Dave's 1945 Oyster Air-King Restoration in Process

[R.W.T.]

Fast forward. Here is the movement cleaned and reassembled and running.





It would keep excellent time now. Running within specs for it's original 2 position build.

I will remove the balance later and polish the pivots to see if I can pick up a little amplitude in the verticals.

Still it's just fine. A few new/used parts from the boneyard and the original movement is completely serviceable. I'll mount the dial and hands and keep it running on the bench while the case is being looked after.

[Abdullah71601]

Wow! Great work.

[KenNethcole]

Great job.

[R.W.T.]

Okay so here's the update.

At the point where I finally questioned Michael on the restoration of the original middle case the situation would be as follows. A new lug tip would be made of stainless steel. The original would be cut flat off and the new piece grafted on with the laser welder and then the case pro finished. The cost was prohibitive in my opinion. I spoke with Dave on this and that was his feeling as well so we opted to go with the miraculously found second middle case that he had provided. ( this is an extremely rare reference..finding a donor middle case is exponentially unlikely )

I began searching through my bits for a suitable bubble back case tube and was a bit dismayed because the crown is stock...but the thread for the case tube in the middle case itself would need to be tapped out a LOT in order to accommodate the normal tube. Luckily I have a lot of OLD literature...with all of the original oyster case specifications like the current and previous R-20 catalogues many are familiar with except...these stop with 4xxx model numbers....once a case is obsoleted it no longer appears in the books so you have to have the old books...or...you are searching in the dark. It is always possible to make something work but it is nice to know what it is supposed to be. Interestingly the case tube for this watch is the 7 3/4 tube not the 8 3/4. The crown is the same. It was not nearly as simple and straightforward in the 30's and 40's as today. This was new territory and ever changing.

So...that is NOT a common tube nor are any of my sources reproducing those.

I did buy a large assortment of old material from my mentor before he passed. He had decided that his time was limited and he would liquidate everything that he might not absolutely need. Some of it had been for sale for a long time....but who buys odd bubble back tubes...the common ones sure...but very very few watches use the 7 3/4 tube. So after piddling and scratching my head a bit I said...I think there was one in the book...let me look...

Well it was Dave's lucky day.



1 NOS Rolex 7 3/4 tube. The only one.

So that went in last night after a little freshening with a 7 3/4 tap and some lok-tite.

So this evening started the process of water testing and casing and here is what we have.







I'll wear it this week and see how the timing is. It looks to be very consistent with its age and grade.

I think it was worth the effort. It's a really rare watch actually. Most of the 10.5 ligne watches from that era...Speed Kings and Royals and Imperials etc., run very small 28 to 30 mm. This is a BIG watch for that movement in an Oyster case in 1945. 34mm without the crown and 19mm lugs. Roughly the size of and oyster perpetual date model.

This watch saw some bad luck...and hard use...but it's a great piece of history and an heirloom. These are the most fun because of the uniqueness.

[Ian Macdermott]

Great thread

Someone's going to be a very happy bunnie when the watch is returned.

[andromeda160]

Glad he decided to keep it. It came out amazing. And like you said, very rare. How about some wrist shots?