Longines Pocket Watch Almost A Century Old

[GuiBer]

Here it is my oldest watch, and which in fact has a very strong sentimental value to me, as It was bought by my grand-father in 1917 and he weared it since then, until he died in 1971. When I was a little kid I enjoyed very much to sit on my grand-father knees and ask him to put the watch close to my ear to listen its harmonious "tic-tac"!

 

I inherited it some years ago, after being serviced by a professional watchmaker and it is working fine.

 

I wrote to Longines in Switzerland sending  its serial number and asking for some information. They kindly replied me informing that it is an "EMPIRE" model, in silver 0,90 with a 18.79 ZZ movement,  manufactured in 1916 and sold the 9th July 1917 to the watch-house "JULES MANGE" in Lisbon ( where certainly my grand-father bought it).

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the silver case is a little too dark. Should I clean it ? If so, what is the best way to do it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geo]

That's a lovely looking watch GuiBer. It's wonderful to own such magnificent family heirloom, I know because I now have my father's pocket watches.

Regarding polishing, I would only give it an occasional rub with a silver cloth to keep the oxide at bay.

[Gary]

Beautiful piece! I agree with Geo, a light polish with a silver cleaning cloth.

[oldhippy]

Nice P/W shame about the dial. Take the movement out remove the glass and put the whole case in silver dip but do not leave it in too long, wash out in warm soapy water and dry, then buff with a good silver cloth. That is how I want about cleaning silver watch cases.

[WillFly]

A silver dip for the whole case - and then an occasional exterior light polish with a silver cloth should be fine - but make sure the interior bits are cleaned completely of the dip before re-assembly.

 

It's a lovely watch - don't worry about the dial - that's part of its history.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[agoldflam]

Mostly good advice here and it's been a few days so maybe you've done something already but in my opinion the patina is valuable and shows parts of the history, love your story, thanks for sharing, if you have to do something start with the lightest cleaning method first and work up to the strongest because once u do it u can't go back

Through watchmaking I restore connections in people's lives!

[oldhippy]

Silver dip is not an abrasive so it will not harm the case the silver cloth has no abrasive parts to it, it is a smooth cloth it is for cleaning silver, the girls in the shop that I worked in would clean stock with both so it is perfectly safe for your P/W.

[Geo]

I don't think anyone thought silver dip was abrasive Oldhippy, it's just that it cleans every bit of tarnish off and sometimes I think an old watch looks better with some dark bits left untouched. I know this sounds a bit hypocritical coming from me who normally like to see most things looking like new!

[GuiBer]

Thank you all for your suggestions! Perhaps I'll try first a light polish with a silver cloth. I don't want to get the watch in a "almost" like new condition.

 

For me the most important is its sentimental value, and a little of "patina" goes certainly well with its age! 

[agoldflam]

Cool post a pic when it's done if u can see it! Pictures never seem to do justice. Good luck!

Through watchmaking I restore connections in people's lives!

[GuiBer]

After a quick work  with a silver polish cloth, here is the result, which is good enough to me, keeping some "patina":

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geo]

Very nice GuiBer, I like the feeling of depth of the artwork that results in not removing all the silver oxide. :)

[clockboy]

Very nice indeed 

[MeticulousOne]

You have an excellent family heirloom, I am a Longines Collector, nice piece!

I too have a similar story about my Grandfather and a PK I inherited.   Later in life that PK was responsible for getting me into Horology.

Kind of funny how something so small can end up sending you down a path in life.....  Or, should I say Up a path?   :woohoo-jumping-smiley-emoticon: 

Thank You for the great story.  

Cheers!

MeticulousOne

Rick 

[GuiBer]

Hi Rick, thanks for your words about the watch I inherited from my grandfather. 

 

I absolutely agree with you about the "magic" feeling transmitted by an inherited watch. I think this is because TIME is perhaps our big wealth, and our lives depend greatly on how we spend it!

 

A watch can eventually be a friend, a confidant, an adviser, but it surely is a "witness" of our lives, encapsulating in it our good and bad moments, that could have last seconds. minutes, hours...

 

So when you receive a watch that went along with someone for many many years (which is not so common nowadays), you are in fact receiving a bit of that person life history! And if that person is someone very important in your life, it's really amazing and comforting!

 

Cheers!

Edited September 22, 2015 by GuiBer