A watch repair beginner needs some help from you experts out there.

I purchased a nice 0.800 silver cased Hamilton 4992B at the Cleveland National. Unfortunately, it came with a brass crown. Lindell and Debbie pointed me to Larry Crutsinger's table, and a few weeks later, the crown came in the mail.

Now what do I do???? Can someone help me with the basis steps on replacing a crown and stem? I don't want to mess up this 1 star watch.

Thanks,

John

I would strongly encourage you to let someone who has worked on the 4992B, change your crown.

Because of the sweep-second design of that watch, there is a very thin pivot on both sides of the watch (where the second hand attaches on the front and where the 22nd jewel engages the pivot on the rear. Breaking either of those pivots is going to buy you a VERY expensive trip to Larry Crutsinger again.

Also, the watch cannot be uncased, until a screw is turned and the stem is released. Turn the screw too much and it is a real bear to re-do.

The 4992B CANNOT be set down, once it is uncased. You WILL break a pivot.

I've been working on watches for 2 yrs and did 992B's very early on. But, I haven't tackled a 4992B until very recently, for the above reasons.

BTW, did you buy the watch from Stuart Smith? If so, you can thank me for not grabbing it at the WWT show. He had one, with a brass crown AND I have an extra silver crown. Only some other attractive watches kept me from taking it. It was VERY attractively priced too. Good find!

Peter,

Yes, I did in fact buy the watch from Stuart. He said someone else was interested and came by a few times. It must have been you! I will be posting pics on the military site soon.

Some very good advice on the repair. I had no idea it was as complicated as you described. I have two 36 size Hamilton wind indicators out for cleaning due to their complexity.

Would you be willing to do this replacement for me? I am still working on a 7J Elgin that I took apart, so I haven't even made it to the 992B level yet.

By the way, it turns out that Larry did not have a silver crown, so I bought a base metal one from him so it wouldn't stand out as much as the brass. I would be very interested in buying your silver crown if it is for sale.

John III

I'll see about the crown. I have it and I don't have it. Actually, I needed a chrome crown and bought a silver one by mistake. So I swapped it.... but a friend has it now. That's what drew me to Stuart's watch. I'll see....

As far as fixing it.... here's my situation. I'm a student being taught by a very generous person, who has given me "bench space" at his shop. I don't work on any watches, but my own, because that would put me in competition with him.

As I recall, however, that watch does need cleaning and the dial and hands need refreshing. I'm sure that he or any of the professional watchmakers in the Chapter would be happy to service it. It will be more expensive but worth it.

Of course, you don't HAVE to uncase that watch to change the crown. But the stem is a detent design, which means that you have to loosen the detent screw and then pull the crown and stem together. If you go too far and the detent screw pulls away, you might have to (at least partially) disassemble the watch to restore it.

You might think about servicing that watch. Buffing the case is controversial. Some do it and some think it ruins the patina. I'd do it in a heartbeat. That coin-silver would look great.

Stuart sells stuff at very reasonable priced. He's a volume dealer and his prices are probably just a bit over what he pays.

Here's the one I bought from him and that caused me to pause about buying the 4992B. This one is solid 14K gold. I didn't let THIS one get-away!

Thanks for the kind offer Lindell. I will take you up on it by sending you the watch and the crown I have. If the silver one becomes available, I'll have it sent also.

Peter - please let me know about the silver crown.

Thanks, John III