Waltham 16S 1899 Model 610 grade 7 jewel OF Repair?

[richard mortlock]

I have a movement as above which is missing the staff cap for the third wheel on the rear plate.
But curiously it seems to have jewel inserted instead of a plain metal cap. I don't think the third wheel should be jewelled. Does someone know - was this a commmon form of repair or is it one of those Waltham things when they used up spare parts during manufacture - and I have an extra jewel? I'm curious. Thanks.:?|

[Jerry Treiman]

I have seen an odd jewel replacing a bushing more than once on a low-jeweled Waltham. My guess is that it was probably easier for the watch repairman to find an appropriate jewel in his stock than to order the proper bushing from his material supplier, especially in recent years. I wouldn't expect many repair shops to maintain a stock of watch bushings. Aside from authenticity issues (not critical for most of the cheaper grades) this is probably a good repair choice. I doubt that it was done at the factory.

[Tom McIntyre]

Jerry, I have not looked at the pivot specs, but would have thought the bushed pivots were larger than the jewelled ones.

[Jerry Treiman]

Tom - you are probably right, but it would be a simple matter to polish the lower-grade pivots to fit the jewel. However, I was not even thinking of a factory jewel setting as the replacement. Several that I have seen are more recent friction jewels, which can be had in any hole size.

[richard mortlock]

:cool: Oh well , I bought it for authenticity - but its great I got something extra and a good repair.
Many thanks Jerry T and Tom M.