Elgintime Serial NUmber Lookup Database

I don't know how many folks are still looking at this blog, but I do know quite a few people that have used my watch serial number website for years. Thank you for your encouragement and suggestions. I'm glad it was useful.

A hard drive was damaged a few days ago in a power outage. This was my last of four computers that ran that site. Over the years they have all died in various ways. I'm just out of resources on this... I don't know if the site will get back up, but if it does it will be unstable, and not long for this world. 

I'm sorry about it, I'm just out of computers.

Job Number 180070

This one is a grade 10 Elgin, 18 size, 11 jewels, made about 1893. 

This lever is part of the setting mechanism. On the left of the part is a post that carries a gear underneath. The post is threaded in, but seems to get striped somehow. Sometimes they are loose, and sometimes missing.

This one must not have been staying in place as some prior repairer has places a series of divots with a punch, all around the part.

See more "creative repairs" here.

The serial number prefix, used on stamps on all the major parts, is a small 't'.

Job Number 180059

This is a grade 74, 18 size, 11 jewels, made about 1890. 

The secondary serial number stamps are quite crisp. Here is the stamp under the balance cock, with a 'D' prefix.

The case has its original papers inside, a sort of label for the case. You used to find cases that had case papers now and then. But I have not seen one for many years.

Job Number 180057, Part 1

This watch is an Aurora Watch Company 18 size, 15 jewel movement, made about 1885.

First a few "before" images.

The first thing of note is how big, clunky and unfinished things are. This is typical of the earlier American watches. Making things with more machinery, and less hand work was new at the time. Parts tend to be well designed functionally, but rather crude, especially if you've been looking at Elgins, Hamiltons and like from later years.

A spring popped out of place when I removed the clamp over the ratchet. It almost looks like a piece of old mainspring some repairer hand formed as a kludge. It's not, this is a factory part.

It seems like many parts in the early American pieces were actually handmade. And their tools and machinery were all rather crude. All this must have improved extremely rapidly at the very end of the 19th century. It must have been a great time to be a mechanic.

 Huge bezels...

 Pretty dirty...

The serial number is stamped on a lot of the parts.

The parts above that hold the winding arbor go here. At first I thought one of the four screws was missing. Nope, it's broken off. Fortunately it was easy to get out and I found a suitable replacement.

Old style tangential, English lever escapement...

Notice this partial-round cut out in the ratchet clamp that fits the little curve in the end of that ugly setting lever spring, right at the edge of the plate.

Here's the other end of that spring.

It took me awhile to get this assembled with the springs in the right place.  Not easy...

Again, even just a few years later we see watches with a much more refined design.

My current issue with this watch is that the bevel pinion, part of the winding arbor, and the main wheel (the largest gear shown in this image) do not engage well for winding. The teeth on the parts don't look all that worn. There's just too much play in the main wheel, up and down. Everything is just sloppy.

I am not yet sure what to do. If I trim the underside of the washer a little so the screw goes down further, and holds everything tighter, that might work, But go too tight and it won't move.

I'm not getting as much done today as I usually do. I am going ahead and post this just so I have something to show for the morning. A couple days ago I was stung on the hand buy a bee (!) while working on our outdoor aviary. My right hand is a balloon at the moment, adding to the challenge of this watch project!

Job Number 180050

Here's an Illinois Watch Company grade 304, 16 size, 17 jewels, made about 1912. 

It's a private label, "Mermod-Jaccard & King, St Louis" on the dial,
"Standard, St. Louis, USA" on the movement. 

See the entire album for this project here.

Nice looking bridge layout on these... As usual on American watches, the separate fingers 4th and escape are false. It's really one part.

The watch movement's serial number is hand scribed at the factory on the underside of an arm of the balance wheel.

I enjoy seeing signs like this of a human connection in the manufacture of this antique.

Job Number 180043

This is an older Waltham 18 size, 7 jewels, 1877 model, "Broadway." It is key wind and set. This is a pretty primitive American watch, heavily based on English designs.

First, here are a few "before" images. There's a lot of crime in these pivots.

On the the watch train. As one would expect we have the English style tangential lever escapement found on early American products.

There's many irregularities on a watch like this. For example, I found that the ratchet wheel only fits one way. Although the hole in the center appears square, it's not. This is simply a manufacturing flaw. It may well have been hand cut.

This watch feature a solid balance wheel; no temperature adjustment, and no timing screws.

There are very few options on adjusting the rate on a watch like this. The ordinary steel of the hairspring will have changed its elastic properties over the last 100 years. Timing may be quite a bit off.

We have to accept this antique for what it is.

On the underside of the balance wheel, we see a little dimple where a bit of silver has been removed at the factory, to true the wheel (even out the mass).

Under the balance cock there's an odd extra bit of machining. A little material is cut away.

Maybe it's a mistake. Or perhaps this piece of brass was going to be something else before it was a balance cock.

I have not yet measured it, but we can be pretty sure this old fellow is a "slow beat" movement, 14,400 beats per hour (bph).