Waltham A-17 Military

LittleWatchShop · April 28, 2021

Here is a project that is been going for several months. It came from my box-o-watches. It had a broken staff and a rusty stem and no crown. I cleaned and staffed it--got it running fine. Later on, I noticed there was a problem with the mainspring. It was slipping. I could not tell what was going on. I found a NOS mainspring on Ebay and installed it. Still had issues. Finally discovered that the issue was me. Not gonna air out my noob mistakes, but once I decided to focus and use my problem solving skills, I figured it out. The final thing to resolve was the stem and crown. I could never figure out if this case needed a case tube. I decided to put one on. I had some case tubes in the watch bench, but none fit perfectly, so I put one that was close on the lathe and turned it down to size. Found a crown among the watch graveyard that would work with the stem and the case tube. Oh, long time back, I found a crystal in my stuff--perfect fit.

Today it is all together. I am a little concerned about the tube. I may need to put a dab of superglue on it.

The hands and dial have radium. I wash my hands after working on it and frankly not worried. Nevertheless, I found an identical NOS dial and have ordered it. Maybe I will swap it out...maybe not. That is TBD.

Pictures below.

LeeReynolds · June 5, 2021

Washing hands is good, but the real risk is that the dust will get airborne and you'll breathe it in.

LittleWatchShop · June 5, 2021

11 hours ago, LeeReynolds said:

Washing hands is good, but the real risk is that the dust will get airborne and you'll breathe it in.

Yes, plus radon gas. However, the risk is very low IMO. I posted on the "radium" thread on this site, a study done that included wearing (in a variety of ways), working on watches both as a professional and hobbyist, etc. The yearly exposure is quite low, even for a professional watchmaker (150 mrem/yr).

My own sense of risk is anecdotal. My Dad was a watchmaker and serviced watches 55 hrs/week from 1947 to 1980 and then at about 10 hrs/week for the next 10 years. He died at 93 of natural causes. I am certain that there was radium everywhere at the shop.

Nevertheless, I use caution and would urge others to do so as well, because the human body is complex and we are not all the same--some may be very sensitive to the effects of radium.

Edited June 5, 2021 by LittleWatchShop

PostwarO27 · October 21, 2021

How does that NOS dial look installed?

LittleWatchShop · October 21, 2021

2 hours ago, PostwarO27 said:

How does that NOS dial look installed?

LOL...I never installed it. Do you want to see a picture of it?

PostwarO27 · October 21, 2021

42 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

LOL...I never installed it. Do you want to see a picture of it?

I'd love to see it. I've been trying to find an A11 or A17 from WWII for a while now but they're either too much or just so beat up that a novice like me has no chance of getting it running again.

LittleWatchShop · October 21, 2021

This is my collection The lolipop one was the first one which came from my dad's collection of watches he must have taken on trade in. It did not work, so I fixed it. The others, I bought on wild-and-crazy ebay. Some bad buys, but I recovered at some cost. Often the cases are wrong. The uncased watch needs a hairspring which is impossible to find. I recently got a case on ebay that was a good price and I was able to recover one of the watches that came with a faux case.

PostwarO27 · October 27, 2021

HOLY...is that an original dial? That thing is in fabulous shape. I'd be workin overtime to find a case for that. Hell, It might be worth buying an entire watch and swapping the dial.

What I've learned in my brief time with this hobby is that lots of movements share parts with other movements. The movement that goes in an A11 most likely was in other movements by that manufacturer. I started with the AS1187...basic a movement as it gets. While I have about 2 dozen of those movements, some of the parts in them I've scavenged from AS1158, AS1190 and AS1213 as they are identical with the exception diameter. All the parts are interchangeable.

What movement do you need a hairspring for?

LittleWatchShop · October 27, 2021

46 minutes ago, PostwarO27 said:

HOLY...is that an original dial? That thing is in fabulous shape. I'd be workin overtime to find a case for that. Hell, It might be worth buying an entire watch and swapping the dial.

What I've learned in my brief time with this hobby is that lots of movements share parts with other movements. The movement that goes in an A11 most likely was in other movements by that manufacturer. I started with the AS1187...basic a movement as it gets. While I have about 2 dozen of those movements, some of the parts in them I've scavenged from AS1158, AS1190 and AS1213 as they are identical with the exception diameter. All the parts are interchangeable.

What movement do you need a hairspring for?

Well, I have wondered about the NOS dial. Appears legit except that the numbers are not crisp. This may be because the dial would normally be lumed over the digits. Why have I not used it? There are two schools of thought on restorations. One is to stick with the original dial and hands, etc.

I need a hairspring for a 6/0 '42.

Neverenoughwatches · May 21, 2022

On 6/5/2021 at 1:33 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

Yes, plus radon gas. However, the risk is very low IMO. I posted on the "radium" thread on this site, a study done that included wearing (in a variety of ways), working on watches both as a professional and hobbyist, etc. The yearly exposure is quite low, even for a professional watchmaker (150 mrem/yr).

My own sense of risk is anecdotal. My Dad was a watchmaker and serviced watches 55 hrs/week from 1947 to 1980 and then at about 10 hrs/week for the next 10 years. He died at 93 of natural causes. I am certain that there was radium everywhere at the shop.

Nevertheless, I use caution and would urge others to do so as well, because the human body is complex and we are not all the same--some may be very sensitive to the effects of radium.

Completely agrre with you here lws. We are all different. Our dna more or less maps out our lives. If that say we going to contract or die from something then the chances are we are more likely to than not.

On 10/21/2021 at 9:10 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

This is my collection The lolipop one was the first one which came from my dad's collection of watches he must have taken on trade in. It did not work, so I fixed it. The others, I bought on wild-and-crazy ebay. Some bad buys, but I recovered at some cost. Often the cases are wrong. The uncased watch needs a hairspring which is impossible to find. I recently got a case on ebay that was a good price and I was able to recover one of the watches that came with a faux case.

Thanks for this link lws. Are these what the bulova and benrus mil spec were base on then ?

Edited May 21, 2022 by Neverenoughwatches

rehajm · October 12, 2022

On 4/28/2021 at 11:54 AM, LittleWatchShop said:

Oh, long time back, I found a crystal in my stuff--perfect fit.

I have one of these Waltham A-17 I'm gifting to a friend. The crystal is shot but it seems too domed compared to the sleek form fitting look I see on many of the other military watches. Has anyone discovered if there was a 'go to' crystal for these mil-spec cases? So many of the other specs on these were dictated by the government I can't imagine they'd let Corporal Endshake use his best judgement when prepping these pieces to get back in the field...

LittleWatchShop · October 12, 2022

Not to my knowledge. I don't think a low-dome will work however. a GS PA type high dome is probably what I used.

Can you show a side view picture?

rehajm · October 12, 2022

8 minutes ago, LittleWatchShop said:

Not to my knowledge. I don't think a low-dome will work however. a GS PA type high dome is probably what I used.

Can you show a side view picture?

Sorry I didn't get a good side view...not a big deal but I was thinking if the originals were like this one I can appreciate how the crush marks got there.