This watch is a Waltham 6 size, 7 jewel, Seaside model 1873-6, made 1888-1889. It is lever-set and extensive work has been done to get it into the case it's in.
It also has some pretty bad rust issues. Here are some "before" images to start with.
The mainspring is broken in several places.
Rust has spread to the pallet fork, and more. In my experience though, this sort of thing is not as bad as it looks. It should clean up.
After some initial cleaning, we can evaluate were the real problems are. A lot of what looks bad in a watch, when it comes to rust, is really quite loose and comes right off. Some of it is also just staining, which will also come of. Much of a vintage watch movement is brass, gold, or nickle plated. Rust does not seriously damage those materials, except in the most extreme cases.
For many steel parts I'll be going over them with a little piece of emery paper, folded to be able to reach into corners, and the parts will be usable. The escape wheel is totaled though.
But although the escape wheel is gone, the others will be OK I think. A quick trip to the lathe helps with cleaning and polishing to get the small amount of corrosion gone.
Fitting this movement into the case was tricky. It's one of these types with no snap in/out mechanism in the neck of the case, but rather a screw that holds the stem in. It's in fair shape, but only barely aligns. There is a pin in the case edge opposite that has a matching hole in the inside case rim, and a couple small cut-outs to allow for the setting lever; one for the lever and a smaller one for a spot were the other end of the lever sticks out just a little when it's retracted. It's all been very carefully fit, and it all barely works out.
Here is how the case has been adjusted to allow for the setting lever.
The watch has an unusual thick, snap on, front bezel. A notch has been made to access the lever without removing the front. This makes it even harder to set.
Now to test the rate for a few days... I'm not looking for anything spectacular on this one, but it runs.
See all the images for this project here:
https://goo.gl/photos/Nix3c5kbcYGfUCNQ9
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