Watches

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My Great Grandfather's Elgin Pocketwatch (imgur.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by Ducks@ducks.dev to c/watches@lemmy.ml

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This is my great grandfather's Elgin pocketwatch circa 1917. My dad gave it to me when I took an interest in watch repair and I repaired this from a slightly rusted and non-working state to at the very least able to run, but the time keeping is not great. It is losing ~50s a day, amplitude is 310*, and beat error is 5.5. I'm not at the point where I feel comfortable messing with the balance and regulating the pocket watch. I am just happy that it runs. I don't have a before picture, but I cleaned up a lot of green rust from part of the dial and case where there was a crack in the crystal and water must have gotten in. I replaced the mainspring because it was domed like an ice cream cone and gave all the parts a nice cleaning and lubricating.

He did serve in WWI in the 307th, but I lean towards thinking that this was waiting for him at home because the condition it was in was pretty good given the age. I also have his WWI map which he did have with him while he was in France, and I display together with the pocketwatch.

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[–] C4d@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Opening up a family heirloom - you’re far braver than I!

Glad it’s worked out well; it looks good in the pictures.

It’s a shame that American-design watchmaking diminished significantly over the second half of the last century, but it’s seemingly making a slow revival now (at least among enthusiasts).

Edit: just reminded myself of the madness of the Devon Tread

[–] Ducks@ducks.dev 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've worked on these pocket watches before opening this one, you can get old (broken) Elgins on ebay fairly inexpensive. They are really simple inside and the parts are very big compared to a wristwatch. It is recommended to start watchmaking on a pocketwatch before going to wristwatches.

All that to say, even with only a few months of experience at the time I fixed this one up I was very confident I could get it running without breaking it. Getting it to run well however, is another thing.

Here are progress pics: https://imgur.com/a/x9GSUTx

[–] C4d@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Thank you for sharing!