Another pocketwatch restoration

Walnut and I have conversed about the ongoing projects. I must say he's got some talent and I wouldn't have been eager to tackle the cylinder escapement a few threads back. That was great to see. It will be neat to see the family heirloom in the adjacent thread come back to life. Since he asked me to post some of my projects I have one of last summer's Covid-stay-at-home restoration projects. It's not completely a "fine" watch but in the spirit of the titled forum perhaps I can say it was a "fine" restoration if I may say so myself....I figured I would highlight some of the techniques good watch repair entails. These techniques can also apply to wristwatches although their design and internal decoration can vary.
I've always been a sucker for big box hunters from the time of the Garfield administration. Well, this one is 6 years newer. I bought this initially to attempt to get good timing since I saw it had timing screws. Many of the full plate American watches of the 1870s or 1880s were robust, indestructible and indispensable for cowboys, smiths, teachers, bankers, drivers and everyone in between. They were not necessarily high-end as the general population could not afford such. This one is an 11 jeweled which was a marketing ploy to make it look better than it was. That is, a few of the wheels are only jeweled on the visible back plate and not the front plate which mechanically makes no sense. Still it is better than a 7 jewel or unjeweled watch. Since I didn't have one of these I was also interested in, as well, to see if timing would suffer from this design.
The watch is gilt which was the style of the day. It prevents tarnishing of the plates. Unfortunately this has been exposed to moisture and many of the steel parts were rusted. I gambled as the internal parts are not visible from initial inspection. Luckily internal wheel work was good but the balance assembly was coated with a fine dusting of rust. Some spotting to the gilt plates are seen. The brass jewel setting on the balance has lost it's luster. Of course if the hairspring is rusted all reasonable timing and temperature compensation will be unreachable. Yet, all is not lost. Tomorrow I'll start to show what was done to bring this back.






Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I decided to tackle the balance and cock assembly first. It is the initial assembly to be removed. Frankly it is usually the last to be dealt with but as the watch was able to run I knew major other repairs were probably not lurking. The regulator arm was abnoxiously rusted. I have relied on various rouges to polish metal. I am not endorsing any particular brand. I do have a selection of French rouge which comes in bars (sometimes in powder) to handle different metals. The green rouge is good for steel. I generally rub the rouge on a cotton cloth which I keep and it is by now completely impregnated. Small parts can be held in the hand but very small parts like screws need to be held in a pin vice. I decided to polish the cap jewel screws as they were rusted. I then would need to "blue" them to match the rest. Steel will change color at different temperatures and a navy blue occurs just over 555 F.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Another product I have relied on is Rodico. I mention this legitimately as the Swiss and American watch schools do require the use of this and understanding of how to use it. Basically it is the Swiss Army knife of silly putty. Like the Swiss Army knife it is also about 10 times as expensive as silly putty. You can use it to hold or support small items, remove dirt or dust or rouge by pressing an item into it or rubbing an item. Also a very fine sheen to metal is accomplished by rubbing. It is not really abrasive but very fine impurities, water stains, ultrasonic fluid marks and tarnish can be removed. It is handy when one doesn't want to dunk the item back in a liquid solution. Here I am pressing the cap jewel screws into it to remove rouge from the crevice (even after cleaning I still do - except very small screws which are too risky to lose if they fly out of the tweezers).
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I'm feeling blue....So there are bluing solutions but these "paint-on" techniques are not correct for watch work. Various methods of heating items are taught. Sometimes an electric oven set at broil will get a steel part to the right temperature. The issue of bluing is that the steel goes through a rainbow of color change. It starts at a straw yellow/gold and progresses. If you go too far through the color wheel you can't come back except to completely re-polish the surface and try again. Usually then inspecting the part as it progresses is needed. In a manufacturing format (look at the pretty blue screws on the back of a modern A.Lange & Sohn watch) it is probably done in a controlled oven. Here, I am supporting the parts in sand in a brass ladle over a flame on the household range. Brass shavings instead of sand are also advocated but I don't have any. The process is hard to photograph. One hand is supporting the ladle, another hand is holding a magnifying glass, another hand is holding the camera (I guess) and another hand is preventing me from falling into the flame. It's really not that hard LOL! Here the two screws are seen in the ladle. It is important to get a good reflection of the light to assess the color. Final pictures are with the assembly in a few...

