Calling all Pocket Watch Buffs

Canuck · Jan 31, 2022

noelekal
TexOmega weakened my resolve to avoid the pocket watch rabbit hole last summer by offering me a silver cased Waltham similar to a family heirloom watch. Since then I've been haunting Ebay, antique malls, and gun show exhibitors' tables and have gathered up some more pocket watches, probably both hit and miss trash and treasures.

Here's an Illinois Sangamo Special that apparently dates to late 1926, same as my dad who was born in December of that year. It runs well. No service history though so needs attention. DaveK's lanyard is a nice touch.

@noelekal , Here is the gin from the pocketwatchdatabase.com site, regarding your nifty Illinois Sangamo.

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/4736142

I am constantly baffled by how many of the regulars in this forum express their feelings of helplessness after becoming immersed in pocket watches! Terms like “rabbit hole” keep popping up. Think of it! I can think of countless numbers of ways to spend a few discretionary dollars aside from pocket watches, or watches in general. Liquor! Waddayagot when you finish the bottle? Smoking! I quit smoking in 1980. 42 years ago. I have spent less on all my watches than I might have spent on tobacco had I not quit! Fast women! Let’s not go there! 😁 Coins and stamps! Okay to have, but you can’t use them! Financial investments! Good to have if you’re lucky, but can you wear your portfolio on your lapel when you step out to some grand soirée? And the list goes on and on. Just enjoy your pocket watches!

Check out this interesting article about Chief Sangamon, and the Illinois Watch Co. It is from the Internet Horology forum, and is very interesting, I find. So much pleasure can be derived from learning about the background of what we collect.

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forum...Y&f=1086047761&a=tpc&m=687104804&s=3206049661

DaveK · Jan 31, 2022

Spotted at an antique shop this past weekend, pages from the 1927 Eaton’s catalogue.

Note that a Waltham Crescent street would cost you more than a nice buggy!

My 21j Crescent Street from 1936

Canuck · Jan 31, 2022

My maternal grandparents bought a prefab house from the Eaton’s catalog, early in the 20th century. Shipped by train to the nearest railway depot, then by wagon to their homestead close to Waldheim, Saskatchewan. This was in an era when a 2 x 4 was 2 inches by 4 inches!

JimInOz · Feb 1, 2022

Canuck
My maternal grandparents bought a prefab house from the Eaton’s catalog, early in the 20th century. Shipped by train to the nearest railway depot, then by wagon to their homestead close to Waldheim, Saskatchewan. This was in an era when a 2 x 4 was 2 inches by 4 inches!

I always thought "whiffletree" was the equivalent of "turboencabulator", "Nav light fluid (red or green)", "gazunder" etc etc that engineers often use in jokes.

Not so!

Fritz · Feb 1, 2022

DaveK
Spotted at an antique shop this past weekend, pages from the 1927 Eaton’s catalogue.

Note that a Waltham Crescent street would cost you more than a nice buggy!

My 21j Crescent Street from 1936

shit... $1.65 for a “ Pocket Ben”... what an outrage!

with gas prices going the way they are those buggy prices don’t look to bad.

Canuck · Feb 1, 2022

Fritz
shit... $1.65 for a “ Pocket Ben”... what an outrage!

with gas prices going the way they are those buggy prices don’t look to bad.

By 1946, when my late father opened his jewellery business, the Westclox Pocket Dax was $4.75.

TexOmega · Feb 1, 2022

river rat
Was going to have Rene to work on the 505 but he retired I waited too long on his site he has this guy who took over I shot him an email to see the cost I been letting these 505 sit in the watch box for 10 years a long time will let you know how it works out. It does have a cool design the second hand like a lightning rod.
Sales and Service of Hamilton Electric Watches, Accutrons & Others (unwindintime.com)

I have used him and been happy with the results.

noelekal · Feb 1, 2022

Canuck
@noelekal , Here is the gin from the pocketwatchdatabase.com site, regarding your nifty Illinois Sangamo.

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/4736142

I am constantly baffled by how many of the regulars in this forum express their feelings of helplessness after becoming immersed in pocket watches! Terms like “rabbit hole” keep popping up. Think of it! I can think of countless numbers of ways to spend a few discretionary dollars aside from pocket watches, or watches in general. Liquor! Waddayagot when you finish the bottle? Smoking! I quit smoking in 1980. 42 years ago. I have spent less on all my watches than I might have spent on tobacco had I not quit! Fast women! Let’s not go there! 😁 Coins and stamps! Okay to have, but you can’t use them! Financial investments! Good to have if you’re lucky, but can you wear your portfolio on your lapel when you step out to some grand soirée? And the list goes on and on. Just enjoy your pocket watches!

Check out this interesting article about Chief Sangamon, and the Illinois Watch Co. It is from the Internet Horology forum, and is very interesting, I find. So much pleasure can be derived from learning about the background of what we collect.

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forum...Y&f=1086047761&a=tpc&m=687104804&s=3206049661

You make a good point. I've always liked vintage wrist watches and, though drawn to them for the past 40-something years, knew I didn't also need to follow a tangent pocket watch collecting habit, always restraining myself by saying I didn't need to go there. I have too many collecting interests and always have. Sometimes it's hard to be in multiple rabbit holes simultaneously. Now I regret not starting pocket watches when I was young. I would have had more sources for more good watches back then for I grew up near and later moved into a railroad town here in Texas. Pawn shops there had lots of pocket watches. One supposes that descendants were beginning to off load inherited watches. One pawn shop owner in particular who was friend and fishing buddy as well as a bank loan customer of mine tried to interest me in pocket watches as he had a special interest in them. He kept a large collection of what he said was the cream of the crop and kept a lot of watches in a case for sale. He'd try to entice me with selections from that case and I would look on with interest, but I was too busy perusing the gun counter and the wrist watches.

