Any advice for newbie owner of a Waltham Model 1883?

Hi,

I recently acquired a Waltham model 1883, with a 820 grade movement. The watch seems to be in perfect working order and seems very accurate. I guess the main reason I got the watch is that I work in Waltham MA, about 4 blocks from where the former Waltham factory was located, and almost across the street from the Charles River Museum. According to the serial number database the watch was made in 1898.

Here are some pictures:
the movement
hallmarks
the case
the face

Should I have the watch maintained in some way (cleaned and lubricated)?
If so is there a good place in the Boston metro area, or southern New Hampshire that anyone could recommend?
If you examine the picture of the movement you will note that there is a spot of green copper oxide in the 2 o'clock position. If it were a copper coin I would use nail polish remover (dilute acetone) and a cotton swab to gently clean it up so it doesn't keep reacting with the copper in the metal alloy. Is that the right thing to do with the watch?
Any other advice any experienced antique watch collectors care to give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Steve P.

[Kent]

Steve:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!

The American Waltham Watch Co. (Waltham, MA) had its origins in the 1850's. It was the first successful company in America to manufacture watches in mass production using machinery to make identical (or at least, near identical) parts. Over the next hundred years or so of its existence, its output of jeweled watches (over 34 million) was only exceeded by one other company, the National Watch Co. at Elgin, IL. Commonly referred to as "Waltham," the company made a full line of watches ranging from modest, affordable watches to some of the finest watches made in this country. An 1884 article on the American Watch Co. is available on Greg Frauenhoff's website.

As you apparently already learned, you can find out some basic facts about your Waltham watch by entering the serial number on the movement (the "works") in the field on the [colour=brown]Serial Number[/colour] link accessable from the NAWCC Information Storage website. Don't use any commas in entering the serial number. There is also a Glossary of the terms provided by the serial number lookup. Note: When a number appears by itself in the Comment Column, it is the page in the factory serial list where the entry and explaination appeared. i.e. "Comment 42" is on page 42 of “Serial Numbers With Description of Waltham Watch Movements,� Waltham Watch Co., Waltham, MA, 1954, (commonly referred to as "The Gray Book"). Or, a similar search may be done at the Swiss - Waltham Website. This website also has a short history of the American Waltham Watch Co. and other interesting information.

Should the date not be listed in the search of the NAWCC Information Storage - Waltham Serial Number Data Base, Oldwatch.com's Waltham Production Date Chart, or the PocketWatchSite's Waltham Date Table are a means for determining the approximate production date. In general, we think of serial number lists (not just for Waltham, but for other watch manufacturers as well) to only be accurate within a year or two at best, and recognize that there are numerous exceptions wherein which the dates may be off as much as 3 years or more.

You can see a picture of the movement, the catalog description and where the grade No. 820 fit into Waltham's line of 18-size watches on page 76 the 1903 Oy Company Catalog at:
[colour=brown]www.elginwatches.com/scans/sales_catalogs/1903_Oy_Company/m_index.html[/colour]

[colour=blue]To view, go to the [/colour][colour=brown]Elgin Watch Collectors Site Home Page[/colour] [colour=blue]at[/colour] [colour=brown]elginwatches.org[/colour], [colour=blue]then copy and paste the address in your browser's address bar and click on [/colour]'Go'.

Only a small percentage of American watches (or Swiss watches for the North American market) were cased at the factories prior to the mid-1920's (even then, uncased movements were furnished to the trade at least until the 1960's). Most watch companies just made movements (the "works") in industry standard sizes. The case companies made cases in those same sizes. The practice at that time was to go to a jeweler, select the quality of the movement and then pick out the desired style and quality of case. The jeweler would then fit the movement to the case in a matter of moments.

Or, watches were sold by mail-order. Large outfits such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, or T. Eaton (in Canada), would offer the movements in a variety of cases of different design and quality in their catalogs. Smaller mail-order retailers would case the watches, typically in a 20-year gold filled case and offer it only that way, with the buyer not having a choice of cases.

