Hello Doug,
Thank you for sending in this family heirloom pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal.
TITLE:
Gent’s, 14K gold-filled, Art Nouveau era, 18s, pendant wound, lever set, savonette, hunting case pocket watch, Grade 141,
Model 3, made by the Elgin National watch company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1899.
PROVENANCE:
“My great grandfather gave it to me, never been shown”
DESCRIPTION:
CASE:18 size, four leaf, 14k gold filled, hunting case pocket watch with suppressed gilt ball fluted pendant and ovoid bow placed at the three position (savonette) opposite the case hinge. The outer covers are engine turned (guilloche) and engraved with floral and foliate designs typical of the Art Nouveau era which stressed the beauties of nature. One side has a shield shaped cameo for the owner’s initials, “EA”. The inside of the cover reveals the Justice scales with crown, originally the symbol of the gold-filled cases created by earlier casemaker James Boss, now (1899) owned and trademarked for the Keystone watch case company (see History below). The cuvette is engraved in script for the original owner, ‘Einer Amundsen’. Case number is 2912427.
DIAL: Round white enameled dial with black Roman hour indices, closed bar minute track to the outside, sunken subsidiary seconds dial @6, original steel American type Spade hands and the upper dial printed and signed Elgin National Watch Co. (see History).
MOVEMENT: This is a size 18, gilt metal full plate movement, the Grade 141, Model 3, Class 1 made by the Elgin National Watch Company of Elgin Illinois. It is made with 15 jewels (some in gold screw settings), and has serial no. 794036t, manufactured in 1899 in a run of 1000 such units, going barrel (Provides for the spring to keep functioning while you wind the watch), quick train (vibrates at least 18000 beats/hour), plain index regulator, not railroad grade, nor adjusted for changes of position. Signed and numbered properly.
CONDITION:
CASE – The original circular guilloche pattern is mostly gone from the amount of usage and some of the engraved foliage also is quite nicely worn. I enjoy seeing a well-used, but not abused, pocket watch in this condition (except for the unfortunate occurrence to the dial).
DIAL – Unfortunately, the watch was dropped at some point and has two-three linear fractures, one long vertical one running from the one-minute marker down to the sub- seconds dial and one of two other small hairlines running from the base of the hands. These are definite hurts to value.
MOVEMENT: Excellent and assumed original, genuine and functional.
HISTORY:
~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 high-quality 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 watches.
~KEYSTONE WATCH CASE COMPANY:
In 1853 Randolf & Reese Peters were making watch cases in Philadelphia, employing James Boss in their movement department. In 1859 - J. Boss received a patent for "spinning up" cases made of "gold-filled" type material. That is, material made of a sheet of composition metal (usually brass) sandwiched between two thin sheets of gold. Boss formed cases by rolling sheet metal as opposed to the traditional method involving soldering and cutting. Rolling increased the molecule density of the metal. His patent, No. 23,820 of May 3, 1859, revolutionized the watch case industry by enabling the production of not only less expensive, but considerably stronger cases. ... Unlike gold washed cases, which were made using electroplating, cases produced by means of rolling had much harder gold surfaces and were thus less apt to wear. In 1871 Boss sold patent rights to John Stuckert of Philadelphia. By 1875 - T.B. Hagstoz & Charles N. Thorpe at 618 Chestnut St. Philadelphia purchased the "J. Boss" patent from the estate of John Stuckert. Hagstoz & Thorpe seems to have made only gold-filled cases using the J. Boss patented method. Orders increased so rapidly that larger quarters became necessary immediately. A new plant on Brown Street was erected. In 1877 the E. Tracy case company, a manufacturer of solid gold and silver watch cases, was acquired. In 1880 - the company moved to a six-story building on Nineteenth St., with an equal-size annex on Wylie St. Between 1883 - 1885 - T.B Hagstoz withdrew from the company which became C.N. Thorpe Co. and shortly thereafter it was reorganized as the KEYSTONE WATCH CASE COMPANY. The firm was producing 1,500 cases per day by 1889. By merging with and purchasing other watch case and watch making companies Keystone, by 1911 was the largest watch case company in America.
PRICING:
Using the American watch database, and putting in the condition of the various parts of your heirloom pocket watch I believe the fair market value is in the range of $150-$175. Most non-solid gold pocket watches today, unless they really have complicated features do not bring significant sums of money when sold.
I do hope you keep this wonderful pocket watch, because it is a part of your heritage and part of Horological history, and hardly worth the dollars you would get if you tried to sell this piece.
Hoping you continue to enjoy this piece because I believe it has so much more value in your hands.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal.
My best,
David