A few weeks ago a friend presented me with a watch for my collection. It came in a small tobacco tin that was almost black with rust. It belonged to his father who had been unable to do anything with it. I opened the box to find a collection of bits. The case had a big dent in the back and there were extra bits that were not watch related. I thanked him and took it home.
The case turned out to be very soft (made of copper I think). I got the dent out as best I could. The works is unknown to me and appears to be some kind of cylinder escapement. It is not well. All the winding gears are missing as is the setting pin and main spring ratchet wheel. Make is unknown. I managed to get it assembled again after adding a few new screws.

The following week I took it back and showed him the results. I explained to him that an expert may be able to fix it but not me. He was happy to see it in one piece again and told me he had another one at home he would dig out for me.
This morning we again met and I was presented with another watch. This is smaller than I normally collect being only 28mm at the face. It is marked for Dunklings in Melbourne and made in USA. We could not open it so I thanked him anyway
expecting to find a base model Elgin or similar.

I was most suprised when I did manage to open it to find inside a very clean 19 jewel Waltham Riverside Maximus. The dust cover is marked From Mother 3/3/05. Case is by Keystone and is Rolled Gold. I don't think I will start collecting these smaller watches but I can appreciate how well it has been made and will find a small corner for this one.

Stephan, That is a Riverside Maximus. That is the highest grade 0 Size that Waltham made.

Tom