Elgin Grade 95

This is an grade 95, 6 size, 7 jewels, lever-set movement made about 1887.

Creating these hand inlayed fancy dials was a labor intensive multi-step process. The dials are more fragile than the typical ones, and are often cracked. This one is fancier than most, and is in outstanding condition.

Electric Clock-Motors - Caution

From The American Horologist and Jeweler magazine, January, 1946

 Electric Clock-Motors - Caution

An article in your October issue has just come to our attention and in order to correct any false impressions which might be left with dealers and repair men we thought it well to give you our version on the subject in question. The particular item we have reference to is Contest Article No. 92, Page 39 and 40 which has reference to motor noises. The article states "Maybe some have had trouble with noises in Telechron or other sealed motors. One remedy is to drill a small hole in the motor, so it will be on top when the motor is in use. Then clean out, partly fill with a light oil; then seal the hole. This will· even help some motors that are frozen."

We do not recommend such a practice and have done everything possible to discourage it for a number of reasons. If a motor becomes noisy it is either due to the fact that the unit has lost its oil or that some parts have become worn in such a way as to cause noise. In either event we would replace such a unit here at the factory with a completely new one since we know from long experience that it is not practical to attempt to repair units which have failed for any reason. New oil will not correct mechanical difficulties caused by worn parts. Also when drilling a hole into the case shell it is entirely possible that some particles of the copper from the case will fall into the gear train and later become jammed between the small teeth of the gears and cause the unit to stop. It is true that units can be made to run for a little while by such treatment but the unit will stop due to the same reasons that it failed in the first place. The exchange price of a sealed rotor unit to a dealer or repair man would be 86 cents which includes the salvage allowance on the old unit, and it would certainly not be profitable to attempt to repair old units for this amount. Replacement units may be secured from any of our authorized service stations or from our factory.

Our rotor units are oiled during the process of manufacture with a definite quantity of oil sufficient to lubricate the gear train by capillary action. The units are afterwards sealed for life and no further oiling is necessary. 

Elgin Grade 233

 This is one of the Elgin grades we see fewer of today. It is a grade 233, 12 size, 15 jewels, made about 1900.

Elgin Grade 311

I'm am not sure what happened here but this balance assembly has some issues. The upper pivot is bent. The lower one might be intact, but the double roller is not all the way seated so we can't see the pivot. The roller table is at an angle too. Odd... The hairspring looks tilted as well but not as much. Maybe the whole staff is bent? Also the balance itself is way out of flat, as the uneven arms show.

 This is the replacement staff.

The mainspring is also shot. Here it is, all distorted, and the replacement.

A great many mainspring problems are cause simply by springs being wound into barrels using fingers instead of the proper tool. I see it all the time.

The end of the pallet bridge has been ground down to avoid rubbing on the bottom of the balance wheel.

The real problem is that the balance wheel was not true, or maybe a replacement staff was the wrong part.

Here's a rule for watchmaking: existing parts should never be altered to make replacements work.

Here's another rule: never do anything that can not be undone.

This watch is a grade 311, 12 size, 7 jewels, made about 1915.

Waltham 1894 Model.

Here is another Waltham. This one is a 6 size, 16 jewels, 1894 model. 


It needed a new mainspring. The broken one is shown in a photo below.

Waltham's motor barrel is quite different from Elgin's design.

This shows the broken mainspring.

The winding/setting mechanism on this movement has a lot of parts! It's an interesting arrangement, different from the shipper other Walthams have.

Here we again see this fairly common type of hunter pocketwatch case. There two hinged covers in the back, the snap on bezel and crystal, and the front cover. 

It is a common misconception and hunting cases are more durable than their open-face counter parts. But nothing could be further from the truth. All these moving parts in such a thin space make these cases very fragile.

American Waltham 1899 Model

This is an American Waltham 16 size, 17 jewels, 1899 model, grade 625.

This is the shipper spring, clamp and screw.

When the stem is pushed in, the shipper mechanism causes the clutch to slide outward (down in the photo) and engage the winding side.

In this photo the clutch in inward, engaging setting.

Here is the shipper held in place with the clamp.

Here is a close up view of the complete train from the mainspring barrel through to the escape wheel.

This movement's bridged design gives nice visibility to the escape wheel.

Another Elgin Grade 540

This is another fine example of Elgin's grade 540, 16 size, 23 jewels, made about 1939.