President's Message - March 2016

KEN MCWILLIAMS - It may be early in 2016, but Chapter 190 is off to a fast start. We have always been a progressive chapter, and try to keep abreast of the latest technologies and methods. In January, the Board of Directors created a new category, "Social Media". One of our newest members, Jess Ashby, was appointed Director of Social Media. At the February Board of Directors meeting, Jess gave the board a very comprehensive description of the various social media entities available at this time. He also presented a very detailed plan on how we can use some of them to spread the word about our chapter and our projects. We will soon have a presence in the social media world.

Our chapter is also looking to expand our education program. Providing quality learning experiences for our members, and others, has been the cornerstone of Chapter 190 since its inception. While still in its design phase, our goal is to provide two-day workshops equivalent to many of the present four-day NAWCC Field Suitcase Workshops, as well as many other horological subjects not covered by them. To achieve this, we have created a nine person education committee. The education committee will meet for the first time on March 26, 2016, to lay the foundation and create a plan to accomplish our goal. One of our biggest challenges is to find and train instructors. If you feel that you could contribute to this, please contact me, I welcome all suggestions.

The program at our January meeting was on the Santa Barbara tower clock presented by Rodney Baker. There was a question and answer session after the presentation, and member Bill Robinson recalled the time that our chapter met there for lunch and a tour of the courthouse and tower clock in October 2012. Bill suggested that since we have so many new members, maybe we should consider it again. I asked if anyone in the audience would be interested in something like this. Virtually every hand was raised. Well, since it is my job to accommodate our membership, whenever possible, I have formed a committee to determine the feasibility of another meeting at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. We are looking at the October 2016 timeframe.

Our Board of Directors has decided to cancel our annual Mart for 2016. This was due to the close proximity to the Channel Islands Regional that was just held at the Fairgrounds. An item on the agenda for the March 2016 Board of Directors meeting will be to discuss whether or not Chapter 190 should consider participation in the 2017 Channel Islands Regional. Along with this will be a discussion on rescheduling the chapter’s annual Mart. I welcome any and all comments that you may have on these subjects.

I hope to see you all at the March meeting.

Beat Conversion - Tales From The Bench

Tri-lobed jewel mounted to escape wheel shaft

FERDINAND GEITNER - A very interesting movement came across my desk the other day. A nice 8 day desk clock made by Omega, Caliber Number 120. As expected it was a fully jeweled quality movement with one very special feature. With a standard Swiss lever escapement, the balance oscillates at 18000 beats per hour or five beats per second. The escape wheel has fifteen teeth so it turns one full revolution in three seconds or five teeth per second. Watch factories often opt for faster beats of the balance as it gives the second hand a sweeping rather than ticking motion and tends to be more accurate.

Close-up of fork engaged with the tri-lobed jewel

In this case a jewel which is polished into a triangular shape was added onto the shaft of the escape wheel. The jewel engages with the fork of a larger "pallet" with specially shaped pallet stones. These are designed to push on a gear with sixty specially shaped teeth advancing the wheel one tooth at a time every time the triangular jewel on the escape wheel makes a third of a revolution. This gear acts like a center seconds wheel going through the center wheel and has its own bridge which it shares with the special “pallet” lever.

The special pallets, fork and wheel

Each time the escape wheel turns one third of a revolution its triangular jewel moves the pushing pallet in one and then the other direction. Advancing the center seconds wheel one step every five escape wheel teeth and showing seconds impulses on the dial turning a standard fast beating lever escapement into a motion like a chronometer with seconds impulses.

