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Two 8-Day Aircraft Clocks


viking73
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Hello,

 

While I was out in west Texas for Thanksgiving, I happened to find two 8 day aircraft clocks in an old antique shop. Neither run and both have condition issues but at $20 for the pair, I couldn't say no to them! Here are some photos of them.

 

I think this one is WWII vintage. The knob is broken off which really sucks... Also, the numbers and hands glow which I assume means it's got radium paint on it??

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This is the newer one. While the knob is there, it has a chunk broken off the bezel. That's too bad but like I said, at $20 I didn't feel too bad about buying them :)

 

 

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Are there still watch repair shops out there that could potentially fix these and get them running again? Would it even be worth it to do so? It would be cool to get them back into working shape and I know working examples of these sell for good money on Ebay so... I'm assuming that the radium paint on the older one might be an issue for most repair shops?

 

Thanks for looking.

 

-Derek

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vintageproductions

Most any watch repair shops can fix these and tune them up.

 

The only problem is that it is very time consuming and can be expensive.

 

Last time I had three or four of those fixed they ranged anywhere from $150.00 to $250.00 each

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  • 3 months later...

They are great little clocks, but can be spendy to repair. It's definitely doable, but sourcing NOS parts or even making replacements may get expensive.

As far as the radium, yes, they are painted with it. If you have a CDV700 Geiger counter lying about, it will detect the trace radiation. However - these old clocks are safe to own - just be careful servicing them if you chose to do so yourself. Don't get the powder on your fingers or otherwise ingest it and you'll be fine.

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  • 1 year later...

Old post I know but I currently have two of these - one is in a plane. The other came from one I parted out. One is a Wittnauer and can’t remember the other. 
I serviced one of them. It has two mainsprings that are each considerably larger than those of wrist watches and even pocket watches. Takes a little concentration. After I was done it ran for about 10 days and kept pretty really good time. 
not sure why they sell for much as they aren’t rare at all. Most small private aircraft had them and many of the instruments used were military surplus. 
Dave

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