Hello Mark,
Thank you for sending in this family heirloom pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that this morning. Thank you for supplying the extra photos.
TITLE:
Gent’s, 16size, 10K gold-filled, pendant wound and lever set, Presentation, open face pocket watch, Grade 992B, Serial Number “C9995”, made by the Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster Pennsylvania, circa 1940/1941, with a special order dial made by Hamilton circa 1958. Presented to IBM employee, Ken Gillespie for 25 years of service circa 1958.
PROVENANCE:
Client inherited this watch from his father. “Present(ed) by IBM to my father for the 25th anniversary of the electric typewriter division. Has my father’s name KEN GILLESPIE around the face instead of numerals”…
DESCRIPTION:
Case: Size 16, two leaf, 10k gold-filled, open face Presentation pocket watch with an Art Deco style fluted coin pendant and rounded arched bow placed at the twelve position. The back of the case is not shown, but the interior of the back cover is marked, “Wadsworth (case manufacturer, see History below), 10k gold filled, Pat 5-22-26 (1926), H450384 (Wadsworth case number associated with the early 1940s)”. There is a metal link watch chain with cast fob celebrating the 25th anniversary of the IBM Electric Typewriter Division (1933-1958).
Dial: Flat (single surface), silvered enameled dial with the hours replaced by the name of KEN GILLESPIE, the employee who receive this watch on the 25th anniversary of the IBM Electric Typewriter Division. There is an open bar railroad track minute track with a subsidiary seconds’ dial @6 and blued steel Spade hands.
Movement: This is a size-16, damascened, split three quarter plate movement, the grade 992B, Model 5, made by the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with a serial number (that appears to read) of “C9995” which dates the production of this movement to 1940-1941. (The serial number if made in 1958 would be C490000+/-. If I have misread the serial number please let me know and I will edit your appraisal) This movement was made in a production run of 13000 units, each with 21 jewels, each meant for placement in an open face case. The movement is pendant wound and lever set, adjusted to run precisely in six different positions and adjusted for temperature by having a bimetallic balance wheel. The watch is of Railroad Grade and would be so if it had Arabic hours on the dial. The movement is properly signed and numbered.
CONDITION:
Case – Appears to be in very good condition although I could not evaluate the outside of the back cover.
Dial – Very good with minor scuffs and rubs on the painted dial surface. The dial would have had to be made on special order circa 1958.
Movement – Original, genuine and functional. In very good condition.
HISTORY:
WADSWORTH WATCH CASE COMPANY
Born in Birmingham, England in 1845 and emigrating to America in 1857, Henry Wadsworth founded this company in 1889. H.A. Wadsworth & Co was located in Newport, Kentucky from 1889-1892 and then as the Wadsworth Watch Case Company of Newport until 1900 when they moved to Dayton, Kentucky until 1953. They earned a high reputation in the trade with their solid gold and gold-filled cases. They sold cases to the Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham watch manufacturers. In 1953 they became a division of the Elgin National Watch Company of Illinois.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/73121426_hamilton-pocket-watch-railway-special-2-in (sold in 2019 for $150)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/73496741_hamilton-railway-special-pocket-watch-992b (sold in 2019 for $160)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/79836252_1951-hamilton-992b-railroad-grade-pocket-watch (sold in 2020 for $200)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/90845589_hamilton-992b-21j-pocket-watch (Sold in 2020 for $180)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/91445828_hamilton-992b-railway-special-21-jewel-pocket-watch (sold for $165 in 2020)
PRICING:
Please check the serial number on your watch movement to be certain I have it down correctly since it was only partially legible to me. I saw C9995. If you find a higher number and I missed part of the serial number please let me know today so I can edit what I wrote to you.
Having said that, the very thing that makes this watch special, i.e., the name of your father on the dial, is the one thing that would hold down the price if you ever wanted to sell it. I doubt that would happen and that this watch will always be worth much more to you as a family heirloom than I could fairly price it at. I hope you always enjoy it. It was made by the best of the machine-made American watch companies and my own personal favorite American watch company. The fair market pricing in today’s market, including the great little IBM anniversary fob would be in the range of $200-$250. The retail value would be about twice as much.
I hope you find pleasure in reading all about this fine pocket watch. I enjoyed doing it for you.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com.
My best,
David

Dear Mark,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry. So that I can do justice to your dad's 'Presentation' pocket watch, do you think you can show me the back and inside of the case, and although I can describe the calibre 992B, do you think you could photograph the movement for me?
I would have done it tonight, but I really do like to evaluate the entire watch, and this one is quite special to you and your family.
Thanks,
David