Anyone know anything about pocket watches?

[skinznhydez]

Hi all,
I am curious to know anything at all about this pocket watch i picked up. Unfortunately it doesn't work, i think the spring is hooped.
It appears to have a porcelain face with silver (tarnished) hands. I opened up the back, it says its Swiss Made. It also has very small engravements in on the back inner plate
1914
12
L9118 (the "L" is giant compared to the "9118")

KR71940

2-47-1

56y

On the inner workings it says Swiss made
It also has
R A
S F
With a little Vine design underneath it.

The engravments are Very small and easily passed by. They dont look machined... more carved into it.
the metal appears to be steel or something... (rust in one part)

It also has a small button on the outside to set the time with... i have never seen that one before!

But besides that, i have no other info on it and would like to know a bit more about it. If anyone has any links, or clues about it i would be greatly appreciative!

[rovingjack]

I imagine this will be moved to the chronautomata sub forum above at any moment where you will no doubt recieve your answer within a matter of hours.

[skinznhydez]

I imagine this will be moved to the chronautomata sub forum above at any moment where you will no doubt recieve your answer within a matter of hours.

Awesome thanks. I totally forgot there were other forums here.... always just linger around here

[tekisui]

Oh I'm jealous.. That watch is perfect, as far as my tastes... So jealous
Wish I could help you..

[pakled]

If you do a search on '"pocket watch" (double quotes mean search for both words stuck together) and some of those numbers, I'm sure something would come up in Google.

[Rowan of Rin]

Nice watch, love the ornate hands. Now, there are an insurmountable things that would be stopping it from working. To help narrow it down, while looking at the movement, if you shake the watch clockwise/anti-clockwise a few times, does the balance wheel (the wheel with the visible spring) spin back and forth freely? Can you wind the watch? If not, are you just unable to turn the crown, or when you turn the crown, it doesn't engage anything?

[skinznhydez]

Nice watch, love the ornate hands. Now, there are an insurmountable things that would be stopping it from working. To help narrow it down, while looking at the movement, if you shake the watch clockwise/anti-clockwise a few times, does the balance wheel (the wheel with the visible spring) spin back and forth freely? Can you wind the watch? If not, are you just unable to turn the crown, or when you turn the crown, it doesn't engage anything?

Thanks for moving it to the right forum!

Yes it spins freely and i am able to wind it, well not anymore because its at its max. But when i was able to turn it, it did engage. I am quite green at fixing watches, but want to learn. So any information will help ALOT!
Again, thanks so much for moving this post to the correct forum and any help you can give me. I know this watch isnt great quality, but i quite like it. And its in quite good shape for being this old (1900's)

[Zwack]

The R/S A/F are standard markings for Retard/Slow or Avance/Fast...  Basically you can adjust the timing on the watch a bit by moving the lever one way or another.

This is a Pin set pocket watch (as opposed to pendant set, lever set or key set)...  It's an older style and I'm sure when Harold turns up he can give us more of a clue as to when.

Z.

[rovingjack]

you give that beauty far too little credit, it's in fine shape anlooks to be wonderful. likely the first thing to suggest is getting it properly cleaned and lubricated.

[Zwack]

This may seem like an odd question, but have you tried (carefully) moving the circular bar in the upper side of the back.  If you look at the wheel attached to the bottom of the stem you will see that it turns a wheel which in turn turns a larger wheel.  There is a brass semi circular opening which says "Repose" next to it, and a steel circular bar which looks like the end is specially designed to fit between those two wheels and stop them from turning.  This is near where the pin is.

I could be wrong, but it looks like the intention there is to allow you to wind and set your watch and then start it at the right time.

Be very careful, don't force anything, but does that move in any way?

Z.

[HAC]

Pin setting went out of fashion in the late 1800s. Stem setting (the keyless works) was invented by Patex in 1842, but pinsetting hng on for a while. Your watch is in  the time period that runs from say 1880-1915 or so.. (give or take a few years).

Cheers
Harold

[Abslomrob]

It's a "roskopf" style watch; notice how the bushings for the gears don't go anywhere near the center, and there's no bushing in the center?  The hands are driven directly off the mainspring barrel.  The designed was based on a desire to make watches that empasized economy, targeted at people who didn't necessarily care if the watch wasn't extremely accurate.  The design has been in use since the mid 19th century, and it's most recent incarnation is the Timex watches that were so popular in the 70's. 

As with most pin levers, they can be tricky to fix if they break.