# I Never Thought I'd Do This...but...



## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

I went to the flea-market today and bought, amongst other things...

A metropolitan police whistle.

A gold fountain pen.

And...

this:










Waltham Model 1908, made in 1926.

7-jewel stem-wind, stem-set movement.

20-year gold-filled Dennison W/Case Company case.

It's a 16-size.

I never thought I'd buy another pocket watch...and certainly not a hunter-case...but this baby just started crying and crying and crying and it only stopped when I picked it up and cuddled it. And then it didn't want to be put down. So I had to take it home with me.

I'm gonna send it off to my watchmaker and have him perform surgery on it. It winds and sets fine, but it doesn't RUN properly. It stops and starts and despite the needle being pushed hard over to 'Fast', this watch ticks and tocks like a broken clock. It's slow and irregular. To me, this would suggest it needs a good cleaning. But other than that, it looks perfectly sound. The catch works and the lid pops open to a neat, just-over 90 degrees.

Serial #25585120


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Here's some extra photos:










*Front, closed*










*Back, closed*

Opening the caseback on this watch (it has a caseback and then a cuvette inside), is like trying to open a welded-down sardine can. I only opened the watch-case once (with the help of a screwdriver), to check the serial-number and jewel-count. I wasn't going to re-open it JUST to get a photo. It was too much work and I wasn't going to tempt fate twice and risk breaking the watch.

The pen, if anyone is wondering, is an early 20th century (possibly 1910s, 1920s) Wahl Eversharp lever-filler fountain pen with a gold-filled barrel, cap and lever, so the two actually go together really good. 1920s watch with a 1920s pen!


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## river rat (Nov 14, 2008)

Shangas Nice watch it should work good after your watch maker services it.You should get a case knife it will make it easy to open tight cases.


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

The watch is in desperate need of a servicing. Physically, it looks fine, but mechanically it needs an overhaul. So as soon as I can (Hopefully within a week or two), I'll hand this over to my man in town and let him sort it out. He can take his time fixing it, as I probably won't have much time to go and speak to him about it anyway. So long as he does a good job, I'm happy.


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## maca (Apr 23, 2009)

river rat said:


> Shangas Nice watch it should work good after your watch maker services it.You should get a case knife it will make it easy to open tight cases.


Very good advice about case knife ,case looks good very easy ruined using wrong tools

maca


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

I sent a couple of emails to my watchmaker. He said servicing this watch (including giving the case a clean and timing the watch) would cost about $200. Does this seem reasonable?


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## watchnutz (Jan 18, 2008)

Very nice watch!!! Are you sure it is not a 1899 movement? I thought the 1908 was a lever set.

$200 would be about right in my area with the labor charges we have. I guess you would have to find out if that is a good rate for your area. The question becomes is it worth it to you or should you flip it.


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey Bill,

The serial number tells me M1908. Look it up yourself. I checked the watch, and it's certainly pendant-set. I dropped it off at my watchmaker's shop yesterday and he said he'd have a quote for me, hopefully by the end of the week.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Ooooh...only just seen this...looks very similar to the one in my topic earlier today.


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey Paul,

It is pretty similar, actually.

They're both hunter-cases.

Both gold, Dennison-case watches (Mine marked for 20, yours for 10).

Both 7-jewellers.

Both "Waltham, USA" on the dial.

Both made in the 1920s! (Yours in 1928, mine in 1926!)

I wonder if, once upon a time, 80 years ago, our two watches were best friends?


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## watchnutz (Jan 18, 2008)

I was going by a book that has photos that are to identify the movements. it claimed the 1908 was a lever set. Guess it just proves you can't believe everything you read!


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey Bill.

Sorry, I WOULD have taken a photograph of the movement, but getting the back cover off the watch was SUCH an ordeal, I didn't want to risk breaking anything. I just popped it open that one time, to check everything and get the serial-number.

Once it's back from my watchmaker (anywhere from 2-4 weeks from now), I'll take more photographs.


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## watchnutz (Jan 18, 2008)

Half the fun with old watches is what you can learn when researching them. I was in my local coffee shop a few days ago and a lady that knew I was into watches came over to show me a very nice looking pocket watch that had Studebaker on the dial. She said she inherited it from her grandfather and didn't know anything about it. The only Studebaker I knew of was the old auto company so I said I guessed it was a company promotion or something.

After I returned home I started researching and found that the South Bend Watch Co was owned by the same Studebaker family and made the watch. Depending on the serial number it could have a book value in the neighborhood of $1500!


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Shangas said:


> I wonder if, once upon a time, 80 years ago, our two watches were best friends?


My brother lives in Melbourne...does that help?


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hahaha!! Maybe, maybe.

By the way, I have some questions to ask with regards to watch-sizes. Does a 16-size watch necessarily keep better time than say, a 12 size? Does an 18-size keep any better time than a 14-size?


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## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Never mind about the watch-sizes question, folks. I got the answer at WUS.

Anyway...MY WALTHAM IS BACK FROM THE WATCHIE'S!!

Here's some photos of my new addition:










Can't see it in the photo, but there's a hairline running from 11:30-6:30. Also, the hands are all a very sexy blue steel which looks marvellous under strong light.



















Heavily brassed cuvette, for some reason. Why, I don't know. Maybe this watch's previous owner used to open it up to use it as an impromptu shaving mirror all the time and kept rubbing it to wipe away the steam. Anyway, the watchie managed to polish it up rather nicely. As nobody will ever see the cuvette, I'm not that fussed about the brassing.



















Front and back. I'm still not sure exactly what's engraved on the cartouche. Whether it's initials/monogram, or just some swirly pattern. Under a magnifier, it looks like: "EJL". whoever he was.

So far, the watch is keeping time excellently.


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