The first observation is pretty obvious, right on the face is the manufacturer's name. In this case the Elgin National Watch Co. Next step was to see if it still worked at all. I could set the hands without a problem but it definitely wasn't winding properly which puts it in the non-working category.
Next step, open it up. I unscrewed the bezel pulled the stem and pulled the stem all the way out. This disengages the stem from the interior works. The inner case then swings out on a hinge which allows you to get to the back of the watch. On the back we see a repeat of the company name, the serial number and usually the number of jewels. In this case the number of jewels is not listed. I think what amazes me about these watch is that they used serial numbers. On top of that there are extensive databases online where these numbers are listed.
This particular watch's serial number is 2639357. The key points to take away are that this is a Grade 96 (quality and type of movement), Model 4 (factory model group) and was produced around 1888 and it has 7 Jewels (basically the more jewels the better). They made approximately 566,000 copies of this watch over the years! From a production standpoint that makes this a pretty common pocket watch. None the less now I need to sit down with Mom and see if she remembers who it belonged to.
I'm still in search of a military, particularly navigation, pocket watches, although I have a lead on that now. There are plenty out there its just about how much money you want to part with.
Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI have my great grandfather's pocket watch... somewhere, which is lidless and was obviously repaired at some point because the ceramic face has a chip but the glass is whole. Might have been a story there, now lost to time.