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Antique watch keyless works issue


AdamC

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It's been a while since I've worked on a movement as old as this. A friend asked me to look at whether I could get his great-grandmother's watch working again. When I first saw it, I thought it was an old 1920's ladies wristwatch, though thought it odd that the winding stem is at 12. However, on closer examination, it resembles more of an old pocket watch movement. Now amazingly, the watch is ticking when wound but I cannot pull the stem to set the hands. On removing the dial, I can see the yoke and yoke spring on the opposite side. But would I be right in thinking that it is missing the setting lever? There is a space that looks suspiciously like there could have been a setting lever there once but I could be wrong.

I'd also be interested to hear your opinions on the age of the movement. I'm thinking around 1900.

What's more surprising is that when the case is closed, you don't see the chipped porcelain around the edges, so thick is the bevel. It looks so nice and ornate and when the case is closed. Would love to be able repair but have my doubts.

Any ideas about the keyless works?

Thanks in advance.

20181125_173452976_iOS.jpg

20181125_172543338_iOS.jpg

20181125_155338122_iOS.jpg

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It's been a while since I've worked on a movement as old as this. A friend asked me to look at whether I could get his great-grandmother's watch working again. When I first saw it, I thought it was an old 1920's ladies wristwatch, though thought it odd that the winding stem is at 12. However, on closer examination, it resembles more of an old pocket watch movement. Now amazingly, the watch is ticking when wound but I cannot pull the stem to set the hands. On removing the dial, I can see the yoke and yoke spring on the opposite side. But would I be right in thinking that it is missing the setting lever? There is a space that looks suspiciously like there could have been a setting lever there once but I could be wrong.
I'd also be interested to hear your opinions on the age of the movement. I'm thinking around 1900.
What's more surprising is that when the case is closed, you don't see the chipped porcelain around the edges, so thick is the bevel. It looks so nice and ornate and when the case is closed. Would love to be able repair but have my doubts.
Any ideas about the keyless works?
Thanks in advance.
20181125_173452976_iOS.thumb.jpg.d42cd29cd4ec8a28dec1d9250b1c7a2b.jpg
20181125_172543338_iOS.thumb.jpg.615ab4d1eea03623a4abdef8022cd1a3.jpg
20181125_155338122_iOS.thumb.jpg.ef8a403713b3ec633d38efd587d87de8.jpg

What happens when you turn the keyless and observe the works on the face side?


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nickelsilver is correct, you push the little pin in next to the button. That movement is a cylinder. You must let the power off before you remove the balance. Cylinder movements do not have pallets. If it is a gold case you can date it by the hallmarks.

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nickelsilver is correct, you push the little pin in next to the button. That movement is a cylinder. You must let the power off before you remove the balance. Cylinder movements do not have pallets. If it is a gold case you can date it by the hallmarks.

Did not see that

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20 hours ago, jdrichard said:


What happens when you turn the keyless and observe the works on the face side?


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Thanks for your interest. Anti-clockwise, the sliding and winding pinion rotate and the yoke rises and falls as the sliding pinion turns. Clockwise, the winding pinion only rotates and begins winding the mainspring.

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15 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

You have to press in the pin just next to the crown to set. This is a transition wstch between key and stem setting.

Perfect. Thank you, you have solved my mystery. Surprisingly, I've worked on a few pocket watches in the past but never come across one like this.

@oldhippy Thanks for your confirmation. The outer case appears to be gold and has 14K stamped on it with what looks like a squirrel logo underneath (again not seen this before) but unfortunately no hallmark letter to identify the year. On the inner dust cover, it has CUIVRE stamped on it (french for copper). So this really is quite an unusual watch. I've worked on cylinder movements on pocket watches before so thankfully understand some of its peculiarities. I'm going to hazard a guess that the watch is from around 1900.

 

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It's been a while since I've worked on a movement as old as this. A friend asked me to look at whether I could get his great-grandmother's watch working again. When I first saw it, I thought it was an old 1920's ladies wristwatch, though thought it odd that the winding stem is at 12. However, on closer examination, it resembles more of an old pocket watch movement. Now amazingly, the watch is ticking when wound but I cannot pull the stem to set the hands. On removing the dial, I can see the yoke and yoke spring on the opposite side. But would I be right in thinking that it is missing the setting lever? There is a space that looks suspiciously like there could have been a setting lever there once but I could be wrong.
I'd also be interested to hear your opinions on the age of the movement. I'm thinking around 1900.
What's more surprising is that when the case is closed, you don't see the chipped porcelain around the edges, so thick is the bevel. It looks so nice and ornate and when the case is closed. Would love to be able repair but have my doubts.
Any ideas about the keyless works?
Thanks in advance.
20181125_173452976_iOS.thumb.jpg.d42cd29cd4ec8a28dec1d9250b1c7a2b.jpg
20181125_172543338_iOS.thumb.jpg.615ab4d1eea03623a4abdef8022cd1a3.jpg
20181125_155338122_iOS.thumb.jpg.ef8a403713b3ec633d38efd587d87de8.jpg

Hi it’s what you call pin set movement if you need spare parts they use these movements in trench watches if you need a glass I will probably have one.


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  • 9 months later...
 
 
 
 
On 11/26/2018 at 9:57 PM, AdamC said:

The outer case appears to be gold and has 14K stamped on it with what looks like a squirrel logo underneath (again not seen this before) but unfortunately no hallmark letter to identify the year.

 

The squirrel is the Swiss hallmark for 585 gold.

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