Another Waltham

rjenkinsgb · September 21, 2024

Well, I was not going to buy anything else until I got the existing ones done, but when I was searching for info on someone else's watch, I came across this one at a rather good price.....

It's a lever set "Crescent Street" grade, listed as a Railroad type watch. The price was possibly due to the crack in the dial, which is rather obvious!

One of the dial feet is missing - possibly someone assumed it had two and tried to pry it without loosening the third, resulting in the dial crack?

The movement is generally pretty good, though it has been messed with & one part is missing!

The yoke should have a spigoted washer as a cover plate; it just has a semi tightened screw from something in it instead. That part looks to be similar to a cover/retainer disc in the normal crown set movements - but the spigot in the part for those is larger than the hole in the yoke.

I found a shouldered screw in a screw assortment that was a perfect fit for the yoke, though that now leaves the yoke spring reliant on friction to hold it in place.

Other than that, just mismatched case screws; it looks like someone has had problems with one screw there.

I got some Polydent to try and clean the dial, but that had little effect overnight. Then a few drops of bleach - still no effect. Bleach in the ultrasonic cleaner finally got the crus cleared out, then a few rinses & and ultrasonic blast in deionised water to ensure no bleach, and Renaissance wax after drying thoroughly.

The result is not quite perfect, but it's no longer an eyesore!