New Arrival, Job Number 250042

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/AHdarjnsLXvNA5bF7

New Arrivals, Job Number 250036

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/6PwNoKfPByLkPwM17

New Arrival, Job Number 230115

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/BxmkUYfqsgFKiWAb8

Elgin Keyless Works

There's some nice articles over at pocketwatchdatabase.com on the winding/setting mechanisms of  Elgin's convertible 18 size grade 100, and 16 size model 5s.

https://blog.pocketwatchdatabase.com/2021/01/12/charles-p-corliss-1885-patent-winding-and-setting-mechanism-inspecting-an-18-size-elgin-convertible-grade-100/

and here

https://blog.pocketwatchdatabase.com/2021/01/14/charles-p-corliss-stem-winding-and-setting-mechanism-on-the-elgin-16-size-model-5/

New Arrival, Job Number 190055

Album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7eecENXuZdXZk8dw9

Elgin Grade 93, Convertible

This is the train bridge from this 16 size Elgin convertible model. The watch had several problems. Here we can see that the upper 4th wheel jewel is missing. It was actually badly broken. In these photos, I have already thoroughly removed the old bits leaving the hole empty. In the closest image, it's the hole at the right that needs a new jewel.

Finding a replacement takes awhile, but it's not an unusual jewel so it's not too bad. The hole has to be the right size obviously, and the jewel has to be the right diameter. But the jewel also has to have the right profile on the outer edge for being bezeled into the plate, and it has to be the right thickness to get correct end-shake (up and down play) on the 4th wheel.

Also, yes, I do this repair the old fashioned way using the tool set shown.

 Done.

 ...And the wheel moves freely.

This watch seems to have been assembled incorrectly at some point in the past. The mainspring was backwards, and in distorted from being (likely) finger-installed. It will be replaced.

This shape is a classic result of improper installation of the spring.

Elgin convertible grades were designed to be assembled in two configurations; either open face, or hunter. This was supposed to save on costs as the factory would not have to create two separate versions of each model. But it didn't really wok out that way as this movements has quite a few extra, specialized, parts and can be tricky to service correctly. The convertibles were eventually discontinued for that reason. Still it's a clever design, there is much to be admired.

Here we see the two layers of the barrel bridge, and the two alternate cut outs, one to the right and one below, for the winding arbor and main wheel. This watch, I am assembling in hunting case mode, with the winding arbor to the right.

The lever setting mechanism used by Elgin convertible grades is significantly different from other Elgins.

This watch had a broken setting lever spring. The remaining bit, and the replacement part, is shown here along with the screw that hold the spring in place.

Most of the lever action is actually on the back side of the movement rather than under the dial. Pulling the lever pushes up a pin that lifts a setting wheel (in the middle of the upper part of the barrel bridge) so it engages a back side center wheel that extends through the center, rather than the winding wheel.

A pin that pushes up through the movement to lift the setting wheel on the other side. I found the pin was jammed inside the hole that is used to let down the mainspring for some reason, instead of where is was supposed to be. At least it wasn't missing. The pin was also bent, but it will still work.

This movement is an Elgin grade 93, 16 size, 11 jewels, made about 1884.  

Find more convertible examples here!

Elgin Grade 50

This is an Elgin convertible grade. It can be assembled in two ways, with the stem 90 degrees different. In these photos you can see two places for the winding arbor, one below and one to the right.

The secondary serial number stamps are prefixed with a sort of square-missing-the-left-side symbol.

Not all of the plate screws on this grade are the same length. To avoid interference care has to be taken to get them in the correct locations.

Find out more about Elgin convertible grades here.

Like a handful of other American watches, these movements have a male stem in the movement. It's more commonly the opposite. Cases for these are pretty rare. This particular movement is "bare", it has no case. Over the decades every time the price of gold spikes we see a corresponding spike in irreplaceable vintage gold watch cases being melted down for scrape, all for the price of a couple months' cable bill.