The Omega movement

The Fifth Pocket

View of a pocket watch pocket in action

TOM FERKEL - I remember as a kid, asking my father what the tiny pocket on my jeans was used for. He wasn't sure, but his guess was that it was a change pocket. I tried using it for that, and must admit that it worked very well for that until a few years passed and my fingers were larger. I still used it for change, but really, it became more of an agility challenge. Once my fingers were in, it was hard to get them back out, and they seldom came back out with the pocket change I was hoping to grab. I became the monkey and the cookie jar. Eventually I stopped putting my loose change in there, so I guess that at that point the pocket became an intelligence test as well. That was the last I thought about it for many years. Fast forward about 55 years to last week. I was looking around on the internet the other day and ran across an article that addresses the small, 5th pocket on a pair of Levis. Many of you may know this already, but it was news to me that the tiny 5th pocket was intended as a watch pocket. Levi Strauss confirms that it was indeed intended as a place to keep one's pocket watch. The pocket dates back to at least 1879. If you would like to see the entire article, here is the link:

So THAT'S Why There's A Tiny Pocket In Your Jeans

Of course, as soon as I read the article, I pulled out a couple of my pocket watches and, as promised, they fit perfectly.

Introduction to Horology Course

Disassembling the going train

DAVID PEREZ - A video series covering a basic American time-only movement is available on NAWCC YouTube channel.  It is made up of sixteen short videos (no longer than 8 minutes each), describing the various components of how a clock works. The content is from an "Introduction to Horology" course, which NAWCC Chapter 190 member Lex Rooker teaches and will travel to teach for free to other chapters if they contact him at lex.rooker@usinter.net. Lex produced the videos and donated them to the NAWCC for our use to promote the NAWCC as a source of horological education. To view go to the Chapter 190 Website Video Library http://www.nawcc-ch190.com/VideoLibrary.html

My Training at West Dean College

MOSTYN GALE - Many of you know that I spent the last year in England at West Dean College taking clock courses.  I thought you might be interested to learn a bit more detail, so this article will answer the burning questions:  What is West Dean College?  Why did you go there?  What did you actually do all day?

West Dean College is a small, private college near the south coast of England, about 100 miles southwest of London.  The College was opened in 1971 and is funded by the Edward James Foundation which was established by Edward James in 1964.  Edward (1907-1984), was the heir to his family’s fortunes and a life-long patron of the arts.  He is best known for his patronage of Surrealist artists Dalí, Magritte, Tchelitchew, Fini and Carrington.  He built reputedly the finest private collection of Surrealist art in the world.  He set the course for the college to be a place that champions creativity and teaches traditional arts and crafts practices.  Today it enjoys a reputation as the premier institution for conservation of heritage crafts and objects.  Many of its graduates have gone on to work at some of the most prestigious organizations worldwide.  The College has a formal relationship with the University of Sussex, wherein the University academically validates and awards the college’s Masters degrees.  The College also offers Diploma programs which are less academic and focus on the hands-on aspects of heritage crafts.

The typically 60 full-time students each year are enrolled in Masters Degree Programs in Conservation Studies and Collections Care as well as Diploma Programmes in conservation of books and library materials, ceramics, clocks, furniture, metalwork, musical instruments, and historic buildings.  I was enrolled in the Postgraduate Programme for Conservation of Clocks and in the Master of Arts program for Conservation Studies.  At the Chapter meeting in April, I will be presenting a program entitled, “Clock Conservation for Dummies”.  Hopefully you will find it interesting and instructive.

The Clock Programmes

The clock I worked on was made about 1725
by James Snelling.

In all, there were seven students in the various clock programmes while I was there but the workshop can handle up to nine.  Normally the programmes have a two year duration, but because of my training at Chapter 190, I was able to jump in half way and complete the course in just one year.  To my knowledge there are no other schools in the world like this for clocks.  In addition to learning restoration and repair skills, learning about conservation and how best to preserve history was very important to me.  Additionally, this school has great connections to institutions such as Greenwich and the British Museum as well as a host of other highly regarded institutions and collectors throughout the UK.  These connections provide opportunities for learning, for work on historic objects and exposure to some of the most highly regarded conservation professionals that regularly lecture at the college.  For example, David Thompson, the recently retired curator of horology at the British Museum gave us four lectures on the history of horology whilst I was there.  In short, I went there because it’s the best school in the world for clocks.

The inside of the movement showing
the anchor escapement wheels
that need to be replaced.

