements, and in this pocket watch you will find the Oris calibre 421, which is clean and running well. The chrome case back does have wear, and we suspect this is from being in a drawer and sliding around – the rest of the case isn’t marked nearly as much so that would make sense. The sword hands are particularly nice – they are blued (hardened) and the lume is clean. The lume on the dial and hands is tritium, indicated by the T on the dial. While this was radioactive when new, it reduces in strength by half every 12.7 years (half life), meaning it is only a fraction of the original dose. It doesn’t register anything on our basic Geiger counter, whereas a pocket watch with a radium dial with the half life of 1,600 years would still send the needle into the red.
This watch will be supplied with a basic presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 54.6 mm (excluding bow)
Width without crown 50.3 mm
Case Thickness 12.8 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 1 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
