Pulled the trigger on my first vintage wristwatch; an Erax. How'd I do?

[Brett a]

The seller just accepted my $75 offer for this 1930's Erax.
From the listing:

ERAX WRIST WATCH 15 JEWEL SWISS MADE 1930's

Man wrist watch
Brand - Erax
Work -very good
Looking- good,but dial isn't in very good condition
Jewel- 15 jewels
Case size - 36mm without crown

It's shipping from Bulgaria for a total of $85 delivered.

The condition of the dial is why i liked it. I really like the patina (That's pronounced pa-TEE-na where I'm from).

So, I'm totally ignorant and ready to learn. My plan is to use this as my daily timepiece.

Should I take it somewhere off the bat?

Pictures also from the listing:

I'm hungry for knowledge!

 

[cubby01]

You should have a reputable watch repair place take a look at it - it may just need a cleaning to run daily.

I personaly don't like the tarnished face. It's truly a beautiful simple design when in like new condition. If you want to resell it someday I suggest keeping your eye out for a nos face - will really help the resale.

 

[cubby01]

Is the case sterling? I know some Erax were.

 

[eteller]

I know nothing about Erax's but I do know that most if not all vintage Russian watches that come from Eastern Europe are whats called a 'Frankenwatch'. A Franken watch is cobble together with various parts to make a unique watch or to make one run, be careful. Look at watchuseek.com for more info.

 

[Bigerik]

Never even seen one before. Great potential there.

 

[KrisM]

I don't know anything about watches, but I love the patina. I have family members war medals that are older than that watch, and they show their age, and I like it.

 

[68custom]

I like the patina, will make a good daily driver!

 

[Brett a]

I know nothing about Erax's but I do know that most if not all vintage Russian watches that come from Eastern Europe are whats called a 'Frankenwatch'. A Franken watch is cobble together with various parts to make a unique watch or to make one run, be careful. Look at watchuseek.com for more info.

Thanks for this heads up. I don't want to get drawn too far in financially; just enough to have a unique, operation wristwatch. I've heard excellent things about Tatnuck Jewelers in Worcester, MA. They got a friend's Rolex working (it was his dad's) after others had told him it was toast and only charged him like $30.

I like the patina, will make a good daily driver!

I'm looking forward to seeing it in person. I don't know if it will come with a band. The photos in the listing show it mounted on two different ones.

 

[Brett a]

Never even seen one before. Great potential there.

Looking around the web, I see only a few for sale; all between $500 and $600. The attached photos are of a different one offered on eBay that is similar, but in much better condition (listed essentially as NOS) It's $600.

I found this diificult-to-understnad explanation about the company in relation to still a different Elax:

ERAX wrist watch c.1940s. Movement: 17 jewel, incabloc, an ebauche of ETA 520U family, finished by Era Watch Company. Dial: Arabic numerals chapter ring and center sweep second. Case: 0.925 k solid silver made by E.S. Feinstein of New York, stamped F initial with sterling. For reference please see. Silver hallmark : sterling with the F initial of E.S. Feinstein of New York. Company: Era Watch Company was the part of C. Ruefli-Flury & Co. Christian Ruefli-Flury. established his watch making company in 1884 in Bienne(Biel). Edox was the brand name of the company. In 1921 upon the death of the founder the company passed to R. Kaufmann-Hug. and the first wrist watches were begun to manufacture. Era & Viso Montres name was registered in the US in 1925 and Era Watch Company bears the registration date 1945. The company as a family own enterprise is still active in the watch making business from 1983 with the brand EDOX. Reference: click here. 1 2

 

[Brett a]

Is the case sterling? I know some Erax were.

I don't know. I'll have to wait and see once it arrives.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

I know nothing about Erax's but I do know that most if not all vintage Russian watches that come from Eastern Europe are whats called a 'Frankenwatch'. A Franken watch is cobble together with various parts to make a unique watch or to make one run, be careful. Look at watchuseek.com for more info.

Erax is Swiss, not Russian.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

I found this diificult-to-understnad explanation about the company in relation to still a different Elax:

I'll try to translate for you...

Movement: 17 jewel, incabloc, an ebauche of ETA 520U family, finished by Era Watch Company.

This means the movement was made by ETA, which is a well-known and common manufacturer of watch movements for the Swiss and German mechanical watch industry even today. An 'ebauche' is a French word, in this context it means a raw watch movement or a 'blank'. "Incabloc" was a form of shock-protection that was popular for a few decades. The replacement for Incabloc was actually somewhat inferior in design, but used bigger parts (and jewels) to overcome the lower quality design.

It has 17 pivot points made of tiny rubies (yours has 15) to minimize wear and tear and increase accuracy. At one time, there was a 'jewel war' just like later on there was a 'transistor war', with public perception that more was better. 15 is fine.

Dial: Arabic numerals chapter ring and center sweep second. Case: 0.925 k solid silver made by E.S. Feinstein of New York, stamped F initial with sterling. For reference please see. Silver hallmark : sterling with the F initial of E.S. Feinstein of New York.

