Hello Cathleen,
Thank your sending in your family heirloom wristwatch to merto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight,
TITLE:
Art Deco, ladies, platinum (90%)/iridium(10%), manually wound, diamond dress wristwatch with white gold and diamond bracelet, made by the Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, circa 1930s.
PROVENANCE:
“This was my Grandma Evelyn’s watch, she wore it daily.”
Description:
Case – Approximately 15 mm in diameter this is a two leaf, platinum (with 10% iridium), round watch case with extensions at the top and bottom converting the case into a rectangular shape with rounded ends when looked at from the back cover side. The round platinum dial bezel is inset with approximately 26 clear brilliant cur diamonds. There are fixed horseshoe- shaped lugs with mobile stirrup attachment to a link white gold bracelet. The lugs being fixed extend from both poles of the round case and have approx. 13 diamonds inset into each lug. The link white gold bracelet has six diamonds per side and three smaller diamonds on the fold over clasp with a safety chain. From the front the lugs with its diamonds presents as a loop and ring (it is from the back that one can see the horseshoe and stirrup lug).
The bracelet itself is a white gold link type with every other link inset with a diamond to total 13 antique diamonds in the band with three addition small cut diamonds in the white gold fold over clasp with traditional safety chain.
When laid out straight the bracelet watch is approximately 6.5” in length. There are an estimated 68 diamonds+/- in this bracelet wristwatch. The back of the case usually will be able to snap open and the platinum back cover is marked, “Hamilton, 10% Irid, Plat.”
There is a thin white gold fluted winding crown, the original one. I do not see the inside of the back cover but my guess is that it reads, “Hamilton W Co., Lancaster, Pa., .100 Irid., and .900 Plat.”. In addition, it contains the case production number.
Dial: This is a small round silvered dial with Arabic enameled black hours, closed minute ring, tiny patinated “Modern Mitre” Art Deco hands. The upper dial is marked ‘Hamilton’.
Movement: Not shown. The earliest of the watch movements made for ladies watches did not appear until the1930s. My guess is that this is a 21/0 size, manually wound, damascened nickel split three quarter plate movement with exposed ratchet and crown wheels, perhaps the Hamilton oval calibre 995 made from 1931-1933 or the 995A made from 1932-1940, specifically made for the ladies models with a bimetallic balance wheel with Breguet hairspring and a plain index regulator for altering the speed of the movement. These movements had 17 jewels, were signed and numbered by the Hamilton Company.
Condition:
Case – Remain in very good condition with no major damage and no missing diamonds. The appearance of the bracelet watch is aesthetically still very pleasing despite the passage of close to a century. Bracelet excellent.
Dial – Remains simple and in excellent condition with original Art Deco hands.
Movement – not seen but will assume it is genuine, original to this case and with a cleaning would be functional.
Diamonds – There are approximately 68 antique cut diamonds but we do not know the weight nor the carats which makes pricing a bit of an estimation.
ART DECO HISTORY:
Art Deco is an eclectic artistic and design style which had its origins in Paris in the first decades of the 20th century. The style originated in the 1920s and continued to be employed until after World War II. The term "art deco" first saw wide use after an exhibition in 1966, referring to the 1925 “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” that was the culmination of high-end style modern in Paris. Led by the best designers in the decorative arts such as fashion, and interior design, Art Deco affected all areas of design throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including architecture and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as painting, the graphic arts and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional and modern.
Style specifics: Abstract motives and geometrical forms are quite typical for the Art Deco period. Art Deco moved away from the soft pastels and organic forms of its style predecessor, Art Nouveau, and embraced influences from many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, and Futurism. Its popularity peaked in Europe during the Roaring Twenties and continued strongly in the United States through the 1930s. Although many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, Art Deco was purely decorative.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/a-lady-s-diamond-and-platinum-integral-bracelet-wristwatch-hamilton-8DmwtJ1Gvd (sold for $2500 in 2017)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/vintage-hamilton-14kt-white-gold-2-80-ctw-diamond-ladies-watch-lFQoWfF36 (sold for $3250 in 2016)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/92762445_art-deco-hamilton-210cttw-diamond-wristwatch (SOLD FOR $1300 IN 2020)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/73352061_art-deco-platinum-diamond-hamilton-watch (sold in 2019 for $850)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/73352061_art-deco-platinum-diamond-hamilton-watch (sold in 2019 for $1825 in 14k white gold with diamonds.)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/81148838_hamilton-154ct-diamond-platinum-bracelet-flip-watch (A diamond and platinum Hamilton with flip cover for turning the watch into a 100% diamond bracelet with the watch covered. It sold in 2020 for $3900)
PRICING:
Let me say I am certainly not a jeweler, rather a watch appraiser who has done many platinum and diamond watches. This is not the most elaborate platinum and diamond Hamilton, but is less complex and to me more aesthetically pleasing than the more expensive complex examples such as the last one in the Comparable section. Your example has not been altered in any significant manner and remains authentic and fully original and in very good to excellent condition. I believe in today’s marketplace, the fair market value of your family heirloom Hamilton Ladies bracelet watch would be in the range of $2000-$2500. Retail values would be 2-3 times that amount.
I hope you continue to enjoy this family piece and now hopefully you understand a bit more about it.
I enjoyed doing this watch for you and thank you for choosing Mearto.com for the appraisal.
My best,
David