I recently acquired this Geo Forrester & Co. pocket watch from either 1809 or 1811 (I forget off the top my head) and it took about six to seven hours to fully restore (minus the missing seconds hand). This is by far the piece that I am most proud of because of the amount of time and effort that I put into getting each detail as perfect as I could. I polished the case and hands and removed as much gunk as I could from the bulls-eye crystal. This fix was baffling at first because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the watch - all the pinions and gears were in perfect condition, nothing was bent! After setting this watch aside and coming back to it with a fresh mind, I realized a special mechanism that actually locked the pallet in place (something that I had never seen before). I was more than ecstatic when I simply pushed the locking mechanism's lever and freed the pallet. After disassembling the watch and cleaning each part, I put everything back together, oiled the jewels, and life was restored to the watch.
More often than not, I purchase watch
movements because they are more readily available and cheaper to purchase in lots. However, with this piece, it was both movement and case so I took my time in polishing as much as I could - even down to the hands as I mentioned earlier. This piece is actually running a bit slow as of now so I still have some adjusting to do. I hope you've enjoyed reading my first post and one of many watch restorations to come. Enjoy the pictures!
