The easiest way to tell is the date. Most Crane sinks have the date of manufacture cast into or embossed into the fixture. Usually there is a Star shaped logo printed on the fixture that will also mention the Model of the sink. The model name can be extremely helpful!
Once you’ve determined the date of manufacture, look at the appropriate section to find the part you need. We’ve not been able to find any Crane sinks that were manufactured between 1942-1946, so we consider that to be the War years. Anything before 1942 is pre-war, anything after 1948 is postwar.

Another easy way to tell the vintage of your Crane valve is this. Prewar valves have cross handles like the picture on the left. Postwar valves have handles like the one pictured on the right.

There are three common versions of prewar widespread valves and they all take different stems. An easy way to tell which one you have is to measure the length of your stem. Click here to be taken to the Crane stems ordering page.

If you have the valve body pictured at right, and your sink is a Elegia, Nova, Ovation, Corwith, or others that have a stem that is 5 3/4” long, your valve takes our #86-101HC Crane stem

If you have the valve body pictured at left, and your sink is a Drexel, Norwich, Compeer, or others that have a stem length of 4 1/2” you need our Crane stem # 86-041HC

There is another widespread valve body that we didn’t have an example of, it measures 5 1/2” long and fits Telsa, Agilis, and Rival Wall sinks. Our Crane stem # is 86-501HC

PHOTO COMING SOON!

Crane 6” Centerset Lavatory valves
These valves were used on Norwich, Sterling, Ipswich, and other sinks. They can be identified by the unusual 6” dimension from handle screw to handle screw. Early versions used a square ended stem and can be special ordered. The later versions have a 12 point spline and use our Crane stem # 86-071 and 86-072 stems. The 071 is for the hot side and the 072 is for the cold side.

 Crane Intregal spout Dial-eze lavatory.

 The postwar Crane Drexel came in both integral and metal spout versions. While both take the Dial-eze stem, they have different trim rings and bodies. The sink pictured at right is an integral spout version, and takes our  #86-600 flange, 15-VBS sealing washer, and 79-266C handle.

Crane Metal spout Dial-eze Lavatory

Many Crane postwar sinks used this design, they include Drexel, Diana, Elayne, Westland, Countess, and others. They all still take the Dial-eze stem but have different valve bodies and trim. Replacement parts are as follows; handles are #79-266C, trim rings are 86-650, and replacement locknuts are 86-550

Crane Criterion Widespread Lavatory

During the ‘60’s, Crane updated their line with the new Criterion valve set, it featured trendy clear lucite handles, and a brushed chrome finish. It still used the Dial-eze stem and some parts are still available. One can still get the lucite handle ring, #20-24463, and the trim ring, #86-650. If the handle is stripped, you can replace the entire handle with our #80-1123.