# Starting Out - 1920S Cronograph



## Tom Barraclough (Mar 8, 2010)

Hello ladies and gents,

I have a silver 1920s Swiss chronograph, given to me on my 21st birthday a few years ago. I've had the pleasure of wearing this watch at a few events important to me, including my graduation from university and the weddings of friends and family. Unfortunately, it now has a problem. The watch does not run, and the winding crown feels slack. I'm guessing a broken mainspring.

so that leads me to my first question, can anyone recommend me a good watchmaker in Edinburgh, or elsewhere in reasonable driving distance?

Whist looking for someone to repair it, I have also decided to try and find out more about it, how it works and it's history.

Anyway, some pictures:

The face - the text reads "S Smith and son 9 strand" "Watchmaker to the admiralty" "131 105" and "swiss made"










The Case - the inside is hallmarked, see more below










The motion










And a close up:










Please excuse the quality of the pics, I might try to get some better ones at work sometime this week.

Anyway, I've been able to find some information, but am still lacking a date. The hallmarks inside are Swiss, and my interpretation of them is as follows:

Rampant bear: fine swiss silver for export, pre 1935

"0.935" in a box: fineness of silver

"ON" in box: possibly makers mark or date mark?

there is also an extremely small stamp that occurs all over the watch, but I can't really see it. it appears to be a rampant something in a shield. You can see it at 11 o'clock in the last picture.

The serial number in the case is 33352, which does not match the dial. does this imply the watch has been re-cased? or is it likely the number on the dial is the smith & sons serial, and the one in the case is the makers?

Looking at the motion, I think I identify a lever escapement. The balance wheel is made from a yellow metal wrapped around a white one, so I assume it is temperature compensated (bimetallic strip?). Is the presence of small screw-in masses on the balance wheel evidence of the watch being adjusted for several positions?

If any of you have any comments, or can tell me more about the watch, I would appreciate it. feel free to correct/rubbish my research so far.

I would particularity like to know a date and maker.

Tom


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## Seismic one (Jun 21, 2008)

Hello Tom, i could well be on the wrong track but i think i have seen a watch very similar to yours but i cannot remember where it was a longines and cased in one exactly the same, which is a swiss made case the same as one used by Longines. Contact the Longines museum curator by email with your case number and a photo i have found them very helpful.I have a chronograph with no name but has been verified as a longines by them mines is a 1899 L 19.73 N. They also informrd me that some retailers ordered watches without the Longines logo.


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## Tom Barraclough (Mar 8, 2010)

could it be this you are remembering?

http://www.cjbalm.com/watches/watch163.htm

I turns up if I google Longines chronograph and the case is very similar, but the motion is different.

I've had a look at the Longines website and it doesn't quite seem to match - my serial number is only 33352, and longines were over a million by 1899. I'll drop them an email anyway, can't hurt.

thanks,

Tom


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## ValvesRule (May 20, 2009)

It is temperature compensated, yes. The metals are Brass and probably Steel.

As the temperature rises, the Balance Spring gets weaker, causing the Watch to slow down.

The Brass of the rim expands more than the Steel, bending the ends of the rim sections inwards (notice the gaps in the rim), effectively reducing the diameter of the Wheel. This causes it to speed up - except it doesn't because of the heat's effect on the Spring, so the rate remains constant.

I am not sure about using the screws to adjust for various positions; this could be done before those screws started to be used.

Four of the screws - probably including the two nearest the ends of the rim sections - control the effect of the compensation at two extreem temperatures. At temperatures other than these the Watch will run very slightly fast or slow.

Some others will be for adjusting the 'poise' - the balance of the Balance, so to speak - so that its centre of gravity is exactly in the centre.

You also have an unusual, and quite precise, form of Regulator

Correct; Lever Escapement, although it is called the Movement, not the Motion. The Motion [Work] is the name given to the Wheels which connect the Hour and Minute hands.

It appears to be very heavily jewelled - perhaps unneccecarily so. Although we cannot see the pivots of the 4th, 3rd, Centre and Great Wheels, the Centre Seconds pivot is jewelled (fair enough) and the Chronograph Minutes.


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## Seismic one (Jun 21, 2008)

Tom, this watch was in a private collection i think the name was Jeff Hatton or Geof Hatton he had at one time every chronograph Longines ever produced.



Tom Barraclough said:


> could it be this you are remembering?
> 
> http://www.cjbalm.com/watches/watch163.htm
> 
> ...


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## Seismic one (Jun 21, 2008)

Tom Barraclough said:


> could it be this you are remembering?
> 
> http://www.cjbalm.com/watches/watch163.htm
> 
> ...


