Hi

As I said in an earlier post I am fairly new to watch collecting and very unfamiliar with Waltham watches as I have only been collecting Hamilton's. Lately I've been looking at a lot of the old civil war era Waltham's and have some questions concerning them. I do not work on or repair watches except for maybe an occasional hand or dial change when needed. So pardon my poor watch component grammar as I'm not very familiar with the proper names.

In the photo below you can see I have circled in red what I assume are the ends of the gears that are down under the top plate. My question is why are some of them so big and some are so small. Is it that the one on the right has jewels and the left doesn't? Both watches in the pic according to the "Pocket Watch Database" have 11 jewels.

I have blacked out part of the serial #'s on these watches as I'm not sure if I should post with the full serial numbers (both watches have 5 digit serial numbers). Also the watch on the left I have seen pictured somewhere before, maybe here on the 185, but could not find the post. It show what looks like an issue with the "A" in Mass. But if someone hasn't seen it I put a white arrow pointing to it.

If I have posted in the wrong forum please move or delete.

Thanks, Donnie

I think the full serial could help a little , I don't collect these and hope our more knowledgeable members will chime in

A little tidbit is that president Abraham Lincoln had a Wm Ellery number 67613

The movement on the left is 7 jewels and 11 jewels on the right. The serial numbers will help to get more info.

Both of these watches can be seen on the "Pocket Watch Database" site. I just wasn't sure if I could post them.

Left pic -- #62223
Right pic - #50806

Hi Donnie,

Those model 57's like Brian said are a 7 jewel ( the one with the small pivots and an 11 jeweled or higher ( the one with the big circles). The only way to tell for sure is take the dial off and see if the pivots are small under the dial or if they are large like the other side. If they are small that would make the one with the big circles an 11 jewel and if there are two small and two large it would be a 13 jewel and if there are four large it would be a 15 jewel. There are sites you can put in the serial number and it will tell you how many jewels it has but I have found many errors with those systems although some sites are better than others.

Now you will find that with the model 57 even though they all look very similar there are many changes. I think there are 6 or 8 different designed staffs they use not to mention the different pivot sizes within those different staffs all for the model 57. Additionally there are several different clicks and click plates.

Hope this sheds just a little light on the model 57.

Harry

That "data base" that you posted is full of errors and we don't like to use it for anything nor for referencing !! It has more holes than swiss cheese. When you start relying on bad information, it comes back to bite you....

regards,
bb