What did I do each day?  Every day was like a dream to me and hard work was part of it.  We were required to be in the workshop by nine o’clock (I was usually there about 8:30) and we were there until at least 5:30 or 6:00 at night.  We had tea breaks in the morning and afternoon and a very nice lunch provided at the school.  I began the course work by learning some basic hand skills; primarily filing steel and brass, but also cutting, heat treating, grinding, piercing, and finishing.  We learned these by making some basic tools such as a file cleaner, a scribe, a punch, a screwdriver.  That basic work took up about six weeks.  Interspersed with time in the workshop we had classes on topics such as science for conservation and academic writing.  Typically, sometime during the week, in the workshop we would also have a session on how to assess the condition of a clock or write a Condition Report or a hands-on skill such as riveting.  We were also taught to photograph our work and keep daybook records of what we were doing.  About once a month we had a special topic involving a  2-day class, usually held in another workshop in the college.  Topics for these included blacksmithing, sand casting, gilding, lacquering, copper and its alloys, turret clocks, wood identification, engraving, finishing and mathematics for horology.  After learning some basic skills, we turned our attention to designing and building clocks.  Essentially, the normal two year Postgraduate programme spends the first year building a basic clock and the second year restoring several different kinds of clocks.  Since I was trying to do everything in a year, I began the designing and building process but did not finish it.  With some guidelines given as to the overall objectives, the design/build process began with understanding gear ratios, laying out the wheel placement, and building an anchor escapement model to learn the escapement principles as well as some basic skills like making fly cutters and cutting teeth on wheels.  We then moved on to gear and pinion cutting, hard and soft soldering, crossing out and colleting wheels, depthing, bushing, cutting pillars and staking them to plates, and more.

While I practiced most of these tasks, I did not use them in making a clock because I was on a one-year timeline.  Instead I began work on a major restoration project that was to take me through the duration of the year.  My project was to convert the going (time) train of a 300 year old bracket clock back to the verge and crown escapement that it started life with.  Sometime in the mid-18th century, it became the proper thing to do to upgrade your clock from a verge and crown wheel to an anchor escapement.  Many clocks were converted.  Over the last decade or so, it has become a popular (some think it was the right) thing to do to convert them back.  Regardless of the rationale, it served a very useful project for me to learn some fundamental restoration skills as well as learn a bit about a different escapement type.  This task involved making everything needed from raw materials, mostly steel rod/plate and cast brass – here’s a partial list of over 50 parts that I had to make: center wheel, contrate wheel and pinion, crown wheel and pinion, verge, mounting potences, back cock, rise and fall levers, hands for the dial, crutch, pendulum, false pendulum, holdfast, and screws.  Lots of fun!  The photos do a better job than a description – take a look.

The pivot fell right out of the center arbor when I took the clock apart – a good chance to practice repivoting.

The finished pivot

What I have described thus far was all work that went toward a Postgraduate Diploma in restoration of clocks.  As I mentioned, I also received a Master of Arts degree in Conservation Studies.  This work started in the second half of my year and continued through the summer months.  The main goal here was to do some research and write a 10,000 word thesis.  There were weekly classes designed to both help us along with our research and writing but also to learn about conservation.  The classes were taught by highly respected people in their areas from institutions such as the University College London, the British Museum, and the University of Amsterdam to name just a few.

The components of the contrate wheel

The assembled contrate wheel

To help us in our research and writing we also had regular assignments to turn in; three oral presentations, two written essays, and 4000 and 8000 word thesis drafts.  One of the essay topics was “Identify and explore the intangible and ethical aspects of conservation related to your research question (2000-2500 words).” Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to write that one?  We also met with the tutors on a regular basis to discuss the scope and progress of our research, beginning with trying to define exactly what it was that we were going to do.  The thesis could not be just research, being a practical school with a conservation focus, we had to do something practical that had to do with conservation.  It took a good six months to nail down what I was going to write on and what the practical aspects were going to be.  In the end my thesis title was, “Exploring Methods for Determining the Age of Mainsprings.”  I will write about this in another (shorter) newsletter article.  I am sure you don’t want to read the whole thesis.  My research involved visual characterization, microscopic analysis, and use of an x-ray florescence analyzer on a collection of 20 mainsprings.  Of course there was a lot of reading on the history of steelmaking to begin to understand the process for making mainsprings.  I also performed a survey of horologists regarding the replacement of mainsprings – that will also have to be the topic of another article – some of you participated in that.