Indicates that the watch advertised that you found online was cased and sold by a NY company. This was not uncommon. Era Watch Company often made watches to order for other companies.

Company: Era Watch Company was the part of C. Ruefli-Flury & Co. Christian Ruefli-Flury. established his watch making company in 1884 in Bienne(Biel). Edox was the brand name of the company. In 1921 upon the death of the founder the company passed to R. Kaufmann-Hug. and the first wrist watches were begun to manufacture. Era & Viso Montres name was registered in the US in 1925 and Era Watch Company bears the registration date 1945. The company as a family own enterprise is still active in the watch making business from 1983 with the brand EDOX.


Edox is still in business, now part of Certina, I believe. Still a well-known and respected brand name.

So ETA made the movement (that's good, it means parts are available, generally speaking). Era Watch Company made the watch. It may have been dialed and cased by a jeweler or other company in NY. It has a nice 15 jeweled movement with Incabloc shock protection. A second dial on the bottom of the movement places the watch before the 1960s, probably quite a bit earlier based on the design of the numerals and the dial and stem. A nice piece.

 

[Brett a]

I'll try to translate for you...

Movement: 17 jewel, incabloc, an ebauche of ETA 520U family, finished by Era Watch Company.

This means the movement was made by ETA, which is a well-known and common manufacturer of watch movements for the Swiss and German mechanical watch industry even today. An 'ebauche' is a French word, in this context it means a raw watch movement or a 'blank'. "Incabloc" was a form of shock-protection that was popular for a few decades. The replacement for Incabloc was actually somewhat inferior in design, but used bigger parts (and jewels) to overcome the lower quality design.

It has 17 pivot points made of tiny rubies (yours has 15) to minimize wear and tear and increase accuracy. At one time, there was a 'jewel war' just like later on there was a 'transistor war', with public perception that more was better. 15 is fine.

Dial: Arabic numerals chapter ring and center sweep second. Case: 0.925 k solid silver made by E.S. Feinstein of New York, stamped F initial with sterling. For reference please see. Silver hallmark : sterling with the F initial of E.S. Feinstein of New York.

Indicates that the watch advertised that you found online was cased and sold by a NY company. This was not uncommon. Era Watch Company often made watches to order for other companies.

Company: Era Watch Company was the part of C. Ruefli-Flury & Co. Christian Ruefli-Flury. established his watch making company in 1884 in Bienne(Biel). Edox was the brand name of the company. In 1921 upon the death of the founder the company passed to R. Kaufmann-Hug. and the first wrist watches were begun to manufacture. Era & Viso Montres name was registered in the US in 1925 and Era Watch Company bears the registration date 1945. The company as a family own enterprise is still active in the watch making business from 1983 with the brand EDOX.


Edox is still in business, now part of Certina, I believe. Still a well-known and respected brand name.

So ETA made the movement (that's good, it means parts are available, generally speaking). Era Watch Company made the watch. It may have been dialed and cased by a jeweler or other company in NY. It has a nice 15 jeweled movement with Incabloc shock protection. A second dial on the bottom of the movement places the watch before the 1960s, probably quite a bit earlier based on the design of the numerals and the dial and stem. A nice piece.

Wow! Thanks for that. Seems like I might be doing OK for an initial $85 expenditure. --but time will tell if this watch will tell time.

 

[spaceman]

I don't know much at all about vintage watches, but in case anyone's interested, there are quite a few older watches & parts (mostly parts) at the SA down across from where the Kingdome was. A lot of them have names I'm not familiar with, & might easily be decent quality stuff. :scratch2: Me, I'm pretty happy with my old Seiko Quartz, but I'm still watching for a King Seiko or a diver.

 

[R-2-R]

Nice!

For $75 bucks you did very well indeed, IMO! :yes:

Everyone has their own individual like's and dislike's as far as what style, design, etc. on a watch but to be honest here it would be a shame to leave it looking just like that. A full restoration would bring that beautiful timepiece back to it's original glory, that is if it is taken to the right individual/place to have it done. Once done correctly, that timepiece will last you for many, many, many years to come. Just something to think about. :scratch2:

Again great timepiece and thanks for sharing, posting and enjoy! :thmbsp:

 

[Brett a]

I wonder what it originally looked like. Do you think it had a white dial?

 

[usedto]

Does anybody really know what time it is?

 

[Brett a]

Does anybody really know what time it is?

I will once I have my new watch!

 

[KeninDC]

Cool watch. I have my grandfather's 1958 Rolex and can confirm that watch repair places differ in price tremendously. Bailey Banks & Biddle wanted $400 to clean and repair, but I found a local cat that got it running for about $80.

My dad wore that Rolex in 'Nam, so I've got the Christopher Walken Vietnam watch thing going. One day, my son will wear it.

 

[cubby01]

I wonder what it originally looked like. Do you think it had a white dial?

One of the other Erax watches referened a silver toned dial. I wonder if maybe your dial was silver hence the tarnish. The Patina is growing on me

And, the two different watch bands you mentioned earlier in the sellers pictures are in fact one watch strap I believe.