1960 Automatic K-415

It's been a long time since I've seen a new-to-the-blog Automatic K-series watch.  I should compare the list of models to the models I've already covered.  I bet I'm pretty close.  

Anyway, I'm now one model closer to finding them all.  Today's watch is a one-year-wonder and was produced only in 1960.  So there aren't that many out there, compared to all the other models that were produced.  

By 1960, there were a lot of choices for the discriminating buyer.  You had the Automatic K-series line, but also the fairly new Accumatic A-series as well as the equally new Thin-o-matic line.  Plus you had plenty of really interesting Electric models entering the line up.  And of course, there would be plenty of manual winding models to choose from as well.

The 1960 Automatic K-415 would be the 15th K-series model with a gold filled case... well, sort of.  There is no K-413, for some reason, at least not in the catalogs.  If you're curious, there would be five more before the K series ended with the K-420.

To my eye, it looks very similar to the K-407 and the K-410 (another model I haven't come across yet).

As you can see in the catalog snips below, the case of the K-415 shares a similar look to the K-407 and K-410, in that all three have a recessed crown.  Each has it's own unique bracelet though, and the dials are different, of course.  So all three are distinctly different models and the cases are not interchangeable... they just look similar and are easily confused.

My project watch appears to have had a rough life.  It's very dirty, and has more that it's fair share of corrosion.  The Speidel bracelet is an aftermarket add on and will be tossed in the bin once I remove it.  The watch itself looks decent enough, but it's not running.

It appears like the majority of corrosion is limited to the bracelet.

If you look closely, you can make out the initials of the original owner's name peeking out from a layer of "old man funk".  This watch is long overdue for a trip to the spa - but it looks like it served it's owner well and could tell a few good stories.

It took a bit of elbow grease but I was able to unscrew the case back.  The movement is in remarkably nice shape.  The rotor appears to have been rubbing the case back and it's left a ring on the inside.  I see one prior service mark.

Lifting the movement out of the case, I can see the dial looks really good.  There's a hint of radium burn from the hands but nothing too remarkable.

I moved the small detent in the center of the rotor in the direction of the arrow in order to free the rotor from it's arbor.  Now I can lift the rotor off the movement and start the disassembly process.

A new crystal will be nice improvement.

Everything is cleaned and dried.

The crown on the stem is very worn and showed corrosion similar to the bracelet.  It's lost a lot of it's surface and nows a good time to replace it - if I have the correct one.

There is a surprisingly lot of information needed to choose a crown.  First you need to know the style... dress, waterproof, etc.  Then you need to know the critical dimensions, the diameter of the head, the size of the pipe (if there is one), the height of the crown, the thread tap, the color, etc.  It's harder than you think.  Using my calipers I can see the existing crown has a diameter of 3.8mm.

Looking in the parts manual, I can try to guess what crown it could be.  I still need some info, but I know it's waterproof, yellow, and has a pipe.  I'm thinking 184939, 184940, 184941, 194842, and 184943 are all possibilities.  I've tried to build out a stash of crowns to see what they look like but I haven't found them all yet.  I'm missing 940 and 942 but I have the other three to try.

First I'll start with 184939 and 184941... 939 is larger than 941.

Whatever crown I choose, it will need to fit in the recess of the case but on top of the pipe sticking out.  The 939 crown is too large for the recess and the 941 wouldn't accommodate the pipe.  So I need something 3.8mm diameter with a pipe larger than 1.7.

184943 is my only available choice... let's try it.

We have a winner!  The new crown fits inside the recess and goes over the pipe.  It's also the correct color and thread (tap 10).

Looking at the new crown versus the old crown, the old crown appears to be taller (height) so 184942 might be the perfect choice, but I haven't been able to find one yet.  Of course, there's no saying that the old crown is even the original.  Going off the catalog image, the crown is fully recessed and matches 184943.

Now that the crown is sorted out, I can reassemble the watch and get it onto the timer.

The reassembled movement is ticking away with a fine motion.  The timer agrees and says it's running a little fast.  I'll let it settle down before making any adjustments.

The finished watch looks as good as it runs.  I find this dial very interesting.  The hour markers alternate styles with the even markers looking like hearts (sort of) and the odd markers like arrow heads.  At first, I thought the might be the same markers but on close examination, they are quite different.  Regardless, this is a fantastic example of a rarely seen model.