# My Vintage Pocket Watches



## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Mainly Walthams, Hamiltons and Elgins


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Plus these


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

and these


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

love it. Nice to see someone posting pocketwatch stuff. Have you got any verges they are my favourite pocketwatches on the whole. Although I am partial to hunters and half hunters


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## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

Octagonal one on bottom row looks interesting-any chance of a photo and details?

nice collection . :thumbup:


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

This is a Waltham 19 Jewel Riverside size 12 dress watch.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

The movement


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## JWL940 (Jun 11, 2010)

If there was a 'round of applause' smile, and I knew how to use it, I'd post it here. I'd love to see a general view of your display/storage case(s). My collection is still at the 'stuffed in a draw stage' and don't know whether to go the display route (space limited here) or the storage route, thinking along a Peli case but open to ideas.

Thanks for posting, great collection


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## Jewel (Aug 20, 2012)

Looks like you have a few railroad grades in there Shiner. That's what I hope my collection will look like in a couple or three years time.

Very nice too :thumbup:


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Jewel,

I have fourteen Railroad Approved pocket watches:-

Hamilton 946, Hamilton 992(2), Waltham Vanguard 21/23 jewel(7), Waltham Vanguard with 'Up/Down winding indicator, Waltham Riverside Maximus, Elgin Father Time(2).

I must admit they are my favourites and I'm always looking for quality addiions.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

JWL940,

I always have half a dozen on stands on the mantlepiece and I swap them around every week, so they all get a weeks running every couple of months, and every few months I get them out of their storage boxes and put them in a display cabinet and just enjoy looking at them. Plus I always wear one every day


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## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Very very nice collection, i have a few american ones but i tend to try and collect the high grade movement versions, no wonder i can't find any as you have them all!!!


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## bridgeman (Dec 9, 2008)

Shiner said:


> This is a Waltham 19 Jewel Riverside size 12 dress watch.


Thanks for that-beautiful watch and movement. Never seen a slow/fast regulator like that before-excellent


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## Jewel (Aug 20, 2012)

I don't know whether you service your own watches Shiner, I do, and if I had that many I recon I'd be a busy boy !


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Yes I do my own servicing, that's the best part of collecting I think. I'm never out of the workshop. Well, it's just an 8ft by 6ft shed really. If I haven't got a watch on the bench, it's still a nice place to spend a couple of hours reading and doing a bit of tidying up. Being retired helps.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Shiner said:


> ......I must admit they are my favourites and I'm always looking for quality addiions.


Lovely collection, Shiner....what a beautiful display. Did you see Jame's lovely Illinois railroad watch for sale in the sales corner...I believe it's on hold at the moment (was it you!!!??? :lol: ) I've bought several pocket watches from him, and they are always in pristine condition....if I'd had the spare cash, I would have bought it myself...


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Rog,

Not me. Although I did have a look at it, but it's a Model 9 with just three adjustments, so not Railroad Grade, but a beautifully presented watch non the less, and a reasonable price.


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## JWL940 (Jun 11, 2010)

Shiner

I like the idea of displaying a small number on rotation thus keeping them all regularly exercised. And as for servicing them yourself that is something I have got to start to do. I had a mainspring go twang on a First World War PW just this morning, what greater encouragement do I need? All I need to do is take back control of my life and stop working for a living.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Ahhh, That working for a living does get in the way a bit. In fact I don't know how I used to fit that in. So time consuming!


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

These are my three favourites in the collection at the moment. The first one is a Hamilton 946 which is a Railway Grade 18 size 23 jewel model. Notice that it has a jewelled barrel







.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

The second one is a Waltham Riverside Maximus in an 18 carat gold hunter case, with 23 jewels and complete gold train.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

And the third one is Waltham 23 jewel Vanguard with Up/Down winding indicator in an 18 carat gold open faced case. These two Walthams are two of the best grades that Waltham produced, but Waltham never used the used the jewelled barrel. This seems to have been used mainly by Hamilton and Illinois and one or two others







.


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## Roger the Dodger (Oct 5, 2009)

Some beautiful examples, Shiner, and three new micrometer adjusters that I haven't seen before...well two actually, but I wasn't aware that Waltham used a gooseneck adjuster....I thought they always used their star wheel version. The Vanguard, and the Hamilton ones are new to me. My Hamilton uses a gooseneck.


