Please try to answer a Newbie's questions

[Elaine]

I have a 1918 Waltham HC Pocket Watch. I went to the Waltham DB lookup and the model is 94, the material is A (which I learned is adjusted) The Grade is No. 235, Size 12 17 Jewels, Bal.:19 Also there is a comment line with the number 97.
Is there a key to explain what the comment "97" means-or does someone know? Also, is Bal the balance (sorry I'm real new at this).
Mine is a nice HC, medium nice detailing and has an inscription on the inner middle case "From XXX to XXX 1918"
The hands are blue moon hands and the 2nd aux. is single sunk w/ black arrow hand. The composite dial is Roman numbers and the 2nd. aux is Arabic (or are they called Turkish). I don't know the proper name/terminology.
Other than my questions regarding the look up info., do you think the hands are original or is there some way to find this out. I bought a pocket watch off ebay one time and upon close, close exam realized the min. & hour hands were 2 different colors (one navy blue,the other black). I know the cases were made by others and that jewelers inserted the watch into the case the customer selected.
I'm sorry about so many questions but I think I know something and then realize there's something new about it that I didn't know.
And I am so glad I found this site and all the web links are wonderful. I even went to the barrygolberg watchguide for grades & descriptions but couldn't find my watch there.
Since my watch is a model 94 (from the waltham db lookup) but listed on Goldberg watchguide there isn't a model 94 listed under size 12. There are model 1894's, would that be the one I would refer to since the last 2 numbers are the same?
Thank you so much & I know this is LOOOOONG winded, but talking always has been my best subject! LOL Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

[Elaine]

I have a 1918 Waltham HC Pocket Watch. I went to the Waltham DB lookup and the model is 94, the material is A (which I learned is adjusted) The Grade is No. 235, Size 12 17 Jewels, Bal.:19 Also there is a comment line with the number 97.
Is there a key to explain what the comment "97" means-or does someone know? Also, is Bal the balance (sorry I'm real new at this).
Mine is a nice HC, medium nice detailing and has an inscription on the inner middle case "From XXX to XXX 1918"
The hands are blue moon hands and the 2nd aux. is single sunk w/ black arrow hand. The composite dial is Roman numbers and the 2nd. aux is Arabic (or are they called Turkish). I don't know the proper name/terminology.
Other than my questions regarding the look up info., do you think the hands are original or is there some way to find this out. I bought a pocket watch off ebay one time and upon close, close exam realized the min. & hour hands were 2 different colors (one navy blue,the other black). I know the cases were made by others and that jewelers inserted the watch into the case the customer selected.
I'm sorry about so many questions but I think I know something and then realize there's something new about it that I didn't know.
And I am so glad I found this site and all the web links are wonderful. I even went to the barrygolberg watchguide for grades & descriptions but couldn't find my watch there.
Since my watch is a model 94 (from the waltham db lookup) but listed on Goldberg watchguide there isn't a model 94 listed under size 12. There are model 1894's, would that be the one I would refer to since the last 2 numbers are the same?
Thank you so much & I know this is LOOOOONG winded, but talking always has been my best subject! LOL Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

[Kent]

Elaine:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board and congratulations on learning a lot in a short amount of time!

Yes, Bal stands for Balance.

Yes model 94 is shorthand for model `94 or model 1894 (during most of its life, Waltham named the model for the year in which it was designed). In case you haven't realized it yet, the model of a movement is the overall design of the movement. Although there may be some variations of specific models from some manufacturers, the model defines the layout of the (gear) train which usually determines the size and shape of the plates and/or bridges. The model design also includes the design of the vast majority of the parts.

The grade of a movement is the identification of the level of quality to which it is finished. This can get confusing because although some manufacturers assigned a grade name or number to a movement of a specific size, jeweling and finish, other manufacturers assigned a name to a whole range of movements of various sizes and jeweling, but finished to the same level of quality. Still other manufacturers did this, but then assigned individual grade numbers to movements of each different size and jewel count, assigning different numbers as improvements were incorporated. To confuse things further, the quality of a grade may have been upgraded (or downgraded) as the years passed by. This is similar to what was later done by the auto industry, wherein a specific make and model would be upgraded over the years.

Watch movement grades reflect the amount labor that went into them. There is some relationship to the cost of materials, but the greater cost was the labor to finish and adjust the parts to the precision necessary for good timekeeping and, to a lesser extent, the pleasing appearance of the movement. For cases, the value of the material was a much greater proportion, with some extra labor going into engraved designs.

