A sweep seconds hand is a seconds hand that is mounted in the center of the dial, like a modern watch, rather than in a small sub-dial, usually near the 6:00. Elgin doctors' watches are an early example of this design.
The problem with this one shown here is that it is missing all the extra parts at the back, and the large seconds hand itself. Elgin doctors' watches are otherwise pretty normal, higher end for that time, 16 size pocketwatches. They rest of the parts are in common with many other Elgin grades.
These Elgin watches are rare. And these parts are extremely rare. In fact, I've never seen them around as separate parts. They may have never, or rarely, been provided as spare parts even at the time. The only source of these parts would be another watch.
As an aside, it gets worse. Because of those extra parts on the back, these movements require a special case that is thicker than a standard 16 size case.
Usually, getting parts is not a big deal as there might be a doner watch out there that is a complete wreck but has the one or two parts you need. It's always worth getting the better watch, or someone's family heirloom, running over another watch that has more severe problems and isn't a part of someone's history, in my opinion.
But when we are talking about a rare watch, people's definition of "worth repairing" shifts. Elgin doctors' watches go for hundreds of dollars, even in extremely poor condition.
I have actually seen 3 or 4 examples now of these watches, untouched for a long time, that have had all those extra parts removed. The watch can then be used normally, without a seconds hand at all.
That leads me to believe that these parts were always hard to get. DO you have one of these watches? Have you tried to find parts?
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