Hello Burl,
Thank you for sending in this Waltham pocket watch for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that today.
TITLE:
Gent’s, vintage, gilt stainless steel, keyless, open face pocket watch, Railroad-style dial, ‘Waltham’ on dial with locomotive, made by France Ebauche FE, Maîche, France, circa 1967-1970.
DESCRIPTION:
Case – (size not provided) This is a gilt steel, two leaf, polished and brushed gold plated steel open face pocket watch in a mid-20th century style with the fluted crown and shaped bow placed at the twelve position with polished bezel and polished circumference of the back case cover. There is an embossed mid-20th century locomotive and railway cars on the brushed gilt steel back cover. The interior of the cover is marked, “Waltham Watch Company, France, HP40”.
Dial – The is a white enameled dial with bold Arabic hours, open bar minutes with Arabic markers placed every minute along the dial edge in the “Montgomery” style of railway dial. The minute markers are black with red markers placed every fifth minute.
There is a subsidiary seconds bit @6, steel ‘feuille’ hands and the dial has a transfer print of a locomotive at the center and is marked ‘Waltham’ above, ‘17 jewels’ below and ‘France’ at the base of the dial.
Movement – An ebauche calibre movement carrying the ebauche mark under the balance wheel of “France Ebauches” (see history), their calibre HP 40, an 18'''(lignes size), lever escapement with small seconds, 17 jewels, vibrating at 18000 beats/ hour, lever movement, small seconds, three quarter plate movement with exposed ratchet and crown wheels, monometallic balance and French made regulator (thought to be made by Parrenin S.A. Fabrique d'Ebauches, 25 Villers-le-Lac France for France Ebauches) and the plates marked, “Waltham Watch Co., 17 jewels, Unadjusted France”.
(By the time this watch was made Waltham was a brand and not a manufacturer. During the late 50's, and early 60's, France became a low cost producer of basic watches. This watch dates from later in the 1960s when the firm of France Ebauches was created. So it's easy to see that the brand owner at the time, sourced inexpensive watches, to cash in on what was left of the Waltham name and legacy.)
CONDITION:
Case – The case is in very good-excellent condition with a small amount of oxidation and darkening to the inside of the back cover. Dial-Excellent. Movement-Clean and functional (but not of American railroad grade when it was made).
HISTORY:
FRANCE EBAUCHE:
France Ebauches - was born in 1967 from the merger of four manufacturers: EtsJoseph Jeambrun and Technic Roughing (formerly Mayor and Perrier) to Maîche, Cupillard Ebannin Villers-le-Lac and Fabrique d'Ebauches of the Genevois Watches (FEMGA) in Annemasse (Haute-Savoie). It quickly became the first European manufacturer of movements outside of Switzerland but it declined in the 1990s, closed its Maîche site in 1995 then regroups its activities on that of Valdahon, where it finally disappears in 2009 (under the name of Technotime Microtechnique).
France Ebauches calibres, were also exported and marketed in Switzerland, appeared at the beginning of the 1970s, they are probably coming out of the old Jeambrun factory in Maîche, created by Joseph Jeambrun in 1900 at 26 rue de Saint-Hippolyte.
WALTHAM IN NAME ONLY:
~Early 1950s – Waltham Watch Company of Waltham, Massachusetts went bankrupt
~1954 - Wrist watch production was stopped and all remaining stocks of watch parts was sold to the Hallmark Company in 1954, which assembled and sold “Waltham” watches (labeled "Hallmark by Waltham”). In 1957, Waltham sold the rest of their inventory to Hallmark.
~ 1954 - In an attempt to obtain cheaper watch parts, Waltham ALSO opened a subsidiary in Switzerland, Waltham International, SA. When the parent company Waltham (of Massachusetts) dropped out of the watch business in 1959, Waltham International became a free standing business unit. However, part of the deal was that Waltham International would not sell watches in North America. So Swiss made Waltham watches are not found in North America.
~ In 1958, they came out of bankruptcy as the Waltham Precision Instruments (effectively a new company) and was more in line with what they were producing (making aircraft instruments and other delicate instruments). Waltham Precision Instruments then sold the rights to the name “Waltham watches” to the Delaware based Waltham Watch Company (unrelated to Waltham of Massachusetts Company), a new company that imported watch parts and later, complete watches. This company merged with Hallmark to allow owners of watches made/assembled under Hallmark access to Waltham parts. The Hallmark-Waltham (of Delaware) years when parts from all over the world were being brought in to assemble watches under the “Waltham” name.
~1959-This company finally failed as well and the rights to the name “Waltham Watches” was sold to M. Z. Berger of New York, circa post 1958/59. MZB then imports watches and parts from China and are not even of the mid-range quality that the Hallmark-Waltham (of Delaware) watches were.
~1959 - Existing Waltham Watch Co. stock was traded for Waltham Watch Co (Delaware) stock in exchange for North American Rights to the Waltham brand name. Then in 1959, the (Delaware) Waltham Watch merged with Hallmark Watch Co, and moved to Chicago.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/41637355_waltham-17j-pocket-watch
(Sold for $60 IN 2015)
https://www.barnebys.com/realized-prices/lot/vintage-waltham-17j-incabloc-pocket-watch-8BU6jA9XmH (sold for $70 with day/date feature)
Although a very handsome looking pocket watch with a ‘retro’ look, this unfortunately is a fairly inexpensive watch as such things go. I have placed yours in the range of $70-$90.
Anyway you price it this example really is a footnote to the great history of the original Waltham Company. Enjoy it!
My best,
David

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