wrist and pocket watch Freak

[Al]

I love mechanical Pocket watches. My favorite Pocket watches are Hamilton 992Bs. They were made between 1940 and 1969. They are the all time standard for Railroad watches. A Railroad watch must have a lever set requirement, micrometer adjustment and produce an accuracy of 30 seconds/ week. I have 7 of them. They all work well and 4 have been serviced. The others will be serviced going forward.

Wrist watches go all over the place. My best one is a Hamilton made in Switzerland. Its brand new. Its 2 seconds per day off. I have a device called a timegrapher which can tell you what the condition of the watch is. A watch needs to be serviced every 5 to 10 years.

 

[Vercingetorix]

I think some here would be shocked at the price of watch oils. 2ml for $50 is pretty standard for some.

 

[bunnspecial]

I think some here would be shocked at the price of watch oils. 2ml for $50 is pretty standard for some.

And I remember years ago buying and opening my first bottle of Moebius 941/2, which is one of the higher priced oils in their line up(at the time around $40/2mL as opposed to more like $30 for 9020, etc). Knowing how expensive they are, it can be nerve racking to open the bottle and get some out. The proper technique, as I was taught, is to use a CLEAN screwdriver blade(I always shove it in pith immediately before) and get a drop on that to transfer to your oil cup. Of course oilers always get cleaned in pith before going into the oil cup too.

Years ago, Elgin packaged M56b, still one of the finest all around synthetic oils for pocket watches, in bottles with a very fine dropper spout. I actually still use a lot of M56b-in fact my cups generally have Moebius 8200 grease, Elgin M56b oil, and Moebius 941 escapement oil-since about all I work on are pocket watches(small pocket watches or large wrist watches get 9020, small wristwatches generally get 9010).

 

[zrxkawboy]

I think some here would be shocked at the price of watch oils. 2ml for $50 is pretty standard for some.

Thick or thin?

 

[JavierH19]

Not a big watch guy but i like not having to pull a phone out to check the time especially with dirty hands at work but want something that works great and doesn't cost much to replace so I wear walmart casios. Even though they're dirt cheap i've grown to love them over the two decades i've been wearing them almost daily.

 

[Tom NJ]

I removed my wrist watch when I retired 19 years ago and have gone "watchless" and "phoneless" since. I finally decided a pocket watch would suit my minimal needs and became fascinated with old gold railroad pocket watches. Did a lot of shopping at auction sites, until I learned how inaccurate they are. Perhaps being off by 30 seconds a week is acceptable to railroad men, but as a scientist that would drive me bananas.

I wound up buying this quartz watch for a mere $140 and love it. I don't know what the accuracy specification is, but mine is fast by only 2 seconds a month. Every two months I set it 2 seconds slow so it is always within 2 seconds of the real time. Yeah, I know, I yam who I yam!

 

[k1xv]

The Hamilton 992B is nice. I own about a dozen of them, all working. But I also own about five Hamilton 950b pocket watches, including two early 1940s production with the "gold train" movement,

 

[uc50ic4more]

I think some here would be shocked at the price of watch oils. 2ml for $50 is pretty standard for some.

I've always understood that "old" watches need to be wound and run every few months to prevent the oils from gumming up; "newer" watches (I don't know where/when the line separating "old" and "new" is) use oils that don't do this. I wonder if "old" watches can be serviced with oils that do not gum up like that.

 

[bunnspecial]

I've always understood that "old" watches need to be wound and run every few months to prevent the oils from gumming up; "newer" watches (I don't know where/when the line separating "old" and "new" is) use oils that don't do this. I wonder if "old" watches can be serviced with oils that do not gum up like that.

Up until probably the 1940s, nearly all high quality watch lubricants were whale oil based.

Hamilton and Elgin both did a lot of work up to and during WWII on synthetic lubricants, and if I'm not mistaken started using them pretty heavily on war contract watches.

Post WWII, synthetics pretty well took over, but a lot of older watchmakers still held out with whale oil as long as they could. Nye was one of the big producers of it, but I'm not aware of any current production. I have some bottles kicking around, but they're not usable. I seriously doubt anyone halfway competent would use anything but synthetic.

Whale oil will start to oxidize pretty rapidly once applied, and will gum up within a few years. A watch serviced with whale oil that you find "in the wild" will likely run poorly if at all. When whale oil oxidizes, it eventually will crystalize and you quite literally have to chip it off the jewels. No cleaning solution or cleaning machine that I've found will do much more than soften it up a bit. I've taken watches apart where I had to use a bit of lighter fluid or some other not-usually-recommended solvent just to initially loosen the pivots from the jewels, and before I started doing that on ones that show themselves to be stubborn, I even broke a couple of pivots or jewels just trying to get them apart.

As far as I'm aware, regular running won't stop oils from "gumming up" in any meaningful way.

With that said, older cases are not particularly dustproof, and servicing for one worn regularly is generally recommended every ~2 years or so. Basically I'd consider waterproof wristwatch cases to be the dividing line between "old" and "new" for purposes here. Of course there are different degrees of waterproof, and something like a Rolex Oyster case is a whole different beast from something with simpler seals.

 

[Passport1]

I had several pocket watches when I was a boy on the farm. Needed to know when to come in from the field for lunch as tractors had no clocks. I think they were cheap Benrus or Timex watches.

Today I have lots of watches from inexpensive to high end Swiss. I have for years loved clocks. Now my wall clocks are where I go to tell time. I have a hundred year old Japanese school clock that a dying friend bequeathed me. He bought it in Osaka and brought it home. I had it repaired and it is very accurate.

