I've just about finished doing a restoration on this old 18s for a customer. It was in quite sad shape when I received it. The coin silver case was badly tarnished and literally filled in some areas with old hardened silver polish. The lift spring was broken and the movement was very dirty. Surprisingly, it still tried to run! The movement had the old "fish oil" smell to it so I suppose the last time it was serviced was when they used that kind of stuff for lubrication.

The hairspring appears to be some kind of a white alloy and a special case ring was installed in addition to the dust ring. It is currently running great with a full, smooth swing to the balance.

Does anyone have any information about this type of watch that can be passed on to the owner? I know little to nothing about Waltham’s, especially this one.

Lastly, can someone tell me what parts are missing from the regulator and if anyone has them for sale? It looks like the star wheel, two screws and the division scale are missing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Merry Christmas to all and may a wonderful New Year await you!

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

Dial

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

Case

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

Nice John!....Did you say you dipped it in fish oil?.. What for? Wouldn't that make it gum up and smell?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like there are some parts missing from the regulator...

John,
The regulator parts won't be missing for long. If you e-mail me your address, I'll put them in the mail Friday.
Merry Christmas
Brian C.

pwpartsetc@pwatch.com

That's a really nice watch and it's great that you have it running like a champ. I don't know that much about this model of non-magnetic but I do know that they're much rarer than their magnetism suseptible cousins and were signifantly more expensive.

The case is a real beauty and looks to be very heavy and crisp. Nice job on the fix and the pix. Thanks John.

B

Hi john

According to that serial number,it's a 18s,model 1883,grade A.T.&C0,SW,15j,LS,Htg. Grade of material P

The year listed is 1889.

Hope that helps.

Frank

Frank Juchniewicz

This’s my watch; I could not be happier! The incredible work John has done; the interest and caring of Lindell, John and all respondents; the parts provided by Brian C. (posted less than three hours after John put up the request!); the info provided by Brian, Terry, and Frank – I feel very lucky to share in the fellowship of IHC 185 and I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year!

Stu