Whilst I am talking about Ingersoll watches, here is one of mine. I bought it off eBay for a fiver, as I thought I could do with an early wrist watch in my collection. Especially at that price 😉
This Ingersoll was made in Britain with a Swiss movement, and has nothing to do with the American Ingersoll watches – apart from the brand name that was sold on …
Looks like the movement is an AS, calibre 734. I can’t find anything about it on Google… No jewels, and you can see that the balance cap is steel.
The balance.
The top plate is marked “Ingersoll” and “Swiss Made”, but, as Ingersoll at that time was a British company, it’s most likely that the movement was an AS.
Steel cap for the balance.
The gear train.
Time for a good clean.
And the movement can be put back together.
Ticking again.
I quite like the case. Just from the looks, I’d say 1920s – 30s, but I could be wrong.
Side view. Quite a high case with a big crown.
The wheel train pivot assembly is extremely hard too hold in place for re-assembly. The spring in the barrel is easily detached from the arbor. What is the part number for an entire barrel with spring already inserted?. Any tricks for re-assembly?
It’s going to be very hard to find parts, and I’m afraid I don’t have the part numbers. The barrel should keep nicely together during assembly …
“there must have been subtle variations in the movements because the spring from one rarely seems to fit another movement.”
Those straps from that website are absolutely fantastic. The leather NATO straps are beautifully (bespoke) made..there must have been subtle variations in the movements because the spring from one rarely seems to fit another movement.
Very nice!
Don’t know if you have a fitting strap yet? If not, you might want to check out these British-made straps: http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/
Nice straps! Looks like I have to spend a multiple of the watches value on a strap 😉
Those straps from that website are absolutely fantastic. The leather NATO straps are beautifully (bespoke) made.
I ordered one last week for my girlfriend’s watch. It came in 2 days ago, and I must say it looks very good. Good quality leather (insofar as I can judge), nice looking stitching, and the colour on the photographs was spot on as well.
Her watch is a late-sixties one, so I didn’t feel the need for the silver buckle, and her’s is the model with the straight-edged wider part, not the rounded one.
For a watch like this Ingersol one though, I think one of the round ones would look very nice…
I have a number of watches with that movement in… and most have broken or missing click springs; there must have been subtle variations in the movements because the spring from one rarely seems to fit another movement.
Also common is the missing winding stem, or the stem is present but will not stay in. It seems the little screw for releasing the stem works loose and the little lever / plate it locates too on the other side of the movement falls out when it does 😉
Just googled a bit, and found a passage from the Ingersoll Wikipedia article that is interesting:
“In 1904 Ingersoll opened a store in London, England. In 1905 Robert sailed to England and introduced the Crown pocket watch for 5 shillings, which was the same value as $1 at the time. These were made by a British subsidiary, Ingersoll Ltd, initially assembled from imported parts, and later made entirely in their London factory. These watches were made until the late 1920s, after the American parent company had collapsed.”
So it looks like this watch was made between 1905 and the end-20s.
There was also a Smiths / Ingersoll movement factory in Ystradgynlais, South Wales. It seems those made in London were marked “Made in England”, those made in Wales were marked “Made in Great Britain” 😉
I’d suggest late 20’s at the earliest. I’m not sure of the date that AS moved from cylinder to pin lever but it wouldn’t have been before this.