my best movement... so far

[Magnum Wheel Man]

newest ( to me ) watch, I just picked up a 1904-05 18S Bunn Special... 21 Jewels in GJS, adjusted 6 positions, plus temp & Iso serial 1788377... probably a gold meld down orphan, but someone stuck it in a nice heavy Duber sterling hinged crystal open face case... ( I like the hinged front with the lever set, works better for me, for occasional use, than the screw fronts ) seems to run great, hands are probably the weakest point on the watch, the minute hand has a little corrosion, face has one faint hair line on the triple sunk dial, the back of case had engraving, thats pretty worn, but I like it alot... will have to get it in for a clean & lube... ( no scratching on the case, so no idea when it was last serviced, or if that would have been on this movement )


this has been a bad couple years on the scrapping of nice watch cases... I'd love to have "one" gold watch case, but there is just no way I can afford a nice movement in a gold case, at this point in my life... maybe someday, if they don't all get scrapped

anyone able to tell me anything about this one ?? maybe what type of case it would have been in originally??

 

[ben_hutcherson]

Nice watch...I really like the 18 size Bunn Specials.

Your dial, of course, appears to be correct for the watch. The hairlines would likely soak out to make the dial look even better, just don't go overboard as I've had signatures fade on Illinois dials when soaked too long.

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

1st off... thank you... If you click the pic of the face & zoom the pic, you can't really see the hairline... ( the hairline goes through the 9 ) it looks pretty nice the way it is... might try to find a new/ better pair of blued hands... as far as not being in the correct case... I like sterling cases ( this one weighs almost a 1/2 lb with the watch in it ) it would have been nice if the back weren't so worn, but the hinged crystal with the lever set makes the back worth putting up with, not to have to unscrew the crystal

 

[ben_hutcherson]

I agree that the dial doesn't look that bad, and I think that you might be a bit shocked to see what a dial in that condition would bring not on a watch. If it were mine I'd leave it as-is, I was just offering you an alternative if it bothers you.

Original cases are definitely nice, but I personally wouldn't get too stressed out about a railroad watch not having one. The case on yours looks like it complements the watch nicely.

By the way, keep your eyes open for your gold case and you might be surprised at what turns up. When I started three years ago, I thought that I would never own one either. I've owned several since, a couple of which I've kept and several others of which I've sold to other collectors who I trusted wouldn't scrap them.

 

[ben_hutcherson]

I should also add that there are folks out there who will polish and reblue hands. Since the ones you have now appear to be of the correct style, that might be a better alternative. PM me for more information.