new exhibit at the AMCHPR...not a watch...

...but a few tools, this time Sea-Gull branded caseback openers.

So, nothing really exciting for most folks maybe, but I'm thrilled to have them and it broadens the AMCHPR range of eye candy...

So...the pix:













These go with some earlier arrivals from Shanghai Watch factory that some here might not have seen:

These are 开表帮手/"helpers to open the table", specifically 国表/"state tables" (a very common Chinese term for VCMs or Chinese built watches). I found them by searching Taobao with terms like 器/device and 工具/"tool" and 修表工具/"repair of the table tool", keeping in mind that 表, [biǎo] means "show and/or list, table, form, meter", and so on.



The wrenches I received are made for Zhongshan (钟山) watches, and Shanghai 1120, 7120 and 7122 watches...but, among them, they also open many others, like Baoshihua and Jinmao for two examples I tried.

These wrenches have a huge advantage over other styles of opener for VCMs.

Many VCM casebacks have polygonal ridges for opening. but the ridges are very shallow and when my trusty sticky rubber ball fails, it's difficult to use even normal/modern tooth or claw style caseback openers without tearing up the case back and wrecking the beautiful VCM casebacks. These "for-the-purpose_ wrenches fit tightly and make opening up even a difficult case pretty easy ( so far...)













The wrenches were 5 or 10 RMB each

The question is, do you actually use those tools frecuently?

My other time-eating but much loved passtime is the collection and restoration of antique and classic radios, mostly old tube sets. One of my greatest finds ever was at an estate sale of a former Zenith/Philco/RCA repairman: I acquired three different tool boxes, each marked with the name of and numerous stickers from their respective brands (as listed above), and each came with a number of proprietary, rare-as-frog's-teeth tools made specifically by each company for use on their radios. (These were nothing like GM's notorious GM-only tool kits to work the one-of-a-kind fasteners/fittings they produced over the years, but they were unique enough in styling and decoration that I was forced to buy them all... )

This has been my long-winded way of saying that I understand the excitement involved when you find something like what you've shown us here.

幹得好，先生！

eddiea wrote:The question is, do you actually use those tools frecuently?

Not really frequently, Eddie, but I do use them for opening watches for movement photos, or when a visitor wants to see inside some watches, and they work beautifully well.

My major motivation for obtaining them is to expand my "museum" from just the watches alone, to include also things like vintage advertising materials, ration coupons, product packaging, older repair tools, vintage nylon or metal straps...just the various additional small stuff that completes a broader, more informative picture of what things were like during the times that the watches were made.

Got it...one day if you have the time, I'm sure we all love to see some pics of the exhibit.

Mortuus wrote:幹得好，先生！

明白了，谢谢谢谢

Mortuus wrote:

eddiea wrote:Got it...one day if you have the time, I'm sure we all love to see some pics of the exhibit.

I'll SECOND that request!! 请与我们分享!

I don't really have it set up as a display, except online at the AMCHPR website. I'd like to have it set up in a case or cases, but it'll need more stuff first and that's gonna have to wait until (if all goes according to plan) my next trip to China in April.

I've been kindly invited to visit the Tianjin Camera & Watch Collectors Association private museum while in Tianjin and also to meet with some of the top collectors in Shanghai as well. I'm hoping for a second visit to the Sea-Gull factory, plus the Shanghai Watch Factory if that can be arranged, and maybe Beijing Watch Factory if I can manage that as well.

But it's not all about watches...I also want to visit the Guoliang tunnel and village area in the Taihang Mountains.

Fabulous pics Ron.........thanx for sharing

Indeed, breathtaking pix...I've only been to Hong Kong and Shanghai, neither of which are particularly breathtaking, unless you're fond of tall, uber-modern buildings (the former) and dodgy plumbing (the latter).

BTW, has the AMCHPR site been added to our recommended sites/links...? (I had a look, but didn't see it, but as Mrs Mort would [gladly] tell you, I often fail to see things that're right in front of me...)

圣诞快乐，罗恩！

Look like something out of Arizona or Utah.....

eddiea wrote:Look like something out of Arizona or Utah.....

Understood, badlands, kinda...and here's another possible similarity: the Guoliang is very serious corn growing country.