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## Seismic one (Jun 21, 2008)

Here are some pics of mine note that your case is the same as mine.Your movement would appear to be earlier than my watch.


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hi Tom,

A beautiful pocket watch you have there. What a joy to recieve such a thing on your 21st birthday!! A watch of this complexity will require an expert watchmaker to service successfully, that's all I can say, so take your time when you search for a watchmaker and be sure to ask plenty of questions. If I had a watch that nice, I'd be wearing it every day.


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## Tom Barraclough (Mar 8, 2010)

ValvesRule said:


> It appears to be very heavily jewelled - perhaps unneccecarily so. Although we cannot see the pivots of the 4th, 3rd, Centre and Great Wheels, the Centre Seconds pivot is jewelled (fair enough) and the Chronograph Minutes.


Thanks for your information ValvesRule, I had noticed the jewelling on the chronograph hands, but found it slightly odd that the seconds wheel, which drives the chronograph, does not appear jewelled. I wonder if it was done for the benifit of the cronograph reset, rather than timekeeping?



Seismic one said:


> Here are some pics of mine note that your case is the same as mine.Your movement would appear to be earlier than my watch.


I would agree that the case is from the same maker, even the placement of the hallmarks is the same. hopefully the longines people will know more!



Shangas said:


> Hi Tom,
> 
> A beautiful pocket watch you have there. What a joy to receive such a thing on your 21st birthday!! A watch of this complexity will require an expert watchmaker to service successfully, that's all I can say, so take your time when you search for a watchmaker and be sure to ask plenty of questions. If I had a watch that nice, I'd be wearing it every day.


I don't dare wear it every day - I broke the strap off my current casio F91W yesterday (no great loss to the world, I'll probaly just get another watch for the price of a strap). I like to wear the cronograph for formal occasions and used to have it running on my desk sometimes when working from home.

I don't really know where to look for a watchmaker, I took it to a jeweller who said they mend antique watches in Edinburgh but the chap behind the counter was unconvincing, so I took it away (I asked if they were members of BHI, and he asked me what it was!)

Thanks all for your input!

Tom


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

These days, to most people "watch repair" = "Changing the battery, pressure-testing, engraving, strap-changing".

That is not watch repair. A real watchmaker should be able to strip down your watch, clean it, fix it, reassemble it, lube it, time it and return it in working order. Unfortunately, such people are rare. Keep searching. You might be surprised. I found two such watchmakers in my town.


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## Tom Barraclough (Mar 8, 2010)

I managed to have a look at the watch under a good microscope today and WOW.

If any of you get the chance to do this I recommend it - we have a zeiss stemi 2000 on the bench at work and I can see a tremendous amount of detail, the surface finish on many parts is impressive. I might try to get some pictures at some point, but the camera is not really set up for shiny things.

I've noticed another jewel, at "A" in this image:










I'm guessing this is the third wheel?

there is also a shaft (arbor?) at "B" which is not jewelled, which I presume is the winding wheel, as it rotates when I try to wind the watch.

contrary to my earlier post, the "seconds" (4th?) wheel is jewelled, so jeweling of the chronograph makes more sense.

Tom


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## Seismic one (Jun 21, 2008)

Tom case maker was one Edward Francillion.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Tom, you could try the watchie in Loanhead for advice at least - small shop in Clerk Street, in the book under Peter Inwood. Not sure about how much work he does nowadays, but he does/did a LOT of work for other "so-called" watchmakers in the area and Edinburgh.

And he's not fast, my son-in-law waited four months for a repair, but the watch was great when he got it back.

I'd think he could at least look and advise on where to take it or send it to be worked on properly.


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Tom, you could try the watchie in Loanhead for advice at least - small shop in Clerk Street, in the book under Peter Inwood. Not sure about how much work he does nowadays, but he does/did a LOT of work for other "so-called" watchmakers in the area and Edinburgh.

And he's not fast, my son-in-law waited four months for a repair, but the watch was great when he got it back.

I'd think he could at least look and advise on where to take it or send it to be worked on properly.


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## Tom Barraclough (Mar 8, 2010)

Seismic one said:


> Tom case maker was one Edward Francillion.


Ah Ha! a name.

I wonder if the Francillion name is not a coincidence. Some relation to Ernest Francillon of Longines perhaps?


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## ValvesRule (May 20, 2009)

Tom Barraclough said:


> I've noticed another jewel, at "A" in this image:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Correct.



> There is also a shaft (arbor?) at "B" which is not jewelled, which I presume is the winding wheel, as it rotates when I try to wind the watch.


This is probably the Arbor of the Mainspring; that it is not jewelled is not surprising.


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