Note: The grade of a case is the quality of the materials and work that went into it. Each case grade was offered in many different engraved designs.

A short history of American watch cases, within the online article "[color=blue]Decorative Aspects of American Horology[/colour]," by Philip Poniz, can be viewed on The Antiquorum Magazine website.

The following chronology and information is from "History of the American Watch Case," Warren H. Niebling, Whitmore Publishing, Philadelphia, PA, 1971 (available on loan by mail to members from the NAWCC Library & Research Center), with [colour=blue]additional notes in blue based upon an article in an 1889 issue of The Keystone, posted by Greg Frauenhoff, 30-Apr-04[/colour] and [colour=brown]quotes in brown, based upon the online article [/colour]"Decorative Aspects of American Horology," [colour=brown]by Philip Poniz, on The Antiquorum Magaizine Website[/colour]:

1853 - Randolf & Reese Peters were making cases in Philadelphia, employing James Boss.

1859 - J. Boss received a patent for "spinning up" cases made of "gold-filled" type material. That is, material made of a sheet of composition metal (usually brass) sandwiched between two thin sheets of gold. [colour=brown]Boss formed cases by rolling sheet metal as opposed to the traditional method involving soldering and cutting. Rolling increased the molecule density of the metal. His patent, No. 23,820 of May 3, 1859, revolutionized the watch case industry by enabling the production of not only less expensive, but considerably stronger cases. ... Unlike gold washed cases, which were made using electroplating, cases produced by means of rolling had much harder gold surfaces and were thus less apt to wear.[/colour]

1871 - J. Boss sold patent rights to John Stuckert of Philadelphia.

1875 - T.B. Hagstoz & Charles N. Thorpe formed Hagstoz & Thorpe, purchasing the manufacturing facilities ([colour=blue]within which, 12 employees produced 6 cases per day at 618 Chesnut St.[/colour]) and "J. Boss" patent from the estate of John Stuckert. Hagstoz & Thorpe seems to have made only gold-filled cases using the J. Boss patented method.

1876+ - [colour=brown]... orders increased so rapidly that larger quarters became necessary immediately. The landlord of their first premises, 618 Chestnut Street, was George W. Childs, ... When Childs’ learned of his tenants’ need for more work space, he offered $100,000 and became a silent third partner. A new plant on Brown Street was erected ...[/colour]

[colour=blue]1877 - E. Tracy, a manufacturer of solid gold and silver watch cases, was acquired.[/colour]

[colour=blue]1880 - the company moved to a six story building on Nineteenth St., with an equal-size annex on Wylie St.[/colour]

1883 - 1885 - T.B Hagstoz withdrew from the company which became C.N. Thorpe Co. and shortly thereafter it was reorganized as the Keystone Watch Case Co.

[colour=blue]1887 - the Nineteenth St. building was almost doubled in size and a four story adjacent building was occupied by Keystone.[/colour]

[colour=blue]1889 - the firm was producing 1,500 cases per day.[/colour]

Keystone then went on to absorb other case companies (and several watch companies). For example, Jerry Treiman reported (In a Message Board Thread About a U.S. Watch Co. Watch) that "... the history provided in legal documents for the anti-trust case against Keystone ... states that all of the capital stock of a newly organized Philadelphia Watch Case Co. (August 1900) was owned by Keystone. Thus, Keystone become one of the largest case manufacturers in the country. The combined company built a large factory in Riverside, NJ in 1907. Keystone stayed in business another 80+ years.

"J. Boss" or"Jas. Boss" cases are gold-filled, guaranteed for 15 (maybe), 20 or 25 years. A 1907 Keystone Ad shows their balance (scale) & crown trade mark used on their 25-year Jas. Boss (J. Boss) cases, and the plain balance trade mark identifying their 20-year J. Boss cases.

Watches that are carried daily need to be cleaned and oiled at regular intervals. Railroad time service rules varied, but requirements for cleaning on a basis of once every year and a half were typical for railroaders at the turn of the century. By the mid-1920’s this was extended to two year intervals.

