Elgin 18-size, 11-jewel Model 1 nickel plate (SOLD)
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An early Elgin 18-size, 11-jewel Model 1 with nickel top plate, still showing the factory engraving. I like these nickel plates because they clean up brilliantly and shine so nearly mirror bright that I had to wait until evening to take the pictures to reduce the glare!
Serial number 1622581 dates the year of production to 1885.
Running like a songbird with fantastic balance amplitude, and plenty of energy provided by a new "unbreakable" white alloy mainspring. It is keeping reasonable time within a few minutes per day but between the time I write this and when you read it, I will probably go back and shorten the hairspring slightly to speed it up. I suspect the hairspring is not original to this movement although the serial number on the balance does match.
Dial is very nice but not perfect, with the usual small edge chips that unfortunately most of these dials now have after 140 years.
Lovely blue spade hands. The seconds hand is not the correct original but it was on the watch when I obtained it, and is perfectly serviceable.
Perfect new thick crystal is brilliantly clear.
Dueber Oresilver (nickel alloy) case is generally in good condition with the usual signs of wear, some dents and dings here and there. The back case cover is slightly loose and opens a bit more than the 90 degrees it is supposed to, but it snaps closed and will be perfectly serviceable for daily use. Cuvette and front bezel snap very tightly (like they are supposed to! This is how they came from the factory and not a defect!) so that a case knife is recommended to open them.
$215
PA residents add 6% sales tax
Pick it up free at the shop in Gettysburg PA, or add $15 insured shipping to US addresses
Restoring this watch
This watch came to me described as “runs and stops” and I bought it with some hesitation. In the end, I got it running fantastically but it was a very frustrating experience.
The first thing I noticed was a scraping sound when the watch struggled to run. On inspection it turned out to be the roller table rubbing against the pallet fork. That’s when I realized the balance staff was wrong. Somebody had installed a “long hub” balance when this model actually calls for the older “short hub” balance, number 857.
You can see how slight the differences are from the picture but this was enough to stop the watch running so the long hub staff came out, and the correct staff was installed.
Then the watch ran frustratingly slow once I got it all back together. I realized it was running at 270 beats per minute, or 4.5 a second, which is the old “slow train” or “coarse train” rate, but this movement has a quick train that is meant to run at 5 beats per second or 300 per minute. The hairspring was the source of this problem: somebody had installed a slow train hairspring, which made the watch “run” but not keep time.
So that got replaced too. Hairsprings were individually matched to the balance for each specific watch so they are not meant to be interchangeable, and it required a little adjustment to vibrate the balance at the right frequency. Then the balance needed to be poised again, but once it all went back together yet again, it ran beautifully and keeps time! Success!
