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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 12:58:02 GMT -6
Seeing as a few of us are delving into pocket watches I thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated thread to talk about these antique beauties and show them off! I will start the ball rolling with my two. A 1916 Omega and just this minute arrived, an 1894 John Forrest English Fuse! Here are some shots of the two together and more detailed ones of the Fusee. I love the Fusee! It really feels like one is holding hand crafted history. To think this was made when Queen Victoria was still on the throne! It has a lovely slow beat, much slower than the Omega who's beat is more like my Archer Sterling. It is lovely hearing it gently tick away under the layers of Sterling silver! Enough words, some eye candy! See how the already large Omega is dwarfed by the English Monster! A close up of the dial, those are solid gold hand crafted hands. In fact the whole watch is hand made. The English never mechanized like the US and Swiss did which is probably why they faded away! This is the movements dust cover, it is held in place by a blued steel friction bar. You simply slide the bar and lift off the cover! Notice the finish of the metal, I love that grainy texture that was a hallmark of English watch makers. Breguet and RW Smith use it to great effect nowadays. And now to the movement. I will try to capture a shot of the fusee and chain later but for now you can see the bi-mettalic balance with with gold screws, the regulation is done by what is called a "London quadrant". Notice the beautiful hand engraving of the balance staff. And finally I just had to take a picture of the letter that Westhill enclose with the watch giving instructions on how to wind and care. I love attention to detail like this from a seller. So, lets see those beauties!
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Baco Noir
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Post by Baco Noir on Feb 14, 2014 13:37:09 GMT -6
Good minds think alike. I was thinking the same thing Ian. This is my great-grandfather's Elgin pocket watch from 1918. This has a gold plated case with an acrylic crystal, so I assume it was replaced sometime in the past. It's an open face style doesn't have the hunter cover on the front. It's in Elgin grade 313 with hours and minutes on the primary dial and small sub seconds at 6 o'clock. The movement beat is 18,000 bph and has an approximate power reserve a 36 hours. It is a manual wind with 15 jewels and no shock protection. This pocket watch has a lot of things that I love. Nice italic Arabic numbers for the hour markers plus the red 60 minute markers, the blued hands and the nice eagle engraving on the back.I've also included a picture of it next my Blancpain to give it some scale. I think I've decided that I really like the leather rope chain and will probably keep that rather than looking for a gold one. Sorry about the crappy iPhone pictures, but I didn't have time to grab the real camera today. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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CHIP
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Post by CHIP on Feb 14, 2014 14:07:48 GMT -6
I was thinking it too.
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 14:30:10 GMT -6
I really like the Elgin on a leather rope Roger. It has given me an idea for the Fusse! I never tire of seeing that beautiful Elgin!
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 15:36:36 GMT -6
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Post by rw16610 on Feb 14, 2014 17:33:11 GMT -6
Great topic! It gives me a warm feeling in regards to my life long passion for watches (mechanical ones). Again, the history behind these things is simply amazing. Looking forward to seeing and learning more as the posts come
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 18:01:34 GMT -6
Thanks Rommel. I was just looking under the loupe. Even the markings on the dial are hand painted. You can see the brush strokes and different shading with those brush strokes, amazing. I was not expecting that!
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Post by rw16610 on Feb 14, 2014 19:08:52 GMT -6
Attention to detail truly is incredible. The closeup picture you posted of the movement's engravings show this. Geneva stripe and that circular pattern typically used in modern decoration looks great but the engravings on the back of the movement up close is stunning. Subtle yet out of this world. No part of it appears stamped, even the writing looks hand engraved.
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 20:05:37 GMT -6
I have been doing some research on these Georgian/Victorian English movements. From what I have found out so far they were all made with hand tools. The Brits did not mechanize which as I said earlier was I think their downfall. When you look at the engraving it really shows that I think. I took a couple of close-up's of the dial and bridge engraving that hopefully will show this off more.
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 22:24:33 GMT -6
Just trying to find some videos of pocket watches. I think I will use this post to hold all the videos so they are easier to find. First up is a silent film of the Illinois Watch company made in the heyday of their pocket watch production, it is fascinating to watch. This is a link to a series of excellent videos by a German watch maker. He does everything from something as large as a pocket watch case to a component no bigger than a human hair! www.youtube.com/user/spahlow/videos?sort=da&flow=grid&view=0
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Post by rw16610 on Feb 14, 2014 23:02:08 GMT -6
I have been doing some research on these Georgian/Victorian English movements. From what I have found out so far they were all made with hand tools. The Brits did not mechanize which as I said earlier was I think their downfall. When you look at the engraving it really shows that I think. I took a couple of close-up's of the dial and bridge engraving that hopefully will show this off more. On the bright side of that I guess this makes them less common. For something not aided by machines that's not too shabby. The closeup of the engravings shows how difficult it may have been. Then again the individual doing this must have had out of this world skills.
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 14, 2014 23:14:59 GMT -6
In Victorian London there were so many skilled workers who were able to do this work I bet they got paid a pittance to do it.
A lot of women did the fine stuff at home as peace work. Funny, the Swiss watch industry do the same thing to this day!
I was looking at the case engraving tonight, it is so obviously hand done as each side of the shield is slightly different. I love that sort of thing, its the tiny imperfections that give it soul I think.
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Post by rw16610 on Feb 15, 2014 0:39:45 GMT -6
Yeah, seeing that macro shot of the details displays the fact it was not stamped out. The only part of it that was would be the markings on the silver case, as always. This process takes us back to the roots of watchmaking. The time invested by a skilled engraver to decorate a piece. Tough not to love watches as they combine history, art and engineering just to name a few. It always amazes me when I look back to the first timekeepers ever made and the geniuses who did the math etc to make this reality.
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CHIP
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Post by CHIP on Feb 15, 2014 1:29:09 GMT -6
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Post by ianmedium on Feb 15, 2014 10:21:55 GMT -6
Oh I really like that chip! I think I will try something similar with my iPad Air as I think it has the same feature. I just the essence you have captured with this shot.
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