Elgin Convertible Grade 50

This simple, useful and surprisingly expensive tool is not a Borg action figure.

In this case, working on an Elgin convertible pocketwatch, there was some trouble getting the center shaft out of the center wheel tube. Usually this is done from the back side before taking anything else apart, but on this one the cannon pinion and the tube where tight and a tiny bit corroded.

It was necessary to carefully lift the bridges off, then remove the center parts. The various size holes in this steel block provide exactly the right support.

An Elgin convertible model can be assembled either as a hunter movement, stem 90 degrees to the seconds dial, or as an open face movement, stem 180 degree from the seconds dial. Note how the main plate has two cut-outs, 90 degrees apart, for the winding arbor.

This one is getting assembled in hunter configuration.

For the train wheels, there is only one possible configuration. The only difference between hunter and open face setup is the location of the stem.

Also, in these images we can see that the center wheel arbor is a hollow tube. That is where the setting arbor goes, connecting the cannon pinion on the front (ie. the hands), to a setting wheel on the back. The watch is lever-set. Pulling its lever out causes an exposed wheel to lift and engage the setting wheel on the back, putting the watch in setting mode instead of winding mode.

Hands very often do not fit quite right, even factory original parts. Hands are friction fit and often the holes are too small or too large. The techniques for adjusting minute hands, hour hands, and second hands are all different because the hands are all different.

In this case, a minute hand needs a bit larger hole. There is this vice with many hole of different sizes that holds the "boss" end of the hand, and a cutting brooch of used to slowly enlarge the hole by very small amounts, with frequent testing, until it it right.

I don't know if there is a reason, but the convertibles are, I think, the only Elgin pocketwatch grades the use three case screws, rather than the usual two (or one in the really old ones).

This watch is a grade 50, 16 size, 15 jewels, made about 1885.

Find more about Elgin's convertible movements here!

Elgin Grade 49, Convertible

This watch initially had a broken mainspring. This is the old, broken spring and the new replacement.

An Elgin convertible grade can be assembled in two ways. It can be either a hunter movement, having the stem 90 degrees from the seconds hand, Or as an open face movement, having the stem at 180 degrees from the seconds.

These parts make up the barrel bridge of the Elgin convertible. The wheel to the left sits in the middle, the smaller wheel below can go in either of two locations inside the two halves of the bridge. It is a beveled wheel, so it engages the winding arbor.

This close up of the lower plate shows the two cut outs available for the winding arbor, one to the right, and one at the bottom.

In this instance the watch is assembled with the winding arbor sticking out below.

Also of note is that Elgin convertible movements have a male stem in the movement and call for a case with a square hole in the stem. Most Elgin watches are the reverse in that the case will have the male part.

Cases for these Elgins are very rare. There are many bare movements out there whose cases were destroyed and lost forever.

This wheel is set in either of two places. It engages the arbor, and the mechanism in the middle of the barrel bridge.

This is the pallet fork and its bridge. The next image shows these parts in place.

With the dial installed, we can see that the winding arbor sticks out at 12:00.

There are many types and variations of pocketwatch case designs. This one is a very heavy, high quality open face case, in gold, with a triple-hinge body. The back include an inner cover called a "dust cover", and an outer cover. The front is also hinged to allow access to the setting lever (under the dial at about 5:00). This case has the unusual addition of a front bezel ring, under the crystal instead of holding the crystal. This bezel protects the edge of the dial when the front is open.

Here is the case, having the square hole in the stem.

On a more typical American pocketwatch, a square arbor would be sticking out from the neck of the case.

The unique convertible grades were designed by the Elgin National Watch Company to save manufacturing costs. The company could make just one version of the movement, rather than both a hunter and an open face model. And all the parts are the same in either configuration.

This didn't really work out in practice. These watches are trickier to work with and have more parts than the usual types. The idea of making just one movement for both types was dropped.

This watch is an Elgin grade 49. It is 16 size, 15 jewels, made about 1879.

See more examples of the convertible grades here!