Job Number 250140

Ready for a few days of testing...

Illinois number 2834773 is an A. Lincoln, model 9, 16 size, 21 jewels made about 1915.

The album for this project is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ndPSUd1nY2sCQ5Tz5

General Updates, Jobs 250126, 250148, 250144 and 250148

I'm having quite a bit of trouble getting 250126, 250148 and 250148 to time well enough. There's been various issues getting through the testing but progress is made each day.

250144 has it's replacement balance staff and the movement ran fine over  night. It will be cased up and start testing today.

There are just two more now for 2025, and then we move to the '26 watches. I am also way behind on 2026 estimates.

Job Number 250140

The replacement staff for this one arrived, and got switch in. The watch has a two-piece double roller, which always requires extra care to handle, as well as tricky adjustment.

But that done, even though the old staff wasn't completely broken, it's really running significantly better now.

Illinois number 2834773 is an A. Lincoln, model 9, 16 size, 21 jewels made about 1915.

The album for this project is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ndPSUd1nY2sCQ5Tz5

Job Number 250148

The mainspring broke after a couple days of running. I'll change it out, then start the test cycle over.

The album for this project is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lre7xNxQ9eTiXfSU8

Elgin serial number 3793826 is a grade 70, 18 size, 15 jewels, made about 1890. This is a B.W. Raymond model.

Job Number 250144, Formally 170169

This needed a surprising amount of rate adjustment after changing the staff. I'm not sure why, but it's in range now. I'll run it for a few days.

Elgin serial number 34060022 is a 12 size movement, 7 jewels, grade 303, made about 1933.

Follow the album for this project here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/IHI2qLKkuU0RMS843

Job Number 250144, Formally 170169

This one was originally in for service in 2017. It has a broken balance staff, but everything else looks fine.

Elgin serial number 34060022 is a 12 size movement, 7 jewels, grade 303, made about 1933.

Cutting away the hub of the old balance staff...

Reassembly of the balance and ticking away...

Follow the album for this project here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/IHI2qLKkuU0RMS843

Job Number 250148

There's a lot of screws in these.

The underside of the mainspring barrel includes cut-outs for a Geneva Stop. The parts are missing though, as they almost always are. I don't know if Elgin stopped installing this complication at some point or if watchmakers servicing the watch left it out. These are very uncommon parts.

The Geneve Stop halts winding just before the end of the spring. It's not required for the watch to run perfectly normally, and it may not have been clear to some how to line up the gear when assembling the barrel.

The setting mechanism looks good. I'm optimistic that it won't need much effort to get it working correctly. A little too much wear on that flat spring and the inner wheel will not stay engaged.

The album for this project is here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lre7xNxQ9eTiXfSU8

Elgin serial number 3793826 is a grade 70, 18 size, 15 jewels, made about 1890. This is a B.W. Raymond model.

As is often the case with older 18 size movements, my timing machine has trouble locking on. To sanity check the rate I have to go ahead and put the hands on, set it, and let it run for several hours. 

The basic rate test having gone well, I case it up and start with a few days of testing in positions.