I have my grandmother's watch, a jewelry store house brand. Ryrie Brothers of Toronto was active approximately 1880-1924, and most of their movements were from Longines. Markings on the watch: Movement serial number 1965914, Ryrie Bros., Toronto, 15 jewels, Swiss The dial measures 29.1 mm diameter. Case: serial number 118688, A.W.C. Co. (cross) 18K The case is a demi-hunter pocket watch, with brackets for a wrist strap added. I found the Ryrie Brothers catalog for 1921 online and they have some very similar watches listed, though for 1921 they list only 14K. Ryrie describes two 15-jewel movements: The "Service" has Breguet hairspring, compensation balance. The "St. James" is just described as "good". They don't translate them into maker and caliber, and of course I don't know for sure that it's a movement from 1921, it might be an earlier or later model. The watch was used and serviced regularly to the 1990s, and has been sitting in a safe since then. I brought it to Nesbit's in Seattle, and they tell me the staff is broken - my mom was probably not able to locate a watchmaker who could repair it. Naturally I want to get it working again, and as a family heirloom it's worth more to me than the market price. I know it's not in very good condition, but it still has charm to me. So my questions: Is this a Longines movement, and can you identify the caliber? I hoped the serial number on the movement might be a Longines serial number and wrote to Longines 10 days ago and haven't had a response. What's their usual response time; should I write again? Or will they probably have nothing to say about a house brand? Any suggestions for a watchmaker who can locate or make replacement parts? I am in Seattle, but prepared to ship the watch if necessary. My thanks for any help!
Is the movement about 34mm in diameter? If so it is a variant of this movement. http://ninanet.net/watches/others09/Mediums/mlonginesmil.html Chrono grade of your movement maybe.... but oriented wrong for the running seconds, might be able to supply parts. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Longines-Ch...010383?hash=item4b01d0d4cf:g:dOcAAOSwxndXTghLPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network or 38mm movement oriented wrong http://www.ebay.com/itm/BUNDE-UPMEY...359102?hash=item28226e80be:g:UJAAAOSwLF1YAsHyPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network In the end you need to provide more info then what you have, ie the size of the movement in diameter. To be honest that dial is chiped, this will cost you way more then it is worth to get the movement back in working condition, let alone the rest of the watch.
No, it is smaller than those. The dial is 29.1 mm, the movement slightly smaller, about 28.5 mm. I haven't been able to get the movement all the way out in order to measure it. Is there a reference work that would show how what 28 to 29 mm movements with 15 jewels Longines made from 1880 to 1924?
The Ranfft database of watch movements is comprehensive and can be a good place to start. Click on this link... http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk ...and type "longines" into the search window. The 10.85 caliber or 11.87 caliber appear similar to your movement but are different in diameter.
Yes. Looks like a caliber 13.81 (29.3 mm) to me. It is. These days, anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks. They will tell you the original date of invoice, the caliber, and the country that it was originally sold to.
@kkt You may want to write Longines again. It certainly will not hurt your chances. Below is a Ryrie-Birks that I have got.
Thanks very much! This is a huge help. I also found online at http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?126928-Dating-a-Ryrie-wrist-watch&highlight=ryrie+st+james someone with a Ryrie 15-jewel movement that looks very much like mine, except his also has engravings "St. James" and "13.81". I'll see if I can get confirmation from Longines, just to make sure, but that's sure to be it.
I reminded Longines, and heard back from them: Originally, the serial number 1'965'914 identifies a Longines mechanical manually wound movement, caliber 13.98. It was invoiced on 27 May 1908 to the company Longines-Wittnauer, which was at that time our agent for the USA. Now off to find a watchmaker.
I am curious about the existence of a caliber 13.98 as it is absent from Patrick Linder's comprehensive reference book. Based on a bit more searching, I am now convinced that your watch contains a caliber 13.82 despite some screws still not matching. Anyhow, Longines was producing many similar movements at that time and I suspect that many parts will be interchangeable so it shouldn't really matter. http://forums.watchuseek.com/f11/longines-turkish-ottoman-pocket-watch-baghdad-802305-3.html
There's clearly such a thing as a Longines caliber 13.98. Google shows several movements and parts for sale or sold, and on at least one the 13.98 is visible engraved. Perhaps the difference between it and 13.82 is as much marketing as function? Anyone had any experience with dial restorers or replacers? The chip out of this watch is pretty noticeable. Although I appreciate originality, this watch's chipped and cracked dial doesn't have any collector's value to diminish, perhaps I might as well make it look as good as possible. Thoughts?
I am keeping the watch, not fixing it up to sell. So I don't care whether the repairs will pay for themselves in resale value. What I'm wondering is if the people who offer repair service for enamel dials actually produce an attractive dial that would look good on a lady's wrist. If the end result isn't going to look attractive, there's no point.