Some days in horology it just doesn’t get better. Case in point is today. I have to back up to last night to explain. About 10:00 last night my wife said Oh by the way the local flea market is tomorrow do you want to go. I had mixed feelings I have been going for years and usually you only find the same old junk priced like it was the Crown Jewels. I said do you want to go? Her response was no she had plans for the morning. At that point I decided to see what time I got up and go from there. Well I got up early and was one of the first in line to get in. I was looking around when I came across this and some other watches. I had not seen this vendor before and he had no prices on anything so I pick out 5 items and asked him to price the lot. I was real only interested in this but when he gave me the price I had to restrain myself not to pay to quickly for the lot.
The upshot is this wonderful Longines Weems Movable bezel jewel.

15 jewel model 10L sweep second hand. Circa 1940 page 905 (3rd from the bottom on the right) in the current Shugart book.

Issues:
Frozen Bezel
Rusted click and screw
Rusted case screw
Broken balance staff
Crystal
Second hand
As I said I was there early and back home before 9.00. Since my wife was out I decide to see if I had everything in stock to do the complete restoration. The only thing I did not have was an appropriate second hand but I had a hand that would work.

First I took the watch apart and cleaned the movement. While that was going on I put the case in my ultrasonic machine for cleaning. (Thanks to John D. I have finally found a good use for the machine they do a great job on cases)
Next I did the balance staff job (got lucky no broken jewels)
Re-assembled the watch installed the new old click and screw and installed a glass crystal.
The before and after pictures are below the first three pictures are how it was when I bought it.

Things left to do:
1) I have to decide if I am keeping the watch. If I am I will leave the dial as is if I am going to sell it I may have the dial re-done.
2) Get a better match for the second hand and possibly new luminous hands. None of the hands are correct for the watch.

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Nice find Rich!!

Great find and great job Rich

Tom

Nice find Rich, And nice job, Ted

Nice one Rich! Good for you! Great find and great job on the restoration.

This one came along with the Longines. I thought I would post it as well. I did not take before shots. It was not to good looking.

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you should sell this last one Rich, not worth keeping it...

I want to thank everyone for their nice comments. I rarely get excited anymore (watch wise). I handle many watches each week some of them are extraordinary pieces. The Weems has really caught my fancy. This is my first Longines Weems. I am also happy that you all seem to feel as I do about over polishing the case. Once you do it there is no going back. A quick update I have been wearing the watch since I finished it on Sunday. So far it has lost one second according to my atomic clock. Not to bad for a flea market find.
Some particulars about the Waltham it was in pretty bad shape. No crown and stem and a plastic crystal that was opaque it now has a nice glass one. I don’t know allot about Waltham (not many that interest me) however the Emerald is a great looking and running movement. Perhaps one of the Waltham enthusiast’s can post some more information on it. This is a mid-size watch and could be worn by a man or a women it measures 38.50mm long by 27mm round excluding the crown. According to Shugarts this movement was made between 1934-35. I think this is late for a conversion style wristwatch. The case has movable lugs and does show some signs of wear on the lugs. The dial appears to be an original conversion dial (I am not positive about that)the hands seem original as well. There is also a small dent on the back that did not show up in the pictures. All in all a nice honest watch as Lin would say.
Carlos you could always make me an offer who knows I just might sell it.
Again thank you all for your comments.

Very nice find, Rich. The Emerald was a later entry into Waltham's "Jewel Series" of 6/0 watches. This series was originally used in ladies pendants and the Opera watch and were later used in wristwatches. By the time the Emerald was introduced I believe it was primarily intended as a wristwatch movement, although I have seen one cased as a "skeleton" pocketwatch, with the movement in the middle surrounded by a clear chapter ring with numbers. It is hard to place this movement, quality-wise, within the series. It is the highest-jeweled model, but the level of finish had declined somewhat by the time it was produced and I am not certain that it was adjusted as highly as the Diamond-grade which also had a gold gear train and micrometric regulator. The Diamond was also marked as a Diamond-Maximus in some of the Opera watches.

Here is a shipping box from an Emerald movement. From my quick scan of the serial number list I found 20,000 Emerald (grade 621) movements listed as "A" grade and another 12,000 listed as "P" grade. I do not know if one of these designations was an error or if some were more highly adjusted.

Jerry and Mike,
Thank you both for your informative response. It appears that Waltham used pendent movements much later than most manufactures. By the late 1920s most Swiss and American manufactures had gone to the detent system for holding the stem and crown assembly. It looks like what you are saying is that Waltham used a stem and crown fix in the case until the 1940s. I guess that is one of the reasons that they lagged behind in the wristwatch market. The Emerald is a nice running movement but is not as nicely finished as the Diamond in Jerry’s picture.
I have another Waltham in a 14k Keystone white gold case. This one has a 17J Ruby movement. I had to re-do the dial on this one. The case uses female spring bars (more common in European cases). The box came with the watch when I bought it however I don’t know if it is a marriage or not.
Mike just like I said to Carlos you can make me an offer ya never know

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