Old Walthams.

[Bimroy]

Is this becoming an obsession, pocket watch movements in need of a home.

[ricardopalamino]

]I dunno , but those sure look nice .

I've been , if not obsessed , then in a Mad Men watch phase . I have recently acquired a few Waltham's , Organa , Hamilton , and others .  This Waltham came out real nice after I serviced it , cleaned the case , sanded and polished the crystal , and installed a nice vintage expansion band I had in my stash . 

  The Organa is also nice after a service and case cleaning .

 

 

 

 

[bobm12]

Nice watches guys and great job both. I have a question for Bimroy, are those re-cased movements and if so, are they all ETA 6498?

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[Bimroy]

Gidday Bob, they are recased movements. They are Waltham 6S movements that I've built up from parts and given a new home. I pick up old movements off the likes of eBay, mostly with the standard broken balance staff, fix them all up and eventually re-case them. Some go into pocket watch cases and a few of these 6S's end up as wrist watches. Maybe a sacrilegious practice to some, but it also means that these 120+ year old movement continue into the 21st century.

[bobm12]

Nice job and beautiful result, bimroy. I'm curious about the cases though. Are they made for those movements or are they the regular ETA 6498 type, hosting your 6S movements? I'd love to do at least one of those now!

[ricardopalamino]

Bob , if you or bimroy ever do one of these conversions , please take some pics as you proceed and share them with the rest of the members .

 

bimroy , these are truly handsome timepieces that I wouldn't mind owning .

 

Aloha , Louis

[Bimroy]

Hi Bob, the cases are for an Eta or the Chinese seagull movement. They are a polished stainless steel case with a glass back which expose's the damaskined movements. I just experimented a bit and machined up a movement ring out of nylon (the stuff that the race car people make suspension bushings etc out of). I also had to make up a winding stem to fit the Chinese crown and the Waltham movement. It's not too difficult, just a bit time consuming. I've made three of them so far and likely to do another if I can't find a home for some of the movements I've got rolling around in the bottom of my parts draw.

[bobm12]

Awesome and thank you for the tip, Bimroy! I don't have a lathe so I'll probably use a less elegant solution if possible but it is good to know the regular ETA cases will be good without modification. That opens a new door for my tinkering! Much appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

 

PS. Not to worry, Louis, if I do, I'll post what I did!  :)

[ramrod]

ah, yes! a second chance for orphaned movements. what a great topic. i always wondered what sizes would work for a wristwatch.

those watches are beautiful. you can't beat the classic looks - either wrist or pocket movements. they had so much style.

that waltham that louis has reminds me a bit of a 50's hubcap.