David

Mearto specialist

Hello Nicole, Thank you for sending in your family pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today. TITLE: Ladies, 37 mm, retro styled, gold-filled, pendant wound and pendant set open face pocket watch, made in a retro style that ranges from the Art Nouveau era (1880-1910) of the cover to the early Art Deco era of the pendant and bow, made by the Waltham International Company of Switzerland, circa 1950- early 1960s. DESCRIPTION: Case –37 mm diameter, good filled, open face pocket watch with gilt fluted crown and embossed ornamented oval bow placed at the twelve position. The pop off back cover is engine turned and has a chaste gilt brass finish of a plethora of floral forms. The inside of the cover is not seen but said to be marked, “10-0069-0014G103-69” (Typical case markings found on Waltham watches when made in Switzerland). Dial – A round repousse gilt metal dial with enameled black Roman hours in ovoid cartouche form, the cartouche created by two “C” scrolls, open bar inner minute track with steel fenestrated Chippendale type hands and the upper dial marked Waltham. The repousse work, or hammering from the inside of the metal is again is foliate designs. Movement – Not shown but most likely a Swiss made 17 jewel manually wound and manually set movement with Swiss style index regulator. The movement itself , although not seen is about half the diameter of the watch case and would be a modern three quarter plate nickel movement with exposed ratchet and crown wheels and marked Swiss and unadjusted. Condition: Case - In very good condition. Dial – In very good condition. Movement - Not seen. RECENT WALTHAM HISTORY: Waltham International SA Switzerland Before the Waltham Watch Company went out of business in 1957, it founded a subsidiary in Switzerland in 1954, Waltham International SA. Waltham International SA retains the right to the Waltham trade name outside of North America, and continues to produce mechanical wrist watches and mechanical pocket watches under the "Waltham" brand. Hallmark Watch Company During their restructuring efforts in the 1950s, Waltham opened an office in New York for the purposes of importing Swiss watch movements and cases. Due to restrictions placed on the company by its main creditor, the Restructuring Finance Corporation, they could not sell these watches directly, so they were sold through an independent company, the Hallmark Watch Company. Waltham Watch Company (Delaware) The Waltham Watch Company (later known as Waltham of Chicago) was founded by one of the executives of the Hallmark Watch Company to carry on the Waltham trade name in the watch business. In exchange for rights to the name, existing Waltham Watch Company (Mass) shareholders received 1 share of the new company for every 5 shares of the original company. In 1959, the Waltham Watch Company merged with the Hallmark Watch Company, giving the new company access to replacement parts to service existing Waltham watch owners. The company came under much scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission throughout the 1960s, and ultimately was forced to change its advertising and branding policies to clearly indicate that it was not directly related to the original Waltham Company, and that its products were not made in America. Current ownership Waltham International SA manufactures and distributes Waltham Swiss Made watches in the luxury watch market. For a period the sales were concentrated in the Japanese market. Since 2011, American entrepreneur Antonio Di Benedetto has been the majority owner of the company. Waltham International SA continues to produce mechanical wrist watches and mechanical pocket watches under the "Waltham" brand and is a full-fledged member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. COMPARALBLES: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SWISS-MADE-WALTHAM-17J-LADIES-POCKET-WATCH-CHAIN-NECKLACE-HUNTRESS-FLORAL-CASE/153834113985?hash=item23d13a4bc1:g:ltoAAOSwqwxeSEL8 (sold for LESS THAN $99). https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Swiss-Waltham-Lady-s-Fine-17-Jewels-Hunter-Case-Pocket-or-Pendant-Watch/323985658323?hash=item4b6f0cd1d3:g:hiMAAOSwwD1d1DZ1 (sold for less than $199) Pricing: These Swiss made Waltham pocket watches were a retro look back to an earlier time when Waltham pocket watches were finely made by the original company in Waltham, Massachusetts. These watches were made as the company failed and went towards bankruptcy in the early 1950’s and enlisted Swiss watchmakers to supply movements and cases for sale in the USA. . The movements were inexpensively made. These watches sell on the retail market for about $300-$350. Fair market price at auction of a watch in this very nice condition would be in the range of $125-$175. I hope that help you to understand this mid-20th century model Waltham pocket watch. Thank you for using mearto.com My best, David