Help Required for Waltham m1872 KW Chronograph

[Nigel Harrison]

Hello All,

I picked up a reasonably rare Waltham model 1872 kw slide stop chrono export. I was very excited to purchase the watch even though I did know that the sweep second hand was missing.

Once I received the watch and sent it to my watch repairer I soon found out that someone has done a bodgy job of getting the watch back to working order as the person has pulled out some of the chrono wheels just to get the time keeping abilities working. :~(

Here is what my watch repairer in Australia told me when he had a look at it:

There are two wheels missing, one which would fit over
the hour wheel and have the hand attached to it and one that would mesh
with that wheel and also the wheel train. The pictures show it better
than I can explain.

My watch repairer said that if someone could tell him the amount of teeth that should be on the missing chrono wheels he may be able to fix the watch otherwise he would be fighting an uphill battle.

Since this is a rarer watch with only 300 made I am not sure how much luck I will have in getting this repaired.

Does anyone know if I can get these missing parts from anywhere? :?|

Does anyone know about how many teeth should be on the missing wheels and sizes? It may not even be this easy.

Since my watch repairer is not an Amercian Waltham Watch expert is there any Waltham experts in the US that I could send the watch to to have it repaired with confidence?

I will try to post some pictures below of the watch and the problem areas.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Nigel.

[Tom McIntyre]

The chronograph wheels on this movement do not really have teeth. They have several hundred very fine cuts that effectively make them friction wheels.

I will try pulling the dial off one in a day or two to get some pictures.

[Nigel Harrison]

ohh Ok, I know what you mean Tom. Yes I have seen those on other chronos.

Thanks for loooking into getting some pictures. I appreciate it.

Now for the tricky question. Do you know how I can get another set of friction wheels to suit????

Thanks,

Nigel.

[Tom McIntyre]

I don't know where to get them. In fact, I need a set also.

Years ago Pat Caruso had a set that he gave to me for another example that was missing the seconds motion work. I have never seen a loose set except that pair.

[Nigel Harrison]

Thanks for the info Tom, It looks like I could be left with a plain KW 1872 model. I suppose this is still a rarity:)

If you do get the time it would be nice to see a picture of the friction wheels. If my watch repairer is able to see what they look like he may be able to fix it. Don't put yourself out though if it is too much trouble.

Thanks Again,

Nigel.

[mch]

Tom & Nigel,

I unfortunately do not have one of these any more to play with, but suspect that the tooth counts matter. One would expect at least one tooth for every balance beat, or 300 teeth for a 5-beat watch. Next, while the teeth are small, they would still act as teeth rather than friction rollers. The tooth count ratio must be the same as the pitch diameter ratio. They are probably going to be a little trying to count.

The movement is a bit different than a Model 72. There are no pillars on the pillar plate. Instead, the top plates are machined from solid. It is a unique movement, and indeed a scarce item, even scarcer with a case. There was an article on these in the June 1993 Bulletin.

MIke

[Jeff Hess]

ine is missing some parts underdial also. Must have been a bad design. Since so mnay of us are missing underdial parts, does ANYONE have some that we could CAD or somehow make?

just wondering.
Jeff

Also, were they aLL for the English market?

[Jon Hanson]

I have over a handful of these that are complete and running in original cases. There are some variations in the jeweling, etc. and size.

[Fred Hansen]

Also, were they aLL for the English market?

Jeff -

I bought one of these (missing its case) from an Australian seller a few years back, so I would wonder if a few might have been sent that direction.

Definitely neat watches and hopefully someone can come up with a source for the needed parts.

Fred

[Tom McIntyre]

I am pretty sure they all were export and probably went to the English office. As Jon says they were made in at least 3 different jewel counts. I have not seen enough to know about different sizes, but would not be terribly surprised.

I have been busy with computer problems and haven't had time to disassemble the one I have that is complete.

[Luca]

For anyone who cares...I believe this is what it should look like. This is from a 15 jewel version that does run correctly. Albeit the center arbor has very tip broken off but hands still fit.

Luca

24687

[Jon Hanson]

An excellent picture for those that do not have a correct, original watch!

[Fred Hansen]

For those keeping info on these watches, serial 1242133 was listed for a short time on eBay by an English seller before the auction was ended early "because the item is no longer available for sale".

Here is a link to the inactive listing if anyone cares to save its pics/info ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160301072560&indexURL=2#ebayphotohosting

Fred

[Jon Hanson]

touting this "pulled" sale passes on INCORRECT INFORMATION. There were many more made than 50!