Hi all,
I need to know what to do about this.

My Pansy's...........

The movements are as clean as can be, when you look at them, they actually look new.
They were made either in 1895 or 1897, they wind fine, and they keep good time. Should I have them cleaned or just oil them or what? I don't know if they have been serviced or not, and I don't want to do anything to them that will harm them, so what would you do?
Thank you

Sheila,

If you plan to wind them and use them, I would have them cleanes and oiled. Just oiling them without cleaning does no good. If you are going to just admire them, doing nothing will suffice.

Hello Sheila!
If you dont`t know when the movement has been serviced the last time, you should clean them.
Never "just oil" them!
The old and dry oil in the ruby bearings, together with a little bit of dust and fresh oil will give a perfect "emery compound" (correct word? Let me know if not).
And this compound will destroy the pinions.
The combination of dust, old oil and fresh oil could be more dangerous for a watch, than no oil.
Best regards
Holger

I too agree, if you are going to wear them ocasional use.You should get them cleaned and oiled, it,s worth the cost.Someone in this chapter or near you should be able to do this for you.

Hi Everyone,
Really great information here! Thank you so much.

I don't wind them now, just the once or twice when I got them, and I am going to let them sit for a while, so this information may have saved them, because I was going to wind them up again.

It's so good to know to leave them alone until I have them cleaned and oiled.

I must confess that I do wind some of my watches, and that maybe I should leave them alone until I have them cleaned too.

Ya know, sometimes I wonder where my head is, I should have known better, and I did a year ago, I guess I just get so caught up in so many things, that I forget the REALLY important things sometimes. This should NOT have been one of them.

Bless you all for the information.

My "Mechanical Marvels" are saved for sure!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Sheila,
Although the above info is correct (the cleaner, the better) I feel that If they seem to run fine and the jewels and pivots aren`t dirty or gummy, an occasional winding is not going to cause them to self-destruct. I believe actually running them a bit is more beneficial than letting them just sit.

Kenny,
Thank you. I have never really "studied" the movements carefully, just a quick look, so I will play it safe until I can look at them closer, and a little deeper. What you said about running them is why I posted, I thought that maybe it would be better to wind them now and then.
I'm going to have a local jeweler look to see if they have any real dust or dirt problems until I can send them out to have them done right.

I've been so busy lately that I have not had time to think about getting my watches cleaned, and my crystal repair list is huge!

One day at a time!