Hello Kristina,
Thank you for sending you Lady Elgin wristwatch in to mearto.com for an appraisal. I will do my best to help you today.
TITLE:
Lady’s, vintage, 14k white gold and diamond, manually wound bracelet wristwatch, ‘Lady Elgin’ model, ref. 7157, case no. 712627, made by the Elgin National watch Company, Elgin, Illinois, circa early 1960s. . .
DESCRIPTION:
CASE – 25 mm x 12.5 mm in size this is a tonneau shaped, two leaf, polished and brushed 14k white gold watch case with thin fluted winding crown, snap off back cover marked on the outside 14k gold, and on the inside model # 7167, case no. 712627 and that it was made by the Elgin National Watch Company. There are white gold tassel lugs, each embedded with a round cut diamond and the lugs link with a silvered steel link and mesh mid-20th century bracelet with safety chain. . .
DIAL – Tonneau shaped silvered dial with applied white gold Arabic hours at the quarters and white gold pyramidal markers at the balance of the hours, gilt dauphin hands and the upper dial marked for Lady Elgin with logo. . .
MOVEMENT – This is the Elgin caliber 740, size 20/0, made with 23 jewels and six adjustments to positions, isochronism, heat and cold, manually wound mechanical movement called the Lady Shockmaster for its shock resistance, first made circa 196 and a very fine movement. . .
CONDITION:
Case – some wear to the bezel around the dial, case back cover very good and chain is fine.
Dial – Few tiny speckle but very good for half a century of age.
Movement – Excellent and functional.
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.
When comparing this Lady Elgin with similar examples at auction in the recent past it appears to bring a fair market value in a range of $225-$275, especially with the fine highly jeweled movement and in very good condition. Retail prices will be higher as you would expect.
I hope that is of some help to you today.
My best,
David