Thanks for allowing me to join

[Juec]

Hi,

My father who spent many years collecting pocket watches and repairing them has recently moved into a Care Home suffering from Alzheimer's Dementia and I have got the unenviable task of clearing out his workroom. My husband and I both have engineering backgrounds, having worked at Rolls-Royce Aerospace, and are familiar with or can work out what some tools do but are less familiar with some of the more specialised watchmaking/repairing tools that my father has. We have already used watchrepair talk.com/forum to gain knowledge on some tools, thank you, and would very much appreciate using the knowledge of the members to identify some of the more obscure tools and their manufacturers, if possible.

Hopefully, this is within the remit of the website.

Julie

[KarlvonKoln]

Firstly, you have my utmost sympathy.  My own grandmother lingered many years with Alzheimer's before passing.  It is a difficult thing to bear witness to.  
But I and the others will help how we may.  Post whatever pictures you have of any tools of which you are unsure about usage, and if we know we will tell you and explain them.  And that goes for any pocket watches with which you may need help.  A few of us, myself included, have more experience with those than  with wristwatches and would be happy to help identify if need be,

[Juec]

Thanks for your kind words KarlvonKoln. It is difficult, but we do have a lot of laughs!

Dad introduced my husband to wrist watches years ago, and he is now hooked so fairly knowledgeable on that subject. However, Dad's passion was pocket watches and I was brought up with them from the age of 13 so do have a basic knowledge but it would be useful to have a "sounding board" and the detailed knowledge of tools and repair. Sadly, he wouldn't relinquish his collection before doing some "damage" to some of them, i.e., removing/swapping hands and not sure what else! Thankfully, I documented/photographed them a couple of year before so know what they should look like.

 

Some of you may know him (Geoff Martin) from The Birmingham Clock and Watch Fair at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, UK or from being a member of NAWCC.

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to WRT forum. 

[watchweasol]

Hello Juec and welcome to the forum, you will not be short of help as we always endeavour to solve he many problems we get.

[Michael1962]

Welcome to the forum Julie. And to your husband.

Post up some photos of the watches that you have as well. Not just the tools in question.  

[Juec]

Michael1962,

Thank you for your welcome, and as you asked so nicely here is one of my favourites from what's left of my Dad's Pocket Watch collection: Pair Cased Verge by James Markwick of London, Circa 1695. And, it still works! Sadly, before I managed to take them off him, he'd taken hands off, swapped hands round, and goodness knows what else so I may be on the forum yet asking for advice on how to sort the hands out!