Here are a couple of pics of the watch I purchased from the IHC185 auction this past weekend. I have started the restoration and the dial and movement are pictured after a bit of cleaning. With Cecil McGee's help with parts I hope to have it ticking away soon. I also need to post pics of a couple of other projects that I had help with from this forum. Hope to get to those soon.

Roger

Roger,
That movement shines like a gold nugget!

Movement is beautiful. What type of cleaning solution did you use on it. Just looks amazing . Mike Keirsey

Very nice Roger. Looks new again.

Thanks for the compliments. I will post pictures of the completed restoration when I get it done. I polished the plates on this one since it just didn't look right with just a normal cleaning.

Roger

Roger, how do you polish the plates without the gilting coming off? What do you use?

Eric, Blue Magic and a microfiber cloth worked well on this.

Roger

The dial looks beautiful too, what did you use on it?

Thanks Sheila and Welcome Back! I used the Comet bathroom cleaner on the dial. I put enough to cover the dial in a small glass container and let it soak. If it needs a bit more I will give it a minute or so in the ultra sonic with the same Comet liquid bathroom cleaner.

Roger

OH YEA! that's the one I have hidden in my kitchen so "my men" won't get their hands on it!

It works great. Lindell told me about it a long time ago, and WOW did it ever do the job.

Thank you, I had forgotten all about it.

PS That movement is really beautiful too.

With parts from Cecil and the installation of a new balance staff and MANY hours of work on a rather early 18S Illinois Hoyt (I believe first year 1872 production at number 14216), the watch is pretty much restored. There are a couple of minor issues, but the watch runs strong. I am considering putting it back up for sale on 185 if there is strong interest. As much as I'd like to keep them all, it just isn't possible.

You will notice there is a plate screw missing on the movement. Illinois changed the thread pitch and I don't have the correct screw to put there. All the numbers on the parts, including the balance arm, match. I don't imagine there are that many surviving with lower numbers.









Thanks again to those who helped me with parts and information on this watch.

BTW, here is the link to the orginal auction on 185 so you can see what I started with:

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...26021842/m/189102112



Roger

Hey Roger,
Great job. Sure doesn't look like the same watch you bought back then. You did all the work,but I'm glad I was able to help bring this old beauty back to life.

Beautiful work, Roger .

Nice Job Roger -- you have wrought an amazing transformation with a little help from IHC185 members.

I knew about Lin's bathroom cleaner trick for the dial, but I never realized it was possible to polish gilt plates like that.

Thanks for the kind words.

Ed, the gilding on this Illinois looked much smoother and thicker than what normally appears on gilded plates. That is why I went ahead and polished it.

Roger