# Some Waltham Advice Please



## packrat (Dec 15, 2010)

My Dad has stated an interest in acquiring a Waltham full Hunter pocket watch. His birthday is coming up soon (actuall, too soon - next week!!) and I wondered whether this would be a practical gift for him? Perhaps one or more of you fine folk could advise/ guide me in this?

What price range would I be looking at realistically for a clean, fully functional item? Are these readily available, and are there any particular places to look where a) I won't get ripped off in price and B) ripped off in quality?

Of course, I would prefer to source through a forum member, but so far in my limited time here I haven't seen any of these for sale here.

Many thanks in advance for any help

Kevin


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

I suppose the best place to look is the Bay. I spent many weeks looking for my Waltham hunter 'till the right one came up. Don't rush this process...explain to Dad that you're waiting for the right one to come along. I bought mine from an enthusiast, and it was serviced before I bought it. It was just under the Â£200 mark, and is in a 14ct (one of the American gold standards) gold filled case made by Dennison, one of the most respected case makers. If you go for solid gold, expect to pay from Â£450 (9ct) upwards. 15 jewels is very good, 17, even better and look for the Waltham 'Star micrometer' setting system which sets the timing very accurately.

Here's mine, dated 1908 in a 14ct gold filled Dennison case.


















In this pic, you can see the 'star' regulator at the bottom left.










The shaft of the star wheel is actually a tiny pinion that engages with a rack of tiny teeth in the bottom of that stirrup shaped lever...when it is turned, it moves the lever by a controlled amount, and holds it there so it cannot be moved by sudden shocks...a very accurate regulating system.

Hope this helps a bit....


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## packrat (Dec 15, 2010)

Very useful, and food for thought. Lovely watch you have there - pretty much what I had in mind in fact.

I guess the hunt begins!


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Then there'll be the chain and fob for future presents!


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hi Pack Rat,

Waltham was an American watch-company that ran from about 1850 to 1960-something (I forget exactly when). Their best watches were considered made between the late 19th century and about 1910. So try and get one made between then (say 1880-1910).

Jewelling is important. Jewels jump from 7 to 9 to 11 to 15 to 17 to 19 to 21 to 23. For a decent watch that keeps good time, 15 is really the baseline. You can't really go wrong with a watch with that level of jewelling.

You'll want a watch with a micrometric regulator so that you can fine-tune the timekeeping to the best of the watch's ability.

Since you're buying a hunter-case watch, make sure that you tell your old man *NOT TO SNAP DOWN THE COVER*. I know this is really tempting to do, but doing this wears out the clasp and damages the lid. Press the crown, close the lid then release the catch to keep the lid shut.

You must buy a chain to go with the watch. Depending on whether or not this watch is worn with a waistcoat or a pair of trousers will determine the kind of chain you need.

A watch worn with a waistcoat will need a single or double albert (Double albert chain shown above in Roger's post). Spring-ring chains and belt-hook chains are used when you wear the watch in the watch-pocket of your jeans or trousers (fifth pocket on the right).


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