Balance Jewel Replacement

[jdrichard]

I recently purchased a 21 Jewel Slim 12S Elgin Pocket Watch. Got it for 35 bucks US from Israel (eBay) . Thought it was a great deal until I received it and noticed the balance was really loose. The top balance jewel was completely gone and it's cap jewel was also gone. It looked like they had been shattered. So I started the process of replacing both these jewels within their existing settings. This would require my to have to open up the casing where the jewel sits to prepare it to receive the new jewel.

Below is a picture of the movement.

First I widened the jewel setting with my vintage anti-burnishing tool.

Next, I place the setting in with a bunch of jewels to get a size fit.Then I did a fit test on the pivot to make sure it fit and the shake was okOnce I got the fit right, I burnished the jewel into the settingi found that the sticky side of duct tape was good for keeping the jewel steady as I burnished it back into the setting.I then repeated the process with the cap jewel. Once I found the right size, I burnished in the cap jewel and then put a small drop of oil on the upper jewel hole and place the cap jewel in its setting on top of the balance jewel and screwed it back in place.

I then reassembled the balance and tried to get GT watch running. No luck. Took out the balance and removed the lower balance jewel and its cap, both in their settings. I noticed that the jewel was cracked in there placesUsing my Seitz Jeweling set, I punched the jewel out of the setting, cleaned up the setting and then opened up the setting to receive a new jewel.Took a while but I found a good fit with a good size hole and burnished it into the setting. Following that, I reassembled the jewel with setting into the lower plate and replace the cap and screws. I then assembled the balance cock with balance and IT Worked. The balance started to rotate and the watch was again alive.

So the job was not easy but I was able to replace both upper and lower jewels and reuse the old settings. Hard work but worth the effort.

 

 

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[jdrichard]

watch is now working. Still needs cleaning to get better amplitude, but not bad for a 35 buck purchase.


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[jdrichard]

The huge advantage of reusing the settings is avoiding the cost of a new setting with jewel. I have done this a number of times and am getting better. Make sure you see Mark's video on replacing rubbed in jewels, as these balance jewels are rubbed into the settings.


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