Calling all Pocket Watch Buffs

Canuck · Aug 29, 2023

ghce
All that glitters is not gold?
Are they not as good as first glance might appear.

I discovered that Record had modified their own movement with several modifications mirroring features on 16-size railroad models by Hamilton. Probably mandated by Ball. I felt it was a perfunctory effort which lacked the quality shown in the Hamilton. That, and I discovered the hard way that the pivots on the Record were somewhat finer than Hamilton models. I have many Swiss wrist watches, but only three Swiss pocket watches, two of which are Brandts (Omegas). I prefer American made pocket watches. There, I said it!

ghce · Aug 29, 2023

Got to agree, I find Swiss PW mostly pedestrian at best and many fall well short of quality when it comes to the endurance of their movements.
Some of the English movements are not too bad ( few) but quantitatively and qualitatively the crown for best goes squarely to US made PW's of the later part of the 19th and early 20th century though those dollar watches do tend to blot the copy book.

Alpha · Aug 30, 2023

Elgin in action today,

TexOmega · Aug 30, 2023

Handful of Hamilton Secometer’s with Gorgeous Wadsworth cases labeled for Hamilton Watch Co.

12s YGF: grade 918 circa 1939
19j
12s WGF: grade 912 circa 1935
17j

Canuck · Aug 30, 2023

TexOmega
Handful of Hamilton Secometer’s with Gorgeous Wadsworth cases labeled for Hamilton Watch Co.

12s YGF: grade 918 circa 1939
19j
12s WGF: grade 912 circa 1935
17j

I haven’t seen many Secometers over the years. I did service one, a long time ago. That was the very first one I hade ever seen. I believe other U S based watchmakers used the idea, but I think that Secometer name was copyrighted by Hamilton. A curious idea, for sure.

TexOmega · Aug 30, 2023

Yes, they sold these in high numbers for 20 years.

Alpha · Aug 31, 2023

This old boy from France in action today 😀

Canuck · Aug 31, 2023

We are camping at Paddy’s Flat provincial campground in the Kananaskis (Rocky Mountains), Alberta. Only rarely do we have internet access in the mountains. But somehow, this time, we do have access. I am away from my pocket watches for a few days, and feel somewhat hamstrung. Thanks to all for maintaining interest in the watches we love.

Four of us are preparing our collections for the annual Railway Days event at our Heritage Park, in Calgary. It is scheduled for September 9 & 10. The tenth is my birthday (83rd), and I’ll be manning our booth in which we exhibit approximately 90 railroad standard pocket watches (including a few that are special interest only), about two dozen railroad standard wrist watches, and three Seth Thomas World railroad standard octagon-drop wall clocks. I can celebrate my birthday on any one of the other 364 days in a year, but this event happens only on these days. So I will soon be able to overdose on pocket watches again.

This was out exhibit in 2022.

Alpha · Sep 1, 2023

Both in action today and keeping an eye on the weather 😀

TexOmega · Sep 1, 2023

Gruen Verithin
Dietrich Gruen &Son Special case (higher gold content but still GF)

ghce · Sep 1, 2023

Fresh back from repair and service, new balance staff.
We retained the old acrylic lens but polished the heck out of it, a new one would have shown up the defects in the less than stellar dial.
What's there is acceptable but far from pristine with a good but well used case. The movement however is pristine, one of the dial hands is not original to the watch and the dial feet were bent.
A usable but not particularly collectable example unless I refinish the case, replace the dial sort the hands and fit a new glass.
Running very well!

Canuck · Sep 1, 2023

ghce
Fresh back from repair and service, new balance staff.
We retained the old acrylic lens but polished the heck out of it, a new one would have shown up the defects in the less than stellar dial.
What's there is acceptable but far from pristine with a good but well used case. The movement however is pristine, one of the dial hands is not original to the watch and the dial feet were bent.
A usable but not particularly collectable example unless I refinish the case, replace the dial sort the hands and fit a new glass.
Running very well!

You don’t tell us about the case? Nickel silver, coin silver, sterling?

ghce · Sep 1, 2023

Canuck
You don’t tell us about the case? Nickel silver, coin silver, sterling?

Just Nickel I am afraid.

TexOmega · Sep 2, 2023

Minerva torpedo/bomb timer

bigger than a size 18 pocket watch

SOG53 · Sep 2, 2023

Hamilton Model 23 Deck Watch 1942
Silver bezel and Caseback

Canuck · Sep 2, 2023

SOG53
Hamilton Model 23 Deck Watch 1942
Silver bezel and Caseback

For sure you don’t see a lot of the 4992B in the coin silver case. Is the mid case not also silver?

SOG53 · Sep 2, 2023

Canuck
For sure you don’t see a lot of the 4992B in the coin silver case. Is the mid case not also silver?

This is Model 23 with stopwatch function, not 4992b
The mid case is not silver, it’s base metal

TexOmega · Sep 4, 2023

The next generation of my American Watch Co-(Waltham)

Their Top of the Line Movt
Grade: Appleton Tracy & Co.
Model: 1883 Swing-out case
Double sunk dial/Morning Glory Hands
Circa 1888-89
18s 15j
4oz Coin Silver American Watch Co. case, with copper accents and copper/gold(?)inlay on back
Sold as a complete watch list price:$60

Canuck · Sep 4, 2023

Kind of rare to find an 1883 Waltham with a double-sunk vitreous enamel dial. Leastwise, I don’t see many of them. The 1883 model was made with anywhere from 7-jewels, to 21-jewels, and there were millions of them produced. I believe the 1883 was even built as a key winder/key set. When I first started attending NAWCC marts back 40 years ago, you could buy a running 1883 Waltham in a Silveroid case with a decent vitreous enamel dial for around $20.00! Not so any more! I have a couple 1883s, myself. One thing I wonder about is COIN silver. I have read that European coin silver is .800 fine, and U S coin silver is .900 fine. It puzzles me that generally, the silver content isn’t stamped on U S made coin silver cases.

TexOmega · Sep 4, 2023

In the pocket watch data base it shows a description in their catalog and a double sunk dial was designated for the Appleton Tracy grade.

And…. Coin Silver in the US was a standard but as was the custom, Watch cases were made/advertised/marked by the (silver) ounce…..1-6 ounces.