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## harryblakes7 (Oct 1, 2010)

Hi Shiner, do you have any parts in your shed? as am after a mainspring barrel for a very early Elgin 14 size its a real old one, brass type movement, been hunting for ages...........


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Hi Rog,

The regulator on the Waltham 23j Vanguard was designed by the Waltham General Superintendent Olof Ohlson and was used on the later 18 and 16 size railroad grade movements.

The regulator on the Hamilton 946 was used on the early full plate 18 size movements. It seems that the gooseneck was introduced on the threequarter plate 16 size models. This is a railroad grade 992 with the gooseneck regulator. The 992 and 992B were Hamiltons most popular railroad grade. Notice that they were 21 jewel movements with no jewelled motor barrel







.


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## Jewel (Aug 20, 2012)

Roll on retirement .............. but not too soon I'm only 40, and I need income to pay for all the watches on my wish list .........sigh....... there are so many.

I thought of posting some of the watches in my very small humble collection, but compared to your stunning collection Shiner I don't know now :blush2:

No railroads and nothing over 15 jewel ...................... (yet)


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

Jewel,

Recently I decided to start a seperate collection of ladies pendant watches from sizes 0 to 6. Hardly anyone seems to bother with them which is a shame because they never received the sort of wear and tear that the standard size pocket watches have had to put up with over the many years of their use.

Okay, in most cases they don&#39;t have the higher quality movements. They were after all used just for the odd occasion and spent most of their life in a box in a drawer, consequently the cases are in pristine condition and the movements, even though most of them are of a lesser grade, have had very little use. Many of them were in solid gold cases and are being scrapped .

I managed to save two from the melting pot. They both had very good movements which was unusual, one is a 15 jewel two tone movement and the other one is a 17 jewel Riverside, and I just paid the price of the gold content.

Last week I found another one, but this is just in a gold filled case with seven jewel movement, this one cost just twenty pounds.

All three are 6 Size, Model 1890.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

super collection you have shiner,do like the railroad watches.

bowie


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

This is the one of the latest additions to my collection. An 18 size silver cased English fusee movement circa 1873. Running nicely and keeping good time. It has a solid silver dial with bright cut floral decoration to the centre, yellow gold decoration around the edge and rose gold Roman numerals. It weighs a hefty 5 ounces.


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## Mechanical Alarm (Oct 18, 2010)

Shiner said:


> Jewel,
> 
> Recently I decided to start a seperate collection of ladies pendant watches from sizes 0 to 6. Hardly anyone seems to bother with them which is a shame because they never received the sort of wear and tear that the standard size pocket watches have had to put up with over the many years of their use.
> 
> ...


Shiner - Those are sweet!

I picked my wife up and incredibly nice Pansy (she loves anything having to do with pansies) brooch or can be worn as a necklace, several years ago and this came along in a high end auction house and I knew I had to get it for her.

1895 Swiss 18K yellow gold w/incredible enamel work with a center diamond.





































Wish I could say I picked these up cheap (for the gold value) but I can't!


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

That enamel work is superb. I can't see any damage, which is unusual as it is quite brittle, drop it onto a hard surface and it shatters, so it has survived very nearly 120 years! Fantastic! Very high quality items. I bet they put you in your wife's good books.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

This is my recently acquired Model '92, 'Royal' Grade Waltham 2 Tone. It dates to 1896 and only 2000 of this model was produced and this is the 17th of the 2000. It was shipped to the UK and cased by Dennison in a very early 18 size 'Sun' case. The case serial number is 225 and the previously earliest recorded 18 size case in P.T. Priestley's book is 232. Over one million Dennison cases were produced.


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

The original double sunk dial is in superb condition. Original dials of this age and condition are becoming rarer. Many have been damaged and replaced by modern reproductions. Even those in reasonable condition with just a few hairlines and a couple of tiny edge chips are being replaced to make the watch look more appealing or saleable.


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## Jewel (Aug 20, 2012)

Lovely Shiner. Do you happen to know how they produced the two tone effect on the movement ?


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## Shiner (Mar 2, 2011)

As far as I can gather it is basically a gold plating over selected areas of the nickel parts and then damaskeened in the chosen patterns to blend in with the exposed nickel areas of damaskeening.


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## cordell (Jan 30, 2012)

Hello all,

Just wondering why all the pictures have been removed? Would love to see them and possibly post a few of mine. Thanks in advance and God bless...cordell


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