The “Sears, Roebuck and Co., Inc. Catalogue No. 104,� Chicago, IL, 1897, reprinted by Chelsea House, Philadelphia, PA, 1968 had this to say on page 371:

“We Guarantee for Five Years All the movements sold by us. This does not refer to the life of the movement, but that we will for five years from date of purchase, correct free of charge any fault which may occur from defective material or workmanship. Any well made movement will run a lifetime if properly cared for.
“Remember That your watch should not run longer than one and one-half years without having the old oil cleaned off and fresh oil supplied. This must be done at the expense of the purchaser.
“The balance wheel of all modern watches makes 18,000 beats or revolutions per hour; 432,000 per day, or 157,788,000 per year. An engine or sewing machine will be oiled several times per day, but we have known people to carry a watch for ten years without having it cleaned or fresh oil applied.
“Usually, a movement thus treated is of no value, being entirely worn out. Take good care of your watch if you wish it to perform its duty properly, for it is a very delicate machine. Our charge for cleaning and oiling is 75 cents. The regular retail price is $1.50.�

Watch cleaning and oiling costs a bit more today than it did a hundred years ago. Check out What You Need To Know About Watch Repair at Wayne Schlitt's Elgin Website:
[color=brown]www.midwestcs.com/elgin/help/watch_repair.html[/colour]
[color=blue]To view, go to the [/colour][color=brown]Elgin Watch Collectors Site Home Page[/colour] [color=blue]at[/colour] [color=brown]elginwatches.org[/colour], [color=blue]then copy and paste the address in your browser's address bar and click on [/colour]'Go'.

Also, check out Frequently Asked Questions on the Pocket Watch Site.

Also, Ed Ueberall, of The Escapement has put together some notes on the Use And Care of Your Vintage Watch that should be helpful.

[colour=blue]Service Frequency[/colour]
If the watch is run continually, a cleaning and oiling is needed every 3-5 years. If you're only going to wear your watch occasionally, this ought to be done once at the onset and about every ten years thereafter. If you're not going to carry it (or run it), don't bother getting it serviced. Many of the watches in my collection (that aren't run) haven't been cleaned and oiled in 20 or 30 years or more.

Good luck,

Thanks Kent! That is all very useful information not only for me, but for any new antique pocket watch owner.

[Don Dahlberg]

You might find a good watchmaker through the local chapter of NAWCC. Go to http://www.nawcc.org/headquarters/ch...#Massachusetts and contact one of the officers of your local chapter. You might also check out the NAWCC link page at http://www.nawcc.org/headquarters/memlinks.htm

Just because someone is a member of NAWCC does not make them a good watchmaker. No matter who recommends a watchmaker, you need to quiz the watchmaker on vintage watches, their history and care. First I would ask about the watch. Who made it and the grade and so on. Now you know the answers to these quesions, does he? It is OK if they look some things up in books or internet. The fact is that they know something about vintage watches and know where to look for information at least tells you that they might care about restoration rather than a quick fix.

Second I would ask how he/she overhauls a watch. Some clean a watch by removing the movement from the case, removing the dial and "cleaning" in an ultrasonic cleaner with a combination cleaner oiling solution. This does not allow them to inspect the parts for damage and spreads oil in place it should not be.

A proper overhaul involves taking the watch down to all moving parts, about 50 pieces. Cleaning the watch in a mechanical or ultasonic cleaner with a watch cleaning solution, followed by three rinses. The parts are dried, and inspected. Damaged parts are repaired or replaced. The watch is reassembled and oiled properly. The watch is then adjusted appropriate to the grade. Finally the watch is tested for several days including running the watch in several positons. A good watchmaker will stand by his/her work for up to a year. It costs money to do all this work, because it take several hours. In my part of the country, they charge from $80 and up, depending on how much is wrong with the watch. There is always something wrong with a watch that has not been serviced by a good watchmaker in the last few years.

As Kent said if you do not plan to have it serviced right away, you are doing no harm as long as you do not run the watch.

Don