If the watch is set up well, it will run in all 6 positions without the hairspring. The jewel should hit the other side of the pallet fork, swing back around, and enter the fork with enough force to unlock it. The pallet will give an impulse to the jewel, thus flicking the wheel. Basically, you insert the balance wheel without the hairspring, wind the watch, and let it run. Gideon Thisell describes running a watch in “half time” (Chapter 13, p. In Science of Watch Repairing Simplified, A. (In the meantime, Mark Lovick has a great video post on it.) This staff required punches 17A and 17B in my Marshall staking set. I’ll post a how-to guide to replacing balance staffs someday. My handy pivot gauge showed that the current pivot fit easily into a. You can either measure the size of the staff or measure the size of the jewel holes. Like most old staffs, it comes in a range of pivot sizes, so the first task is to measure the size of the current staff. I had a parts watch with a 315-compatible center wheel, so the wheel was swapped instead of repaired.įor the balance staff, this watch takes an Elgin part #2802 staff. Perhaps a mainspring broke and the safety pinion didn’t disengage?Īfter the watch got a good scouring and a new white alloy mainspring (it takes an Elgin part 2339 mainspring, if you’re working on a grade 315), it was time to repair it. One of the teeth looks like it got into a bout of fisticuffs. The balance staff is broken, as I suspected.Īnd the center wheel is damaged. This cannon pinion looks like it was lubricated with tree sap and fungus spores. It isn’t running, either.Ī watch without a crystal is a magnet for gunk. The watch apparently hasn’t had a crystal in decades, and it is grimy and stuffed with white fibers. Right away, you can tell that this one will need some attention. According to the incomparable Pocket Watch Database, this watch dates to around 1924.
This is a 12-size, grade 315 watch with 15 jewels. Broken heirloom pocket watches are my specialty, so I was happy to take it look at it.Īnd here it is, a neglected but charming Elgin. I don’t how that happens, but you probably have the same experience.Īnyhow, a pal at work mentioned that she had an old, broken pocket watch that belonged to her grandfather, and that she had hoped to one day pass it along to her son. And when people are brought together, in my experience, they inevitably end up talking about old watches.
Nothing brings people together like being stuck in a boring committee at work.
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