Full Restorations

Whether you're a dedicated collector or simply trying to get your old heirloom fixed, American Timekeeper can get that tiny and delicate engine running properly, so trust them with your grandfather's pocket watch for expert restorations that will take just a few days.

Before

Shown here is a 21-jewel Model 9 Illinois in the Santa Fe grade, a family heirloom that had lain in water for years in a leaky basement safe.

After

The same watch restored at American Timekeeper before it was returned to a grateful and overjoyed family a few weeks later.

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It's All in the Details

After disassembly and a thorough COA, every individual component is examined under the 30x stereoscope for issues like scarred pivots, bent gear teeth, rub marks, cracked or loose jewels, and dozens more things. There are no corners to be cut, since it takes a hundred parts working in unison for these antiques to function properly. While watches aren't terribly complicated, their size means there is little room for error, so the goal is a simple one - to reverse or minimize any abuse done in the past century and put the entire movement back to factory specs.

The Biggest Problem

Tiny weights mounted in opposing pairs on the rim of the balance wheel are solely responsible for positional accuracy, but most antique pocket watches have weights that were deliberately ruined.

Why is that? Because when a watch inevitably slowed from thickening oils, the lazy choice was to simply grind off the balance weights to gain time, like in this photo. At some point the watch would've been cleaned properly, which then ran too fast because of the missing weight.

Staff Fabrication

Watches were (and still are) dropped constantly, breaking the balance staff. Not every style of NOS balance staff can be found, especially for the smaller factories, so replacements must occasionally be fabricated.

Any new balance staff starts with a drill stock blank in diameters from 0.5 mm up to 2.5 mm. Taking very precise measurements, the new staff is turned on the lathe, and after final sizing of the pivots, the staff is polished with a burnisher and is ready for service.

Micro-Welding

Cracks caused by tinkerers can be filled with new metal and milled back to original specs, assuming the alloy is nickel-plated bronze.

In this photo, some fool had forced in a ridiculously oversized screw, splitting the metal and then peening it as a band-aid fix. The nominal diameter of the correct screw was 0.4 millimeters, shown on the right.

Dial Refurbishing

Nearly all of the damage done to a dial is caused by a tinkerer trying to pry it off without loosening the dial screws first, like this Columbus.

Watch dials are fragile things made from porcelain, and like a mirror, once it's cracked it can't be reversed. They offer basic repairs, although the dial has to be reasonably intact for them to have any kind of success.

Under the Dial

The components under the dial are every bit as important as the ones between the plates, and yet they often go ignored. All of the hardware on your watch will be cleaned and inspected, milled flat and polished, and repaired or replaced as needed. This photo shows the work done on the yoke and setting lever of a rare Otay watch, made in California.

Cosmetic Issues

They offer a number of cosmetic processes to improve the appearance of your watch, like replacing missing enamel in the plate engravings, hand bluing, and tarnish removal as shown in this rare Dudley watch.

Yes, none of these things are necessary for any watch to run accurately, but doing any or all of these processes will make a big difference.

Seth Thomas Research