South-Bend 16size Model 219 Question....

Hello all....I'm getting ready to disassemble and clean my first South-Bend....I've been into mostly Elgins and Walthams....anything I need to be carefull of....I notice a Plate Screw with a Left Hand arrow above it....

What is that???

I've never been into a South-Bend but just do it. Be careful and pay attention. I usually check questionable screws gently both ways to be sure of which direction it goes.
Sounds like fun. Next I'm doing a Waltham or South-Bend myself.

Aaron Bereiter

We rise highest when we stoop to help others.

Turn that screw and the watch movement disassembles automatically!

No Tony, nothing quite that crazy. The screw in question (shown in the picture below) actually has a very sensible function which is shared by all Pendant-Set 16-size South-Bend movements. In order to facilitate timing at the factory and to aid with servicing, that's a lockout for winding the movement.

Here's how it works...

With most pendant-set movements, when the movement is out of the case it cannot be wound, right? Well when you turn that little screw in the direction of the arrow, anti-clockwise the setting mechanism is then locked out. Then, whether the pendant is in or out the watch may be wound, powered down, whatever you action choose.

Turn the screw against the arrow or clockwise and the movement is returned to its normal pendant-set state.

Some Hamiltons and a few others have a similar feature, but South-Bend clearly marks the device and as stated earlier it is on all their Pendant-Set 16-size watch movements.

The 219 is a good one to start with as its basic layout is shared with all the later model 16-size South-Bend watches. It is a sturdy, 4-position sold to the general public and used in time service by inter-urban trains and other public transportation. They built 41,000 of the 219 making it their 3rd most popular 16-size watch.

You may enjoy reading my "History of the South-Bend Watch Company" to learn more about the company and its fascinating products.


Turn in direction of arrow in order to lock-out Pendant-Setting...

Thank you Lindell for explaining what those screws are on South Bends. I too have the popular 219 and wondered just what that screw with the arrow was for.

So am I to understand then.
When movement is out of its case, I can turn that screw and it will either wind/unwind or if I pulled the pendent before removing the movement, if I turn the screw it will turn the hands?

Thank you, Roland.