1941 Myron

There are several models that you could consider a mainstay of the 1940s lineup.  The Boulton is arguably one, as would be the Martin and the Dodson.  In fact, the Boulton is probably the record keeper as it was produced through the 1960s and is even made today!

The Martin has the distinction of being made in both rose gold as well as natural yellow gold (filled).  Another mainstay would be the Myron.  It was introduced in 1941 and produced in both yellow as well as "coral" gold filled.

The coral version was discontinued prior to WWII but the yellow version continued to be produced through 1951.  So it's a fairly easy model to find in the wild, they made a ton of them.

The Myron was offered in a 10K gold filled case so it was outfitted with the 17 jewel 980 movement.  14K gold filled models received the 19 jewel 982 and solid gold models offered the 982M movement.

The dial for the Myron was sterling silver and featured solid 18K gold numerals.  On the coral version, the numerals and hands were rhodium plated to appear silver and dial dial had a salmon-colored finish.

The Myron is also similar to the Martin in that the rounded lugs often show extensive wear through the gold layer and into the base metal.  So finding a nice Myron is much harder than it is to find any old Myron.

My project watch is one of the rarer finds... it actually has a very nice case.  Other than routine wear and tear, the only distraction to my eye is the black second hand.  It's a bit out of place, and would look better in gold like the other hands.

The case back of the Myron can often show a lot of wear through but this one still looks fine, even near the crown.

The dial is a two-tone white / silver butler finish.  I can tell this one has been refinished, it has the tell tale notch by the crown.  The correct pattern was used though so it looks totally fine and isn't a big deal.

The movement is the correct 980 caliber.  The serial number dates the movement to 1945 - right in the middle of the production run for the model.

Although the watch is running, it's running really poorly.  The timer is picking up a 21,600 beat rate when it should be 18,000 beats per hour.  This could be the result of magnetism, damage to the hairspring, or just some dirt on the mainspring making the coils stick together.

The back of the dial shows some numbers scratched in and that's another sure sign the dial has been redone at least once in the last 80 years.

This watch is one of the rare exceptions where I find a white alloy mainspring already installed.  That's great, as I can reuse it.

The plastic crystal has seen better days and will be replaced with a proper glass version.

Glass crystals usually require a little wet sanding to get a precise fit.  Then they are held in place with UV glue.

All the parts are disassembled, inspected and cleaned.  I don't see any obvious issues so it's time to put it back together.

My camera has frozen the balance in time but it's ticking away so I put it on the timer.

The wavy pattern is a bit distressing and I couldn't get the amplitude or beat error to show up.  So this balance is going to require some tinkering.

After a few attempts I was able to dial in the timing nicely.  Good amplitude and a perfect beat error.

This finished watch looks great with the new crystal and I installed a proper second hand too.  This watch is now ready for additional wrist time.