Thus, a number of different quality grades can be created within a single model design. One way to do so is to add jewels. Starting with seven jewels, generally the least number used in what is considered to be a jeweled watch, jewels are added up to twenty-three, and sometimes more. The jewels provide long-wearing, low-friction surfaces for the pivots and adding jewels, up to nineteen, demonstrably improves timekeeping. The actual timekeeping improvement in going from nineteen to twenty-one jewels is debatable and improvement from additional jeweling beyond that is almost purely theoretical. The jewels themselves have little intrinsic value. The real cost of adding jewels is in the labor required to mount them in the plates and other parts of the watch. Higher grade movements can also be built on the same model by adding to the level of adjustment. The more finely a movement is adjusted, the more labor is required. A micrometer regulator (sometimes referred to as a patented regulator), necessary for providing a precise means for which to set the overall rate, is another expense that goes into higher grade watches. Additional labor is also required to improve the aesthetic appearance of higher grade watches. People who pay for more expensive watches expect them to look better than cheaper watches. This was done by using nickel, or nickel plated, plates in lieu of gilded plates; by damaskeening the plates, or using more extensive damaskeening; by using gilded screws, regulators, and other minor parts; and by furnishing a double-sunk dial in lieu of a single-sunk dial. All of these means of creating a higher grade can be built upon the same model which was used to make the least costly jeweled watch. Thus, a 21-jewel railroad grade movement (adjusted to temperature and 5 or 6 positions) typically cost twice as much as a 17-jewel movement of the same model that was only adjusted to temperature.

You can see a catalog sheet with Waltham's description of its grade No. 235, and where it fit into Waltham's product line at:
http://elginwatches.org/scans/sales_catalogs/1917_Oskamp-Nolting/m_pg_W5.html
(you should copy this link and paste it in your browser address bar since directly linking to this website from the NAWCC Message Board is not possible)

The number in the seconds bit (dial) are properly called Arabic.

I'm not all that familiar with 12-size Waltham watches and I don't have pictures or ads from that era that I can post. But, if you can post a picture of the dial and hands, perhaps somebody else can comment on them. Larry Jones has written up a useful article on Image Posting (http://www.larjones.com/data/imagehelp.html), which may be helpful.

Or, when you click on the Reply button, at the lower right-hand corner of the bottom post in a thread, the Reply To: box that opens has a toolbar at its top. The right-hand icon on the toolbar is a paperclip. Clicking upon the paperclip icon will open a box that allows you to select a picture file to attach to your post. Use the Browse button to navigate to the location in which the picture file resides and select it.

If you have a problem posting the picture(s), you can attach it (them) to an e-mail to me (you can get my email address by clicking on my name in the upper left-hand corner of this post and viewing my Public Profile) and I'll post it (them) for you.

Good luck,
Kent

That guy down in Georgia :smile:

[Don Dahlberg]

Model 94 is short for Model 1894, the year the model was designed. The first of this model had serial number 7073001. From serial number 13589001 it was also called the Colonial Series.

Waltham did have "moon hands" or more commonly called "Breguet hands" for their 12 size watches. They are shown in all parts catalogs along with several other styles (five styles total). Obviously, the colors should match.

I do not know what the Bal. code is about. The balance is of the temperature compensating type where the there are splits cut just next to the balance spokes. Waltham called these "expansion balances". As the temperature rises, the hairspring weakens and the watch slows down. Notice that the balance ring is brass on the outside and steel on the inside. As the temperature increases brass expands more than steel forcing the ring inwards. This increases the speed of the balance (like a spinning iceskater bringing their arms inward) and partically compensates for the slowing from the weakening hairspring. Thus the watch is "adjusted for temperature".

[Elaine]

Kent & Don,
Thank you so much for your thorough explanations! I have tons of notes, print outs of your responses plus printouts of anything I find for reference. I cannot believe how much knowledge is involved with pocket watches (or any horology) and I appreciate both of you sharing some of your talents with me! Thanks so much & Have a wonderful Holiday Season,
Elaine

[Jerry Treiman]

Just a brief correction to note -- Waltham's "Colonial Series" movement used most of the same parts as the 1894 12-size, but is not the same watch. It has the same back plates, but the front (dial) plate is 14-size. I posted more information on the various Waltham 12-size watches on another message board - http://www.mcintyre.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1410

Jerry Treiman
member, chapters 174 & 185