1956 Seth Thomas Wrist-Watch (Daily Carry)

For a wrist-watch of the 1950s, it was fairly ahead of its time: anti-magnetic, shock- and water-resistant, with luminous hands, rust-proof. And, even though plastic crystals had long been in use, this one has a real glass crystal. All it's missing is an unbreakable self-winding main-spring you'd see on numerous watches 10 years later.

Best of all, 10 days in it's only 2 minutes off-- exquisite for a mechanical (non-quartz) watch! (I cannot get the back off, so I don't know anything more on it).

While Seth Thomas's business actually sold out in 1931 (became part of General Time Instruments Corp.), the name was kept going a few decades longer. The movement is Swiss, though-- so it is not a true Seth Thomas piece. Many manufacturers imported Swiss movements and marketed them under their own names.

The plant this was made at was hit by a flood in 1955. The watch was a graduation gift in 1956 (to a Jim, not me. I didn't graduate till 2015).

I wanted a watch to use at work-- but it had to fit my style (stuff a lot older than myself. LOL). I couldn't be any happier.

Interestingly, instead of a blue-steel seconds hand, it is purple with orange where it meets the pivot. The luminous main hands were likely radioactive, which may have caused this altered colour. They no longer glow.