Potences (the mounting pieces for the crown wheel) were
cut and filed from pieces of solid cast brass

Writing and rewriting, formatting, editing, and re-editing - somehow it all got done in time.  I do appreciate the learning but it was not a piece of cake.  After all the work, it seemed that I would not get any useful results until I did more structured analysis of the data – then things began to make sense.  I was able to confirm the approximate manufacturing date of mainsprings for two different clocks at the college and confirm them to be, to the best of our knowledge, original to the clock.  

My work was completed on the 18th of September and we returned home on the 1st of October.  We plan to return to West Dean this coming July for my formal graduation.  This was a great adventure – I think you can tell that I learned many things while I was there – of course, you don’t have to go to West Dean to learn about clocks – we have many good courses, workshops, and educational lectures right here at our Chapter.  There is something for everyone, an enormous amount of work to be done and fun to be had!  It is especially important to have fun!

If you want to read more about our trip to England and West Dean College see my blog at www.saving-time.org.

This photo shows the center wheel, the contrate wheel, and the crown wheel arbor in place with top and bottom potences for testing the depthing.

The verge was cut from a piece of 3 mm steel gauge plate.  I marked it blue so that I could see scratched cutting lines

The pallets are cut in half lengthwise, to get their faces in line with the arbor center, and then twisted to get the right offset angle.

The finished verge. 

The verge and crown wheel being tested in position. Note that none of the parts are finished at this point.

The pendulum crutch was cut from a piece of steel gauge plate then filed, formed and heat treated.

The finished pendulum crutch

The pendulum was cut from pieces of cast brass.

The bob was made in two halves and soldered together.

The pendulum rod took a lot of careful filing.

The finished pendulum.  The bottom part of the rod was left long until rating was completed.

Two new hands were cut from gauge plate and finished to better match the period style.

The new hands are in the center and far right subsidiary dials.

The pendulum was suspended on a long spring and the rate controlled by rise and fall levers.  You can see one of the levers riding on a snail on the back of the dial.  As the snail is rotated (manually from the front) the pendulum is raised or lowered to adjust the rate.

Biography: Sue Gary

BY WALTER PICKETT

About Sue:

• Husband is Robert Gary and adult daughter is Eren-Marie Gary.
• Born in Los Angeles. However, she lived in Colorado, Michigan and Nebraska prior to moving back home to the greater Los Angeles area in 1986.
• Bachelors of Arts degree in Speech and Hearing from UCSB, and a Masters of Arts degree in Audiology from the University of Denver.
• She and her husband Robert owned a promotional products business for 26 years. Prior to that she worked as an audiologist in both Iowa and Michigan.
• She loves scrapbooking and reading. Currently, she’s a volunteer at the Camarillo Friends of the Library Bookstore as well.

Here is Sue’s story in her own words:

My first direct contact with the group, other than walking around meeting marts and regionals rather aimlessly with Robert, was when I attended Phil Gregory’s Reverse Glass Painting class, in Northridge a few years ago. Previously, I had taken decorative painting classes at our local Michael’s Craft store, and I felt pretty confident my skill set in painting would make the 4 day class a piece of cake. Was I ever wrong! The gentlemen in the class had fabulous fine painting skills and I was barely able to keep up. It was a terrific learning experience. Not long after I finished the class, I found a very sorry looking decorative clock at a Pasadena regional, for $10. One of the existing porcelain panels had a lovely painted eastern Indian image. The other panel was totally missing. I purchased the clock thinking I could practice my new reverse glass painting skills. As Robert and I did the necessary steps to create the image for transfer and painting, we realized we could reproduce the image through scanning much better than I could ever hope to paint it. So, that is what we did, and I have yet to practice my reverse glass painting.

