Dave wrote:What's up with the statement: This is the only Watling on eBay that has all metal clock gears as opposed to plastic ones.?
The Seller is a well-known restorer/dealer, but he seems to be a bit of a character;
the last time I dared to question one of his machines, he got all huffy and told me to never email him again,
so I cannot ask him what he means; perhaps someone else could.
Here is what I THINK he means:
Some (Many? I have no idea) Watling slots have pressed fiber gears (rather than metal) in the clock;
they wear more quickly and are easily damaged.
Apparently they are impossible to repair and hard to replace.
Another well known/reputable restorer has made some replacement gears out of hard plastic; see flebay item 400761635910,
and offers them to collectors who need to rebuild a Watling clock.
This seems like a good/ valuable service.
However, the Seller has no way of knowing how many (if any) Watling slots up for auction have the replacement gears unless the listing so states.
Seems like a strange and unjustifiable claim to me.
Perhaps he meant to say he replaced the original fiber gear with a more durable metal one.