Jump to content

Unknown pocket watch

Squiffything
 Share

Recommended Posts

Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

Posted
Posted

I have today picked up a pocket watch to play with and try and get working. I have no knowledge at all what it is so am asking the collective for any information and help. 

The movement is loose and has two steel bands inside one of which has rusted. The hands are not there but will be arriving at the weekend. There is no glass so will need to be sourced. I’m not sure if the case is gold, plated or whatever but it will need a polish, any suggestions.

 

0C02EE2B-FBBA-4E64-9164-83401744AF58.jpeg

13B6A575-9C36-40AB-9D1B-80199BA54266.jpeg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you Nickelsilver. Ok it’s a fusee movement in reasonable condition and one I don’t think I should mess about with. On the movement is 3839 and in a different place Patent so not sure if that is the patent number or movement type. 

It has a gold stamp (crown) with 18 underneath and there is on EBay at the moment a very similar watch with the same case (slightly different) which is listed as three colour gold which this appears to be. 

There is a stamp mark which appears to be JLS & Co but I cannot find them listed. Ok I got a little fed up with hundreds of sites for some kids boy band and gave up :(

 

6C3B3E01-495A-4015-BF87-82FD6B130BCD.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted

Looks like an English fuse pocket watch. They are entirely different to what I would call an average pocket watch movement. If you have never repaired, a fusee you need to read up and understand how the fusee works. You must be extremely careful with the chain. If the case is gold it will be hallmarked and you will be able to date it. I would say its around 1840. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It’s hard to show on a phone camera but the face, after a quick clean has come up lovely. You can see three colours of the gold which I think is white, rose and yellow. 

Now just have to order a new glass and await the hands. Any advice on what glass I should look for?

5295B8E5-B756-467D-BF31-79B2DA03B854.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted

I would wait until you have it assembled then measure the height of the centre wheel and see what clearance you will have between the tip of the minute hand to the bezel. It should be glass and not that plastic stuff. Depending on the inside, lip of the bezel should give you a good idea on the thickness.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tmuir Distinguished Member

Tmuir

Posted
Posted

If the S is the hallmark it looks like Oldhippy was pretty on the money as its 1833.

http://www.thebigworld.co.uk/dating_english_hallmarks_silver_and_gold.htm

As oldhippy says you need to do some research before touching this watch it is completely different to modern watches.

The best book I've seen on how to strip down and service these watches is by Archie B Perkins 'Antique Watch Restoration Volume 1', but its expensive at £75.

A much cheap but not as good book is 'The Pocket watch' Restoration, Maintenance and Repair by Christopher Barrow, although his book does cop some criticism, but does have good colour photos in it.

There looks to be something wrong with the hinge plate that the dial is pinned to. It should have pillars coming down to pin it to the movement, but I can't see any and it looks like the pillars may still be in the movement, so they may of been pulled out of the hinge plate and will need to be rivetted back in or replaced.

If you can give a good photo of the hinge plate I'm sure OH will be able to say for sure.

What a great find, I'm very jealous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Another issue is that the back plate of the case is stuck firm I can see that there is a hinge for it and I thing that it should be opened by a button on the top. This should press down onto the rusted steel plate inside the rim of the case. Does anyone know if these can be bought as spare parts? How are they removed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tmuir Distinguished Member

Tmuir

Posted
Posted

The case springs do turn up on ebay from time to time, there are several lots on ebay now, but not sure if they are correct for your watch.

Do an ebay search for 'pocket watch case spring'

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tmuir Distinguished Member

Tmuir

Posted
Posted

As a side note normally you would remove the pin on the hinge to remove the whole movement from the case and after removing the hands then remove the dial and hinge plate from the movement.

If you don't have the taper pins to reattach use brass, not steel taper pins to attach the hinge plate to the movement

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Squiffything WRT Addict

Squiffything

Posted
  • Author
Posted

My Brother in law clears garages and lockup’s and found it years ago. Never did anything with it but thought it was too nice to throw away. Bought it up at the weekend and is coming up on Sat again and will bring the hands which he has. As you said lucky it wasn’t scrapped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • ManSkirtBrew
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By ManSkirtBrew · Posted

      Oh nice. I have a similar wedge style stump for my staking tool, so I'll give that a shot. Thanks!
    • joelcarvajal
      Gamblin Gamsol for cleaning?

      By joelcarvajal · Posted

      Thank you all for the replies!  Very informative! True enough, the Gamsol took some time to evaporate and does leave a residue. So not all naphtha are created equal!  Need to find alternatives then. i was able to try Hexane recommended by Alex and it seems great.  I wonder what the cons are?
    • GuyMontag
      1972 Bulova President "E" Sea King 11ACACB movement

      By GuyMontag · Posted

      Yeah, I saw that in the tech sheet but I don't see how it can be adequately cleaned with the friction pinion still in place. I've accidentally pulled the arbor right out of the wheel once when I used a presto tool to try and remove it. Mark shows how he does it with the Platax tool. Those are a little too pricey for me so I got one of these from Aliexpress and I just push down on the arbor with the end of my brass tweezers. That usually gets it most of the way out and then I just grab the wheel with one hand the and the friction pinion with the other and gently rotate them until it pops off. Probably not the best way but it's seemed to work for me so far.    
    • Zedster
      Movement inserted from crytal side

      By Zedster · Posted

      Thanks, Jon Sounds like a plan. Obviously I'll have the face on so do you think gripping with the holder will create any problems, but I will check in the morning to see how feasible it is but I assume it only needs to be lightly held. As for holding the movement instead of the holder won't be possible in this scenario as one hand will be puling on the stem while the other pushes the spring down. That was my initial concern is how the hell can I do this with only one pair of hands. All the other times I've had to remove the stem hasn't been a problem, apart from the force required to release the stem from the setting lever, but now I need to fit the face and hands its sent me into panic mode. If it had the screw type release things would be a lot simpler but that's life 😀   Another thing I will need to consider is once the dial and hands are fitted and the movement is sitting in the case I will need to turn it over to put the case screws in. I saw a vid on Wristwatch revival where he lightly fitted the crystal and bezel so he could turn it over, is this the only option or is there another method?      
    • nevenbekriev
      Main spring

      By nevenbekriev · Posted

      Hi Jon, do You think that relation spring torque - amplitude is linear? I would rather guess that the amplitude should be proportional to the square of the torque. I had once idea to check it, but still haven't.
×
×
  • Create New...