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Search results

  1. Andrew Wilde

    Wm Webster lace-edge centre seconds cylinder 1760s - what's missing ?

    Hi John, thanks for further description and pointers to the other pictures of the movement. Clearly my speculation that the bridge maybe should be above the lever rather than under it is wrong, but someone has to ask the stupid questions ;-) Nonetheless, it does seem to be a rather elaborate...
  2. Andrew Wilde

    Wm Webster lace-edge centre seconds cylinder 1760s - what's missing ?

    Thanks John. Getting a phone camera to autofocus on the cylinder and pin was a bit hit & miss ! I was just looking again at the balance brake mechanism picture that you posted back up the thread. Is there a cutaway at the centre point of that steel bridge under the lever, i.e. a gap between the...
  3. Andrew Wilde

    Wm Webster lace-edge centre seconds cylinder 1760s - what's missing ?

    Hi Graham - to confirm, the base of the cylinder does indeed have the banking pin, although I don't see anything on the potence that it would "bank" against. Maybe I'd have to disassemble it to find that, which I'm not going to be doing in the short term. My best attempt at a picture below...
  4. Andrew Wilde

    Wm Webster lace-edge centre seconds cylinder 1760s - what's missing ?

    Thanks to all for the replies. Graham, thanks for those pictures - when you see it complete it's all rather obvious, but I'd not seen the motion work on one of these before. The balance brake lever explanation and picture too. The end of the squared arbor locates into a hole in the dial...
  5. Andrew Wilde

    Wm Webster lace-edge centre seconds cylinder 1760s - what's missing ?

    I've been looking for a good representative example of "lace edging" and this arrived recently. The lace edging strongly indicates an early 1760's date (movement and inner gilt case only, so no hallmarks to confirm). It's by William Webster II, rather than his father who in the early 1700s was a...
  6. Andrew Wilde

    James Gooden Helsby watch

    Hi John, Thanks for pointing that out. Not sure how I missed it, but much appreciated and thanks for your patience ... Andy
  7. Andrew Wilde

    James Gooden Helsby watch

    Hi John, I've previously read both, and will take time to read again in case I missed something, but I don't recall the thread reaching a conclusion about JGH's place in the family, nor that Priestley did, nor helping identify the casemaker whose JH mark is very distinctive.... Andy
  8. Andrew Wilde

    James Gooden Helsby watch

    Going back to James Gooden Helsby for a minute - I was just browsing "Your Time" by Alan Treherne and there on page 43 is a pocket watch he attributes to James Gooden Helsby - a Massey IV !
  9. Andrew Wilde

    1829 STR, single banking pin, John Mabyn Read, Helston

    Hi Graham, It doesn't need servicing any time soon so I have no plans to dismantle it. However, it does needs a better set of hands, so when/if I manage to source those , I'll remove the dial and take a picture.... Andy
  10. Andrew Wilde

    1829 STR, single banking pin, John Mabyn Read, Helston

    I picked this up at auction recently. The name on the plate is I M Read, Helston, which I believe is John Mabyn Read, listed as a watchmaker although in this instance he's almost certainly the retailer rather than the maker, given the good quality London finish. I'd spotted what looked like a...
  11. Andrew Wilde

    Must see: Peter Litherland 1792 Rack Lever Patent.... The Actual Document!

    If it had a dial I might try to find a case, but as it is I will probably just get the pivot repair done and leave it at that....Andy
  12. Andrew Wilde

    Must see: Peter Litherland 1792 Rack Lever Patent.... The Actual Document!

    Hi Allan, Here's Litherland Davies & Co, 20996, for the file. I re-discovered it this afternoon in my box of loose Massey movements. It's a Massey 3. Small size, approx 37.5mm across the dial plate, which is also marked T+S, I assume for the frame maker. It has a broken balance pivot but is...
  13. Andrew Wilde

    Waltham 1883 lever-set, keyless mechanism - help !

    Thanks to both of you for your advice on this. The end of the spring has been reshaped to be pointing up at approx 40 degrees. It is aligned so that it is as close to the post as possible without touching it when it's pressed down. I followed the tip to loosen the anchor screw during assembly...
  14. Andrew Wilde

    Waltham 1883 lever-set, keyless mechanism - help !

    Hi, I have a Waltham model 1883 (s/n 7905813 from approx 1896, PS Bartlett 17j), crown wind and lever set. Hand setting wasn't smooth, feeling like some teeth somewhere in the mechanism weren't engaging properly. This is the first lever-set Waltham I've explored, but for the first time in a...
  15. Andrew Wilde

    Please Show the Most Recent Addition to Your Collection

    Hi Clint - just for clarification - is there a suspicion that the barrel bridge with the serial number may not belong to the P S Bartlett plate? ... Andy
  16. Andrew Wilde

    Please Show the Most Recent Addition to Your Collection

    Hi Clint, thanks for your thoughts on the hands and case originality. I had no reason to suspect they weren't, but I've little experience of these early pieces. I will pop the dial off to check for jeweling on the pillar plate, but will enjoy it for a couple of days before I do that. If it's 15...
  17. Andrew Wilde

    Please Show the Most Recent Addition to Your Collection

    I usually hang out on the European pocket watch forum, but I do have an American pocket watch interest - I try to pick up Waltham '57s whenever I find them here in the UK. While not rare, they are unusual here compared to later models. Up until today, my oldest dated to 1867. This arrived in the...
  18. Andrew Wilde

    Must see: Peter Litherland 1792 Rack Lever Patent.... The Actual Document!

    Hi Ethan, The patent marking on your Tobias is almost certainly referring to the (by then) elapsed Litherland patent of 1792., but not because of any legal necessity to do so, due to the licensing agreement terms expiring with the patent. By 1815 I believe it was becoming recognised that having...
  19. Andrew Wilde

    Anonymous English lever fusee: 1846 or 1897?

    I think the style of the case, particularly the edge engraving and the small circle in the centre of the engine turning on the rear cover, point to the earlier date. Also the profile of the bezel, although this may be less of an indication. The hallmark threw me - I would have said definitely...

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