Montgomery Ward Illinois 18s…

[tmac1956]

All:

I’ve had this watch for a while, but I’ve put off working on it until I thought my skills were up to it. Other than the dial having been patched with the “tooth paste” method which we often find on these old pieces, it appears to be in good shape. The neat thing is that it came with the original box which has some interesting data on it. What really stinks is that I saw a NOS dial for this watch on eBay a while back, but didn’t have the cash to buy it at the time.

It’s an Illinois movement made for Monkey Ward, 17 jewels, stem wind – lever set, 18s with one of the better regulators.

Anyway… I offer this for your perusal. (Can’t let Chris get all of the glory)

Thanks,
Tom

[tmac1956]

Continued…

Later,
Tom

[chris mabbott]

Tom, that is a little beauty my friend, original box & all, a very nice catch

Yep, I hear ya about the repair, I have one with the same “toothpaste” type patch. I was going to replace it with one that I manage to get, for a change, but you know, I like the original, I think you should consider keeping your dial and just….. improve it.

Buddy, I think you’re skills are good enough to tackle it, my first watch was a very good one, and I was soooo careful, and it turned out good. My second watch was also a 21j south bend, a good watch. Again, I really took my time and did it well.
After that, I read somewhere that I “should have” begun on cheap movements, so thinking that I had fkd up, I picked up a couple of cheapos, but ya know what? They were horrible to work on 😆 so I learned on good watches and therefore developed (in my mind) good practices..
So that theory can work two ways..

1. You’ll never get to know a good watch unless you take the plunge
2. Work on good stuff first and forget the junk, therefore developing good habits

Just my 2 bits

[bernie weishapl]

That is a beauty and again in the box. Nice looking watch for sure.

[tmac1956]

All:

I thought that the $1.08 servicing charge listed on the box (including postage) was funny… until, I did a comparative dollar value lookup. It’s not funny anymore.

Current data is only available till 2013. In 2013, the relative worth of $1.08 from 1900 is:

$138.00 using the unskilled wage
$220.00 using the Production Worker Compensation
$210.00 using the nominal GDP per capita
$874.00 using the relative share of GDP 😮

Thanks!
Tom

[bernie weishapl]

That is one thing that some of the older generation doesn’t take into account Tom. They just remember back in the day. I had one old boy bring me a clock for repair. His mother gave them the clock she had bought in 1901 to them in 1954 when he and his wife got married. When I told him what the charge would be ($185) he had a hissy fit. 😆 He said back in 1963 when he had it serviced (he said it had been put away since 1988) it only cost $28 for a complete repair (clean and oil). He wanted it to run for their 60th anniversary. He finally said ok after I explained I was wondering if he could get his caddy fixed for $150 like in the 1960’s.

[tmac1956]

@Bernie Weishapl wrote:

That is one thing that some of the older generation doesn’t take into account Tom. They just remember back in the day. I had one old boy bring me a clock for repair. His mother gave them the clock she had bought in 1901 to them in 1954 when he and his wife got married. When I told him what the charge would be ($185) he had a hissy fit. 😆 He said back in 1963 when he had it serviced (he said it had been put away since 1988) it only cost $28 for a complete repair (clean and oil). He wanted it to run for their 60th anniversary. He finally said ok after I explained I was wondering if he could get his caddy fixed for $150 like in the 1960’s.

Bernie:

I always think about what I could have said – always after the fact. Great rebuttal.

Later,
Tom

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