Replacement Pocket Watch Balance Staff

[jcrawford52]

I’m new to watch repair and have a Waltham pocket watch with broken pivots on the balance staff. How do I determine what kind of replacement staff I need and where can I find one? I don’t have a lathe or the skill to fabricate a staff.

[stevefitzwater]

Well first you need to identify the movement, then check some parts houses like Casker to see if they have one in stock, Otto Frei also stocks old balance staffs, as well as a few ebay dealers like Dave Watches. Not all balances are the same, and some depend on the year they were manufactured with in the same model, so find out which model, approx year, and then you can start shopping. I would recommend picking up some material catalouges for most old watches if the older models are you preferred type.

And if all of that is too much, simply post the serial number from the movement on here and someone can answer the above question and might even be able to give you a Waltham Parts number to use when your search for the balance staff.

[jcrawford52]

Thanks Steve. No, it is not too much, but here is the watch info. If someone can point me to a parts house that might have it or give me a Waltham part number, that would be great.
Serial Number: 3532724. According to the NAWCC database it is a model 1883, built in 1888. It is an 18s, 7 jewels.
Any help is much appreciated.

[stevefitzwater]

being that it is that old, it most likely uses the “large waist balance staff”, the Waltham part number for the large waist is 1364, and the small waist is 1365, if you look at Cas-kers, I believe they have images with their staffs, so you can compare it to the one your trying to replace.

Here is a link for Cas-kers, do a search for the waltham part number, I got a return on the 1365 staff, check the image to see if it matches your staff, if not you will need to do some searching for the 1364 large waist staff, check Daves Watches, fleabay or Otto Frie might have it also (I list Otto Frie last as they are pricey)

http://www.jewelerssupplies.com/shop-bin/sc/productsearch.cgi?storeid=*14884f2cab1d40e71cd4468d

[jcrawford52]

Dave at Dave’s Watches had a complete balance assembly that I think will work well (the balance wheel was also pretty rough). I will also look up the part numbers you provided, for future reference. Thanks again for your help.

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