Elgin, gold engraved with an arched bridge scene. Possibly a mill?? Maple leaves, a ribbon of some kind(christmas?).possibly the word volo bundled sheaves of grain. Its definitely a mill. Face is Roman numerals with a 5, 10, 15, 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 placed above the Roman numeral at their respective places.the 60 second face is directly s. Of the xii the word Elgin is positioned between the xii and the center movement point(the hands)has a gold chain with bar aprox.12 inches long that attaches to the ring around the winder. The winder stands off the side at the 3 oclock position. The watch still works though the springs are weak. Comes in a red case tan silk inside top Elgin printed there. Purple crush velvet bottom with stand. Hard and red outside gold trimmed.
Watch face 1 3/4 inches across, body is 2 1/8 across winder is 3/4 inch tall. Body is 5/8 thickElgin, gold engraved with an arched bridge scene. Possibly a mill?? Maple leaves, a ribbon of some kind(christmas?).possibly the word volo bundled sheaves of grain. Its definitely a mill. Face is Roman numerals with a 5, 10, 15, 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 placed above the Roman numeral at their respective places.the 60 second face is directly s. Of the xii the word Elgin is positioned between the xii and the center movement point(the hands)has a gold chain with bar aprox.12 inches long that attaches to the ring around the winder. The winder stands off the side at the 3 oclock position. The watch still works though the springs are weak. Comes in a red case tan silk inside top Elgin printed there. Purple crush velvet bottom with stand. Hard and red outside gold trimmed
My grandfather buck Lacy who got it from his father. (I think)
Inherited
Maybe
Hello Timothy,
Thank you for sending in your gold pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Gent's, size 18, gold, pendant wound and pendant set, savonette, open face pocket watch, Grade 296, S/N 11831371, made by the Elgin National Watch Company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1905. Accompanied by a red leatherette case with tan silk inside, marked Elgin. Purple crush velvet bottom with stand. Hard and red outside with gold trim.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 54 mm case diameter, Size 18, gold open face pocket watch with a suppressed ball fluted pendant at the three position (savonette) opposite the case hinge. The savonette style of pocket watch reached its height of popularity during the 1890s -1910. The engraving on the outer case is pure Art Nouveau(1880-1910) stressing natural themes of flowers and foliate carved into the cover with a grist mill in the foreground near a bridge over the rushing water. The inside of the case cover is marked for the Keystone Watch Case Company of Philadelphia and carries their logo of the scales of justice with a crown above, indicating a 14k gold filled case.
Dial: 45 mm White enameled dial with black Roman hours, closed minute ring with red Arabic markers placed every five minutes along the periphery of the dial, sunken subsidiary seconds @6, blued steel Spade hands and the upper dial marked 'Elgin'.
Movement: This is a size 18, split nickel damascened full plate movement, the Grade: 296, model 4, Class 105, made by the Elgin National Watch Company, of Elgin Illinois, made with 15 jewels, pendant wound and lever set, S/N 11831371, made in 1905 in a run of 2000 such movements, with going barrel, quick train and plain index regulator. Properly signed and numbered by Elgin
CONDITION:
The case is in excellent condition for its age and 14k gold filled for this appraisal.The dial is only Fair with scattered sports of oxidation and mold growth across the expanse of the white dial. Worse is the presence of a long hairline fracture running through the fifteen minute marker and down to the seconds dial.
These dial factors adversely impact the value of the watch. The movement is original, genuine and functional.
HISTORY:
KEYSTONE WATCH CASE COMPANY:
In 1853 Randolf & Reese Peters were making watch cases in Philadelphia, employing James Boss in their movement department. In 1859 - J. Boss received a patent for "spinning up" cases made of "gold-filled" type material. That is, material made of a sheet of composition metal (usually brass) sandwiched between two thin sheets of gold. Boss formed cases by rolling sheet metal as opposed to the traditional method involving soldering and cutting. Rolling increased the molecule density of the metal. His patent, No. 23,820 of May 3, 1859, revolutionized the watch case industry by enabling the production of not only less expensive, but considerably stronger cases. ... Unlike gold washed cases, which were made using electroplating, cases produced by means of rolling had much harder gold surfaces and were thus less apt to wear. In 1871 Boss sold patent rights to John Stuckert of Philadelphia. By 1875 - T.B. Hagstoz & Charles N. Thorpe at 618 Chestnut St. Philadelphia purchased the "J. Boss" patent from the estate of John Stuckert. Hagstoz & Thorpe seems to have made only gold-filled cases using the J. Boss patented method. Orders increased so rapidly that larger quarters became necessary immediately. A new plant on Brown Street was erected. In 1877 the E. Tracy case company, a manufacturer of solid gold and silver watch cases, was acquired. n 1880 - the company moved to a six story building on Nineteenth St., with an equal-size annex on Wylie St.Between 1883 - 1885 - T.B Hagstoz withdrew from the company which became C.N. Thorpe Co. and shortly thereafter it was reorganized as the KEYSTONE WATCH CASE COMPANY. The firm was producing 1,500 cases per day by 1889. By merging with and purchasing other watch case and watch making companies Keystone, by 1911 was the largest watch case company in America.
Pricing: The case itself, in excellent condition and 14k gold filled with a finish guaranteed to last at least 25 years (it certainly did better than expected)would be valued at about $165-$200 considering the dial condition. The condition of the dial and the movement needing service would bring down that value on the Watch market. Anyone who purchases this watch has to calculate how much it would cost to repair the movement and to clean up the dial as much as is possible, in order to resell the watch. So, that also lays a major role in pricing.
I hope this has been of some help to you. many thanks for sending in the entire bucket of photos.
Thank you for using mearto.com
My best,
David
