# ingersoll pocket watch



## Pp clocks & pocket watc (Feb 9, 2020)

hi am new to the forum

i have recently stripped cleaned and serviced my first pocket watch ,a ingersoll pin pallet .i am looking for some information on its beat rate and what sort of accuracy i could expect as it seems to have a big difference in rate depending on which way it is up .many thanks for any replies


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Welcome to the Forum, Pp. If your watch is as I think it is, beat rate and accuracy were probably not too high on the agenda at Ingersoll when these watches were being mass produced. An Ingersoll pocket watch was the first proper watch I ever had and I bought it new in the mid-1960s. Many of these inexpensive Ingersolls are are still going strong and I think you had the right idea when you did your first clean and service on one of these watches. My own watch was very like the example here below (pics from assets.catawiki.nl):


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## Pp clocks & pocket watc (Feb 9, 2020)

Thank you for your reply.

Yes the picture is the same type of watch ,I have about 8 of these with various faces plus some spares .I also have several other pocket watches some working others in need of repair .I'm hoping over the next few years to learn more on how to restore clocks and pocket watches

Peter


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

did the ingersol run before you cleaned it? the "up and down" beat difference usually means a balance staff problem. check that again. good luck , cheers, vin


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## Pp clocks & pocket watc (Feb 9, 2020)

Thank you for the reply vinn ,no it wasn't running before but I am comparing it to one I have running and the balance is very lazy compared to that one .


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

lazy like wobble OR shake. the balance should true and free. why not take the balance and re inspect it ? vin


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## nevenbekriev (Apr 21, 2019)

Hi guys,

This watches are a little bit different. They have balance bearings rather like in alarm clocks. Staff ends with sharp cones, not with cylindrical pivots. The cones lie in steel female cone cup bearings. This system is easy to produce, absolutely shock proof, and works very good. But, after 2-3-4 years of work, the top of cones will wear and friction forces will rice so much that the amplitude will decrease dramatically and watch will not work correctly and finally will stop…

This kind of watches are not intended to be serviced, but rather to be thrown away when begin not to work properly, and replaced with new watches… The price of the watch was comparable with price of servicing of normal watch. Anyway, repair is possible, but one must learn how to sharpen the tips of the balance staff. The cup bearings wear too, but much more slowly than the staff. One will usually sharpen the staff 3-4 times before change or repair of the bearings is needed.


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

the balance staff of a cheap watch can be cleaned up. BUT what about the hole it slips into? if you don't clean that up, the balance staff will drag? a cone shaped reamer might work. vin


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## Pp clocks & pocket watc (Feb 9, 2020)

Thank you all for the replies ,yes the amplitude of the balance is very slow although it does run.


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## Steve Toms (Jan 2, 2021)

Hello, I inherited an Ingersoll pocket watch from my dad who sadly died a year ago, it is fully wound but keeps stopping but re starts after tapping it, any ideas please?


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Steve Toms said:


> Hello, I inherited an Ingersoll pocket watch from my dad who sadly died a year ago, it is fully wound but keeps stopping but re starts after tapping it, any ideas please?


 You need to take it to a watchmaker and get it serviced. It'll probably cost more than the watch is worth financially, but you'll have to balance that against the sentimental value it has to you.


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