case part Ezra C. Fitch patent examples - Resilient dial foot - G. W. Ladd

[Tom McIntyre]

[pdf]471229[/pdf] I want to buy examples of items patented by Ezra C. Fitch. I gave a presentation on Fitch for the Ward Francillon Time Symposium in Houston several years ago. I also made a presentation based on that earlier talk that you can view.

The items I am seeking are all included in the presentation, but some of them I already have. the ones I am looking for are in the following posts.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

Fitch patented a dial foot design that uses a hollow tube for the dial foot and pointed screws in the normal dial screw positions to hold the dial in place.

This device looks just like any other dial when the watch is assembled, but when you take the watch apart, you can see that the screw pierces the hollow tube foot so that the tube stays round while the screws is inserted. The idea was to avoid distorting the foot, which often (or at least sometimes) caused the dial foot to bend and crack the dial enamel.

I do not have an example to show and have not seen one on a Waltham watch nor heard of one on a Waltham. I have heard they were used by Elgin.

I will buy the dial, or the dial and movement, or the complete watch if you have one. Please use the conversation system to contact me. (Click on my picture to the left and then click "Start Conversation.")

 

[Tom McIntyre]

Fitch holds the key patents for the Waltham dust proof watch case. There are lots of examples of the case and its many variants. However, Fitch also patented a removable bezel with a simple tool for inserting and removing the bezel to secure crystals of varying thickness.

The picture of the wrench is from @Jerry Treiman's example, but I would like to have on of my own. Please contact me if you have one to sell.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

@Jerry Treiman has given me his bezel wrench and it may be the only one in existence. If another one shows up, I would like to replace Jerry's

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I have a really nice Rockford 15 Ruby movement that was from Fred Selchow's collection that I recently had repaired. I would like to find a G. W. Ladd hunting case for it. It should have the lever slot at 5:00. I would be willing to pay the price of 8K gold for it.