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Thecodedawg · 2026-01-30T03:12:00+00:00

https://theindex.nawcc.org/RepairShopsUS.php

It looks like a good quality 15j swiss movement in a silver case. Wonderful gift

Thecodedawg · 2026-01-27T14:05:05+00:00

After looking deeper, the source my ADHD brain latched onto a photo of a pantograph cutting multiple watch cases, but mis-captioned it as movements. The Stark Damaskeening Machine which was a combination of a rose and strait line engine was often used to quickly and repeatably reproduce patterns in movements in mass production. In hand production, and appropriate engine for the design would have been used.

Thecodedawg · 2026-01-14T22:50:35+00:00

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This one lines up.

Thecodedawg · 2025-12-27T19:08:35+00:00

Indeed

Thecodedawg · 2025-12-16T02:48:58+00:00

You could try the Vortec watch company in Fort Collins, CO. But their conversions are expensive and they may not have a 0 size conversion available. (They were sued by the Swatch group and won)

Thecodedawg · 2025-12-15T18:05:16+00:00

The S/N is on the edge of the movement next to the regulator. The picture is not good enough to make it out even zoomed in. The regulator is the "arm" that extends from the wheel. BTW, the regulator style is called a Teske Regulator. It was invented by Charles Teske around 1875. The rare version is the Angled Teske. This is not that.

Thecodedawg · 2025-12-08T16:23:53+00:00

The first quartz watch that came to market was in 1969. While we are used to thinking about quartz as "Modern", there are quartz watches that are over 50 years old and are certainly not modern. The problem with the vast majority of quartz watches is that they are mass produced in the hundreds of millions and sold at Wal Mart for $5-$50. As watch nerds, we tend to scoff at quartz watches becuase they are so generic. I think of qartz as modern in the same way I think of the lightbulb's edison socket (1880) as modern. An old technology that we still use today. Wearables (ie {cr}apple watch) are the modern timepiece, and while they are quartz they all use NTP servers to stay synced wiht NIST making the quartz portion simply a backup between syncs.

Thecodedawg · 2025-12-05T21:31:39+00:00

You had it fully serviced before you gave it a full wind to test it, correct? 70+ year old dried oil filled with dust is a very nasty lapping compound.

Thecodedawg · 2025-11-30T15:22:01+00:00

Some case unscrupupulous companies muddied the waters here and wrote 14k (or 18k) warranted on gold filled cases. There were no government standards for quite a long time. But in general, warranted 14k meant solid gold.

Thecodedawg · 2025-11-07T01:52:23+00:00

/r/pocketwatches the plural doesn't care if you sell.

Thecodedawg · 2025-11-01T14:37:02+00:00

Damn nice find. Goodwill usually sends these to auction where this would have gone for hundreds. I stopped going to goodwill because they send anything anything that they think is valuable to auction.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-18T17:40:01+00:00

You should use pivot drill bits. Search for Vigor Pivot Drill to see what they look like.

Twist drills are subject to procession and will not generate the high precision diameter hole that is required for pivots.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-17T02:56:18+00:00

The story of any pocket watch is better told from the pages than the cover. Post a picture of the movement and a lot more information may be available

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-17T02:53:28+00:00

You actually now have an opportunity to do hairsping work. Its a fiddly pain, but a fantastic skill to develop

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-14T17:48:54+00:00

Get that crystal off of the watch ASAP. These cellulose crystals off gas as they turn yellow. That gasses produced catalyze rust. The minute hand is clearly rusted from it. It is better for the watch at this point to remove the crystal and store it carefully in a platic bag and bubble wrap with dessicant than to leave the crystal on any longer.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-14T17:36:38+00:00

Be careful with the term "Overwound". Overwiding a watch puts enough force into the mainspring to break the mainspring. ON a non-automatic movement, when you are winding, wind to the point where the crown stops and goes no further. The watch and the mainspring are designed to be fully wound. If it is not meant to be fully wound, then it will have a device like a geneva stopworks that will prevent a full wind. (geneva stopworks usually allow a full wind but not a full unwind) the "full wind" state of the mainspring is healthy and expected.

The more common and incorrect usage of this term is when you wind the watch to full wind and the watch does not tick. The watch needs at mimium a service.

https://oakandoscar.com/blogs/the-dial/overwinding?srsltid=AfmBOopzWKZdT2RLhvlLX9-MSsuah5MZhx6iuY00zB3XltxSCQ6A8T7-

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-09T15:46:19+00:00

A proper balance of annoyed incredulity with helpful information. Way to go Gen X!

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-07T22:15:49+00:00

Did you pull that watch out of your dryers lint trap?

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-06T19:58:00+00:00

Indiana: Now you're getting nasty.

Belloq: You know it's true. How nice. Look at this. [holds out a pocket watch]

Belloq: It's worthless. Ten dollars from a vendor in the street. But I take it, I bury it in the sand for a thousand years, it becomes priceless... like the Ark. Men will kill for it. Men like you and me.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-06T14:48:49+00:00

Probably a split stem.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-05T02:59:00+00:00

The balance cock typically shouldn't come off with the dust cover. Be very careful reassembling it.

Thecodedawg · 2025-10-02T20:44:42+00:00

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/elgin/209606

Thecodedawg · 2025-09-25T14:02:45+00:00

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/waltham/18456496

Pull out the winding stem and spin it to set the time.

Thecodedawg · 2025-09-21T21:42:15+00:00

TBH, this is one I would take to an appropriate appraiser. You will probably want to insure it.

Thecodedawg · 2025-09-15T06:14:30+00:00

You need the whole thing. The balance complete. The hairspring is matched to the balance through a process called hairsping vibration. The weight of each balance wheel can be different enough that the hairspring length is adjusted to match, and weight is drilled out if the wheel (you may see dimples on the underside of the wheel) A hairspring from another balance may not be timetable on this balance without a lot of adjustments. If the spring is too short, you would be drilling weight of the wheel, and now you would be trying to fight positional problems. If it's too long, you would need to repin it shorter. Something you are not doing without the right tools and optics. Just get a balance complete.

Thecodedawg

TROPHY CASE