 

The balance jewels (as with all jewels) should be cleaned. I attempt to remove cap jewels as this is the best way to get in there and clean them, inspect and rule out cracks or defects Indeed this watch had ground a bit of a small crater into the bearing surface of the upper cap jewel. The watch was probably run "dry" for some time. Normally this calls for replacement. On such an old watch parts are not readily available. I hate to cannibalize watches for parts but a clunker movement probably will come along. In interim since I am not going to use this too much the jewel will be cleaned and reinserted. The jewel press is used to remove cap and olive jewels together. Once clean the gilt cock is even wiped with a clean piece of Rodico. One can see even with one swipe there are still impurities on the surface that come off onto the Rodico. The reassembled product with newly blued screws is shown. Of note two small gouges on the regulator arm are left - I didn't want to be filing down that much metal. Overall, it's becoming more handsome! I'll pause here for today.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Attention towards the balance was taken. The underside shows the serial number inscribed thus this is most likely the original part. The pivots are burnished with a Jacot tool. Polishing can remove material but burnishing work hardens along with smoothing the surface. The tool is mounted in a bench vice. A burnisher (fine steel or agate) to the left is placed on the supported pivot. The wheel is worked clockwise and counterclockwise with a spring loaded monofilament at the right (or a bow) and the burnisher is placed on top of the pivot and with slight downwards pressure is run back and forth opposite rotation of the wheel. The ends of the pivot are also burnished with an attachment changed out (not shown). The hairspring is naturally removed and cleaned separately from this operation. Next it is chucked in my 1872 lathe (which could have been used on this watch when new). I shave down the end of a toothpick and imbed steel rouge to polish the rim and arms as it is spun clockwise. Extreme care is taken not to press hard and to not get caught up on the split rim or screws. Here it is getting "cleaner". The Rodico can take tarnish off the edges once done and between the screws. I do not remove screws as they can be of different weights, etc. It is not worth the risk especially if one is lost on the floor as a magnet will not attract a brass or gold screw.....

 

This is cake, I just did a Bulova 4AR ladies watch from 1931, one of the smallest movements sold in America. I didn't clean the balance like this but did have to buy a European hairspring which was flat and form a Breguet overcoil like the original. I actually brought it to time until I was dissatisfied with it running 30 seconds/day slow and adjusted it one too many and had to re-order a Bulova NOS hairspring. You just practically breath on it and you put a bend in it *LOL*....I need to repent for my anal ways...sometimes we learn the hard way - but it is running ok (well stored away probably not to be used much as it is out of style). Thanks much though, hope this inspires. This is why a service on a Rolex, Omega, Patek, Vacheron, Lange, etc is over $600.

 

A few more photos of the disassembly. The watch has a dustband held with screws but given the design the screws must be fully backed out to slide this off. Inside, before cleaning the steel work and even gilt surfaces are pretty nice without rust. The watch is lever set and pendant wind. Despite a mid-priced watch there is a lot of engineering here. The setting works has a reduction gear to allow more precise time setting but yet allow rapid winding; without that one would tend to over/undershoot setting the minute hand. Also shown is the front coverplate over the mainspring wheel. There is a small recess along one side which is seen as I have it 2 mm offset in the photo. The steel click spring over-rides this. It is a safety mechanism as the spring needs to be let down and click spring removed (I reinstalled it to show the position in photo) in order for the cover plate to be accessed. As noted in 11 jewel watches, no jewels on the front plate. So despite a modest grade there's a lot of forethought in the design and engineering/machining - perhaps now-a-days unnecessarily-so.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

My last set of photos shows the cleaned plates (backside of upper plate). Scratches noted were there previously. A dab of Rodico is used to hold the fork/arbor for assembly as it is tricky on U.S. designed full plate watches. Generally the fork end has to be slotted into the lower balance jewel assembly and between trying to get it in there, having the pivot situated in the jewel hole and hoping the pallet jewels don't get crushed or knocked by the escapewheel teeth is one of the more trying parts of reassembly. Some reassemble the movement upside down which is another solution. The gilt plates are hard to photo showing their luster without too much reflection. Most all the spotting is resolved. The balance wheel's rust is abated. Some small pitting on the balance arms will stay but no black or brown discoloration remains. I use Moebius oils and there are three different viscosities used for different parts of the gear train. As checked yesterday it is still running well: 4 seconds slow per day and I believe I have it at about 15 seconds between positions which is not bad for a flat hairspring watch without advertisement that it has isochronism or position adjustment. Anyhow as asked I just wanted to share. I'm happy to chime in from time to time and PM me if you have questions. Salut!
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login