A tale of two watch movements.

While waiting for some parts or processes to happen https://omegaforums.net/threads/working-with-one-of-the-omega-344-twins.155977/ I have been sorting through trays of watch parts and watch hands. Sometimes parts get mixed up between trays. I have also discovered that the iPhone case tends to make part jump about as well.

Just when I feel I have an understanding of what is in the drawers and trays I find something different. Or am seeing something in a different way.

I have also gone off enthusiasim for pocket watches. So I stuffed all the waltham stuff into drawers or trays. As there is a lot of waiting involved, I sometimes to sort through these to see if I overlooked something. This was how I discovered I have a lot of A Schild material. Which thanks to downloading bestfit catalogs and the ranfft site I can better identify.

One of the waltham trays had some wristwatch parts. The bridges looked a lot like the AS 1194 watches I was working on. Yet the parts were slightly different. A closer look under tha balance and the number 1686 can be made out and (ST) in the cartouche. This looks to be an updated version with what look to be stamped steel gears and a sort of invar or other alloy balance.

The other watch is a bit more interesting. Also with Waltham marking on the bridge someone crushed it. Literally
I like how the whole motion works have been flattened. There must have been some force to press things together like that.

In the old magazines, there would be photos in the 1980s showing steamrollers crushing 'fake' watches. Is that what happened to this? A number of these come in 'Hong Kong' stamped cases. Did someone get unhappy with the outsourcing?

A Schild actually seems to have been a good watchmaker. I have been somewhat impressed with them lately. Such do come it different quality grades. I noticed the parted out movement has a really nice finish to it. I have at least two of these with house brands. They seem to be good mid range everyday watches. I have been enjoying the wakmann I made from parts. El Rusto has been making for a nice bench clock. I have the other Delbana to clean. Sadly my Enicar dial does not fit, but many Enicars also use this base caliber.


The balance on this actually seems to still be in fairly good shape 😉 Apart from the missing regulator and top jewel. I did find out today that some of this share parts with a comparable Omega caliber of the same vintage. The hairspring does not look to bad, although the stud came away, which would probably make the watch run fast. Still the balance does turn. The top pivot even looks good.

I think I am going to name these 'Lucy' and 'Dr Mannete.' But I think the good doctor needs to spend more time in the Bastile. Lucy on the other hand will have to wait for some Sidney Carton to come along. Unless Darnete gets to keep his head.

No, I have had it for decades.

If anything it came from a masonic hall across the freeway from Apple in Cupertino. That is where the local NAWCC chapter had it's meetings every other month. Most of my watches came from there. Usually boxed lots, because no one else wanted them.

Not sure why any one given country would have more bad watches that others. That neighborhood did see a lot of east Asian immigration over the last 25 years or so. They are just people looking for a good job.

Technically the watch came from Switzerland. If it is like the others I have the case was made in Hong Kong. Waltham was one of the better US manufactures. So having an 'American' watch made overseas could really make some US citizens unhappy. There were a lot of articles back in the 1970s and 1980s with 'fakes' being crushed. Xenophobia is nothing new. Much easier to blame other people than to blame ourselves.

Still it would be nice to eliminate India from all my eBay searches. They do show some really nice pictures of repainted dials, what would be tempting were such made domestically.