I bought this movement mainly for the Johnson marked dial but it turns out to be a nice movement and runs well. It has a diamond end stone and is completely jeweled thru the winding arbor
It has a couple of functions that are new to me. The upper end of the mainspring arbor is squared off and has a ratchet wheel. What is the function of this feature?

The other puzzle is a small lever about 5 o'clock that stops the watch. this is only accessible when the bezel is opened. How is this to be used?

Thanks..........Keith

Keith, beautiful watch movement, and a classic 'Liverpool Windows' jewelling job!

The ratchet you can see over the mainspring barrel, is a departure from the more usual method of adjusting and locking the fusee preload.

Normally, this ratchet wheel is under the dial so not visible, and generally it's a strip down job to do anything with the mainspring.

On your watch, the barrel top plate is removeable to allow the barrel and mainspring to be worked on without stripping the whole movement - nice touch!

This arrangement means of course, that the fusee pre-load can be let down and set up again without removing the dial and hands.

The screw on the click actually locks the ratchet solid, and is tightened down when final adjustments are made.
Another nice touch, is that the click is spring loaded allowing the watchmaker to tweak the preload without having to worry too much about the click skipping off and letting go!

The usual click arrangement has no spring, so adjustments can at times feel like one is emulating the proverbial one armed wallpaper hanger - you have to hold the movement, hold the preload on the spring, And nudge the click into the ratchet at the same time!
If you miss, the twang of the spring letting go can break the chain!
I Much prefer the set up on your watch!

The lever on the case will be lined up with a lever on the movement somewhere, which will probably move a thin wire against the balance staff somewhere to stop the watch - it's a stopwatch facility!

Hope all this makes sense!

Does the watch have a sweep seconds hand or 'sub seconds' by any chance?

John

Hi John, Thanks again for such a prompt reply. Yes the watch has a sub-second dial. I was able to buy this movement on eBay for $35.00, based on the dimension of the pillar plate and the dial. It fit perfectly in a case that previously contained another Liverpool movement of the same era.........Cheers...........Keith

You got a good deal on that watch Keith, it would have fetched double that in the UK!

Best regards

John

Keith

You gave me the idea to look out for a typical 'Liverpool' watch on th US market, last night I bought one; movement only, same maker $33 javascript:void(0)

The picture is a bad sales-picture so wait and see.

Regards
Gerald