Hi, I am looking for a Longines Winding Crown for a 12.68z Weems 1937 watch, and if possible a Glass Crystal, if I have to buy the crown with a stem that is OK, I am not doing the clean up myself so I guess I am making work for my friendly watchmaker. The Movement according the Longines serial number chart was made in 1935, it does not have a seconds hand stop and is a sweep center seconds hand style. It is presently fitted with a generic crown and plastic plexi. I would like to get rid of those and fit original equipment. Is there anyone that can help with this please? see the attached picture. I am in Queensland Australia.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193726075264?hash=item2d1af95180:g:GtkAAOSw5cNYFyrdPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
Antoine may be able to help, he brilliantly remakes a few hard to find military watch parts.

 

That's a very interesting bezel locking crown assembly. I think I've seen something similar but cant quite recall where.
Wonderful watch, and Antoine surely is the person to help.

 

This watch was posted here before Larry.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/weems-longines-just-a-bit-different.122623/

 

Thanks for that but there are a lot of NOS parts out there for the Longines Weems watches, I am looking for the correct gear if I can find it.

 

Yes, correct, I requested information earlier, I am now on the path of restoration so I am again putting the feelers out for the parts required.
GJP

 

ugh. And I commented on it back then. Slipping....

 

That crown was created by a enthusiast collector of military Weems watches based on the British MkVII Longines Weems.
It’s an exact reproduction of the crown.
The reason he had those crowns reproduced is because you will not find an original crown from the period.
He and others have been collecting those watches for years...
And they know.
best regards

 

That's why I'm here. To find that stuff out, thank you. How do I contact him please?
GJP

 

That’s the info @size11s posted above.
Antoine sells his repro crowns on Ebay.

 

Thanks for that, I did contact Antoine but his crown is wrong for this watch, he did say this also, I did however find a picture that better represents what is correct for this watch, kindly sent to me by a Mr lau. I am looking at my options here. The knurled edge is different (coarser) from the rim lock to the winder and it appears the photographer pulled the crown out to stop the seconds hand for the picture to be taken, does anyone know what is the thread type for the stem? This style of Weems watch seems to be peculiar to the UK as both ads I have found were in UK publications and seemingly as rare as Hens Teeth.

 

You should just keep the one you have, it’s part of the history of the watch and it looks good on it.

 

I would in essence agree but the crown is too small to be teally functional. You can't get a grip on it to wind the watch properly. These were designed to be functional. Not beautiful though they reach these two goals admirably.

 

did you notice the original crown shown on the picture is even smaller and thinner and would probably be much harder to get a grip on?
The difficulty operating the crowns may well be one reason why your winder was changed in the first place, and also why the model never made it into large production runs and was made to evolve.

A good watchmaker should be able to find a larger crown that’s easy to operate, if that’s now the goal. Otherwise your best bet will be to John Senior, previously mentioned.

 

I can appreciate your error as you don't have an original for comparison. I used a vernier on the picture brought up to a 1/1 size on the screen. The original in the picture sent by Mr Au is larger in diameter than my existing crown but you are correct in saying it is a little thinner. You have to make a line along the edge of the crown to the case. If you do that you will see it almost touches the bale strap housing. Now compare the gap in the existing crown to the edge of the bale strap. I have done small machining jobs for over 40 years. I can absolutely assure you the generic crown is smaller. If you can help with a thread type I would appreciate it.

 

Hi there, you posted as I edited my message, and added to it.
John Senior previously mentioned is the best answer I can personally think of. You may have to be very patient.
Good luck with it.

 

Thank you for the advice, John Senior is very hard to get in contact with, being in the UK I would think he would be acquainted with this model of watch, if I do manage to talk with him I will let you know. It looks like he is retired or has a backlog of work to the point he has no interest in new work coming in.
If you do have a relationship with him would you pass my e-mail address on to him, perhaps this job would interest him.
[email protected]
G J Power

 

I heard he is retired indeed and that his son has taken over the business. Indeed they were planning on pursuing their own projects I think, However they might be able to provide some of the info you just asked about.
Unfortunately I don’t have any specific access.