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Very early Glashutte

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  georges zaslavsky 
#1 ·
Hello there ;) !

Today - on my birthday - I've made myself a birthday present.

Pocket watch Watch Clock Metal Fashion accessory


A... watch. An old pocket watch, to be more (but still not very) specific.

Watch Pocket watch Analog watch Clock Fashion accessory


The story is simple. I found this watch on an polish website listing.
Added to watchlist and started thinking...

Pocket watch Watch Brass Metal Fashion accessory


Here this still has a very nothing-special look, but inside...

Watch Pocket watch Metal Gear Fashion accessory


Look at THIS!
This, my Friends, according to my best knowledge is a Glashutte.
And a very early one - made about 1860.

Metal Watch Brass Gear Pocket watch


Glashutte balance wheel with Glashutte system roller (will show when I get to work on it), Glashutte steel and brass (distinctive) pallet fork and recorded shape (see Typ 1.5.1 in the link below):

https://www.glashuetteuhren.de/kaliberuebersichten-modelle/frühe-glashütter-uhren-1845-1865/

Numbers:

Text Font Metal Number


Looks like I got myself a 4 digit Glashutte and I'm 99% sure about that.
The watch is in not-bad condition, with a totally screwed up hairspring repair...
It should be easy to restore it.

And even better... I paid $75. Yes, seventy five American dollars. I was so certain there will be some sort of fight at the end of the listing, but there was none...
 
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#4 · (Edited)
OK - I could not resist :)
I decided to attend to the most important damage straightaway :)

Below you can see an early Glashutte pallet fork:

Metal Gear Brass Auto part Hardware accessory


It's bent, so I straightened it:

Antique tool Metal


As you can see, there is no big idea in making a bi-metallic fork. It's just that brass is easier to work on.
This is prone to damage, but also east to repair. ust be gentle and it will nicely bend back for you.

The balance:

Metal Brass


It has a Glashuette system roller, mounted in the balance arm. Double roller escapement this is...
The most dangerous and stressful part of the job was to straighten the top balance pivot. It was badly bent, stopping the balance dial up.
It worked fine once again, but that's always risky...

Metal Brass


This hairspring is already straightened, believe it or not...
It was so very badly bent, that getting a nice, decent shape is out of the question.

Still...

Metal Brass Auto part Gear


The watch restarted :) !!!
Not very decent amplitude, but it's working again!!!

Metal Pocket watch Watch Gear Brass


This might not be Miss Hairspring America, but still I'm very happy with it :) !

P.S.

There is a 7 stamped on the underside of the balance cock, so I believe the movement number is 2207.
 
#6 · (Edited)
You humble me :)
In fact I'm not a pro and I don't like to work on not mine watches (once I did and imagine my raging fury when I lost a gear for good - it was not worth it ;) ).
Anyway, POland is a liyttle far away and I bet there is someone in USA who does it very well. Check out on NAWCC message board, surely repairing or replacing a hairspring is a routine job for true watchmaker :)

Sorry for the quality, but that's the best I could get with just my two hands and a phone.
You'll see the hairspring is still not too good, but the watch does work and - with deradful positional deviations - it has reasonable rate.



And another interesting detail in this subject - the watch has H.R.Kommrusch engraved on the cuvette and here's what I found in a newspaper from 1867 (available online, of course).

'In Bydgoszcz - gold ancre hunting case watches, with and without repetition, ancre remontoires, hunting and open face, with second hand for doctors' and other observations - watchmaker R.Kommrusch Fryderyka St. 36'

Interestingly, the watch arrived to my place from... Bydgoszcz :) [it is a city in northern Poland, at the time under German rule...]
 
#7 ·
I've disassembled and cleaned the watch.
What a ruin :(

Looks like someone liked to screw down the screws REALLY tight as the watch has numerous broken threads. That includes the hairspring stud - the thread just would not engage anymore on re-assembling and it turned out the screw had already been punched to make the thread wider before.
Another punch made it engage, byt the stud is loose in the cock anyway.

The pallet fork is still a tad bent, but that's a bend I'm not willing to correct.
Some pictures:

Metal Brass Fashion accessory


The barrel has a complete stopwork:

Button Brass Metal Fashion accessory Circle


The escapement:

Plant Metal Twig


And under the dial:

Metal Brass Pocket watch Circle Fashion accessory


There it's signed G&L 2207, confirming the S/N and the watche's originality!

Metal Brass Fashion accessory Macro photography


The click spring turned out to be very strong and I was very much afraid of the possibility of breaking it.
So afraid I got 'paralyzed' with fear and the tweezer slipped causing a nasty scratch :(

Watch Pocket watch Fashion accessory Metal


I can't forgive myself - on SUCH watch!
In fact it's a shallow scratch (I used my blunt tweezers) and it's one of very many scratches there are on this poor movement, but still - I feel rather depressed about it. Even despite it's not visible from every angle...

Watch Pocket watch Fashion accessory Watch accessory Analog watch


The overall condtion remains poor. With bent fork and repaired balance this watch does not work any good and it would take a thorough rebuilt using skills of best Glashuette watchmakers to restore it's glory.
BUT - it's an original early Glashutte watch so I think I'll just remain very happy with what I have. I'm still in a small group of people lucky enough to have one of those!

Once again - I happen to have found a complete A.Lange Type IV number 2207 pocket watch - it still sound too good to be true :) !
 
#11 ·
congrats on nice timepiece and thanks for sharing
 
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