Thanks for the article which is a hoot. You make another good point. Background learning about collecting is both important and rewarding. Really it's best to acquire the books about a collecting field first, then jump into what one likes.

Waltesefalcon · Feb 1, 2022

I enjoy pocket watches quite a bit more than wrist watches. I didn't even own a wrist watch until I got a job behind a desk. I own ten or eleven wrist watches and wear about four of them. I don't even know how many pocket watches I own but regularly wear around ten of them.

Fritz · Feb 4, 2022

below is my 1901 Waltham Appleton Tracy & Co. Premier model 92. its an adjusted to 5 positions lever set railway watch which I found in the junk box at my friends shop while I was looking for a case for another project. The regulator was broken, the case badly damaged and the watch quite dead. I had a suitable case for it, sourced the missing regulator bits and had my friend assemble and service the watch for me. I've been quite happy with the wee beastie except the dial... too plain... When I bought the wreckage of this watch I grabbed whatever bits I could as well, spare movement, dial, hands, balance complete, as model 92 stuff isn't exactly thick on the ground.

So off with that offending plain ass dial then!

as built, the parts bin special

Mmmmm.... spares!

these double sunk jobbies are beautifully made!

the works

new improved... parts bin special MK II

I can always put the original dial back on but as it was just parts in a junk box I don't even feel bad!

my trio of model 92s

DaveK · Feb 4, 2022

Fritz

...my trio of model 92s

Nice upgrade on the dial! And nice shot of those three bad boys, they look confident and competent 👍

Fritz · Feb 4, 2022

DaveK
Nice upgrade on the dial! And nice shot of those three bad boys, they look confident and competent 👍

Yeah, I’m a vandal, what can I say.

Fritz · Feb 12, 2022

Illinois model one, 18s, 15j, keywind and set, railroad grade... such as it was in 1888, coarse train (4 beats/sec, sounds like an idling diesel) Chalmers patent regulator, coin silver case, heavy enough to drive nails and tough enough to do it.

and it keeps really, really good time!

Canuck · Feb 12, 2022

@Fritz ’s post re: his handsome Illinois motivated me to wear three watches today. Two Accutrons, and this one. I opened my vault to espy the good looking leather sachet from our friend @DaveK . Lo and behold, there’s a watch in the sachet! But which one. Let’s open the sachet, and find out.

Well, it’s an old friend! My Swiss made Electa, (Gallet) private label, dial marked Porte & Markle, Winnipeg. Firm founded in 1903, acquired by Henry Birks & Sons in 1913. So this one is over 100 years old. Canadian made gold filled case, double-sunk vitreous enamel dial. Movement marked 23-jewels, but four cap jewels cover four standard hole jewels. So this one has 19-jewels, and four dummy jewels. Later legislation on watch jewelling specified that only functional jewels could be included in the jewel count. But I still love it! Note the @DaveK mystery braid leather lanyard on the watch.

UncleBuck · Feb 12, 2022

Beautiful watches, the engraving is so cool!

Doug, it seems like Dave's handiwork and gracious heart is showing up everywhere!
https://omegaforums.net/threads/not-so-random-act-of-kindness.142062/#post-1938203

noelekal · Feb 12, 2022

You bet!

DaveK's the best!

And, his wares are worth keeping up with here.

Alpha · Feb 12, 2022

Although I have nothing to offer I must confess this thread is one of my favourite visits 👍

This French one that I own is now on permanent display,

Canuck · Feb 13, 2022

Alpha
Although I have nothing to offer I must confess this thread is one of my favourite visits 👍

This French one that I own is now on permanent display,

Have you researched the name on your pocket watch? You showed it earlier in the thread where the name was clearer. But one or two of the letters appeared to be smudged, so I was not able to read the name. With a complete name, chances are we might be able to find out more about it. The long necked pendant, and the “pin-set” feature might indicate very late 19th, or early 20th century. Stem setting was developed by either Patek or Philippe, long before your watch was made, so the pin-set feature seems odd. But some makers stuck with the feature for decades. Is you case gun metal?

red0vitis · Feb 13, 2022

A neighbor who knew I collected watches asked for information on some family time pieces. The best one was a drawer find Waltham 14s Colonial.

Case was solid gold, but Bow and chain were covered with blue oxidation on account of a decaying cellulose plastic crystal. Not running when I first saw it, but has since been serviced and returned to owner with old stock Waltham hands.

The case is a thing of beauty, signed with double back cover. Inside gives a sense how it appeared when new. Dial looks to be silver.

The watch is 14s while the train bridge is based on the 12s Waltham 1894 movement. The oversized pillar plate was a means to produce a larger, thinner watch without having a new movement design. Very clever indeed!

It is designated as a Colonial series. It was made in 1919 and had the original case signed with Waltham and Colonial. The Royal grade means it had 17 jewels and was a higher end watch, below the Vanguard, 23j and Riverside, 19j grades of its era.

Alpha · Feb 13, 2022

Canuck
Have you researched the name on your pocket watch? You showed it earlier in the thread where the name was clearer. But one or two of the letters appeared to be smudged, so I was not able to read the name. With a complete name, chances are we might be able to find out more about it. The long necked pendant, and the “pin-set” feature might indicate very late 19th, or early 20th century. Stem setting was developed by either Patek or Philippe, long before your watch was made, so the pin-set feature seems odd. But some makers stuck with the feature for decades. Is you case gun metal?

On it tomorrow