Hope main-springs eternal

In class I was happy to be working on that Waltham and not on a watch I really cared about. I would have been far too nervous. Especially with so many weapons of watch destruction at my fingertips.

As I have spent more time with the watch I realize that while it wasn't running, in fact, it was kept in excellent condition overall.

The dial is nearly flawless and the case is in really good shape. Very clean for a 116 year old watch.

Hold on Mr. Wizard! How are you so confident that this watch was made in 1907?

I'm so glad you asked!

For us many of us clock guys the NAWCC is the jam. They are a treasure trove of information and their message boards have a deep community of experts who generously share their expertise. I'm perusing their boards many times a week. There is a huge online library available for members but it can still be a lot of work to get anything definitive. 

Looking up definitive information on clocks is not infrequently challenging. Records on clock manufacturing are hit or miss. Manufacturers came and went. Records were lost. Many clocks were made without serial numbers and even then the records for serial numbers with clocks can be debated, unreliable and more (except if you're John Hubby).

Oh let's not forget that W in NAWCC is for Watch. They are no slouch on that front either. The American Pocket Watch message board is similarly rich with information.

Speaking of serial numbers, for watches they are quite a different thing. Here's my Waltham serial number. Right there on the top.

Turns out that in the pocket watch world, most manufacturers of any size *did* use serial numbers and many since the early/mid 1800s. 

And boy howdy I have yet to see any site that has as much definitive Pocket Watch identification information as does the Pocket Watch Database. <-- That links to the page for the exact serial number of my 12s. 

The site is rich with photos and members can verify their own watches and post the serial numbers to confirm the database. Entry 15 is my own for my 12s. 

In 1885 the Waltham Watch Company changed its name to the American Waltham Watch Company, abbreviated A.W.W.Co. as seen on the movements made at the time.

Reusing a photo from my last post.

I keep referring to it as the 12s. That represents a measure of the size of the watch. It's an industry scale (12s, 16s and 18s being the most common sizes). 12s is a smaller sized watch. 16s is considered a kind of standard sized watch and 18s is rather large.

Here are those two recent purchases surrounding my Crescent Street 16s. 

12s, 16s and 18s

You can see that the 18s is larger but take a look at this view.

In hand the Elgin 18s feels like it's about 3X the size/weight of the 12s Waltham.

Also for reference is my Crescent Street which turns 99 this year. It is a lever set, "railroad grade" watch. In short railroad grade means that it has been built to a very high standard to ensure excellent timekeeping. Essential for train schedules in the day.

Lever set means that instead of pulling the winding crown up to adjust the hands (called "pendant set" in the industry), you have to open/unscrew the crystal cover and slide a lever to adjust the hands. Minimizes the chances of accidentally changing the time when winding the watch. Here is a nice description of railroad grade watches with a clear set of photos showing the lever set.

Interestingly that Elgin 18s is also railroad grade but is not lever set. Introduced in the 1860s, lever set watch movements were added as part of the necessary standard to achieve railroad grade status in 1893.

I had mentioned in my last post that I discovered that the Elgin was a bit more valuable than I had originally understood. In class Dave the master watchmaker came by my workspace and inspected it saying "The B.W. Raymonds were top of the line in their day."

You can see the B.W. Raymond inscription in the photo of the movements above.

And from that site I referenced earlier. They have an image of an 1889 flyer that announced the who's who of railroad grade watches from... well you can read it:

My B.W. Raymond Elgin 18s is from 1889. 

Cool.

Hey I've completely lost track of the class!

Well I'll continue in the next post.

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Coda to this post. 

Caution, nerdy waters ahead.

Some of you may know that I'm a bit of a tech guy. We're using some of latest artificial intelligence tools with my company's new product. ChatGPT-4 is much in the news these days.

What you may have read is that you can ask ChatGPT-4 questions and it can answer you. If you take the time to "prompt" ChatGPT-4 well it can provide you with better answers. Prompting means writing a query that has some context to help the AI understand what you're looking for.

I prompted ChatGPT-4 with this:

"I'm studying pocket watches. I'm interested in "railroad grade" watches. I want to know when "lever set" was adopted as part of the standard for railroad grade."

and in about two seconds it replied:

"Railroad watches were required to meet strict standards for accuracy and reliability to ensure safe and efficient operation of trains. One of the key features of a railroad-grade watch was the ability to set the time precisely and securely, which led to the development of the lever set mechanism.

The lever set mechanism was invented in the mid-19th century and quickly became a popular feature on high-quality watches. However, it was not officially adopted as part of the railroad grade standard until 1893, when the General Railroad Timepiece Standards were established by the American Railway Association.

These standards required that all railroad watches be lever set, meaning that the time could only be set by using a small lever located on the watch movement. This prevented accidental changes to the time and ensured that the watch remained accurate and reliable.

So, to answer your question, lever set was adopted as part of the standard for railroad grade watches in 1893, when the General Railroad Timepiece Standards were established.

Wow.