NAWCC Achievements and Participation

I really began feeling connected to NAWCC after Robert and I were able to visit the headquarters and museum in Columbia, PA in the Fall of 2013. The museum is stunning, and meeting many of the staff was a terrific way for me to get a feel that the organization is there to help me explore my interests. Shortly after our visit, we were asked to do the video work for the Ward Francillon Time for Everyone Symposium in Pasadena. The lectures truly got me “hooked” on the entire study of time. I loved meeting so many of the lecturers and being able to speak with them informally.

Since that time, we have been on a heavily, clock-based travel schedule, which has been just terrific. Completing Chapter 190’s Public Introduction to Clocks Class gave me the confidence to assume I would be able to understand much of the information presented on the AHS Germany Horology Study Tour we took in the Fall of 2014 (a dream trip). The experiences I have had, by being involved in this fascinating field, have been truly magnificent.

Co-Directing the Chapter 190 Mart with Donna Gaglini was a pleasure, as well as tons of work. It was very rewarding to have the Mart be profitable, and to be able to donate some funds back to National really made it feel like the effort was worthwhile both for Chapter 190 and National.

I currently serve as the Board Secretary for Chapter 190, and I am currently a member of the NAWCC Audio/Visual committee.

I created the program “Do You Know What Time It Is? The creation of standard time in the United States” for a local Rotary Club. I also presented this program to Chapter 190, and it was also made into a NAWCC webinar.

Highlights of January's and February's Meetings

David Bisno in the Santa Barbara (California) Courthouse
clock tower's Bisno-Schall Gallery. Photograph by
Fay Bisno

BY DAVID PEREZ

January's meeting featured a talk by Rodney Baker.

Rodney started working with clocks as a teenager. The realization that there was a tower clock at the Santa Barbara Courthouse intrigued him. He noticed that the room in which it was housed was very dark and used extensively for storage. The clock had this forlorn look, isolated and dirty. Outside the tower, the four faces of the clock were not indicating the correct time nor the same time!

Along came David Bisno who was showing some of his students the clock. He and students Dick and Maryan Schall thought that something should be done about the state of this beautiful clock. What they started was a two year long effort to restore this graceful mechanism, giving it the space and presentation that it deserved.

Rodney, and the restoration crew, while combing through the piles of boxes around the clock and in dark corners of the room, discovered two sealed boxes of components originally delivered with the clock. Amazingly, these boxes contained the components needed to strike the bells. The bells turned out to be so expensive that the city of Santa Barbara never purchased them. So the boxes of parts sat there for over 80 years—untouched.

Bells were procured for the restoration. But these were no ordinary bells. Cast bronze bells would be extremely expensive and very heavy. Instead foam bells were made and covered in a faux patina to represent the finish one would see on 80 year old bells.

The restoration work on the clock and it’s gallery is so spectacular that last year the state of California awarded it the 2015 California Governor's Historic Preservation Award.

The end result of all this effort is named the Bisno-Schall Clock Gallery and is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 1 to 2 PM.

For more information go to the following website: www.bisnoschallgallery.com

The topic of February's meeting was "Show and Tell".  Here are a few pictures:

Giorgio Perissinotto extolling the virtues of French clocks. He brought the “Bullseye” clock (below) made around the end of the 19th century and generously donated it to a lucky conservator to take home. An interesting note - in France, if a chair is placed strategically outside a storefront, that indicates a antique store.

A beautiful and clever example of wood craftsmanship. The entire train was handmade. This is an example of the engine accentuated with spare clock parts.

Giorgio's 19th century “Bullseye” clock

Ferdinand Geitner performing his magic on a member’s clock

George Gaglini showing his Schatz 1000 Day Clock mounted on his handmade polished marble base.

President's Message - January 2016

KEN MCWILLIAMS - We've just said goodbye to 2015, and now we say hello to a fresh, practically unused, 2016. The world we live in is changing rapidly and not necessarily for the better. Fortunately, we do have a safe place where we can still go to relax and be among friends that share a common interest. That place is Chapter 190’s monthly meeting at Ventura College.

Our chapter begins its 10th year this month. I guess it's true, time flies when you're having fun, and for the most part, our chapter has been fun. The reason that 190 has been enjoyable is because of a very dedicated Board of Directors and general membership. We have a Board of Directors meeting at 10 AM prior to our mart and meeting the third Sunday of each month. It is open to all members, so if you would like to see how our chapter is run, come a little early and sit in. We welcome your comments and ideas.

