Pocket Watches

Not sure if this is the correct forum for such but they do go in pockets so...

How do you fellas clean the gunk out of the works of an original from the colonial through 19th century? What do you lube them with?

I've got a friend with a Revolutionary War era pocket watch and he wants to clean out the works and lubricate it.

James

Bring it to a professional. Doing it "yourself" could damage it, reducing the value.

That's what he plans to do now but would still like to hear from you fellas. He collects grandfather clocks and knows how to tinker with them.

Clean out is ok if that improves the working of the clock. Never ever clean up the natural patina acquired through time. This will diminish greatly the value of the item. I saw some nice antique objects that lost nearly their complete value because someone without any knwoledge of antiques cleaned them up... :shake:

Just the inside, the moving parts. Windex, Brake Cleaner?

A pocket watch is a far cry from a grandfather clock in both complexity and delicacy of the works. If it has any value, it should be taken to a professional who has the equipment, supplies and experience to properly and safely clean and regulate the piece.

Coot said:

A pocket watch is a far cry from a grandfather clock in both complexity and delicacy of the works.

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The difference between the two is like the difference between a high-end racing motorcycle and a bicycle ...

swathdiver said:

Just the inside, the moving parts. Windex, Brake Cleaner?

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Ughh.....NO!

Windex contains ammonia which is a weak base. To get an idea of what a base can do look at a ruined flashlight that has had the alkaline batteries in way too long.

Brake cleaner???

Traditionally watches were cleaned and oiled with very fine oil on a delicate feather. Not mopped on just a tiny amount.

If this is a real Rev War era watch it should only be opened by a professional and I mean a good one.

A 18th Century watch should not be stem wound wound. Stem wound watches date to the 19th and 20th Centuries. A 18th Century watch should be key wound.

To put it in perspective, a 18th Century watch maker is like a brain surgeon today. Seek professional help on real 18th Century pieces.

200 plus year old watches need to be treated as such, like insured and kept under glass. There are plenty of 20th Century Dollar Biscuits around if your friend wants to tinker with watches.

54ball said:

Traditionally watches were cleaned and oiled with very fine oil on a delicate feather. Not mopped on just a tiny amount.

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I believe sperm whale oil was the preferred lubricant at the time (and may still be).

That's what I was thinking (spermaceti), just wanted to get a rise out of you fellas! :blah:

He sent another pocket watch from the 1700s to a guy in Arizona but it was still not right and traded it off. This one he's going to take to a local guy here on the Treasure Coast maybe tomorrow. I agree, they are special and should be treated like museum pieces, especially the nice ones he has.

One cool clock from the mid-1800s has all wood gears.

Thank you for the advice gentlemen! :hatsoff:

That's good. Oh and spermaceti and sperm oil are not the same as whale oil.

LD

I didn't know that Dave, what's the differences 'tween them?

Sperm Oil comes from a specific cavity in the front section of the Sperm Whales skull,
Whale Oil comes from cooking/rendering down the blubber/fat of any species of whale.
Kinda like how we get Bear oil from Bear fats.

So they could get Sperm oil and Whale oil both from a "Sperm Whale".

Sperm oil while still a liquid has properties more like a wax than the typical oil, like a fine high grade form of the regular whale oil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_oil

The whole whale oil thing was a big deal, all about the money$$, with Sperm oil bring the highest $$, http://www.petroleumhistory.org/OilHistory/pages/Whale/prices.html

We used the stuff as Automatic Transmission fluid during and after WWII.

Thanks for the clarification and history lesson! :hatsoff:

a agree with the consensus; take this to a really good watchmaker ... considering its age, this isn't something you want to risk to a hacker.

I'm a lawyer; I wear a vest & pocket watch when I address a jury.

Took my 105 year old pocket watch into the jeweler for a cleaning. Hand it to the fella and he asks me if I need a new battery.

Took the watch back & left.

GF clocks & watches not the same.

This is not a job for the amateur. Find a watchmaker, perhaps at a jewelry store or an indepedent, who works on mechanical watches. Be prepared to spend several hundred $$ to disassemble, clean, lubricate, and time.

An original Revolutionary-era pocket watch would have most likely be made in England, and now worth in the tens of thousands of $$$.

The heart of a mechanical watch is the tiny flat coiled spring that oscillates a wheel releasing the mainspring at a prescribed rate, and the most delicate part of the watch. Removing it without knowing how is likely to do irreparable damage.

Using WD-40, Windex, etc may not destroy it but will certainly add to its problems. Otherwise leave it as is, it will always have the correct time twice a day.

True original watches from the 'colonial' period will also probably be fuzee works, which is basically a tapered cone wound by a tiny link chain and a real bear to work on if you don't have the tolls and the knowledge. One of my friends who could actually make parts (yes, as hard as it sounds) had a double case fuzee form a Boston maker dated 1772. Pretty complex design...bet those guys were blind by the time they were 40! :wink:

My chaindrive from my re-enacting days... most likely Dutch....

it never kept the most accurate time, right now it is in for some work hopefully it will work better than it did....it's best taking it to someone who know what they are doing chain drives are delicate and the chains do break if the wrong thumbs get involved....

Accurate time, by their standards, is totally different than what we now expect. George, my watch buddy, always said that that was the reason the town watchmaker always set the church or town hall clock was set each morning so folks could set their personal watches each day for what we would consider fairly accurate timekeeping. Beginning to think that's where expressions like "noonish" and "dark-thirty" came from!