another non-timex, but i'm lookin' for any info available on this stubborn old girl (in french watches are feminin).




a friend gave me a box of old, dirty, oily, rusty, broken and good parts for pocket and wrist watches when i asked if he had any spares for my waltham traveller. even a couple chain-driven movements. i fixed the waltham, then dropped it on my workbench and broke it again. only runs face down. two years later, three days ago, i dug through the box, that had been literally kicking around in my son's room, looking for a screw and found this watch that i'd ignored the first time. no crystal, discolored dial, the case has been repaired and is broken at one corner and cracked around the stem hole, missing the original crown and stem (i found one that winds it and another that sets the hands), it was covered with gunk, dust, dirt and rust, so naturally i decided to take a look. the blued hands cleaned up easily, as did the case. i put a little oil on a couple teeth of the escape wheel and she took off and is keeping perfect time. go figure. now i'm wondering if there's a way to identify it and give it an approximate age. 27x29, excluding the lugs. thanks, tim

to read!

"i put a little oil on a couple teeth of the escape wheel and she took off and is keeping perfect time"

I can't ID this watch because I've never seen one like it before. But, I think it shows a stage in the technical evolution of the various ways to attach a strap to a watch case.

First the strap bar was soldered directly to the case of the earliest wristwatches which were just ladies sized pocket watches. Next, as illustrated by your watch, the strap bar is soldered between extended "lugs" extending from the case. Then, since about the '30's on, the strap bar becomes a "spring bar" that can be pryed out from between the lugs to make strap changing easier.

Nowadays, I'm starting to see new improvements on the old spring bar approach. There are spring bars that have a tiny tab on them and operate somewhat like a door bolt. You simply pull back on the tab and the spring bar pops out from between the lugs. To much trouble and you don't want to risk chipping a fingernail you say? No problem. There are recently introduced metal watch bracelets that are similar to those "Snap On" tools we've been using for decades. You simply press the bracelet end between the lugs and it instantly locks into place securely. To remove the bracelet, you squeeze two protruding buttons on the lugs at the same time and the end of the bracelet slides right out!


technoguy

an old, filthy, rusty, incomplete, unidentified pocket watch movement

with an interesting chain driven train

i don't have any idea of what i'm going to do with this, but it's got my attention that's for sure. sorry for the quality of the pic, but it is very tiny. i read somewhere that the principle for this is to give constant power at the end of the train even as the spring winds down, and was invented by leonardo da vinci. tim

By "chain driven" movement, you are talking about a Fusee. I have a few fusee's. Be very careful you don't break the chain, they used to run about $75. What does it say on the other side of the movement? The maker name may help date it. If you can get it running, it may be worth selling.. would be a lot easier than finding a dial and case for it. Ron

- - and PW movements, try Andreas' site at

http://www.mikrolisk.de/

which, although in German, (Andreas' native language) is a valuable resource with lots of pictures and information, but without ANY ID you'll just have to plough through the pages till you find it.

Mind you, it's a great read especially for obscure Euro makes and makers.

BTW, Andreas has good English, and will try to help from a picture sent by e-mail if you can't find on his site. He also has manufacturing dates for many, many makers - like from 1815 to 1898 and so on. Let him know I sent you if you contact him.



e~gards

Mel

Frae Edinburgh, Bonnie Scotland

http://www.timekeepers.me.uk
Affordable and Everyday Watches

http://www.sequencedance-online.co.uk
My other hobby - Sequence Dancing

http://www.timexwatchforum.com
The Timex Watch Forum

http://www.ranfft.de/uhr/index-e.html

Ranfft has a search feature where you can click on movement
features to narrow down your search.