Thread: POCKET WATCHES

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

This one is a 7 jewel watch from the looks of things on the inside

That's what I thought.

You have to watch the pivots because over time they can wear though the metal and themselves and the lube tends to dry out more than with watches with higher jewel count.

The lube on a pocket watch. Not much that I have thought of but a good point.

Amoung other thoughts why does un used lube deterioriate more than if it is used?

More watch-y stuff and photographs. Not too many of the pocket watches are photographed here. I ought to do better.

Here's a neato 1924 Waltham Vanguard with the wind indicator feature and having diamond cap jewels.

Now frankly, I only barely know what a cap jewel is and what it does, but am informed that this movement has them and in diamond.







Illinois is my favorite vintage pocket watch brand and I also admire Hamiltons like everyone else. I think I like the Waltham railroad grades about as well as Hamilton though. A few yummy Elgins live here too. I have no rational reasons for my personal tastes which could be subject to change next week.

The Waltham Vanguard Series was one of their top of the line pieces. The wind indicator was a $40 or so upgrade. In those days when you bought a pocket watch you bought the mvmt, case and dial as three separate entities.

Illinois was famous for personalizing their mvmts so you could get one that had engraved on the mvmt "Made expressly for Joe Smith".

Elgin was the most prolific manufacturer of watches. Some look down on them because most of their watches were more pedestrian pieces. Illinois and Hamilton were considered at the top and in fact Hamilton bought out Illinois in the early 1930s if memory serves.

Of course there were many other makers like South Bend, and Hampden, and don't forget Timex which is the oldest American watchmaker having started out in the mid 1800s as The Waterbury Clock Company.

Originally Posted by noelekal

More watch-y stuff and photographs. Not too many of the pocket watches are photographed here. I ought to do better.

Here's a neato 1924 Waltham Vanguard with the wind indicator feature and having diamond cap jewels.

Now frankly, I only barely know what a cap jewel is and what it does, but am informed that this movement has them and in diamond.







Illinois is my favorite vintage pocket watch brand and I also admire Hamiltons like everyone else. I think I like the Waltham railroad grades about as well as Hamilton though. A few yummy Elgins live here too. I have no rational reasons for my personal tastes which could be subject to change next week.

Beautiful Watch!

Originally Posted by 32t

The lube on a pocket watch. Not much that I have thought of but a good point.

Amoung other thoughts why does un used lube deterioriate more than if it is used?

The lube especially under the cap jewels if allowed to just sit it can start to congeal. The thin layer of lube on the escapement can also go stale and then the watch just stops. With better synthetic oils it's less of a problem than it used to be but it is recommended to wind it up once a month.

Tolerances on quality watch mvmts are so tight the mvmt basically runs on a trace amount of oil applied in the right places.

Hoping to support these watch and gun threads for more participation here on the Forum.

Not railroad grade for it's pendent set and doesn't possess the required number of adjustments, but a good runner and a sharp looker in person, this is a 1920 Illinois Capitol with 21-jewel Illinois 606 movement and characteristic "Red Ball" (or Red Dot) dial in a pleasing rosy gold case.



Movement has one incongruous silver head screw which needs rectifying.

Outstanding!

I have been looking for a solution in how to display my collection of pocket watches for a long time now. The other day, I was shopping with the wife unit at the dollar store. I noticed they had these plastic domes for $1.25 each. So I picked up a few to see if they would work. To my surprise they did. I looked on line and they wanted between $30 - $60 for glass domes. I thought this would be the better option. Here they are:

1906 Elgin Veritas 21-jewel 16 size with the thee-finger movement.