When I first saw this poor neglected Railmaster, I saw something special hiding under the abused crystal. Little did I know at the time the journey she made. Produced in 1959, it was first purchased by a young submarine Sailor while on leave in Japan in 1960...He wore it proudly for many years while serving on that submarine based out of Pearl Harbor which took him all around the world. It looks like he never took the Railmaster off until he passed away and his young Nephew inherited it. The nephew didn't see much in the weathered 50 year old reference 2914-4, so he put it up for sale where I was the lucky buyer. It was pretty much exactly as he bought it in 1960 when it arrived, the original crystal, and the rarely seen original NAIAD crown still intact. The dial and hands also all original, but the radium lume in the hands long crumbled from the radiation which also aggresivly affecting the finish of the dial. What stood out to me though was the uncommon hands. A variation of the dauphine style appropriate for the later ref 2914, but with the fat lume version of the hour hand only seen on the 2914-4. It obviously needed a new crystal, but it also was going to need a new bezel...a few weeks of searching and I was fortunate to find an old NOS bezel and crystal. Excited with my find I sent them off to Phillip Ridley for a restoration. The results are perfect...and its quickly become my favorite watch. Phillip was able to keep the original NAIAD crown, but I chose to have him color match the hands to match the original lume on the dial rather than leave them empty. His match is absolutely perfect, I'm glad I went this route as the results are really nice and enhance the watch. This is what it looked like when it originally arrived.
I am a real cynic when it comes to the vintage, but this... oof I'd have it in a heartbeat. Good work. Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk
Absolutely stunning, although few people would turn down a railmaster in any condition, this one is especially lovely
Nice story and a great looking watch before and after the sympathetic resto (personally like the look a bit more before the resto) - enjoy it.
Super find Cajun! Lousy crystals, pictures and descriptions often yield amazing discoveries. Enjoy your find after a successful hunt. For me, A 145.022-74's scratched crystal keep away much of the eBay crowd. Today is off to get a replacement installed. Not too long ago, an Omega bracelet desribed as a "359" yielded a full length 7077 bracelet with all 5 working double springy links at a small fraction of the ever rising price. Here is my Railmaster 2914-4 which led a much different life than yours.
I love crusty original tool watches! Nice find and sympathetic restoration! Now off to find one for myself.
Beautiful Railmaster, congrats ! I'm always excited when I find a watch with a very bad crystal. The original patina is often well preserved.