My parents bought it for me in June 1974, and wore it from 1974 to 1976 while in the 11th and 12th grade. It has been in storage since 1976 and I just got it again. I put in a new battery but it did not work, so i read about shorting the battery out to the dust cover to get an electric going again sometimes, and that did the trick. It still keeps good time for an electric...I will be timing it the next couple of days, but I think it will run about 10 seconds per day or so.

It is gold toned, large pillow case shaped, gold toned dial, with gold toned 5 minute markers. Rather large and heavy...Will I meet any of the woman I knew in 1974 when i wear it??

...and YES...you will meet some of the women you knew in 1974...and they'll think you're a Dork for wearing such an old watch...ha ha ha. Just kidding. Actually, many people in your generation aren't wearing any watches at all and are using their ipods, cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices to tell time.

Hey...if you can find the Timex production numbers on the edge (bottom or top) of your dial we might be able to find it in a vintage Timex catalog or manual.

Thanks for posting.

Dorsey H.

....the is though a 23N stamped into the steel on the M42 movement...it was bought at a large toll road plaza outside of Chicago in late June, 1974.

It will have numbers on the very edge of the dial that you can't see until you remove the crystal and style ring. Is it date or day-date? If it is a 74 day/date it would be catalog # 769602 and would have cost $35 when new.

Bill D

...rather large and heavy gold tone pillow case....came with a gold tone twisto-flex band, but just got a brown leather new band for it.

to get your watch working. I do not think I have heard of 'shorting' the battery on Timex electric watches to get them working. Where did you come across that information? I know on some quartz watches there is an ' a/c' marking that requires 'shorting' the battery but have never heard of it on an electric watch.

My guess is that it is more "grounding" the + side of the cell by making a contact and that it is a case of the Y shaped contact that should touch the side of the cell, either missing (common since it just pushes onto post between plates) or turned so not making good contact. Many times I have seen the watch run without the contact as long as the side of the cell is touching a common ground on the movement or case.

Bill D

To me "shorting" is more a term of connecting the + and - sides of a circuit which would stop rather than start the watch.

Bill D

.

Maybe i did not short it....
i took a butter knife and connected the top of the battery to the steel dust cover that covers up the watch movement.

Yes that is what i was referring to. The movement plates, etc and case are all part of the common side of the circuit. If the + side of the battery (That is the outside case and the - is the button)touches any of those parts it completes the circuit. Think of it as like your car battery where the ground side goes to the chassis and any metal part of the car that is not insulated from the chassis is also ground. That is why you can put a jumper to any metal on the car and not necessarily the ground side of the battery. A short circuit in electricity is never a good thing and in a case of an auto battery causes a BIG arc.

I would make sure you have the Y shaped contact in place on the right hand side of the battery. If not the slightest jarring of the watch might cause it to stop if the inside cover moves.

Bill D

I saw the shoring out info on a archived old times forum...forget exactly where I read it.

...checked via the WWV telephone atomic clock service...is this unusual for a Timex Electronic M40 movement?