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Remember, during the late 1800s through the mid 1900s The U.S made the best timekeeping devices in the world and the most beautiful.

Yes, very cool.

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...

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...

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.

That looks like an older model. As I recall before 1910 or so they stopped using "Safety Pinon" on watches. You usually see watches like that from the 19th Century.

Is that a 7 jewel watch or 15?

I can't say for sure, but those dials were hand painted so I don't see why they couldn't do one firing. From what I've seen multiple firings give the ceramic/enamel a certain look vis a vis elevation...

Make sure you wind that baby once a month to keep the lube going.

I have that very same piece in my collection but with a white gold filled open face case and railroad approved. Mine is in mint condition with 17 size Sangamo Special Case. It's my pride and joy.

I suspect the xtl is too thick. You could try sanding it down. Some of those old plastic type xls were very thin.

I was going to say the case elgin rr means a railroad watch which often times means a lever set mvmt which was done so the Railroad Guys couldn't accidently change the setting on the watch. The lever...

No, Elgin N.Y wasn't a watch making center. Elgin Watch Co ( which was the largest watchmaker in the U.S) was located in Elgin, Illinois. Actually I never heard of Elgin N.Y (and I'm from N.Y)

Hamilton was located on Lancaster Pa so the Elgin N.Y was either where the buyer lived or the retailer. Of course it could have been recased too. That was common. You gotta look inside to tell.

I can't tell if the Waltham says 21 or 23 jewels but I have one that looks the same. Some of those were their later watches when they started using Swiss mvmts. That's what mine is but you have to...

You can get a pouch to wear on your belt if you want to wear it again and you should.

Unfortunately all the old timers are gone or are on their way out. I used to dabble but I'm getting too old myself and the guy I used here in town is retired too. You might try superior watch service...

Back then there was no shock resistance built into watches like the incabloc mvmts of today so one false move and that's it. Usually the escapement which is the brains of the watch suffers. As has...

No pictures handy but mine is very close to yours just a 4 million number serial number and is an Appleton Tracey model. Probably around 5-6 years older than yours but the mvmt is exactly the same....

I have a Waltham about that old (looks exactly the same, would have to compare mvmts) but it has a glass xtl. Plastic xtls were not common back then. Are you sure it's not the face of the watch that...

Not every case and movement are interchangeable. many are though. The movement is held into place by a couple of case screws. You can tell because they look strange like flattened on an end. As long...

Actually the 2974 is really a 974 not a 992. the military variant would be the 2992. Hamilton made several watches entirely for the military and those have separate classifications like the model 22....

Good watchmakers who can work on mechanical watches and specialize in vintage pieces are about as rare as, well, a mint DD Wonderedge for a hundred bucks. If you have someone like that you are a very...

You need to send it in to someone who specializes in vintage pieces. RGM is good but pricey. That watch should run to within 15 sec a day or better. Actually much better depending on whether it needs...

Hamilton was pretty much the last man standing as far as U.S made pocketwatches went. The 992B was the culmination with the latest in technology and was accurate, reliable, easy to service and cheap....

I got most of my pocketwatch collection quite a few years ago when they were fetching much lower prices. I picked up an Illinois Sangamo Special in totally mint condition, top of the line with...