I saw this on Ebay and no one appeared to be greatly impressed with either the listing or the photos. It was a movement only auction, movement had all hands and a bold double sunk dial. Movement looked to be in good condition so I ended up winning it for $71+ship so I have about $75 into total and it arrived yesterday and was much better than the pictures.

I put it in a white gold filed case and wound it up and so far it is running great. I guess you can still find bargains, or people just don't give these Walthams the respect they deserve. It should get a COA since I don't know when it was last serviced and the jewel sets are not as bright as they should be.

One of the "greats" in dedicated Railroad timepieces. Let me know if you need help with its service. david@glopar.com

Ok pictures of the movement cased.

Claude, I think you have a beauty. It is encouraging to see that someone with know-how and experience is still able to pickup deals on eBay. I say good for you! A good deal is a good deal all day long. The town of Waltham is also a very nice place. It makes me partial to Waltham watches...my home state. Cheers!

Thanks Robert and sometimes I have to be reminded of simple things such as what David A. mentioned about demagnetizing the watch since after I did that this watch is running spot on. It still needs a COA since I don't know when it was last serviced.

I have about $120-135 into it total, the movement and dial were in very good condition and the case I picked up at a decent price with a junk movement in it. The seller had bad pictures and with the junk movement most bidders passed it by even with the nice chain.

I like Walthams, Elgins and Hampdens and I do have a few Hamiltons but getting a good deal on a Hamilton with everyone chasing after them is hard to do, except for the grade 990, which I seem to pick up at times at a good price and never stop being pleased with them.

I collect the other brands like South Bend, Rockford, and Seth Thomas since I think they are good watches also and I really try to stay out of the Ford is better than Chevrolet argument. For something that has lasted over 100 yrs in some cases these watches have proven their quality without regards to brand.

The prices have ticked up a bit so finding bargains out there is harder to do. When the economy was in the tank after 2008-2010 I was able to pick up Elgin 350,360,156 and 162 at prices that were within my budget.

I will never own an 23j Lord Elgin or a Hamilton 23j 950/950B since they are out of my budget range, unless I hit the super lotto of someone feels sorry for me and sends both, which I don't think either will happen. I think if you look there are some very nice watches that are still under-valued like this 645.

Really nice 645 Claude, those are just a nice all around RR watch!As you said, they're pretty under rated.Problem is, now you'll have to get it's big brother, the 845 18S.You can't have one without the other!Waltham made and sold many thousands of these 645's to the railroad world, they were a big hit.I've noticed some minor differences in these,yours has the dark-colored jewel settings like mine, some have a more gold looking setting.Yours has the Ohlsen regulator, mine is a little lower SN, so it has the gold star type.What brand case is that?I like the bow on that one.Thanks, Ted.

Claude, looks real nice, really like the case.

The case is a Philly Victory case that when it arrived I was very happy with it after I cleaned it up. Most cases if they have a design on the back and the center of the design will be to the right of the crown from wear and this one is still to the left of the crown so it has little if any wear on it. The bow has one spot that it looks like someone scraped it on something but other than that there is no wear through.

I think the Philly Victory cases were warranted for 10 yrs but I think the later ones after 1924 were 10K, this one does not say rolled gold plate either.

Ted since it was movement only and may have been that way for some time I am not sure if the settings are gold or brass and just tarnished badly.

Claude, I think you will find that the jewel settings are brass. I have 5 Waltham Grade 645's, one 21 jewel variation and four 19 jewel variations. I like the 19 jewel variants because of the limited production and also because they do have the gold jewel setting. All of the 19 jewel 645's are also 1899 Models.
I have seen only one 21 jewel 645 with what appeared to be gold jewel setting. It is an early Model 1899 and it started life out as a 19 jewel variant as there was a "21" plug where the "19" had been. If other 21 jewel variants exist with gold jewel settings I would be willing to bet they are also early 1899 Models.
As far as "deals" go, I too have been able to find some great buys the last couple of months.
The last 19 jewel 645 I acquired was cased and cost me 107.00. Case was brassy but appears original and after COA keeps time within 10 seconds a week in the pendant up posistion (I have not tried any other posistions yet).
I also picked up a Waltham Grade 642 uncased but running for 50.00.
In October I bought an Illinois 12s Grade 299 in original case for 76.00!! 80.00 total shipped. It had the wrong dial but I bought a running Grade 405 with the correct Illinois script dial for 40.00.
My latest buy, I just got it in the mail yesterday, is a 1913 (first year production) Illinois 21 jewel, "ILLINOIS", Diamond, Ruby and Saphire Grade 409. Bought, in what appears to be the original case, for 130.00. Case and dial (no appearant hairlines) needs cleaned but movement is super clean and runs perfect.
As a matter of fact that is what I got on here for tonight......looking for COA suggestions.
I usually run a pocket watch once after I get it and check timing before I COA. This little 409 ran 27 hours without losing a second, well maybe a second, but that would be it. Lost 5 seconds after 32 hours and it is still ticking.....the question is, should I take it apart for a cleaning and oiling?
All opinions welcome!! What would you do with a new to you watch that keeps perfect time and you have no service history on??

Best regards to all,
Mike

Claude, sorry, also meant to mention that I think you got a great deal. Look at the 645 "pedigree" on the pocket watch data base site.....getting a little more respect!

In the case of service if it is running decently and I don't plan on using it everyday or running it that often then I save the money for COA for other watches that need service. Some watches that I think I will wear fairly often then I do the service but otherwise I will spend the service cost on watches that need it more with problems that keep them from running properly.

The 19j 645 having gold settings makes sense since Waltham charged more for the 19j version than the 21j version.

Claude,

I was able to purchase the above mentioned "plugged" 21 jewel 645. I assume it started out as a 19 jewel version and changed to the 21 jewel version mid production, hence the plug and the gold jewel settings.
I have done a COA on the watch and all numbers match.

Best Regards,
Mike

Movement

I have the 19 jewel version but not the plugged 21j version.

Claude, I remember a year or so ago, I saw a 645 21 jewel that had a white hairspring and was marked "non-magnetic" .Ever see one of those?There can't be very many around....Ted.

Picked another one up for sub-$100, will need to find a stock of Waltham hands at this rate.

dial with slight chip near the 5 min marker

Star 10K wgf case with no wear through, did need one serious cleaning.

Another great buy Claude. All mine came with hands....I just need a few nice dials and full head case screws. I'm amazed so many of these have cut screws.

I hate clipped screws because they eat up a case but I guess for speed or removal there were loved. This one had limbs, or stubs but not worth keeping. I have been slumming a bit, but if I think I can clean a watch up and not put the kid's college fund into it I might bid on one that looks like heck warmed over. This one had dried tape glue on the bezel and back and the dial looked like it swam a marathon in dirt and the chipped looked bad but I put some titanium oxide paint on it and that spiffed it up a lot.