Hello Jake,
Thank you for sending in this interesting pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Gent’s solid nickel, pendant wound and pendant set, open face pocket watch, Maxim model (registered trademark in 1897), made by Droz & Cie (successor to Alcide Droz & Fils) of St. Imier, moving in 1909 to Geneva, Switzerland (still using this trademark) as Droz, Amstutz & Cie, watch made circa 1910-1920. . .
DESCRIPTION:
Case – 44.5mm diameter, three leaf, solid nickel, open face pocket watch with polished back cover and cuvette. The inside of the back cover is engraved, “Solid Nickel Swiss” and case number 473. There is a suppressed ball fluted pendant and round bow placed at the twelve position. . .
Dial – White enameled dial with Breguet hour chapter, open bar minutes, subsidiary seconds ring @6, blued steel Continental spade hands and the upper dial signed “Maxim”. . .
Movement – A linear damascened nickel three quarter plate movement, pendant wound and set, exposited ratchet and crown wheels, bimetallic balance wheel and a Swiss made Index regulator marked in English for faster and slower. The plates carry the trademark, “Maxim Swiss Made” in a circle with three triangles at the center, first registered under Droz & Cie in 1897 and continuing to be used during most of the years of the first quarter of the 20th century. . .
Condition: Case - Mild scratches on the case surface as well as on the cuvette. Solid nickel is not something extraordinary when it comes to quality metals. Dial –Superb! Movement – Genuine, original and running (from the client: “The watch operates perfectly and keeps time to the second”).
This was a well-known quality brand of watches, mostly during the years of the 19th century (founded in 1864). However, this watch was made during the early 20th century and is much more of an ordinary type pocket watch in terms of metals used and the average quality of the movement which is not heavily jeweled. The only aspect of this watch that is very special, at least to me, is the dial.
When looking at non-gold Droz pocket watches made post 1900, even solid silver examples, I feel that the fair market value would range from $150-$200. . .
I hope that has been of help to you today and I apologize in advance if the pricing proves to disappoint you in any manner, but this is simply my own opinion about its value, and certainly this watch has complete integrity and is totally original, which in itself is saying a lot in the watch market today.
My best,
David