Hello Lee-Anne,
Thank you for sending in your gold and diamond bracelet wristwatch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Ladies, vintage, 14k white gold and diamond ‘cocktail’ wristwatch with rope bracelet with circular segmented white gold clips and white gold clasp, variant of the Lady Elgin model, made by the Elgin Watch Company, Elgin, Illinois, circa 1940’s. PROVENANCE:
Purchased by client at auction two decades ago.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: Small round watch case, two leaves of 14k white gold, with 10 small diamonds inset around the sides of the bezel. The ends of the watch have triangular shaped hooded lugs, each pole of the case with five inset cut diamonds in the shape of leaves and each set into a white gold leaf. The snap on case back cover is marked 14k gold (white). The lugs attach to a double cloth mesh rope bracelet with intermittent white gold clips and a white gold fold over clasp with safety chain. . .
Dial: A faceted beveled crystal overlies the dial the small round silvered dial with applied white gold faceted batons at the quarter hours and applied round gold dots at the balance of the hours, gilt ‘Alpha’ hands and the dial marked “Elgin, 19”. . .
Movement: Not shown but would be a manually wound, 19 jeweled split plate movement with bimetallic balance wheel and American index regulator. The plates should be signed and numbered by Elgin.
Condition:
Case – In very fine to excellent condition.
Dial – as new with little in the way of wear.
Movement – not seen, but assumed original to this case, genuine and fully functional.
HISTORY of the ELGIN WATCH COMPANY:
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 finally closed its doors in 1968.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/a-vintage-lady-elgin-14k-white-gold-wrist-watch-with-diamonds-HaM03de1aw (WITHDRAWN AT $250 IN 2019)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/14k-ladies-elgin-wristwatch-with-10k-rgp-band-mnCWGKe20x (WITHDRAWN AT $200 IN 2018)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/elgin-white-gold-lady-s-wristwatch-FG9QFZYJK (WITHDRAWN AT $200 IN 2019)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/lady-s-gold-and-diamond-wristwatch-zAB70hu4g3 (WITHDRAWN AT $450 IN 2014)
PRICING:
Despite the 14k white gold and the diamonds, these are very small watches and they do not bring very large prices at auction even when in very fine condition as yours is. I believe that if you offered yours at auction today, in its current state, the fair market value would be in the range of $400-$500. Retail values are about twice as high. It is a very pretty example indeed and it really has been well handled and treated over these many years.
Thank you for using mearto.com for you appraisal.
My best,
David