A Question to Owners of the Challenge Timer (Bullhead) 67-9011

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

A question a visitor called Lawrence recently asked reminded me of something I have never quite got to the bottom of –  did the 67-9011 Challenge Timer, commonly known as the ‘Bullhead’, originally come with white day and date wheels, or only with black day and date wheels? Now this may seem a somewhat geeky bit of detail, and not exactly the ‘meaning of life’, but if I can answer this question I can add it to my guide to buying an original piece. I have my own theory about it, but I’ll keep that to myself for now 🙂

So, if you have what you believe to be a fully original example, I would like to know (a) what the colour of the day & date wheels are, (b) what the day wheel language combination is – this may give a clue to my theory! – and (c) what is the dial colour (i.e. one version had a black or grey dial and a printed, not applied, Citizen logo).

Although there are other versions of the ‘bullhead’ with the same case design, to keep it simple, at least for now, I want to stick to the most common 67-9011 model, with one of the following case numbers: 4-901177, 4-901053, or 4-901011. In the catalogue images I have of these models, the day and date wheels are black……

Here’s one of my examples of case number 4-901177 – as you can see it has white wheels, and the language combo is English and Arabic:

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It will be great to hear from anyone with an original piece – please remember to answer all three questions and use the comment facility for this particular post for your answers.

Thanks in advance!

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Posted in Vintage Watches | 14 Comments

Citizen Cosmotron GX – SOLD

Posted on March 23, 2018 by

I’m offering one of my Cosmotron GX’s for sale – head only. This one, case number 4-370601, has a textured green dial with white chapter ring. The dial and crystal are in good condition, and it has a Kanji only day wheel :

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Although the GX is a ‘Cosmotron’ it is in fact a tuning fork movement – a ‘hummer’ – rather than an electro-mechanical hybrid. These were not made for very long, and this one dates from October 1975:

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The 11 jewel 3701B movement is Citizen’s own design (so, unlike the 3701A, is not marked ‘LIC. BULOVA’ ) although it is of course very similar to Bulova’s single coil 219. The watch is in good working order, keeping accurate time and the date and day set correctly. The day is not quick-set, so it’s advanced by turning past midnight when the crown is out one step, which also ‘hacks’ the movement. The date is advanced with the crown fully in, in the normal running position.

The movement stops properly when the crown is pulled right out, which switches it off and conserves battery power when not in regular use.

The case is in decent condition with some light scratches and marks, but no major dings. Case diameter is about 38mm, with 18mm lugs (despite the 20mm strap shown in some of my pics!) – here are more images of the watch from my ‘Featured Watches’ series of posts:

https://sweep-hand.org/2014/03/19/this-weeks-featured-watch-57-cosmotron-gx-green-dial/

Price is GBP135 (USD190), which, to make it simple, includes shipping. Payment to be via PayPal only.  I am in the UK and shipping will be via Special Next Day Delivery within the UK, or International Tracked (& Signed if service is available) so please check that tracking is available in your country here first:

https://www.royalmail.com/personal/international-delivery/international-tracked-signed/coverage

Please contact me via the ‘Got a Question’ Contact Form – see top of the right-hand panel on the home page. Thanks.

Posted in Vintage Watches | 2 Comments

Two More Speedy’s Added….

Posted on March 21, 2018 by

……to Brian’s 67-9313 Speedy Restoration page 🙂  They are numbers 18 and 19.

It’s cool to see the population of ‘Speedy’ models passing through Brian’s hands. Of course service and repair of these fine 8110a calibres is not cheap, but with the increasing value of these pieces – and perhaps particularly the 67-9313 – as reflected on auction sites, my view is that it is a sound investment. One of the Speedy’s Brian serviced recently sold for $1200, and a search of eBay shows that far from perfect ones sell for decent money. The added value of a master watchmaker’s service is considerable, as well of course as getting the peace of mind that your watch has been properly cleaned and lubricated.

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Not Seen This Model Before….

Posted on March 18, 2018 by

One of the joys of collection and researching Citizen’s vintage watches is that you can be sure you’ve not discovered everything! Just the other week, ‘Martin’ visited my blog and, as many visitors do, asked for more information about his watch…

Martin kindly sent photos, and with his permission, and with full credit to him for the images, he asked me about this:

HMC5270Dial3

Although I’ve not seen this watch before, the quality of  the dial, for example the fine printing and the applied logos, suggest to me that it is an authentic model. The 23 jewel movement is also in good order and is marked as a 5270, usually found in Seven Star models, as reflected in the ‘7’ crown logo on the dial:

HMC5270Mvt

But the most intriguing part of the watch is this case back:

HMC5270Back2

So far in my experience, this is a unique design – and I believe it is an authentic one, given the quality of the markings and the information it provides. The movement number is present, along with ‘-71’ which I reckon is the production year. That fits with the use of ‘proof’ since that term was used until around 1973 when ‘resistant’ became the norm. The 000226 serial number suggests to me low volume production, which might well explain why I’ve never seen one of these before! The nicely stamped eagle motif in the centre is pretty much the same as the Chrono Master dial emblem:

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Finally, the back is stamped with ‘HMC’, which I have seen occasionally before on several watches. I have never fully got to the bottom of its meaning, but my best guess is that it relates to Citizen’s Korean casing and assembly factory, which was acquired in the early 1970s – and was known as the Hanmi Citizen Precision Industry. Here is an exceptionally rare Chrono Master case back I spotted some years ago:

KoreanChronoMasterBack

So here we have it – a ‘new’ vintage model, in my opinion at least 🙂

Thanks again to Martin for allowing me to post about his watch and for his photos.

