For some of our newer members who may have never seen such things I thought I'd post one of Waltham's rarest watches in a state of disassembly - the two-tone 21-jewel Model 92 Crescent Street.

A recent Jones-Horan 2013 score, it starts with just the pillar plate. Note the incredible detail imparted with the different perlage radii on one of the parts nobody ever sees - and the fact that even the pillar plate is two-tone.

Adding the train, the train plate, the barrel, and the setting clutch is the next step.

Even the lower balance cock is perlaged and two-tone. Note the pattern in the balance well.

Next is the barrel plate, the winding wheels, the click, and everything under the dial.

Cased and running with the balance wheel in place. There are two variants of this movement that I know of - one with gold inlay in the lettering and filigree, and one with black.

Find the keys and hit the gas.

Front it with a flawless double-sunk Arabic dial and matching set of spade hands ...

... and you have one of the crown jewels in any serious Waltham collection.

This watch was an absolute pleasure to dismantle, clean, oil, and reassemble. All the serial numbers matched and not a part was missing - not even the dust band. It was delightfuly tacky and gunky, which meant nobody had messed with it in the last 30 years or so; precisely what we all look for as collectors.

Wow what a beauty! Thanks!

Great Looking Waltham!

Thanks Eric!

Regards,
Larry

Thanks for sharing this beauty with us Eric!

Regards, Krister.

Eric, great work on a beautiful piece. Good man.

Thanks for sharing, 92's are one of my favorite Walthams.
I am always amazed when I see the attention to detail in areas that most people will never see. Like in the winding gear train of an 18s Appleton Tracy I cleaned. The Yoke and screw head had a mirror finish. But they sits behind the dial and almost no one will see them.

Gorgeous!

Holy Cow! America's Finest!

William

A great find Eric!

A study in craftsmanship!

Eric, nice looking watch. Easy to see that a lot of labor went into those watches. Wouldn't it be amazing to see the price of that watch today, based on the cost of labor today.

Enjoy,
Tim

Well, Pateks go for $10s to $100s of thousands, and they have similar workmanship, abeit on a smaller scale.

There's an American company, RGM, hand-crafting in-house wrist watch movements that sell for ~$20k and up that also have similar workmanship.

RGM Watch Company

So there is definitely a market for these today, and they probably sell more than the ~100 that Waltham sold back in the day.

Here's a pic of their flagship tourbillon watch--only $95k!

Apologies to Eric for thread hijacking. I now return you to your regularly schedule drool fest...

Beautiful pictorial, Eric.

Stunning watch, and as always the photos are amazing

That's true gem Eric! Finding a watch like this that no amateur mechanic has messed with is an added plus, it doesn't get much better than that.

Thanks, boys

That watch is way beyond exquisite, Eric. One of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Thanks.

I really hesitate to insert one of my photos in a post where Eric has one of his. Overlooking the photographer skills for a moment, is the lettering black, or gold? This watch was never, as far as I know, painted in the lettering after market. After service you can see the black has washed away in spots to leave what appears to be gold lettering

Ah, the zebra question - black on white or vice versa?

Mike, since the "default" color on two-tone plating is goldtone (same as the plates), I gotta believe the lettering and filigree start as gold-colored, and then in both your example and mine they get filled in with black enamel. I wish one of those old coots that worked for one of the American companies was still around so we could ask him.