Old Schappin verge pocket watch with possible Russian eagle

[pmwas]

I've only just opened the box, so just a few pics I took with my phone...

It's an old verge watch...

The dial is repaired and it's missing the hour hand.
The dial is loose due to the lack of taper pins, but the feet are there. I hope the minute wheel did not fall out, but I can cope even if it did...

Old, thick verge - likely of Swiss origin - marked Peter Schappin. Looks like cicra 1800. More or less...

The interesting feature is the movement finish. Not exactly a work of art of superior quality, rather crudely executed, but this has a two-headed eagle on it...

AFAIK the Austrian eagle grew the second head later on, but either it's Austrian or Russian, and my guess - telling by the presumed age of the watch and the shape of the eagle - is Russia in early 1800s, during the reign of Alexander I...

If so - it's quite a find, Russian watches of the time are rather difficult to find.
In fact, so are Austrian, so if it is indeed Austrian eagle - I guess equally interesting.

If you know anything about Peter Schappin - please post. All you get from google is... this watch on eBay

 

[Bernhard J.]

I love these euphemistic descriptions ... "Dial partially rubbed"

 

[pmwas]

I still did not find time to service the watch, but at least I wanted to try to adjust the beat.
The discovery was disappointing. Apparently someone broke the regulator and it's missing. To adjust rate, he then adjusted the length of the hairspring, without adjusting beat.
I only corrected the beat by re-pinning the hairspring, and I will try to find a regulator for it when I have time...

 

[Incroyable]

I love these euphemistic descriptions ... "Dial partially rubbed"

It's like the Rolex tropical dials.

 

[eri231]

This verge cannot be Russian, because the Russian nobility had high-grade watches see Ericsson. Silver applications were used in Austria and neighboring regions of Germany. In fact this was done with a Raw movement from Germany, Augsburg or Friedberg. Feature the font of the dial.
Regards enrico

 

[pmwas]

This verge cannot be Russian, because the Russian nobility had high-grade watches see Ericsson. Silver applications were used in Austria and neighboring regions of Germany. In fact this was done with a Raw movement from Germany, Augsburg or Friedberg. Feature the font of the dial.
Regards enrico

Augsburg, you say? That fits, as the only link to a Peter Schappin I managed to find leads to Augsburg, with two Peter Schappins - farher and son - living in late 18th to early 19 Century

 

[pmwas]

I replaced the missing regulator.
It’s not a perfect fit, but pretty much works...

I also replaced a balance bridge screw...

Also not a perfect match.

Someone cut the bridge around the 3rd wheel bearing to adjust it it seems.

 

[pmwas]

Ok, so I've disassembled this watch…
High time I cleaned it, lots of dirt inside

I forgot to take a better picture, but notice the fusee is held together by a slide-in fastener. The rectangular shaped part is clearly non original, but I wonder if it was always like it, or if it’s a later modification?

The 1st gear underwent a lot of repairs… as practically every of this particular watch…

The pilar plate is marked IB

Wonder if it’s the original maker or the one who repaired/modified it?

Notice the crudely repair center bearing…

The pillar plate awaits the top plate…

The gilt on the top plate is nice.
On the underside - a small suprise…

Dating the watch to early 1800s, I expected regulated escape wheel bearings, as well as a smaller escape wheel. This here is either older than that, or low quality for the times.

Getting the pivots into the holes was tricky. Of course, I could have removed the bridge on the dial side, but usually it’s not needed.

It’s also interesting how terrible the cuts for the taper pins are. Either Mr Schappin did not care for quality that much, or the pillars were shortened at some point (by IB) to accomodate the silver regulator plate…

The regulator…

…installed and now the balance

The balance wheel is also rather low quality.
The balance cock turned out to be servicable…

The eagle is pressed in.
Also it looks like the cock was also modified to accomodate the eagle. The ruby jewel is oval and crudely cut.

Two screws missing. It’s terribly frustrating to look for a matching screw, I found one for the regulator and redone another for the cock…

The quality of my work on the screw is kinda consistent with the rest of the movement

Now, the dial side…

The cannon pinion is not original for sure…

Cased…

…the watch runs strong with a steady rate. It’s running fast (like one minute an hour), which explains why someone had removed the regulator once.

It’s interesting - the inconsistance of the finish and quality od different parts of the movement and some obsolete solutions in the movement suggests this can be an old watch modified heavily at some point…
It’s also interesting how nicely such busted verge watch can run. Really…

 

[Bernhard J.]

Yes, a verge withstands a lot until it finally stops running .

I would think that the hairspring has a lot too many turns and presumably is thinner (weaker) than the original one.

The rachet wheel on the barrel is wrong (too fine teeth) and looks quite dangerous with the coarse click.

 

[pmwas]

Right - I thought the ratchet wheel is wrong as well, thank you !