A couple posts back we saw a trio of watches I received that belonged to my late second-cousin Frank. I’m gradually repairing and cleaning these watches to get them back into wrist-worthy form. The first watch, the quartz Seiko, turned out quite nicely, so now it’s time for watch #2.

Here’s what we have: a Belair quartz watch in its original box. Belair has an interesting history. It’s still around—alive and ticking, you might say—and it is known for its private label and corporate watches. If you run a small jewelry shop and want a line of watches with your shop’s name on the dial, Belair is a company that can make, case, and deliver them to you. They have their own branded line, too, pitched as a “good value for money” line of watches.

Pocket watch fans will recall that many of the American companies had significant private-label business. Illinois, my favorite of the bunch, did enough private label work to keep collectors and historians busy for a long time.

Here’s a closer look. This is an ultra-1980s style: a two-tone watch, black on gold, with an integrated bracelet. The watch isn’t ticking but it’s generally in good shape. Consistent with the high-quality-for-the-money ethos, the bracelet is nicely made, and the watch has a high-quality ETA Swiss movement.

The watch came with this brush. I’m not sure if this was original to the purchase or something that was stuck in the box later. A brush like this could be handy for cleaning the bracelet, but this isn’t something I’ve seen before. Maybe it was a 1980s thing.

Here’s the box. If you’re a grizzled veteran of buying batches of old, trashy watches in lots from coin shops, yard sales, thrift stores, and flea markets, you know the cardinal rule: always take apart the box! Always check. You never know what’s under there. (Seriously, just think for a few minutes about what someone might hide under the display bottom of the box.)

For this watch, our “always take apart the box” efforts were rewarded. There’s a little bag in there. It’s marked by the jewelry store that sold the watch back in the 1980s: Seelenbacher Jewelers out in California. That family shop is still open for business at the same address, it turns out.

The bag has some spare parts. Along with a nice, never-used polishing cloth, there are some extra links, bracelet parts, and spare screws. These are nice to have, especially because these bracelet screws are tiny and easily lost.

Taking Stock

The watch is in good shape. It just needs a cleaning of the case and bracelet. It has the usual grime and crud from an old watch that was worn daily and then left to sit in a box. Check out the green paste that comes out of the screw hole. It’s pretty gross.

Here’s the movement. It ticked back to life once it had a new battery. (And check out those green, crusty bracelet screws!)

This watch has a quality movement from ETA: an ETA 956.112 quartz movement. Unlike the Seiko quartz movement we saw in the last post, this ETA is jeweled. Seven jewels is a lot for a quartz movement—7 more than the usual amount, I’d say.

This ETA movement is nicely put together. I’m happy to see a quality movement like this because parts—and even whole new movements—are plentiful and inexpensive.

Here’s what the case looks like after a nice scrubbing. The case and bracelet spent some quality time at the spa—the heated ultrasonic cleaner—which is by far the most effective way to clean the crud from the many nooks and crannies of a watch bracelet.

Wrapping Up

And here’s the clean, assembled watch, nice and shiny.

I have to say, this is a pretty cool watch. It is just old enough to look quirky and vintage, and it’s a good exemplar of 1980s dress watch styles. The bracelet fits perfectly, as it turns out, so this will be a nice watch to work into the rotation.