Jump to content

1938 Westfield Art Deco watch project

FLwatchguy73
 Share

Recommended Posts

FLwatchguy73 Super WRT Addict

FLwatchguy73

Posted
Posted (edited)

Good evening everyone, hope we are all managing quarantine fever reasonably well.:blink: Today I'm going to briefly cover my 1938 Westfield Art Deco watch I recently completed. It began with an urge to acquire a nice Deco watch. I won a handsome Hamilton, but sadly the seller had lost the watch. Thankfully they refunded my money and the hunt continued. I finally came across this Westfield powered by a Bulova 10aw. The price was perfect because it was sold without a crown. I tracked down a donor movement with a crown that didn't look too ratty and purchased it as well to serve as a parts donor, wise choice as you'll see. The parts donor arrived first. It only needed a clean and lube to get it ticking away 

Parts donor...

20200428_202356.thumb.jpg.907ddaae502855823e437f9a76dc8f1a.jpg

20200428_202341.thumb.jpg.ad217470fc17a426ce01fcd3c8b05490.jpg

After a delay, the watch arrived. It looked thousand times better in hand than it did online, thankfully. It was fitted with a truly pristine Crystal that surely must be a recent replacement. The case doesn't seem to have any base metal showing through. I promptly opened the watch and lifted the dial and movement from the case.

The Westfield as it arrived...

Screenshot_20200418-144738_eBay.thumb.jpg.9aafe8706928487b3962ecf24319a246.jpg

A close-up of the barrel bridge showing the little crescent moon date code signifying the watch was made in 1938...

20200428_203734.jpg.f512ef0b0da009e72454dad98012b836.jpg

Looking closely, I found that the crown and stem weren't just missing, it was broken, snapped off at the winding pinion. I removed some of the keyless works to get at the stem remnant. After fishing the piece out, I pulled the crown and stem from the donor.

Winding stem switcheroo...

20200428_184023.thumb.jpg.18d7ae93534259d4b3f659f341e7d60a.jpg

20200428_184109.thumb.jpg.931eb3040e0c7d8ff13bdcd2d7130853.jpg

 

I then attempted to give the mainspring a wind and see how the watch performed. After barely 2 turns I heard a crunching noise indicative of a broken mainspring. Thankfully the donor's was perfect. I swapped out the barrels put it back together and gave it another wind. Off the balance went and the mainspring wound smoothly and stopped at the end. 

Sprung spring:wacko:...

20200428_184211.thumb.jpg.04ce50240d8a538aa14156f7de903744.jpg

20200428_184419.thumb.jpg.2427f657050fed61be479e5f294c93db.jpg

I put the dial and hands back on, gave the dial a light wash down to remove any excess grime. I put it all back together, added a new leather strap and here she is. Very excited to be wearing an 82 year old watch that looks this good!:wub:

20200428_193215.thumb.jpg.44b43f7e1540f99eeff4608305622bc5.jpg

Edited by FLwatchguy73
  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Murks
      Digital Watch

      By Murks · Posted

      does anyone knows what type of battery this digital Watch takes?  
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Second hand watch market.

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      Hello good watch folk ,I  just fancied a light hearted discussion after my head was starting to spin over Epilame 😅. Specifically I'm meaning the sale of vintage watches, say nothing past the 1980s market. The stuff we see on ebay and other similar sites and found at carboots, curio shops etc. And are  we thinking its reaching a peak volume ?  Younger generations clearing out passed parents and grandparents possessions.  The younger folk are not as sentimental as the old fogies ( I'm now nearly at an age that i used to think was old fogie age ). When might it have started ?  i often wish i discovered the hobby much much sooner when selling your grandfathers pocket watch at a boot sale for a few quid was just a way to offload some tat. And when might it slow down. Thoughts anyone ?
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Epilame / Fixodrop

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      Yes i did eventually realise that the oil will act as a barrier, I'm sure the discussion will continue. Ive had two oleophobic coffees ( added coconut ) and in the meantime i have this just delivered to take my mind off epilame for the time being. My favourite type of dial, its a beautiful looking watch traditional English made and it runs,  the ticktock is phenomenal,  i can hear it across my living room .  You wont believe how much it was. Thats interesting about synthetic oils , i thought the same, going from a 2 year service to 5 years is a big drop in income for service folk.  I expect some did well when they embraced the use of synthetic,  probably drawing in more customers than those that didn't use the new fangled substances , i bet fairly short lived though. The more frequent service makes more sense to me, not for just the service but for the regular check up inspections that might pick up impending faults. As far as epilame goes, wouldn't it be great to be able to fumigate the complete movement in a sealed jar of heated stearic acid, 🤔 now theres a thought 😅.
    • Albyon
      AS2031-57E solar panel - mission: impossible

      By Albyon · Posted

      Imm going to close the discussion by attaching the photo of my super-titanium after several vicissitudes finally working. Purchased as not working I replaced the battery and for a stroke of luck I found its semi-new solar panel which, having verified its operation, seems to recharge the accumulator perfectly. I had taken this watch almost by bet, with 40 euros I brought it back to life. The initial half idea was to resell it to finance another purchase, but.. it's definitely a nice item. It would need to check the impermeability but it's a pleasure to see it on the wrist 😃
    • Albyon
      Insert the movement inside the case

      By Albyon · Posted

      In fact the secret is to go gently and find the way without forcing, and the movement enters without problems
×
×
  • Create New...