Hello Stuart,
Thank you for sending in this pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall do my best to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Gent’s, 9K yellow gold, pendant wound and pendant set, keyless, open face pocket watch, case made and watch retailed by Thomas Russell & Son (TR&S active c. 1848-1906), Liverpool, England, with Swiss movement made on special order for TR&S circa 1900. Accompanied by a 9k gold single Albert hallmarked watch chain with T-bar.
PROVENANCE:
Belonged to this client’s great grandfather
DESCRIPTION:
Case: (Size not provided( Approximated to be 45-50mm diameter, three leaf, 9K gold, keyless open face pocket watch with a fluted gold ball pendant and round bow placed at the twelve position relative to the dial. Attached is a 9k rose gold watch chain (length not known) with a T-bar at one end. The dial bezel is embossed with small foliate designs while the back cover of the case is not shown. The stem of the pendant is hallmarked but illegible in photo. The inside of the cover carries the initials TR within a rectangular cameo and indicating the case made by Thomas Russell and Son. The English hallmarks indicate the Chester Assay Office, the gold quality mark of 0.375 and 9 for 9K gold which is 9/24ths pure or 37.5% pure gold. I believe I can see the standard mark of the crown for solid gold, but I do not see a date letter mark indicating the year. (If you check the history section below you will note that it was around the turn of the 20th century when Thomas Russell & Sons turned to Switzerland for their movements). There is also a gold hinged cuvette overlying the movement.
Dial: White enameled dial with bold, yet foreshortened Roman hours (typical of British dials), closed minute track, sunken subsidiary seconds @6, steel Continental “Spade” hands and the upper dial marked, “adjusted” and at mid-dial, “Thomas Russell & Son, Liverpool”.
Movement: Swiss made and is a three quarter SPLIT damascened nickel plate movement with seventeen jewels, some in gold screw settings, serial number 201747 and the plates marked, “Adjusted, Swiss Made, Thomas Russell & Son, Liverpool”. There is a bimetallic, three arm balance wheel and Swiss made index regulator.
These movements are later than the Thomas Russell & Son-made FULL three quarter plate movements and are slightly less valued today than those with English movements.
CONDITION:
Case – The inside of the case has some patchy discoloration but overall is in good condition.
Dial – FAIR and has a compound hairline dial fracture at the two minute marker which runs through the base of the hands and into the subsidiary seconds dial. There is also a small hairline fracture at the 25 minute marker and a tiny one at the 30 minute marker. These are hurtful to value.
Movement – This movement is original to this case, genuine and perhaps functional.
Chain – A 9k rose gold single Albert watch chain of moderate length.
Swiss made movement made for Russell & Son.
COMPARABLES:
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/81984048_watches (failed to sell for minimum 260 GB Pounds in 2020)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/67150237_a-full-hunter-pocket-watch-by-thomas-russell-and-sons (sold for $131 in 2018)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/29428607_9k-thomas-russell-and-son-pocket-watch-demi-hunter (sold for $450 in 2014, with English movement made by Thomas Russell & Son)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/53798344_an-open-face-pocket-watch-by-thomas-russell-and-son-9ct (sold for $442 in 2017 with Swiss movement)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/thomas-russell-and-son-liverpool-a-9k-gold-keyless-wind-open-face-pocket-watch-case-no-8535-movement-no-82905-chester-hallmark-for-1913-wKP1Isb_eJ (Sold in 2015 for $537 in 9k gold)
~https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/thomas-russell-and-sons-T-uDQk7mDQ (Reached $518 in 2018 and was withdrawn.)
History of Thomas Russell & Son:
Around 1860 the business was taken over by his two sons Thomas Robert Russell and Alfred Holgate Russell, the grandsons of the founder Thomas Russell. Thomas changed the name of his half to Russell, Watch & Chronometer Manufactory with branches in Liverpool, Toronto and London presumably to provide chronometers to the booming shipping industry which used these ports. The partnership between the brothers ended in 1870 and Alfred continued with Thos. Russell & Son from then onwards when he introduced the famous Russell Hunter watches with their trademark “Tempus Fugit” on the dial under the company name. The trademark water wheel in a roiling sea was registered in 1878 and continued to be used for several decades. He continued the family tradition of watchmaking in Liverpool and added the selling of jewelry to watches in their shops in Liverpool, Manchester and Llandudno. **N.B. - In addition, the company started importing Swiss watch movements around the turn of the century from Longines and other Swiss makers. The watchmaking and chronometer company run by Thomas was awarded a Royal Warrant to HM Queen Victoria and HRM the Duke of Edinburgh and also to the Admiralty in about 1884. On the death of both Thomas and Alfred, Alfred’s son, Bernard Holgate Russell and his cousin Thomas Townsend Russell took over the businesses in 1894. That they continued using the Royal Warrants for some years after the Queen had died was frowned on and they only ceased using this on their watch plates a few years later. Bernard’s son Thomas Graham Russell with Thomas Townsend Russell continued to run the company from 1915 when they invited Joseph Wright to become a fellow director because of his extensive knowledge of the business and his contacts in America and Switzerland. The company was run by successive members of the Russell family until both the shops and the factory were finally closed down in 1994.
PRICING:
In perfect condition this 9k gold, watch and single Albert chain would have a fair market value of approximately $1250 (Chain priced @$500 and the watch @$750)
With the condition of the case and especially the dial with its fractures, the value of the watch would drop to $350-$400 and the chain remains at $500, so that the fair market value of the watch and chain in today’s watch marketplace would be in the range of $850-$900.
I hope that is all understandable, including the reason for the later dating of the watch.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal.
My best,
David