I have this fully marked 939. It had an issue with the balance. It would run face up but not face down. I checked and the balance staff looked good. I suspected something going on with the lower balance jewel or lower cap jewel. I don't have any jewels so I sent it to my watchmaker.

My watchmaker called and said I got your watch today. I said great only two days to get from Georgia to Ca. first class mail. He said it was a mess. Huh??? I had sent 4 balance staffs and a mainspring in a small plastic container along with the movement. He said the plastic box was in pieces. I said how can that be unless the box is flattened. He said it was. WHAT! He said the box had tire tracks on it and was flattened. He said the center wheel saft was broken off and the lower center hole jewel was shattered. Both pivots of the balance staff were broken off. The lower pivot was broken off in the cap jewel. Yes the cap jewel. The hairspring was bent and the upper escape jewel was shattered. He was cleaning everything to see what else was broken. There is a gleam of hope though. I was checking the parts numbers and just about all the lower plate jewels are the same. The upper plate jewels some are the same and some are different on different grades. So once he gives me a list of broken parts I can see which parts movements I have that have the same parts.

Harry

So sorry to hear about the poor handling, the serious damage to your Hamilton 939, I know you have to be upset.. keep us informed on the outcome. We are all hoping the best for the repair of a rare piece.

Mark

Hi Harry, sorry to hear it , by chance would postal insurance cover it , I send mine priority and they have 50 or 100 on it , it might take the sting out , also , I have a 925 for parts , if anything is the same

Yikes!!!

Thanks Mark I will.

Thanks Kevin. I shipped it first class like I always do. No insurance. According to my watchmaker who also cancels his own postage when he ships something (small town) and he said even if I had of insured it that the USPS would not have paid because I did not mark it fragile. I don't know if this is true or not but the way I had it packed it would have withheld anything except a shotgun blast and a truck running over it. It was fast delivery. Made it from Ga. to Ca. in two days. Maybe the plane ran over it??? I should have insured it but really that may have gotten my money back but right now it is about trying to save the watch. Thank you Kevin for offering your 925 but even with all the damage it looks like I might have everything I need to repair it. The only thing I might need is the lower balance jewel for a DR. I have one in a 940 parts movement if the jewel is good and the pivot is the correct size. My watchmaker is still checking everything out.

The story has a happy ending!

After being run over by the USPS and crushing my 939 and doing a lot of damage I finally have it fixed.

It got run over being shipped to my watchmaker to just have it serviced. My watchmaker told me he did not have the equipment to make the jewels. This particular Hamilton is different than all the other Hamilton's except the 938 both of which are low production movements. So I contacted Quinton in N.C. who used to make jewels. He sold his equipment and can no longer make jewel settings.

So strike two. I contacted a member here about repairing my watch and he said he could not do it. So I contacted another person. He ended up making two jewel settings and setting two new jewels in it and ended up using my gold setting and putting a new jewel into my old setting not to mention all the other things he did to get the watch running.

So after 3 strikes I hit a home run.

Here is the pictures he took of my watch after he finished.

Harry

front

dial

Great news Harry,fantastic save!! Looks great.

Roger

Thank you Roger.

Harry

Harry turned out great...A real beauty...

Thank you Gary.

Harry

I am so happy with your outcome. I's a great watch

Harry, that is an amazing story and an unexpected but fortuitous outcome. It looks great! Can you share with us who that watchmaker is? It be good to know if I ever need that kind of work to be done.

It running and telling time again Harry just as it should. Congrats Harry!!!

Rob
www.pocketwatchrepairs.net