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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/olliegw on 2024-10-30 19:50:04+00:00.

I collect and wear pocket watches, i’ve worn lots but lately i’ve been wearing a 1914 Hamilton 992, a watch made for the railroads, it’s long overdue a service so i decided to take it out of storage and give it a spin while trying to find someone who’ll service it.

Because it’s a railroad watch it has a safety dial (clearly marked hours and minutes) and watch dials back then were enamel, and this one was in good condition, i’ve also never managed to chip, scratch or crack one, both of those changed today.

You see, there’s something else about this watch, concerning the case the movement is in, for those unfamilar with pocket watches, most have a back cover that hinges down or screws off just like any other watch.

Not this watch though, to probably make the time inspector happy and make sure none of that coal dust could get into the movement while stoking the boiler (or desert sand while driving the spikes i guess) it’s in a swing out case.

To open a case like this, you first pull up the crown (which doesn’t set this watch because railroads), unscrew the crystal (cover) off the front and pry up on a tab located at 6 o’clock, the whole movement will hinge up, kinda like one of those cars where the whole body has to come up to get to the engine.

There’s a few cardinal rules about opening a case like this, never do it with the crown down, and never do it with either hand at six o’clock or you’ll bend them if you slip.

Also do it with the right piece, a finger nail or a paper clip, never use something of a hard metal, i should imagine it was made to fit some american coin that i don’t have.

This morning i was hinging it open to do a movement inspection, i like it to do it on my old watches from time to time to make sure there’s no nasty surprises (i also picked it up last night and it made a funny feeling like a spring unwinding), parts hanging off or cracked jewels, i couldn’t get a good grip on the tab though so i decided to use a random piece of metal i found on my desk.

I broke the main rule of mechanical sympathy, never force anything, and it was a hard metal, and it was too thick for the tab.

It slipped.

There is now the tiniest chip at 6 o’clock in the dial, a reminder to me that swing out cases suck and to get the watchmaker to replace it with a normal one with a screwback or something.

It’s definitely a tiny triangle shaped chip though, i am so lucky it wasn’t worse, no hands got bent, no cracks and it’s so small it’s in the bleed area of the dial so you can’t see it with the crystal screwed on, there is a tiny line of paint missing from the number 6 but it was probably pre-existing.

Just worried that cracks could spread from it or something now.

TL;DR: I chipped the dial on my 110 year old pocket watch while trying to access the movement, luckily not as bad as it could have been

The damage