Maury shared this pretty rare Willys-Overland watch. Base don the design, I’d guess this is from the late 1940s. The seller describes this as a “dash clock”. He does listed other models of watches that look to be “dash clocks”, but to me this looks more like a pocket watch. Anyone know more about this item?
View all the information on eBay
“Up for auction is this vintage Willys automobile dash mounting clock. It is in great working condition! Wind up mechanism. I do not have the mounting bracket.
Measures 2 1/4″. Selling as shown”
So now they are doing cheap pocket watches like the signs. I was excited until a saw many others online for different auto companies. Then I checked the Feedback of this seller and here is one negative feedback for a different auto watch at the same price:
” Very very cheap knock off. Set time and wound it up but won’t run over about two hours or so. Definitely not worth the money. Looks and feels like a 25 dollar item. Have bought a lot of items on line through the years and this is the only item that have ever truly been disappointed with.”
Let the Who’s song be our anthem, “We Don’t Get Fooled Again”
As of this post, he has 19 of these watches listed with different auto companies represented.
I have one. It”s an old pocket watch.
Greets- Re this:
It’s listed on ebay as “vintage dash part”. It isn’t. Car clocks were typically 8-day, would have no attention to the back as with logos (you never go there, do you?), don’t have bows over the stem for fobs (unless maybe you pull it up from those under-seat ‘gloveboxes’ in the wagons…?) but usually a mounting flange or such, and aren’t size 12s dollar pocket watches.
I noted the similarity to the seller, but thought that maybe it was a perk/promo, as for sales, quitting to go to Buick, a giveaway for buying 10 wagons, etc- and bought one- which needs to go back; I gave benefit of doubt and hoped it’d be one of the above- I asked for a snap of the movement before buying it and it’s a period Pocket Ben (Westclox, the genre called a dollar watch for their price in Sears well before that. Westclox, Ingersoll were big), date stamped from my wagon’s era close enough (I’ve a pre-’54 sans body tag, and ditto missing the number stamp on the frame that early; the watch is ’49)- so I thought let’s give a roll.
The dial is not cut as dials I’ve had restored (usually from a die cut decal process that Rojas down the valley did when I was into old timers)- it’s orange-peeled like a bad car paint job- or like photo paper stuck over a real dial. There’s a ring the size of the sub-seconds dial off to a side, around 7, as if it was set in the turned and reset, and best of all- you can see the outer real dial’s secs/mins sticking out around the overlay at same points. The ink of the face is blurred at the edges of lines/numbers as if soaking into whatever they’re printed on; and there’s another piece instantly posted after my sale, with different hands. Willys or anyone would’ve bought a slew of these at one time, same spec, one would believe, and they’d be from one lot at one time, then sent to whoever dials them.
Westclox DID make a dash clock, as did New Haven for lower end rugged stuff; Waltham, Elgin for classy cars. This ain’t none of em. The bow’s the first giveaway. Never saw one on car clocks, up to the one in the glovebox door (not under a seat) on my 190SL.
You can check with NAWCC for backup, but for my dollar watch dollars, that’s all this is- a period piece is a good start, but an applique that isn’t consistent with any timepiece I’ve had. I could buy a real Illinois 3+ position for the $155, and plenty of Sharpies to do my own art. I don’t know who cranks these out, but I’m now writing the ebay seller with a heads-up. These are dodgy.
And this is protected speech, whoever is turning these things out…. simply true stmts of fact as observed, beliefs as such.
I’d gladly post detail pics if I could find the means to do so hereon. If there’s some way to get some out, willdo.
Hi Norm,
I appreciate the additional details! If you’d like, you can send me the photo and I can add it to the post. You can contact me at d@deilers.com.
Thanks,
– Dave
David Eilers
d@deilers.com
http://www.ewillys.com