One of the building blocks of our chapter has always been education. We hope to continue expanding Chapter 190 designed, one and two-day workshops. Lex Rooker has done a fabulous job in creating a very successful two-day workshop titled "Introduction to Antique Clock Collecting, Repair and Maintenance". While Lex has set the bar quite high, we will be looking for additional subjects and people who would like to be trained as instructors. Please see me if you have any interest or suggestions for future workshops.

We also have a free workshop prior to each meeting starting at around 11 a.m.  These are always well attended and great learning opportunities for our members. George Antinarelli has been leading these workshops for many years, with the help of a supporting cast of many clock and watch experts from our membership. George has often said that the hardest part of the workshop is coming up with topics. We have a wealth of knowledge within our chapter and he can always find experts to support whatever subject we want to examine. So members, let's help George out by giving him some ideas for the workshop. What would you like to learn about?

January, on even numbered years, also brings a changing of the guard. I will be your president for the next two years. I am succeeding George Gaglini (2014 – 2015) and Mike Schmidt, our founding president. We also have many new board members and they will be introduced to you at our January meeting.

Remember, Chapter 190 belongs to all of us and will succeed or fail, based on our support. Hope to see you all at the January meeting.

A Slight Oversight - Tales From The Bench

FERDINAND GEITNER - Round French clock movements have several different means of attachment to the dial plates. Most have plenty of space to clear all the gears and levers on the front plate of the movement. Some also have an extra plate between the movement and dial plate, especially visible escapement movements.

Rear view of the dial and additional backing plate showing
holes for center wheel, winding arbors and rack post

Recently a colleague brought in a movement he had very diligently serviced and tested on a stand. It performed flawlessly for several days, keeping good time and striking accurately. He then attached the dial and fitted it into the case.

Suddenly it would only strike one time at any position of the minute hand. Puzzled by this sudden issue, he removed the dial to determine the problem. Suddenly it struck correctly again on moving the minute hand. What could possibly be causing this?

View of the rack post and taper pin

While working on watches and clocks for almost fifty years, I’ve come across many different, initially confusing, situations.

This one was simple but also easy to miss. In the dial plate are the holes for the center wheel and holes for the winding arbors which is normal. But in this instance, on the added plate there was an extra hole close to one winding hole. Its purpose is to clear the post of the striking rack.

Close-up of the excessively long taper pin

If you look closely, you can see the pin securing the washer and the rack to the post. The problem was isolated to the pin which was a little too long in this case. When the dial was secured to the movement, it pushed one end of the pin against the rack thereby locking it. After removing the dial, it sprung back just enough to allow normal rack movement. This effect was so subtle that it was difficult to trace. After clipping both ends of the pin, it fit cleanly within the hole in the dial plate and left the rack completely free to move and count the correct hours.

Watch your pins!

Governor’s Historic Preservation Award

DAVID PEREZ - Last November, the State of California’s Office of Historic Preservation presented the prestigious Governor’s Historic Preservation Award for 2015 to those involved in the Santa Barbara Courthouse Clock Project. Mostyn Gale of NAWCC Chapter 190 spearheaded the effort with fellow chapter members to resurrect this beautiful tower clock. They were instrumental in providing the expertise and many thousands of man-hours needed to successfully accomplish this seemingly insurmountable effort to refurbish, rebuild , modify and fabricate the components and mechanisms for the rare Seth Thomas model 18 tower clock which was built and installed in 1929.

From left to right: Rodney Baker- Santa Barbara Courthouse Legacy Foundation,
Robert Ooley- Santa Barbara County Architect, Maryan Schall- Principal Financial
Support for the Bisno-Schall Clock Gallery, Mostyn Gale- Principal Clock Restorer
and Julianne Polanco- California State Preservation Officer

Reassembly was then completed after many more hours of cleaning, polishing and paint touch-up where necessary while preserving the original workmanship and finish as much as possible. Mostyn and his crew then precisely adjusted the mechanism so that it ran just as it did when new—some would argue better than new. Brian Mumford provided his digital expertise in instrumenting real-time monitoring of the clock’s performance. Philanthropists David and Fay Bisno and Richard and Maryan Schall financed the creation of the Bisno-Schall Clock Gallery in which the clock resides to make it available for public viewing.

