Hamilton Putnam 1933 979-F movement

[TKM3RD]

I have been working on a fine Hamilton Putnam from 1933. Everything looks good, but the hairspring is kinked. My failure rate with hairspring straightening is about 92% and I would prefer to get a balance complete, or a balance assembly, rather than ruin it. I have found that the cal. 979-F movement is either as rare as hens teeth, or are in watches which are priced prohibitively high. Does anyone know of an alternative which would work, or where to find a 979-F? I've already done numerous searches to no avail.

 

[JohnR725]

I don't suppose we get a picture of the movement?

[rehajm]

Ofrei will have a hairspring for 979-f for US $45...are your skills up for that?

https://www.ofrei.com/page825.html

Hamilton 979-f donors with balance complete can be had...for a price, as you say. $150US is the lowest I could find...

Borel says the 987 987E 987F are compatible, so you can search those movements as well...

Edited August 13, 2023 by rehajm

[Nucejoe]

4 hours ago, rehajm said:

Ofrei will have a hairspring for 979-f for US $45...are your skills up for that?

https://www.ofrei.com/page825.html

Hamilton 979-f donors with balance complete can be had...for a price, as you say. $150US is the lowest I could find...

Borel says the 987 987E 987F are compatible, so you can search those movements as well...

Aparently its niether colleted nor studded. 

 

[TKM3RD]

5 hours ago, rehajm said:

Ofrei will have a hairspring for 979-f for US $45...are your skills up for that?

https://www.ofrei.com/page825.html

Hamilton 979-f donors with balance complete can be had...for a price, as you say. $150US is the lowest I could find...

Borel says the 987 987E 987F are compatible, so you can search those movements as well...

Thank you. This is helpful.

5 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

I don't suppose we get a picture of the movement?

Not a very helpful comment, but thank you anyway.

[JohnR725]

28 minutes ago, TKM3RD said:

Not a very helpful comment, but thank you anyway.

I'm sorry that you don't find me very helpful. But I don't find it helpful to get numbers and not know what I'm dealing with. So that makes us even of being not helpful. except now I have a picture so I know what I'm dealing with that's helpful.

6 hours ago, rehajm said:

Borel says the 987 987E 987F are compatible, so you can search those movements as well..

I just a note on compatibility because when you start looking for eBay you might wonder about this. Notice how the 987 is compatible but it comes in a whole bunch of variations some of which are compatible and some of which are definitely not compatible. I snipped out an image from the bestfit book it has the smaller number which is the old number and the large number which is the newer number.

 

then for the hairspring things get more complicated which is why a picture was required. You will note there are two separate hairspring is available for your watch. Each of the hairspring's has a description like for instance steel typically this would be a blued steel hairspring like what you have in your picture. This also goes with the bimetallic balance wheel. The other one would be a white colored hair spring for a solid balance wheel you'll notice that they're different as they do not interchange.

 

 

[Nucejoe]

6 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

You will note there are two separate hairspring is available for your watch. Each of the hairspring's has a description like for instance steel typically this would be a blued steel hairspring like what you have in your picture. This also goes with the bimetallic balance wheel. The other one would be a white colored hair spring for a solid balance wheel you'll notice that they're different as they do not interchange.

 

 

Hi John,  

This chart you posted aroused my curiosity.

 Is the effect of temperature on hairspring, significant enough to be considered/ factored in, when spring's material are being selected for split vs solid balance?  

Many thanks.

 

 

 

 

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

This chart you posted aroused my curiosity.

 Is the effect of temperature on hairspring, significant enough to be considered/ factored in, when spring's material are being selected for split vs solid balance?  

I think the problem here is I didn't exactly elaborate on something. The blue spring is steel and the bimetallic balance wheel is to compensate for that. The white spring doesn't react to temperature for the most part at all it's made out of a special alloy. Hamilton has a handout with a talk about this so I've attached that I think that might answer your questions.

Index TD 115 page 3.pdf Index TD 115 page 2.pdf Index TD 115 page 1.pdf

[rehajm]

1 hour ago, Nucejoe said:

 Is the effect of temperature on hairspring, significant enough to be considered/ factored in, when spring's material are being selected for split vs solid balance? 

Just this morning I'm reading up on the Smiths cal 60466E I'm working on and the old review makes reference to the temperature compensated hairspring...

[Nucejoe]

We kinda love you John, for taking the time to answer our questions.

 

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

31 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

We kinda love you John, for taking the time to answer our questions.

 

 

He doesn't accept chocolates or flowers though, I've  tried that

[JohnR725]

4 hours ago, rehajm said:

temperature compensated hairspring...

thinking about temperature compensating here's a hand out on their balance wheels.

 

 

Index TD 113 Page 2.pdf Index TD 113 Page 1.pdf

[TKM3RD]

On 8/13/2023 at 10:44 PM, JohnR725 said:

I'm sorry that you don't find me very helpful. But I don't find it helpful to get numbers and not know what I'm dealing with. So that makes us even of being not helpful. except now I have a picture so I know what I'm dealing with that's helpful.

I just a note on compatibility because when you start looking for eBay you might wonder about this. Notice how the 987 is compatible but it comes in a whole bunch of variations some of which are compatible and some of which are definitely not compatible. I snipped out an image from the bestfit book it has the smaller number which is the old number and the large number which is the newer number.

 

then for the hairspring things get more complicated which is why a picture was required. You will note there are two separate hairspring is available for your watch. Each of the hairspring's has a description like for instance steel typically this would be a blued steel hairspring like what you have in your picture. This also goes with the bimetallic balance wheel. The other one would be a white colored hair spring for a solid balance wheel you'll notice that they're different as they do not interchange.

 

 

Touché JohnR725

[TKM3RD]

On 8/13/2023 at 3:50 PM, TKM3RD said:

I have been working on a fine Hamilton Putnam from 1933. Everything looks good, but the hairspring is kinked. My failure rate with hairspring straightening is about 92% and I would prefer to get a balance complete, or a balance assembly, rather than ruin it. I have found that the cal. 979-F movement is either as rare as hens teeth, or are in watches which are priced prohibitively high. Does anyone know of an alternative which would work, or where to find a 979-F? I've already done numerous searches to no avail.

 

I am still searching for a balance complete or entire movement with a good balance. Thanks everyone for contributing to the cause!