Elgintime Vintage Horological: September 2025

Job Number 250127

This was a rough one.

The movement had slivers of wood inserted in the feet instead of brass pins. Of course the wood has pretty much disintegrated and jammed up the holes in the feet.

That's a "repair" I haven't seen before.

There's rust, but honestly o\it's mostly old oil and dirt.

The guard pin is gone.

As in, completely not there.

The roller pin has been replaced with a steel rod.

Fabricating and finishing a replacement guard pin...

The internal end of the lever was bent in an odd way, fixable though.

Elgin serial number 827968 is a grade 6, 18 size, 7 jewels, made about 1881.

The album for this project is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yxeWg7MidwDhkRXr7

Do you have a vintage watch to be serviced?

Maybe I can help. Take a look here for information - specializing in Elgin, Hamilton, Waltham and other antique American makes.

http://www.elgintime.com

Elgin National
American Waltham
Rockford
Hamilton
New York Standard
Illinois Watch Company
Hampden
And Others

Jeff,
I received my grandfather's watch which you restored for me yesterday. It is gratifying to see this watch in action after many years. It has probably not been working since 1912.
R. Z.

Hi Jeff!
Thank you so much! My watch looks great! The CD is great too…again,
Thanks so much,
Anna

Hey jeff. I got the watch safe and sound and the cd today. The watch looks better than I had anticipated. Another good job again.
Steve

Thanks Jeff, I am so happy I found you for repairs on my watches.
A. T.

Hello Jeff
The watch came today works great, it`s neat to hear it run. I wonder how long its been since it ran, my great grandfather who owned the watch died in 1925. I want thank you for bringing it back to life
J. S.

Dear Jeff,
My Elgin pocket watch arrived today. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. My family will treasure it.
D. L.

Jeff,
Just a quick note to let you know the watch is back home. It is an absolute joy to see and hear it run again after all these years. It was extremely emotional for me. I remember playing with it as a small boy, and never known it to work. My father would be very proud and humbled to know it was working again. I'm sure he knows. Thank you.
S. Welsh

Jeff,
Watches look fantastic, run great. I can see why you're in high demand, you're a class act. You provide detail historical summary and preliminary review of watch prior to work, fair estimate, provide post work summary, along with high res images of watches to boot. Thanks again and will certainly share your name around.
Thanks!
D. H.

Jeff,
I received the watches today and must say I couldn't be more pleased. Thank you so much. It was wonderful to wind them up and here them tic again.
G. M.

I'm very pleased with the outcome and want to thank you for a job well done. The watch looks and runs great, and the hands you replaced are very much more in keeping with an Elgin watch of this time period.
As you might imagine, to send such a precious family heirloom all the way across the country to someone who I really didn't know, or know anything about, took a lot of faith and courage. You really measured up to my expectations.
Thanks and best wishes,
B. H.

Good Morning Jeff
I got the watch back and I'm thrilled! I really appreciate your professionalism and workmanship. It's really nice to have the watch back in working order! Especially since the local repair indicated that it couldn't be fixed! Thanks so much for everything. I'll certainly be back in touch when it needs maintenance.
M. H.

Hi Jeff –
I just received the watch you repaired for me. It’s absolutely fantastic! Thanks so much for your excellent service.
A. C.

Welcome!

Classic watches, watchmaking, antique tools, history, vintage ephemera and more!

Learn about mechanical timepieces and how they work, the history of the American watch industry and especially all about the Elgin National Watch Company! Check back for new content daily.

Although this is technically a blog, the content is not generally in a time-based sequence. You can find interesting items throughout. Down the page some is an alphabetical word cloud of keywords used here. A great way to dig in is to look through those topics and click anything you find interesting. You'll see all the relevant content.

Here are a few of my favorites!

There are some large images on some posts, so that might impact your load times, bit I think you will find it worth the wait. Thanks for visiting!

Job Number 250127

New Arrival, Job Number 250066

New Arrival, Job Number 250083

New Arrival, Job Number 250104

New Arrival, Job Number 250106

New Arrival, Job Number 250102

Blog Archive