My wife's father left her a German anniversary clock which the local clockmaker got to run again. It will run ~6 weeks then needs rewinding. I think the mainspring is jammed. I also have a Matthew Normal clock my brother got me for a wedding gift. It is still running after almost 50 years. Got a very entertaining Seiko chime clock for Christmas.

Always looking for another wall clock. BTW, I discovered I have a watch featured in the Bond movie 'Live and Let Die'



Youtube

 

[PWMDMD]

I'm much more of a watch enthusiast than I am a watch collector. I like to read about them, watch Youtube videos, and in particular I like videos where someone restores an old watch with sentimental value that has been neglected but found its way to a new owner who will take care of it now.

My collection is small - a hand me down 1987 Rolex Datejust from my deceased FIL, a Tag Link that was a wedding gift, a Citizen Eco Drive that for the price is one my favorites, a Seiko automatic, and my daily a Tudor BB 41 monochrome on a 5-link bracelet. The Tudor is METAS certified and it gains about 10 seconds over a month which is superb for the price. My pragmatic side won't allow me to collect anymore since I already have every possible situation where I'd need a watch covered.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Up until probably the 1940s, nearly all high quality watch lubricants were whale oil based.

Hamilton and Elgin both did a lot of work up to and during WWII on synthetic lubricants, and if I'm not mistaken started using them pretty heavily on war contract watches.

Post WWII, synthetics pretty well took over, but a lot of older watchmakers still held out with whale oil as long as they could. Nye was one of the big producers of it, but I'm not aware of any current production. I have some bottles kicking around, but they're not usable. I seriously doubt anyone halfway competent would use anything but synthetic.

Whale oil will start to oxidize pretty rapidly once applied, and will gum up within a few years. A watch serviced with whale oil that you find "in the wild" will likely run poorly if at all. When whale oil oxidizes, it eventually will crystalize and you quite literally have to chip it off the jewels. No cleaning solution or cleaning machine that I've found will do much more than soften it up a bit. I've taken watches apart where I had to use a bit of lighter fluid or some other not-usually-recommended solvent just to initially loosen the pivots from the jewels, and before I started doing that on ones that show themselves to be stubborn, I even broke a couple of pivots or jewels just trying to get them apart.

As far as I'm aware, regular running won't stop oils from "gumming up" in any meaningful way.

With that said, older cases are not particularly dustproof, and servicing for one worn regularly is generally recommended every ~2 years or so. Basically I'd consider waterproof wristwatch cases to be the dividing line between "old" and "new" for purposes here. Of course there are different degrees of waterproof, and something like a Rolex Oyster case is a whole different beast from something with simpler seals.

Thanks for the info!

Next: What is the OCI for whale oil in a sub-compact?

 

[bunnspecial]

As a couple of random thoughts on the Hamilton 992B, 950B, and derivative movements(3992B, 4992B, Ball 999B):

A typical American watch prior to these still had a lot of hand fitting of parts as the watch moved through the factory. To help keep things straight, aside from using assembly trays(which kept all the parts for normally 10 movements together), major parts like bridges/plates and the balance wheel carried at least partial if not complete serial numbers.

By the time the 992B and all the related movements came along, Hamilton's tolerances were such that this was no longer needed. Initially, the balance wheel still carried a serial number, but this was eliminated a few years into production. The only serial number present was the one on the pillar plate. Reportedly Hamilton wanted to get rid of it completely(and they did on wristwatches as well as the few non-Railroad pocket watches still in production) but the railroads/watch inspectors pushed back on that. Other makers did get to the point of being able to not number parts, but Hamilton did it first and arguably, at least for as long as American manufacturing held on, did it best.

The same basic pillar plate(main plate) was used for this whole series of watches-the standard 992B(21j, RR grade lever set), 950B(23j RR grade lever set), 999B(21j RR grade lever set for Ball), 4992B(24h black dial, 22j, sweep seconds, pendant set), and 3992B(like a 4992B but 12 hour). Each watch model, though, carried its own unique serial number. The first 992B was C001 and all subsequent serial numbers started with C. The 950B, similarly, started with S001. The 999Bs all carried 1B serial numbers, 4C for the 4992B, and 3C for the 3992B.

Hamilton apparently massively over-produced 950B and 4992B pillar plates that they kept in inventory, both of which were discontinued years before the 992B(the 4992B and 3992B were military contract watches, primarily WWII era).

In any case, though, there are verified reports of some 992Bs being assembled and sold with parts on hand into 1970 if not 1971. Most of these carried either 4C or S serial numbers, as the stock of C-series pillar plates was depleted but the factory still had plenty of the other plates on-hand. I've seen at least one 992B with an S serial number and a jeweler's receipt showing a 1969 sales date. I've handled a dozen or so of these very late watches-they are quite interesting.

 

[robbobster]

Since someone mentioned wall clocks…

 

[ChrisMU]

Wife bought me this Seiko while she was visiting Japan. Vendor said it was only available in Japan… but I have my doubts. I like the watch though. My dad was a power plant mechanic and said Seikos were one of the few reasonably-priced watches that held up under the abuse.

 

[KrisZ]

I like to look outside the main brands, there are tons of cool watches at very reasonable prices.

Like this AVI-8 aviator style watch that is a homage to the Hawker Hurricane and the Squadron 303 that fought in the Battle of Britain

 

[Al]

Breitling Navitimer:
Bought it used at a high end jeweler. I know I paid to much..$4990. The wife was not interested in me buying another watch (to say the least). When we were in the store (she did not want to go in). We were getting ready to leave, when she said "come back and look at this one". She fell in love with it.

What could I do (this watch is for me). I know I should have done more research. But I have looked at Breitling in the past. I thought some day maybe I would buy one. I will never tell her we paid too much. (we are 80 and money is really not a concern at all). She loves it on me and money can't buy certain things!!!!