18S 15J Model 1883 Waltham Pocket Watch Restoration

by Jack

Just finished restoring a 15 ruby jeweled Waltham pocket watch that is 102 years old. The watch came in non-running.  The old guy was extremely dirty and the 3rd wheel in the train was damaged.  The case had decades of tarnish on it too. It looked pretty sad.  So, it was a tough decision if I should try to save it or part it out . I finally decided to try to save it and I got lucky finding the part I needed on eBay.   Parts are a big problem with these old timers, they’re getting very hard to find.  Waltham, and in particular this early model, has been out of business for many decades.

One of the things I look for before restoring is how worn is the winding knob and is everything there?  If the knob is well defined then the chances are the movement hasn’t seen much service.   This knob looked excellent.   Also the crystal was the original (rare) and it was in very decent shape.  So I felt fairly confident I was looking at a watch with very low time on it.  It probably spent more of it’s life in a drawer than being carried, so I took a chance and started the restoration process.

Below are the before and after pictures.   The silveroid case (also original) was  sonic cleaned, then all the outside scratches were carefully removed with jeweler rouge and finally it was buffed to a high gloss, as it was when new.

Notice the second hand is missing in the old picture?  I had one in stock…lucked out again.  The dial is pretty dirty and at first I thought it could be scarred, fortunately it wasn’t.   The porcelain dial was near perfect, all it needed a good cleaning.

Notice the fine spade hands?  They are blued and near perfect too.   Another reason I felt this was a keeper.

In order to do a proper restoration I disassembled the watch movement to it’s last tiny component.   Then I cleaned each part and re-oiled every moving part with a very expensive watch oil.  Oiling sounds simple, but doing it right requires a bit of training.

The repair work  (that 3rd wheel) was a success.  The first time I wound it the watch came right back to life!  That’s a great feeling, because this full plate design watch is not easy to work on and they are getting rather scarce.   it’s a real victory when you can save one from becoming just another old parts watch.   As to the history of this watch, all I know is it was made when America made the worlds best watches.  The precision machining and sturdy design belies something the new world has all but lost… pride in craftsmanship.   No short cuts were involved in this time piece.  The original owner definitely got their monies worth, because this watch is still going strong long after the original buyer has gone.     Some buyer is going to get a piece of American history and a darn good pocket watch when this one is sold.     Here’s one more picture to show the gold clad movement.  The wheel you see on top is called the balance wheel and it’s the heart of the watch.  The bumps on it are actually tiny weights to make it absolutely perfectly balanced.   Even the inside of the case was precision polished.   Nice, eh?

Grade: No. 81