Howdy, folks...hope all had a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Question: What is the purpose of the smaller wheel under the crown of this Keystone J.Boss case? Pictured below is my Elgin Veritas 376...I've been wondering about this for a while so I thought I'd ask. I engaged the Google machine regarding this question but "no joy".

Thanks in advance,

Collin

More specific pic...

That small wheeled cap or cover screws off/on after the crown is removed and is called a dust seal, it was an attempt to keep dirt and dust particles out of the movement. Inside there was a leather/cork/fiber washer with a hole through the center of it for the stem that blocked or trapped a lot of airborne particles from getting into the movement. Many folks not understanding this when disassembling the case for maintenance or cleaning would throw the old washer, or pieces of it away and not replace it with another which negates its ability to keep dust particles out of the movement.

Please show us the movement and tell the serial number on such a coveted 23 Jewel Veritas Wind Indicator model. Nice piece !!

regards,
bb

Good info, Buster...THANK YOU, sir...learn something new every day!

Pictured below is my Elgin Veritas 376 movement...I apologize regarding the blurry pic but when I reduce the size to comply with IHC185 protocol, detail seems to be lost. Movement number is 18299536 [circa 1915] and case number is 9966330...and from what I understand, this watch has been recased since this style Keystone J.Boss case was not manufactured until about the 1930's.

My Veritas keeps somewhat good time...it loses about 10 seconds per day when worn. I carefully manipulated the traveling nut regulator to full fast...but minus 10 seconds per day is as good as I can achieve at this point.

Collin, really nice one.

That case came out in the early 20's, around 1922, 1923.

Regards,
Larry

Thanks for the good words, Mr. Lamphier...and thanks for the production date(s) info regarding my Keystone J.Boss case. I'm probably confusing that case with the Mainliner case since they look somewhat similar. One thing's for sure...the more I delve into this hobby...the more I learn.

Collin,

With the regulator where it is and losing time, you probably need to service the movement. Continuing to run it is going to cause unnecessary wear and tear if it is due for service. There could be other causes for it running slow with the regulator positioned full 'fast', but the most likely is the need for service. A nice piece like this deserves TLC.

Roger

Roger that, sir...good advice...and thank you. I will say that when I had purchased this Veritas a few months ago, the vendor stated that it would be serviced by one of their onsite watchmakers prior to shipment. When I received this Veritas, I had my local watchmaker check it for a possible need for a service and he stated that everything looked satisfactory inside and that no service was required...but I'll have my local watchmaker check it again.

Collin, one thing I have learned in the short time I have been buying, servicing, ans selling these watches, is that not everyone who says a watch is serviced is necessarily telling you the truth. They may THINK it is serviced, but it isn't always the case.

I have shown people who have sent me a movement that they swore they sent to there service person, that in fact it was NOT serviced.

One good way of telling if a watch has been serviced, without taking it apart, is looking where the regulator is set. Any good repair person will always set the regulator to dead center before timing the movement after it has been serviced. And like Roger stated above, if you see the regulator set to fast it usually means that the movement has started to run slow because it has NOT been serviced, and someone has just kept moving it to fast to try to get it to keep proper time.

That also doesn't necessarily mean that if you service it that it will start keeping railroad time either, but it is a really good start.

Just some food for thought.

Regards,
Larry

Collin,

While it is possible that something has happened to cause your Veritas to change rate since you acquired it, it's not likely. It concerns me that you had a local watchmaker check it and he stated "everything looked satisfactory inside and that no service was required." While that may sound great to you since obviously your wallet isn't going to suffer right now, ultimately, he probably didn't do you any favor. Did he place the watch on a timing machine and check amplitude, beat, and timing in positions? This would take less than five minutes and would give far more information than just looking at the movement with the back cover off. Is this watchmaker located at a jeweler? If so red flags should go up since there are almost no jewelers who service watches anymore.

This is a great hobby filled with wonderful people who are anxious to preserve these wonderful little machines. Unfortunately there is a dark side as well who will take advantage of what you don't know. Please be very cautious and don't be afraid to ask questions here if you have any doubts. I hope your local watchmaker is one of the good guys and just didn't take the time to properly assess your Veritas the first time.

Roger

Good advice, Mr. Lamphier and Mr. Nolfe...thank you, sirs...I have so much to learn!

I have faith in my watchmaker...I really like him...and I'll address with him the issues that were brought forward.

Collin