Hello Mike,
Thank you for sending in your pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Ladies/Gents, ‘0’size, gold-filled, pendant wound and pendant set, keyless, savonette, open face pendant/pocket watch with fancy dial, ‘Napoleon’ model case made by the Illinois Watch Case Company of Elgin, Illinois with a Grade 109, model 1, Class 60 movement made by the Elgin National Watch Company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1897.
DESCRIPTION:
CASE – ‘0’-size, three leaf, 10k gold filled (same as the 10-year case finish guaranteed cases), open face pendant/pocket watch with a fluted pendant and gilt bow placed at the three position (savonette) opposite the case hinge. There is a band of foliate engraving around the circumference of the outer case. The outside of the back cover is not shown while the inside is marked for the Illinois Watch Case Company, or the I.W.C.Co, (this is the same company as the Elgin Giant Watch Case Company) of Elgin and Springfield, Illinois, a company unrelated to the Elgin National Watch Company (see History section). The inside of the cover carries the model name of this case, ‘Napoleon’. The name ‘Napoleon’ was registered on July 26, 1910, but was likely used by the I.W.C.Co for several years prior to that time.
DIAL – White enameled dial with radial rotating Arabic hours in round opalescent dotted cartouche form, closed minute track, gilt ornamental half hour markers to the inside of the hours, sunken subsidiary seconds dial, steel spade hands and the name ‘Elgin’ surrounded by gilt and black decoration.
MOVEMENT – This is a split three-quarter gilt plate movement, ‘0’ size, the grade 109, model 1, class 60, made by the Elgin National Watch Company of Elgin, Illinois, serial number 6540990, made in 1897 in a production run of 4000 such movements. The movement is made with seven jewels, pendant wound and pendant set, going barrel, quick train, mono-metallic balance wheel, plain index regulator, unadjusted and not of railroad grade. Properly signed and numbered by Elgin.
CONDITION:
CASE – Good condition, although the outside of the back cover has not been viewed.
DIAL - Very fine with no apparent fractures.
MOVEMENT – Appears to be clean, genuine, original to this case and assumed 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 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. . .
ELGIN GIANT WATCH CASE COMPANY: The Elgin Giant Watch Case Company, also known as the Illinois Watch Case Company, the latter name registered in 1894. The logo and name of the Elgin Giant Company started in 1903 and was first registered in 1912. M. C. Eppenstein ran the case business and it was originally his company, listed under his own name as of 1889. They were located in Elgin Illinois at the corner of Dundee and Slade Avenues and were a separate entity from the huge Elgin Watch Company, also located in Elgin, Illinois. The Illinois Case Company acquired the stock of the failing Rockford Watch Company in 1915. The company moved to Springfield Illinois during the early part of the 20th century and continued to make watch cases into the 1920’s
PRICING:
If this example were in solid 14k gold it would have fair market value of $500-$600, but it is a 10k gold filled case having a very thin micron(s) level of gold coating over the base metal case and would have a fair market value today in the range $130-$150. The retail value would be a bit higher, of course. I hope this has been of some help to you in understanding this handsome little pocket watch.
My best,
David