This is from my husband's family and I would love to get some info if possible. It has a number N3473 and the date 1941 on the face. If anyone could tell me when it was made, I would really appreciate it. Also, it says to cork before shipping. Where would I get such cork? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The Hamilton records show it sold on Mar 16th 1944 under contract 64-19421. To cork the balance, the bezel over the dial must be unscrewed and the movement removed from its tub. If you had cork wedges as shown in the picture in the back of the box, you could use them as shown. Dewey probably has better advice, but I normal put some stiff paper folded over through the balance when shipping these. The tub also needs to be removed from the box for shipping after securing the balance. There is a protective device on many of these that was added later by Naval Stores so its presence is not noted in the factory description. If that is present, it can be used to secure the balance.
Thank you very much. If I ship it, must I unscrew the bezel, the guy at the ship place said he's shipped these before and they use a piece of styrofoam and some tissue paper and got no damage (I'm just a little nervous).
If the chronometer does not have the external arresting device on the bottom of the tub, it must be secured manually by removing the movement from the tub, securing the balance from moving and putting it back in the tub. If one is careful, the tub with the movement in it can be placed inside the box with adequate padding. However, it should be removed from the gimbals. The reason is that the two screws that hold the tub in the gimbals will get movement shocks no matter how well packed the interior is. The mass of the tub will cause them to come loose and bang about. You can flip the tub upside down in the gimbals and take a picture of the bottom, we can tell you whether or not it has a locking device. It shows as a second opening on the bottom that accepts a hex shaft to move the device inside the tub (if it is there). If it were mine, I would only ship it first class registered mail to ensure that no one will throw it across a room. Each USPS employee who handles the package must first sign for it in the permanent log.