Comments welcome!

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Citizen 150m Diver Crown SOLD, Part# 506-5061 (for models 52-0110, 62-6198, 68-5372 & case number 4-722710)

Posted on March 10, 2018 by

I have for sale one screw down crown, part number 506-5061, which is now, sadly, a very rare part. I haven’t offered anything for sale via my blog before, but I thought I would try it since visitors and followers to this blog clearly are particularly interested in vintage Citizens. I am inviting offers, which can be made via the Contact Form on the right side of the blog home page (i.e. below ‘Got A Question’). I will initially acknowledge receipt of offers and the best offer will win – payment to be via PayPal only.  Deadline for offers is 22.00 GMT on Friday, 16th March. I am in the UK and shipping will be via Special Next Day Delivery within the UK, or International Tracked (& Signed if service is available) so please check that tracking is available in your country here before making an offer:

https://www.royalmail.com/personal/international-delivery/international-tracked-signed/coverage

The crown fits the following 150m models:

52-0110, case number  4-820789

62-6198, case number 4-600851

68-5372, case number 4-740131

Case number 4-722710

The crown came direct from a supply house in Denmark, and was sold to me as unused stock, and I have kept it as a spare so it has not been fitted to a watch. There is a small dink in top of the crown – here are pics:

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Leopard Highness Rehab

Posted on February 21, 2018 by

I featured my Leopard Highness some time ago (https://sweep-hand.org/2016/02/16/this-weeks-featured-watch-73-the-leopard-chronometer/), at that time referring to it as the Leopard Chronometer. No movement shots were presented then, because the piece had gone to Brian Leiser for crucial repair work, as well as a full service. Brian’s work is featured here, particularly on the 67-9313 ‘Speedy’ chronograph. He had also sorted out my 1958 Auto (https://sweep-hand.org/the-citizen-auto-1958/) so I was keen to see what he could do for the Highness…..

First though, a quick word about the correct name for this watch – it is part of the Leopard family of watch movements, with a high beat 72 movement running at 36,000 beats per hour.  As an officially certified chronometer, it had typically been referred to as the ‘Leopard Chronometer’. However, having since properly translated original catalogue text, it’s correct title is ‘Leopard Highness’.

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When I bought my example, case number 4-720300, although in reasonable cosmetic condition, it had a known problem, the nature of which wasn’t exactly clear from the translation of the seller’s description. I thought it was worth a risk, since I was able to buy it relatively cheaply 🙂  On arrival, it was quickly clear what the problem was once the back was off – the rotor was loose, and broken. The threads on the winding  plate stud were completely worn away:

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Although one of the rivets on the rotor was missing, I could see that the screw threads looked ok:SONY DSC

I had a spare 72 movement, from a Seven Star V2, and after consultation with Brian we agreed that it would work as a donor, namely for the threaded stud:

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Brian had just one chance to press out the rotor studs without damaging anything and he was able to insert the decent stud into the original movement. And he repaired the rotor itself with screws that he ‘blued’:

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The good news from Brian was that the movement looked to have been untouched and after service was running perfectly, well within chronometer specifications. And he had been able to replace the original rather worn faceted crystal with an OEM flat glass:

005

I’m hoping Brian will do a piece on this watch with his more detailed technical notes, but for now this post gives a little more insight into his expertise.

This is the watch today, now with an original NOS (very hard to find!) faceted glass:

 

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Diver Page Updated Again!

Posted on February 15, 2018 by

It must be ‘add a diver’ week this week 🙂 After including the Super Deluxe model a couple of days ago, an exceptionally rare silver dialled version of the 120m Jet auto dater diver emerged. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen, and previously I thought only black dials were produced. I am very grateful to its owner, Jalaludin Adzali, for allowing me to use his pics.

I also realised that I had not included another rare model, this time a 100m rated Crystal Seven, alongside it’s Dandy Seven sibling., so I’ve taken the opportunity to add that one too.

AutoDaterDiverSilver  Crystal7Diver

I wonder if there are any other models out there, yet to show their faces? 🙂

Here’s the page link: https://sweep-hand.org/citizens-vintage-divers-1962-to-1980/

Posted in Vintage Watches | Tagged | 2 Comments