Hello Blair,
Thank you for sending in this pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today. Thank you also for the extra photos and info. That makes all the difference in an accurate appraisal.
TITLE:
Gent’s, 12 size, gold filled, pendant wound and pendant set, open face pocket watch, Case no. 1206739 (made by the American Watch Case Company, Toronto, Canada), Serial number 18072229, Grade 315 movement, made by the Elgin national Watch company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1915.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: Size 12, two leaf gold filled open face pocket watch with a fluted gilt suppressed-ball pendant (missing its bow) is placed at the twelve position relative to the dial. The back cover is polished gold-filled metal and the inside of the back cover carries the mark of the flying gear wheel (In 1915 it was being used by the Philadelphia Watch Case Company), the model name Fortune (first used by the American Watch Case Company of Toronto Canada, but by 1915 taken over by the Philadelphia Company. –see history) and the case number of 1206739. Other scratched markings are made by watch repair people.
Dial: This is an enameled and silvered metal dial with upright “ghost” Arabic hours, closed bar minute ring, subsidiary seconds dial @6, blued steel “Lozenge Mitre” hands (quite beautiful and not often seen). The upper dial is marked, “Elgin”.
Movement: This is a size 12, damascened nickel, split three-quarter plate movement, the Grade 315, model 3, Class 114, made by the Elgin National Watch Company, Elgin, Illinois. The serial number on the movement is
18072229, dating the production of this movement to 1915, made in a run of a thousand such units, each made with 15 jewels (Rubies), some in gold screw settings, meant to be cased in open face pocket watch cases, pendant wound and set, with double roller, going barrel, quick train, bimetallic balance wheel with Breguet hairspring, Moseley patent regulator for altering the speed of the movement with no adjustments for position and not of railroad grade. The movement is properly signed and numbered by Elgin.
CONDITION:
Case – Moderate scuffs and rubs on case which retails its gilt finish on the back cover, while the bezel around the dial appears to have had its gilt finish worn away from handling. The pendant bow is missing.
Dial: A very good Arabic ‘ghost’ dial and original hands.
Movement: appears to be original to this case, genuine and possibly functional.
Overall condition would be considered good.
A COMPLICATED CASE HISTORY:
1 -The Fortune name was a grade of gold filled case made by the American Watch Case Co., located in Toronto, Canada. They were in business starting in 1893 in a large factory on King Street west. Fortune cases were usually 20 year cases, meaning that the manufacturer guaranteed that the gold would not wear through to the central brass layer underneath for 20 years of use by the purchaser. To save on import duties, many watch movements from both the U.S. and Europe were sold in Canada in Canadian made cases.
The Canadian firm (American Watch Case Co.) was established as early as 1885 on Adelaide Street in Toronto and was known to make silver, gold and gold filled pocket watch cases. Their principal factory was built around 1893 as I noted above.
2 -Theophilus Zurbrugg bought the Philadelphia (USA) watch case making firm of Leichty & Le Bouba in1884. Within a few years (ca.1888) the company name was changed to Philadelphia Watch Case Co. and in 1889 they registered the winged wheel trademark.
3-Around 1903 the capital stock of the American Watch Case Company of Toronto was bought by the Keystone Watch Case Company (then a Zurbrugg-owned company), Waltham and Elgin. I believe most use of the winged-gear wheel logo after 1900 is related to the Philadelphia & Keystone watch case companies.
4 -The two giant case companies had merged under single ownership in the early years of the 20th century and had factories in both Philadelphia and in Riverside New Jersey.
HISTORY OF ELGIN WATCHES:
Elgin History: The Elgin National Watch Company was founded in 1864 in Elgin, Illinois as the National Watch Company. In 1874 the name was changed to the Elgin National Watch Company. Between 1864 and sometime in the 1960s, Elgin manufactured tens of millions of pocket and wrist watches. The Elgin National Watch Company was for a time, one of the largest industrial concerns in the world. Elgin pocket watches from the early years are particularly interesting because of the methods and philosophy of the Elgin Company. Elgin used what were at the time quite advanced tools, techniques and labor practices to achieve a very high quality product, in high volumes, at a relatively affordable price. Elgin watches were created using mechanized, repeatable processes, organized quality control and standardized, interchangeable, parts. These things are all common practices in industry today, but not so at that time. The result was a product of high quality made in large quantities that dwarfed that of Elgin's competitors. Prior to Elgin's time, watches were made completely by hand, frequently by a single craftsman, from start to finish. Repairs could only be completed on such watches by someone with sufficient skill to fabricate replacement parts, from scratch, from raw material. Elgin watches on the other hand, were mass manufactured and highly standardized. Spare parts were provided by Elgin that were drop-in replacements for the originals. Elgin was extremely successful with this strategy. In fact, the company introduced more than half the watches made in America from 1920-1928. An Elgin advertisement in 1928 claimed that there were more than 14,418 retail jewelers in the United States and all but 12 carried Elgin
PRICING:
Overall one million thirty three thousand such watch movements were made by Elgin in Illinois, so these are not rare watches. The pocket watch database rates your watch as of average condition and supplies a fair market value range from $80-$110 with retail values about twice that amount.
I certainly hope you get some satisfaction by understanding this watch and when, where and how it was made, and by who. That may be worth more than I could provide in actual dollars.
Thank you again for choosing mearto.com.
My best,
David

Dear Blair,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry. So that I may best assist you, can you try to open the cover of this watch so I can see the inside of the cover and, if possible, also see the movement. Those are the areas that will tell me what type of gold this case is made of, and what quality movement is driving the watch. Without that information I will be flying blind on this appraisal.
Let me know if you can open the case, but do not use your fingernails or you may break a nail.
Opening the cover, if the case has a hinge, is like shucking oysters or clams. If you use a knife edge, please WEAR GLOVES.
If you have a case with no hinges you can often open the back cover by unscrewing it with the palm of your more powerful hand.

Let me know how this works out, and I will get this done shortly after hearing from you.
thanks,
David