Congratulations to all those involved. Well done!

Letter from Julianne Polanco, California State Preservation Officer to
Robert Ooley, Santa Barbara County Architect

A Look Behind the Private Label – Part 1

DAVE COATSWORTH - As many of you know, my collecting focus for the last several years has been private label watches and, specifically, those made by the Illinois Watch Company. A 'private label' is, simply put, a watch (or clock) that has the name of the retailer or distributor on the dial and/or movement instead of that of the manufacturer. (As with any simple statement like this, there are exceptions and variations which we will discuss further as we encounter examples.)

One facet of collecting private labels that is particularly enjoyable is researching the firm or individual for whom the private label watch or clock was produced. This research quite often reveals an interesting history. I will present a few of those stories here and will continue this thread in future issues as time and space permit.

The R. W. Sears Watch Company

Born in Stewartville, Minnesota in 1863, Richard Warren Sears began his working life as a telegraph operator for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway in North Branch, Minnesota. From there, he trans- ferred to North Redwood Falls, Minnesota to become the station agent. It was at this station that he encountered a shipment of gold pocket watches that was being returned to a Chicago wholesaler after being refused by a Minnesota retailer. Sears, then 23 years old, made an arrangement with the wholesaler to sell the watches and to keep any proceeds above $12 per watch. He quickly sold the watches at $14 to other station agents along the line.
After continuing this practice for about six months, he had netted a sum of about $5,000. He quit his position with the railroad and formed the R. W. Sears Watch Company. He moved his company to Chicago in 1887 and hired a watch repairer named Alvah Curtis Roebuck to repair any watches that were being returned to the company. Roebuck was Sears' first employee and would eventually join with Sears to found Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1893.

The Rail Road Magnet watch shown on the previous page is one of a series of watches produced by the Illinois Watch Company with the R.W. Sears Watch Company name on the movement. It is an 18-size, model 2, grade 99, 11 jewel movement manufactured in 1886. These Sears watches typical- ly had blank dials. Other watches in this series are named Famous, Defiance, Timecard, Lawrence and Richard. A couple of these names are relatively scarce and collecting the entire set can be a challenge. Elgin watches with the R. W. Sears name on them have also been reported.

Sears continued to retail private label watches, made by several different manufacturers, for many years under the Sears, Roebuck and Company name. We will discuss Sears, Roebuck and Company further in a later installment.

J. Herbert Hall

Canadian born optometrist J. Herbert Hall started a small optical and jewelry store in Pasadena, California in 1899. The store was located at 43 E. Colorado St. and was a cozy 480 square feet. There he sold his first diamond ring for $22. Business took off after that as his store became known as the place to buy engagement rings, watches and china.

In 1914, Mr. Hall made a big bet on the wristwatch, stocking heavily and profiting greatly on the new trend. The store, also known as “The Tiffany of the West”, moved several times to larger and larger quarters. Mr. Hall passed away in 1951 at the age of 79, at which time his brother Walter took over. By 1960, they had moved to a new 15,000 square foot facility. Soon after Walter died in 1967, the firm was sold to Gordon Jewelers who expanded it to a 19 store chain. Today, a few stores remain in Arizona and Texas.

 18-size, grade 926, 17 jewel movement made by the Hamilton Watch Company for J. Herbert Hall’s Pasadena store

The watch shown is an 18-size, grade 926, 17 jewel movement made by the Hamilton Watch Company and sent to the finishing department on October 11, 1907. It bears the ‘Hall’s Special’ designation in addition to the typical Hamilton 926 markings. It has been recased in an Illinois Watch Case Company rolled gold plate open face case. The dial is double sunk and bears the J. Herbert Hall name. I also have in my collection a 16-size Illinois with ‘J. Hebert Hall, Pasadena’ on the dial and ‘Hall Special’ on the movement.

