Funny, my grandfather on my dad's side carried a Hamilton Railroad 941 ("sidewinder" version of the 940; otherwise identical), and grandfather on mom's side carried a Waltham 23J Vanguard Up/Down. Both are excellent, high-grade watches from an era when American manufacturing quality and watch tech in general was IMO leaps and bounds ahead of the Swiss. I now own them both, and am a watchmaker myself. Sadly the 941 was in poor shape mechanically though cosmetically perfect and in a unique 14k gold case with stars around the bezel and caseback edges that I've never seen anywhere else in my 25+ years in this hobby. I have the 941 running perfectly now and with a new mainspring, but am still missing the circular regulator spring which seems impossible to find without spending several hundred buying an entire complete movement. One of these days I'll just have to bite the bullet. As much as I love the pocket watches of this era, parts are hard to find and often very expensive, and I hate working on full plate movements... Just a comment re: the crystal. Personally I much prefer using shellac to secure crystals for most vintage watches. Not only is it period correct right up to the 1940s/50s, but shellac is also far easier to remove with just a little heat should you need to replace the crystal. The UV glue or cement that many modern watches use on crystals nowadays can be a pain to deal with when it comes time for crystal removal/replacement. It's also serious overkill unless you have either an extremely loose crystal or you're working on a dive watch where you need it for waterproofing. Properly sized crystals for the majority of pocket watches from this era should really be able to friction fit.

Still works in 4.12 and perfectly explained! Thank you!

Hi Peter, I enjoyed this episode very much. You mentioned the you used some kind of head camera and that you found it a little cumbersome. What kind of camera are you using?

Great Video. I have the same problem and don't want to leave the watch at a local place. Can you give me the part #'S / SIZES FOR A ROLEX OYSTER PERPETUAL DATEJUST 16200 3135 movement (36mm case) if you have them....Thanks in advance.

I feel like i'm watching this in space

Is just me, or is that the most brutal prying of a bezel ever?

Dude they make a machine for this you probably scratched that watch up bad.

It's all scratches now and it's sharp edges now

For the capacitor debate - It is not a capacitor. From Panasonic:These manganese titanium rechargeable lithium (MT) coin batteries use a lithium manganese complex oxide for the positive pole and a special lithium-titanium complex oxide for the negative pole. They provide a capacity which is more than 10 times that of capacitors of the same size. Typical applications include the main power supply in watches and memory back-up for pagers, timers, etc.

This video focuses more on the hand of the repairer than on the parts of the clock.

'This is how we do it'. I'm one and a half minutes in and you've made 3 horrible mistakes.

I have a collection of old Soviet clocks and other electronics including a clock just like this that was given to me. Frankly most of it is pretty junky but that's actually part of the charm. There's a certain brutal elegance to the design of most of the Soviet era equipment that I just think is neat. Now as far as this specific clock, mine works just fine and keeps great time. If I just wanted to know what time it is I could just pull out my phone but that isn't really the point. I have no particular interest in visiting Russia, but growing up the USSR was shrouded in mystery behind the iron curtain so I think it is fascinating to own some artifacts from that mysterious time and place.

You had mentioned that the Hamilton Watch Co. was purchased by the Illinois Watch Co in 1928. It was the Hamilton Watch Co. that purchased the Illinois Watch Co. in 1928 not the other way around. After the purchase you will notice that Illinois Watch without the Co. was what you will find on Illinois Watches. Illinois watches ceased after about 1948. After the purchase the manufacturing of Illinois watches was moved to the Hamilton factory in Lancaster PA.

Do you have a shop near NYC. I have a bracelet I cant trust anyone to fix. Its vintage and I broke it. Looking for help its the chain its a double chain gold precious metal. Any help would be greatly appreciated

I have this watch but my crystal has an inner ring and outer ring. I can get the inner ring in the crystal and push it into the case but the outer ring I don’t get fit over the crystal. Any advice on that?

What tired video.

Should the Hour Hand fit flush with shoulder on Hour wheel or should it be press slightly below the shoulder...Same for Minute hand...? Thanks for the video.

GMT bezel without a GMT movement?

Just a heads up... Your link to the parts list is broken. Can you kindly repost the link please. Thanks

Thats so cool dude

watch handling is rather rude.

अतुमचे उच्चार समजत नाहीत. पण व्हिडींओग्राफी एकदम स्पष्ट छान आहे. धन्यवाद.

I have an old Seiko. Nothing special. One of the indices marks has come loose from the dial at 9 o clock. What do you recommend to glue it back?

I have over a dozen of these watches and they serve me quite well. They look great, feel very well made, keep great time, plus the price is right. If one ever fails me, I'll toss it out and buy a replacement. You snobs that hate Invicta are morons.

Nice tutorial

just used this to refurb my watch, it runs like a top! thanks much!!

I am trying to replace my crystal in my Rolex 16613 Sub... I was REALLY hoping to see how you removed the crystal bezel! I bought a bezel remover tool but it seems like I have tightened it all the way and it isn't budging!

Very helpul demonstration of the mechanism of the datejust, pretty good video as well, thank you Peter.

I notice that no one ever explains the tiny little dots on the crown. I wouldn't be surprised if the dealer even realizes that they are there and what they mean.

I'm sorry, but charging $10,000 for what you just built for $100 is just asking the world to clone it. Rolex is overpriced and over-hyped nonsense.

So are the case tubes universally sized? Would a Seiko use the same case tube tool as a Rolex?

How can I share my watch. It seems to have a piece of glass over the face

❤ KZfaq algorithm. Please bless this channel with views

❤ thank you Peter. You're a temptation to start building watches.

I really want to do this. I like watches but I’m so particular that this makes sense.

Are the watch clamps and spacer ring necessary and if so where do I buy those parts

How much gold is in the 2024 Rolex Submariner Bluesy. Thanks

Can you tell me how much gold is in that watch ? Would appreciate it.

Thank you. The only video i could find on how to put the movement back in. Much appreciated.

Maybe talk about buying a 3d printer..

awesome videos so informative and interesting to see american watches being restored. I appreciate the way you narrate your videos you are obviously an expert but do not come across as snobby. Keep up the great work

Many thanks for this. I have a love/hate relationship with my Ebel Classic Wave watch. It is a beautiful watch, but I have been unable to find anyone local to replace the battery. I find it annoying to be expected to pay Movado Group $90 plus postage to replace the battery. After watching your video, I was able to open my watch and just ordered a pack of 3 Renata 321 batteries from Amazon for a total of $4.42. Amazon will deliver them on Friday. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Great job on the watch. Picked up some EBay watches to practice on later.

Not only did you make it great again, but you also built it back better!

Are you still doing vintage watch restoration??

Looks like it’s missing a GMT hand?

how to adjust it exactly? mine runs now on -30s/d which is way off, and the results in your video is amazing, neither my nh34 / nh35a / miyota 8211 / 7s26 movements can produce this accuracy (they vary between 5-10s/d , which would be more than enough for me for this movement)

Really $hitty workmanship

I do not want this fella working on my 18k Rolex. Holy Moly

so when i did this my side views top views are distorted. is there something i did wrong?