Front, Dial, Back, Cuvette, Case mark, Cuvette mark, Front case mark, Case edge, Movement, Movement view 2, Movement view 3

The first Waltham 5 minute repeaters have a full plate pattern without the raised 4th wheel found on the later Meylan patent watches. The repeating mechanism on these watches was patented by Georges Aubert of De Sentier, Vaud, Switzerland, patent number 368904 dated August 23, 1887. The patent was assigned to Prosper Nordman of New York. I believe Nordman was connected with the Waltham gold case shop in New York, but need to confirm the connection.

This watch and the one I owned earlier (referenced on the home page) are both from the first run of 1884 repeaters. The run is shown in the handwritten records as 2,809,501 to 2,809,600 in Am'n grade 14 size 4 pairs jeweled. These were made between October 1886 and May 1887. The following run which is also believed to contain repeaters is Riverside grade 3 pairs jeweled made between December 1886 and March 1887.

The very first run of repeaters is based on the 1872 model and was made between June 1885 and December 1886.

All of these watches seem to precede the filing date of Aubert's patent in January of 1887 but the patent date of the Aubert patent is clearly marked on the movements. One possibility is that the watches were stock on hand in the New York gold shop and were finished as repeaters sometime later than August 1887.

I have a photograph of my original 5 minute repeater that I obtained in London. It is interesting to compare the finish on it and the one I currently own.

The jewel settings on 583 are more uniform and better in appearance. The radial damaskeening is nice and the pattern on the winding boss is also well developed.  The current example in the collection has a nice Waltham case with a date cypher on the back and a ribbon cypher monogram on the front. The damaskeening pattern is the one frequently found on the high grade Waltham chronographs. It occurs to me that it might actually be a rework pattern that Waltham used on high grade reworked items to restore the damaskeening. It also appears on the only known 17J Bridge Model, which was reworked from an 1888 model ebauche.