Hello Susan,
Thank you for sending in this family wristwatch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Ladies, 14k white gold and diamond, manually wound and set, wristwatch with double cloth rope strap, case no. S1345, made by the Elgin Watch Company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1951.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: This is a 14k white gold, two leaf, ovoid facade and tonneau shaped back cover (tonneau= two convex sides and parallel ends) wristwatch case with polished and canted white gold bezel, fluted winding crown, snap open case back cover marked, “14K gold”. The interior of the case cover is not shown. There are three small diamonds at either end aligned behind a punctate white gold ‘J’ which combine to form the lugs. The bottom of the ‘J’ connects with the black cloth double rope strap with a yellow gilt double clasp marked by the maker, JB within a triangle (Jacoby-Bender). {Jacoby-Bender Inc. was founded in 1936, in New York City, NY. They manufactured watch bracelets in steel, gold and gold-filled. They are best known today as the manufacturer of the aftermarket bracelets that astronauts such as Neil Armstrong put on their Omega Speedmasters back in the 1960s.} What you have in this complex looking clasp is an improved extensible clasp invented and patented in 1941 by David Jacobovitz who was part of Jacoby Bender. Rather than try to explain this clasp I will refer you to the patent description at:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2309510
Dial: Ovoid silvered dial with applied white gold pointy baton hours, white gold ‘mitre’ hands and the name, 'Elgin', enameled in the upper dial.
Movement: Not shown but most likely would be a split three-quarter plate rectangular movement with 15 +/- jewels, manually wound, marked for Elgin and carrying a serial number on the movement.
CONDITION:
Case – Excellent state of preservation.
Dial – Wear and oxidation to the baton hours and a couple of dark speckles of silver oxide on the dial itself.
Movement – Not seen but considered original to this case, genuine and likely still functioning.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/52860721_lady-elgin-14k-white-gold-and-diamond-wristwatch
(sold for $100 at auction in 2017)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/80694553_elgin-white-gold-ladys-wristwatch (sold for $60 in 2020)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/47080199_14k-mid-century-diamond-elgin-wristwatch (sold for $275 in 2016)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/64947204_14k-ladies-elgin-wristwatch-with-10k-rgp-band (sold for $125 in 2918)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/78915320_14k-white-gold-and-diamond-ladies-lord-elgin-watch
(sold for $120 in 2019)
PRICING:
So many of these vintage ladies’ watches were made around the middle of the 20th century that the market for them is readily available and they do not bring large sums at auction, as you can see in the comps above.
Still this is a delicate feminine wrist watch which is, unfortunately, out of style today, but still has a nice aesthetic appeal. There is not enough gold in it to make it valuable, but being a family piece would make it more valuable to you than the its actual dollar assessment. If offered at auction today in its current condition I think it would sell in the range of $120-$140 fair market value. Retail pricing is a bit more, perhaps twice that amount.
I hope this helps you with understanding the popularity of this type of ladies watch at the mid-point of the 20th century.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal.
My best,
David