| Subject: Re: 18s B.W. Raymonds |
Author:
John
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Date Posted: 07:20:29 12/16/06 Sat
In reply to:
Pocket Watch Novice
's message, "18s B.W. Raymonds" on 22:03:15 12/14/06 Thu
I'm going to answer all 3 of your posts here.
Yes, these would have met the standards for railroad service at the time they were made. The standards evolved over time, and varied somewhat by an individual railroad's requirements. Kent Singer has written an excellent online article, "Just What is a Railroad Watch?", that I strongly recommend. http://www.pockethorology.org/Railroad/Railroad.htm
As for your question about the cost of servicing, the answer is that a GOOD watchmaker does not come inexpensively. There is a lot of time and labor (and skill) involved in doing it right. The watch should be completely disassembled, thoroughly cleaned (which, depending on how dirty the watch is, may include both a cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner as well as by hand to remove any gunk that is left behind), replacement of the old mainspring and re-assembled, and then oiled. Then the watch needs to be timed and adjusted to run accurately, which also takes time (you can't just slap the pieces back together, wind it up and expect it to run properly - sort of like tuning a car after you've just torn the engine down into all its individual pieces and then put it all back together). Because of the skill and time involved, it's not an inexpensive process. And beware of someone advertising to do it cheaply - they may not be doing much more than dunking the entire watch, fully assembled, into a cleaner and then in an oil bath. To find a reputable watchmaker in your area, I would suggest using the referral directory of the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute, at http://www.watch-clock-makers.org/
You should also consider joining the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, at http://www.nawcc.org/ Lots of great info and resources there, to nurture your watch interest.
Good luck!
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