Rare Waltham 16KW 19j American Watch Co Grade movement in Nickel

  
Here just in time for the holiday season is an exceedingly rare Waltham 16KW movt - in Nickel! This is the legendary American Watch Co grade with 19j! The story behind these - as I remember it - was they were a special order for a very high end Boston Jeweler. Only about 80 were made, and only 20 complete examples have survived. The serial # of 501,526 makes this the 6th example of the run. These were produced 12 runs from April 1870 to April 1871. I do not know if there were any earlier examples. Sadly the subsequent 148 years have been hard on this watch. It was fitted with the Abbot's Stemwind Mechanism - which does work - but depending on how you see it - ruined the originality of the watch. See the list of issues and pluses I have put together in evaluating this example. Staff is broken - It does NOT run.

Fitted with Abbot patent - I have not tried to wind or set it. The lever set works only when the dial is lifted slightly off the movt.

The numbers on the Cock, Balance, and Hour Wheel all match those on the movt. The is a broken screw on the Gold Dome of the cap jewel of the balance. The escutcheon (keyguard) is satin when it should be High gloss. The ratchet under it is missing. The wheel train and the pallet bridge are all Gold. I was told this grade should have the glass enamel 3-line dial, but there were some that had the single line script dial. This dial is in very good condition with some small hairlines.

The seconds disk has been shellacked in place. The movement plates are not bright but one can still see the straight line damaskeening on it.

This is unusual as most of these has the fishscale type damaskeening. There are scratches, staining, and one gouge below the serial #. Only the hour hand is original. The minute and second hand are replacements. I have decided to let this go to the next lucky Waltham Specialist or Early American Collector. The item "Rare Waltham 16KW 19j American Watch Co Grade movement in Nickel" is in sale since Monday, December 10, 2018. This item is in the category "Jewelry & Watches\Watches, Parts & Accessories\Pocket Watches\Antique". The seller is "neilywatch" and is located in Red Bank, New Jersey.

This item can be shipped to United States.