Shameless indeed. But, truth be told, I am extremely pleased with how nice the new midnight blue and distressed brown lanyards have turned out

 

Yes, there are those DaveK (I got each style from DaveK - Now I just need the watches to go on them).

 

Gorgeous watch and I call dibs. I had a square Hamilton in a fairly worn white rgp case once and let it go.

 

Last year, I serviced a 12-size Waltham for a customer. Several weeks ago, I got a call that his Waltham was gaining between 10 and 15 minutes daily! I suspected it had become magnetized, a weakness of 100+ year old watches which are not anti-magnetic. I asked him to bring it, which he did. My inclination with watches like this is to test it on the timing machine before I do anything else. Face up it traced nicely, which I was not expecting to be the case with a watch I suspected was magnetized. But face down, the pattern was all over the place! I ran it through the demagnetizer, and the rate improved by about 3-seconds, face up, but face down, there was no improvement. It was at about this time he admitted that he had dropped it! But that the erratic timing had appeared before he dropped it. I told him that I very much doubted that he would tolerate such lousy time keeping for the past year. I pulled the balance wheel, and checked the balance staff pivots at 30-power. The top pivot looked good, nicely rounded, but the bottom pivot was FLAT, and burred. I showed him under the microscope! I polished the burr off, rounded the pivot tip, assembled it, and put it back on the timer. Total improvement. He was there when I did all this.

I looked him in the eye, and said I had listened to what he told me about the erratic timing before he dropped it. But my inclination was to derive more from what the watch told me, rather than what he told me! I think he felt as though he had been caught in a little white lie! I suspect he was hoping to prove to me that it might be a warranty issue. But I suggested that my efforts proved to him it was his accident, not a warranty issue. I’m a sucker! I told him I didn’t see it as a warranty issue, and I suspected I had proved it. I didn’t charge him. I told him if he ever damaged it again under similar circumstances, I’d take it out of his hide.

 

Recently, I told the story of a member of the watch repair fraternity, locally, that lost the regulator arm of his customer’s Hamilton 940 pocket watch. He phoned me to ask if I had the part. I did! He wanted to buy it. I told him I don’t sell rare antique watch parts. But if he gave me the watch for a complete job, I’d supply the regulator arm. He had spent a month on line, trying to locate the part, to no avail. So he really didn’t have much choice, as his customer was pestering him. So I did the job for him. Customer is happy, as is he. Today, he phoned me to say that the day after I returned the finished watch to him, he FOUND the regulator arm he had lost! I told him to keep it in his inventory as the same part fits Hamilton 924, 925, 936, 941, 944, 946, and perhaps several other 18-size models.

 

Now that's what I call customer relations!

 

From the PocketWatchDatabase on Instagram

 

By the time that the above catalog was published, the larger 16-size watch was pretty much out of the picture, except for the demand for railroad standard pocket watches which were 16-size models. So the above makes a lot of sense. Once in a long while we run into 16-size watches being sold at this time, with metal dials. Railroad standard watches were available for anyone who was prepared to pay the premium price.

 

Navigating with a pocket watch

 

I'll say it first......what pocket watch?

 

I had an interesting watch come my way for an opinion, recently. I don’t see many of these, and I thought i’d show it here.

It’s a 16-size, Illinois, 21-jewel, Sangamo grade railroad standard watch with an unusual dial. The dial is a 24-hour, double-sunk, vitreous enamel, Montgomery style dial showing marginal minutes. Some might say this is a very “busy” dial, and I guess they’re right. The dial shows damage at the sub-dial, and a hairline or two, but it is reasonably good for a 110-year old watch. Adjusted to 6-positions, temperature, isochronism, polished train wheel with oval spokes, ruby jewels in gold jewel settings, patent regulator, double roller, and “rayed” pattern damascene finish. I have always liked the look of these movements. Shown with the heavily worn glass crystal removed.

Here’s the skinny on it:

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/2349045

 

Dang that is a good looking dial

 

I wanted to give @TexOmega a shout out. After seeing his Hamilton square on this thread we started talking about watches and I made an offer on one of the pocket watches that he had shown off here previously. We came to an agreeable deal for it and today the postman delivered it. I wound it and it started ticking like a champ. Here it is for the second time but the first time belonging me, an 1883 Illinois Model 1 grade 101 in a coin silver case. Thank you for the excellent watch Tex.

 

The model 1 Illinois was available as both open-faced, or Hunter models. Being key would rather than stem wound, it was easy to use it for both applications. Mine is also a model 1, but in a coin silver, hunter case.

 

Hampden Special Railway from about 1899

 

Here is movement and caseback photo of that Art Deco Omega. Hope it helps.

 

I think I said that Omega was meant for someone with good taste and deep pockets, when you first showed it. I was correct! The .750 stamped inside the case back indicates that the case is 18-karat gold! What surprises me is that the movement is just a standard Omega movement, with only 15-jewels! I was expecting a movement as spectacular as the enamelled case! Still, it is a spectacular watch!

 

@Fritz,

Is the movement in your railway Special marked Hampden, or Dueber? Indeed, there aren’t many of this model floating around. Peculiar that it is a railroad grade movement, but by the time this one was made, Roman numerals and hunter cases where no longer railroad standard. This one was likely for a non-railroader who was prepared to pay for a watch of exceptional quality. It looks to be in superb condition. A recent acquisition?

 

You could still get a hunter case past the inspectors eye about the time this one was made, but the days of the hunter case were indeed numbered. The movement is clearly labeled Hampden as is the original Arabic dial. Said dial is in perfect condition, not a nick or hairline, and is carefully stored in my stash of important goodies. The watch wears a Deuber dial because it was available, cheap and really really gorgeous, especially with the red logo! I just couldn't resist a quick "redial" in this case and I can always swap it back, besides, I really am not that fond of the original dial's font. I got it a few months back. had my tame German go through it and it now keeps excellent time.

looking at the case I think it had an easy life.

the original dial:

 

I am happy @Waltesefalcon is pleased with his “new” Illinois PW.

We visited back and forth about the watch, but his good friend Guido visited me in person and I was more than thrilled to let it go!