Bailey, Banks and Biddle Co.

On September 20, 1832, Joseph Trowbridge Bailey and Andrew B. Kitchen entered into a partner- ship to form the Bailey & Kitchen Jewelry Company at 136 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. This firm was dissolved in 1842 and a new partnership was formed under the name of Bailey and Company by Eli Westcott Bailey, Jeremiah Robbins and James Gallagher. The company moved to 819 Chestnut Street in 1859 and then to Chestnut and Twelfth in 1869. A third partnership was formed on March 1, 1878 by Joseph Trowbridge Bailey II, George Banks (of J. E. Caldwell) and Samuel Biddle (of Robbins, Clark & Biddle). The name of this new partnership was the name we know today – Bailey, Banks, and Biddle. The firm went public on March 2, 1894, adding a ‘Co.’ to the name. In 1904 they moved to a new showroom and eight floor factory at 1218-20-22 Chestnut Street.

The firm is notable for producing the current design of the Great Seal of the United States in 1904, as well as several military medals, including the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor. They also designed class rings for West Point and Annapolis.

After expanding to over 100 stores in 31 states, Bailey, Banks and Biddle was acquired by Zale Corporation in 1961 and then by Finlay Enterprises in 2007. Finlay entered bankruptcy in 2009 and liquidated the remaining 67 Bailey, Banks and Biddle stores. In 2010, Bailey, Banks and Biddle reemerged as a private company, under the management of Smyth Jewelers, with nine stores and an online presence.

The watch shown is an American Waltham Watch Company 14-size model 1884 made in 1890. This 15 jewel, Hillside grade, non-magnetic movement bears the Bailey, Banks and Biddle name on both the dial and movement, as well as the American Standard designation on the movement. It is cased in an American Watch Company coin silver hunting case.

Truman Reeves

Truman Reeves was born in Chardon, Ohio in August of 1840. In 1858, he began a watchmaker’s apprenticeship at the firm of King and Brothers. When the Civil War began, he enlisted for the Union and attained the rank of lieutenant. He was wounded three times, the last resulting in the loss of his left arm at the battle of Cold Harbor. He was discharged in 1865 after spending seven months in the hospital.

Upon his return from the war, he served as postmaster, then as recorder for Ashtabula County, Ohio. In 1875 and in poor health, he came to California, settling in San Bernardino and reestablishing himself in the trade of watchmaker and jeweler. By the use of an ingenious device that he invented to replace his lost arm, he was said to be the only successful one armed watchmaker in the world.

During this time, he was active in Republican Party politics. In 1882, he was elected to the state legislature, representing San Bernardino County. In 1890, he was elected treasurer of San Bernardino and held that office for eight years. From 1898 to 1906, he served as California state treasurer. Truman Reeves died sometime between 1920 and 1930 according to census records. The movement shown is an 18-size, model 2, grade 100, 15 jewel movement produced by the Illinois Watch Company in 1886. It is uncased.

Biography: Walter Pickett

DAVID PEREZ - Walter Pickett was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi but grew up in the Chicago area. Shortly thereafter he joined the Air Force and was stationed here in Southern California. After the Air Force, Walter attended UC Irvine and enrolled in the Social Ecology-Criminal Justice Program from 1977 through 1980. He then started a career in sales for about 30 years. He is now working in Contract Security for Boeing Corporation in Long Beach, CA. Among his many hobbies he also enjoys the role of Assistant Basketball Coach of the Varsity Team at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, CA.

Walter has had a 20 year long interest in clocks and their repair all the while collecting them whenever he can. Clocks and vintage pocket watches are his favorite. Swap meets, garage sales and es- tate sales are especially fun and occasionally one can get a “great find” while on the hunt.

He is looking forward to retirement and Barbara, his lovely wife, encouraged him to find a local NAWCC chapter to join. Especially important, she said, was to have the ability to repair clocks to keep his hobby interests alive and well long into the future—well into retirement.

Walter has taken Barbara’s direction to heart and has completed the Chapter 190-sponsored Field Suitcase Workshops 101 and 102. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Chapter 190.