Robert Roskell Pocket Watch - help with ID please

[Wesley881]

Hi all,

I picked this up yesterday at an antique store for $30 US.  Parts are moving freely save for the balance, which has a bit of a wobble.  The movement looks to have gotten a healthy dose of penetrating oil, which the vendor may have applied to try and get it to work.  Doing some co**BLEEP** research on it, there are apparently plenty of fakes in circulation, but that's not my primary concern.  This is my first key wind PW, and it has some new attributes I've not been introduced to.  First, it has an anchor escapement, which I thought was more of a clock-specific type.  Second, the jewels are clear - glass?  Not sure.  And the count looks like 10 from the engraving on the case, so I'm assuming 5 pairs following the drive train to the balance wheel.  It was wound tight and I was able to relieve the mainspring.  Before I do any dismantling I wanted to present it to you folks and see if there is anything right off the bat that I should be aware of.  All in all, I think it's a nice addition to my collection, working or not, and it has plenty of character.  I think the 'C' marking on the case denotes export, it may have belonged to a William Somebody as there is a name inscribed on the inner case back.  Let me know what you think, I'm looking forward to learning more about this one!

Best,

C

[MilTimeCan]

Hi Westley,

try this : http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?119919-Robert-Roskell-Pocket-Watch-Identification 

Hope it helps

 

 

[Wesley881]

Hello @MilTimeCan, 

Thanks for passing this along, it's shed a bit of light so far...

C

[Wesley881]

UPDATE: I dug around on the NAWCC Message Board and was able to find some tell-tale signs of a 'Swiss Fake' Robert Roskell, which were also confirmed by a watchmaker I reached out to yesterday.  

1. No markings on the plates whatsoever.

2. Spring winds clockwise

3. Name is engraved on the outside of the inner back casing instead of the movement.

That being said, it's mid-19th century curio that I now have the confidence to practice on.  Got the balance freed up last night and it looks like it will run fine with the correct-sized shim under the balance cock, maybe 5 layers of aluminum foil.  Definitely not a wasted expenditure for some new experience.  The silver case and chain polished up very nicely.

[Wesley881]

UPDATE II:

So I found that I didn't need a shim under the balance cock when I tore everything down.  I got to thinking about the 10 jewel engraving on the case and it seemed fishy...  If there are 5 pairs of pivots along the power train, what about the impulse jewel and the 2 caps?  That would make 13.  That's when I discovered the cap jewel had been knocked out of the cover on the bottom pivot of the balance.  To boot, the single screw holding the cover on was stripped (why not put two when there's plenty of room?  Poor design).  Given that this isn't a watch of extreme value, but worth getting running for my own education, I needed a solution that didn't involve drilling and tapping, or trying to set a new jewel in a worn out cover.  I suppose I could have reamed the cover and set a larger jewel, but that wouldn't solve the problem of having to add a screw to the other side of the cover and tap the existing hole larger.  Solution - Nail polish.  It's removable, won't be exposed to the sun and the flow during application can be controlled by how much alcohol you thin it with.  Pressing a cap jewel of comparable size out of a parts movement, I was able to set the jewel into the old hole after a little cleaning up.  From here I simply added some dots to the cover and set it in place.  Not the prettiest fix, nor a solution for a customer's family heirloom, but sometimes you have to 'run what you brung'.  Running somewhere around +10 s/d after 24 hours.  As a beginner, I'll chalk it up as a success.

[Wesley881]

The 'Swiss Fake', cleaned up with a new crystal and keeping decent time.