Category: Manual wind

Browse our articles on vintage manual wind watches. Before automatic movements became widespread, manual winding was the standard way to power a mechanical watch.

The Dirty Dozen watches

The story of the Dirty Dozen watches began in 1943 when the British War Department realised the necessity of having a general service wristwatch built to high standards. They commissioned a watch for its forces. The aim was to find a replacement for the old A.T.P. (Army Trade Pattern) watches that had been in service…Read more

1970s Certina Bristol 235 wrist watch

This vintage Certina watch is stunning. It is branded, Certina Bristol 235, and has a good quality 17-jewel hand-winding movement, calibre 25-66, which is working nicely and keeping good time. The clean movement bears the Certina name in full. Certina Adolf and Alfred Kurth founded Certina in 1888 in Grenchen, Switzerland. The Swiss watchmaker has…Read more