Internet Horology Club 185
Waltham Premier question

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https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1086047761/m/8791016512

November 03, 2006, 15:02
Greg Campbell
Waltham Premier question
Need a little help on identifying this for a friend. Belonged to a family member and now his. The markings on the movement have me a bit confused. I know little of Walthams and am having a hard time deciding what he has here for sure.

Movement says from top to bottom on left side of movement.

nine jewels
waltham
bartlett
colonial
u.s.a.

serial number is 29999145

inside case back is
waltham premier
keystone victory case
10k

Part that confuses me in looking it up in The Guide is they have model Bartlett and Colonial but not both on the same movement. This serial number when ran in a Waltham data base comes back as a 3/0 size while this watch I believe is a 10.

Any ideas?


November 03, 2006, 15:52
Jerry Treiman
This is a Colonial B model, also designated as the 1924 Colonial model. The "Colonial" on the movement indicates that it is from their series of thinner watches. It is from somewhat later production (very late '30s) when Waltham was not putting as much effort into finish. To compensate (so to speak) they started throwing once-esteemed names on to their movements and dials, sometimes more than one as on this example. As a result the company cheapened the Bartlett and Premier labels.
November 03, 2006, 16:13
Greg Campbell
Jerry - Thanks for your very quick and most informative answer. Any idea why the serial number came up as a 3/0?
November 03, 2006, 16:25
Jerry Treiman
It is one of several errors in the "gray book". Although it indicates 3/0 it properly lists it as a 1924 model which is about 12-size.
November 04, 2006, 01:29
Jerry Treiman
-- a small correction now that I am at home. The gray book correctly listed this watch as a Colonial size movement. The "3/0" indication seems to be an error in the digital database only.