Pocketwatch

[78 Chevyrado]

I figured out my camera finally tonight and can get closeups of stuff now. 

So I took some pics of my newly inherited pocketwatch my grandad gave me.  Figured it might interest some of you, and the rest of you might be interested in the detail they put into the damaskeening inside the back cover.  I still can't believe the detail they put into this thing.  it's beautiful.  Sorry the pics are kinda big, but if i shrunk them anymore they'd lose more of their detail.

The watch is an 1896 Elgin model
Size 18s
17 Jewel Movement
hunting configuration (means the winding knob comes out at 3 o'clock position)
Is Railroad Grade
Is lever set
movement finish is in Nickel
Adjusted
Is in a (approx) 1929 Illinois Watch Case Company case.  This case is base metal.  No way to know what the original case was, though my great great grandad was known for buying the best of the best back in the day.

Railroad Grade meant back in the day a watch could lose no more than 30 seconds in a week.  My watch still works, and only loses 49 seconds a week, not bad for a 116 year old machine.  it will run for 37 hours on a single full wind.

I just thought this watch was so neat.  never heard of damaskeeing or jeweled bearings.  the more i read the more impressed i am with the old timers who built this so well.



These are pics of the Damaskeeing, on the back with the rear cover removed. 




If I can find a watch maker (rare they are today) that i think i trust, I want to have it disassembled and cleaned and re oiled.  with todays oils, once serviced it should last forever with the usage I'll be giving it.


Just thought some of you would want to see this, as I was so impressed by it I thought I should share.

[velojym]

I have my Grandpa's old Elgin. While I don't use it on a daily basis, it was the watch I used for navigation on my first solo cross country flights, and it was with me on my first completely solo flight. He'd always wanted to fly, but my grannie wouldn't let him... so his watch got to go.
He worked for the Santa Fe railroad many years ago... and this was his watch. Kinda cool to have a bit of history in my flight bag.

[bake74]

     very beautiful watch, thanks for sharing.  Great to hold on to family history.

[78 Chevyrado]

I made this chain for it today.



It's made from a small dog choker chain (about 8" or so long), a 3/8" keyring to hold ot to the watch and about a 2" Carabiner from I had laying around.   I'll be going to find a silver Carabiner so it all matches.  I wore it around today in my jeans watch pocket, and it's already natural like I've always had one.  I won't wear it if i think it will get damaged, but trips to the mall or something, it'll be with me.  I love it so much more than my cell phone. 

I think the Carabiner on my belt loop kind of updates it and brings it into the 21st century.


I've looked into it being serviced and while expensive (I'd still do it)  there's a 15 month backlog anywhere I'd trust to work on it.  From email I received from some of these guys, they say if it's running as accurate as I say it is, it was probably serviced close to when it stopped being used.  I believe them, because as a railroad grade watch it's supposed to lose NO MORE than 30 seconds a week, and right now it's losing about 31 or 32 seconds a week.  They said it must have been serviced right before it quit being used and must be very clean.  It is very clean.  It runs very well too.  I'm all impressed with it.  So I'm gonna wear it, and if it breaks, I'll go through the 15 month backlog to get it repaired.  No point going without when its running so dang good!     plus parts are still relatively cheap.  The whole watch isn't worth more than $80 or $90 to sell, but it's worth a heck of a lot more than that to me personally.   

[78 Chevyrado]

My Pocket Watch in it's new home in my jeans

[Captkaos]

I have an obsession with pocket watches.  I swore I would never buy any watches, and I can't stand wrist watches.  I LOVE that one!

[78 Chevyrado]

I have an obsession with pocket watches.  I swore I would never buy any watches, and I can't stand wrist watches.  I LOVE that one!

I think I have too or at least I do now (as I see the workmanship that went into these tiny machines that last CENTURIES) , As that watch always hung in my grandparents living room,  and I always cleaned it and wound it whenever I came to visit, at least since I was 5.  I also thought enough of that watch that I never tried taking it apart (which they said I could)  and I left it alone and now I AM SO GLAD I did!  I'm so glad that it didnt go into the learned something from that pile!

I have found that to have it serviced will be in the $400 range and they all have a 12-18 month backlog..  So I'm planning on finding a few cheap movements on ebay and finding out if i can do this kind of work on them.  IF I find i can do the work PROPERLY I'll try it out on mine one day when something goes wrong.

My dad has found me a few of the special tools needed.  I have some excellent tweezers, some smaller than jeweler screw drivers, the 5x and 10x eye pieces for seeing what you're doing and even a movement holder/stand for working on it.


I'm getting that obsession though.  Now I have mine, I'd love to buy all of them I can.  They're so skillfully and beautifully made.  It's be like me having scroll work on the underside of my intake manifold...  They didnt need to do it, but they did, because thats how it was done back then.

[78 Chevyrado]

Thought I'd add a reply to this after much time...

I'm also carrying on another tradition with this particular watch....  It was my great great grandfathers watch originally, an 1896 model....   My grandad made sure to wear this perfectly running watch to work at least twice a year since he got it in the 1950's.   well...  I wore it 3 times last year to a rough jobsite, and am wearing it tomorrow to another rough jobsite, just to keep this watch in the working loop as long as it exists.....   

I talked to grandad and he asked me to keep this tradition going....  I promised I will....  It's an 1896 Elgin, been working since then...  now 117 years later, I still wear it to work on the jobsite 2 or 3 times a year.....  That's something to make it 117 years at all but to also make it at jobsites....  My 117 yr old watch still impresses guys at the jobsite the 2 or 3 times a year I wear it, like above....

[roger97338]

That's a classy watch, and a classy tradition.