Waltham Model 83 Empire State Special Railway

[Grant Perry]

Good morning:

I thought I would take another run at this one…
I am looking for examples of Waltham Empire State Special Railway (ESSR) model 1883s. I know there must be others out there, but I have had little luck in locating any others than the three listed below. Both the movement and dial are marked as Empire State Special Railway. From the serial number span you may be led to believe that there must be many out there; however I believe that these were special request watches pulled from batches for production based on special order. I would like to document other examples and understand (if possible) why and who they were produced for. Any information and/or feedback is appreciated.

S/N 4,677,755 (c1891) (Mine) is a HC, 15 (marked 17) jewel LS Grade 25.
S/N 4,679,303 (c1890) (Current Owner unknown) is an OF, 15 Jewel PS Grade 25.
S/N 6,887,233 (c1896) (Bill Meggers book) is an OF, 17 Jewel PS Grade 87. The 6,887,233 watch appears most often as an example in publications.

Thank you!

Grant

[Grant Perry]

Pictures

[Grant Perry]

Another try....

[Grant Perry]

Final.....

[Grant Perry]

Strange.... Does nobody else have one of these :?|

[Fred Hansen]

I've only seen a very few, and it has been at least a few years since the last one and unfortunately I don't have any new serial or other data to contribute.

I will definitely remember your interest in these though and will post back to this thread if I run across anything.

Fred

p.s. Great watch!

[Grant Perry]

Thank you Fred. I appreciate it.
gp

[Fred Hansen]

Grant -

Serial #4726948 is an open face Empire State Special Railway with the same dial style as your watch. I did not record if it was a 15 or 17 jewel.

Fred

[Grant Perry]

Another Grade 25. Thank you very much Fred for this info. The serial number fits in between the last two that I mentioned above. I wonder if there were any consecutive numbers produced or if they were all "one offs". No availability of pictures I would assume?

S/N 4,677,755 (c1891) HC, 15 (marked 17) jewel LS Grade 25. (pictures-Y)
S/N 4,679,303 (c1890) OF, 15 Jewel PS Grade 25. (pictures-N)
S/N 4,726,948 (c1894) OF, 15 Jewel PS Grade 25. (pictures-N)
S/N 6,887,233 (c1896) (B.Meggers) OF, 17 Jewel PS Grade 87. (pictures-Y)

Thank you!
gp

[IMHO]

Add to the list:

S/N 4,679,327 is an OF, 17 Jewel, PS, Grade 25 (at least, it's Grade 25 per the Waltham lookup table ...)

Dave

[Grant Perry]

Great Dave.
Thank you for adding to the list! Is it marked movement and dial?

S/N 4,677,755 (c1891) HC, 17 (15 in DB) jewel LS Grade 25. (pictures-Y)
S/N 4,679,303 (c1890) OF, 15 Jewel PS Grade 25. (pictures-N)
S/N 4,679,327 (c1890) OF. 17 (15 in DB) jewel PS Grade 25. (pictures-N)
S/N 4,726,948 (c1894) OF, 15 Jewel PS Grade 25. (pictures-N)
S/N 6,887,233 (c1896) (B.Meggers) OF, 17 Jewel PS Grade 87. (pictures-Y)

Best,
Grant

[IMHO]

Yes - my watch is marked with ESSR on the dial and movement, and marked 17 Jewels on the movement as well.

[IMHO]

Pics of SN 4,679,327 attached:

[Grant Perry]

Dave,
Many thanks for the picture. I just noticed it now!
Any other submissions appreciated.
Grant