Let's See Your Watches! The Vintage Watch Thread.

[1955mercury]

I got my watch back from being serviced and bought a new wristband from Hirsch. It's 10K gold filled and in the back there is an engraving for a man for his 25 years of service for a business I suppose.

It's an Elgin from the late 1920s or early 1930s IIRC.

If you look on the back of the movement you will see a serial number. Enter that number on this site and you can find out the exact year it was made.
http://elginwatches.org/databases/elgin_sn_intro.html

 

[willyto]

If you look on the back of the movement you will see a serial number. Enter that number on this site and you can find out the exact year it was made.
http://elginwatches.org/databases/elgin_sn_intro.html

Oh, yes thank you. When the I bought it from Ebay the seller had a picture the number and I checked it. It's been so long that I just can't remember.

 

[M Hatman]

An assortment of really old school watches.........
Cheers,
M

 

[viclip]

Here's an 18 size Waltham pocket watch which I picked up at a flea market last fall. It's a Model 1883 of Grade 3 sporting a full plate nickel movement with 11 jewels housed in a gold-filled case. The watch was produced at the Waltham factory in 1893 or 1894:

The vendor acquired it from the estate of a man who died in March of 2016, in his nineties. The watch had belonged to the deceased's father, Charles E. Fox, born in 1871. In 1896 the father had won the watch for having placed first in a bicycle race sponsored by the Hiram Walker distillery of Walkerville, Ontario, Canada (Walkerville was absorbed by the City of Windsor during the Great Depression; as an aside Al Capone was known to have done business in Hiram Walker liquor & he was well known to the local constabulary). Bicycles were all the rage throughout North America in the 1890s. Here's a link to the full story of the grand event:

https://windsorthenwindsornow.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/the-big-race-walkerville-1896/

The original owner evidently wore the watch for the remainder of his life, which came to an end on Christmas Day of 1939 when he succombed to pneumonia. At the time of the bicycle race, he was working as a carpenter however at one point he became a firefighter for the Town of Walkerville; I wouldn't be surprised if he retired in the 1930s concurrently with the Town's amalgamation into the City of Windsor.

I recently had the watch serviced. I indicated to the watchmaker that the movement seemed to have soot particles therein. My watchmaker advised that he could smell the odor of smoke as if from a fire. The original owner probably wore his watch while on duty fighting fires! Even if he took it off & left it at the firehouse while on call, it still likely picked up soot & that smokey odor - pocket watches left to cool down after being taken off are known to breathe in the ambient air like bellows, which explains why it's still advisable to have them serviced annually notwithstanding the use of modern lubricants.

Anyways the watch now keeps great time, it's one of my most accurate & reliable timepieces. It's quite the conversation piece too, in fact I keep a photo of the original owner, taken in 1896, inside the back cover.

I find that knowing the historical background & the watch's provenance makes this item a prized possession with a value to me far outweighing its financial worth (bought for $60, paid the watchmaker $220 to overhaul). And the look of the watch worn on the vest is invaluable too.

Just thought I'd share some of what I consider to be the magic of collecting & wearing vintage timepieces.

 

[Talbot]

Magic indeed. Thanks for sharing.

 

[VintageEveryday]

I recently bought a beautiful (working) model 1883 Waltham sidewinder from 1903. Heavy rose gold (filled?) in an ornate design I have yet to see on other watches produced in the same year. All the others I've seen have been yellow gold filled or silver, and none with this amount of fine metalwork.

 

[VintageEveryday]

I got my watch back from being serviced and bought a new wristband from Hirsch. It's 10K gold filled and in the back there is an engraving for a man for his 25 years of service for a business I suppose.

It's an Elgin from the late 1920s or early 1930s IIRC.

I'd say, stylistically, that this is mid to late 1930s. I've seen 1920s Elgins, and this is NOT 1920s or early 1930s. My guess is circs 1935-40. Maaaaybe early 40s, but that's pushing it.

 

[viclip]

I recently bought a beautiful (working) model 1883 Waltham sidewinder from 1903. Heavy rose gold (filled?) in an ornate design I have yet to see on other watches produced in the same year. All the others I've seen have been yellow gold filled or silver, and none with this amount of fine metalwork.
View attachment 69179 View attachment 69180 View attachment 69181

That's a very nice pocket watch, I have several Model 1883s & love them all, they're excellent time keepers. I have them in both the hunter & the open face configurations.

Until roughtly post-WWI the large American watch manufacturers shipped their movements uncased, the first buyer would then attend at the jeweller's or watchmaker's & chose his own case. Your watch having the hunter configuration, it would almost certainly have been cased in a hunter case at the original point of sale. There is of course no way of knowing when the movement was removed from its original hunter case & re-cased in the open face case. Sidewinders nevertheless for some reason appeal to me as being a bit "different".

If you post some particulars about your case, someone here may be able to tell you more about it. There's usually some manufacturer's info on the inside of the back cover &/or on the cuvette (if the interior dust cover is included).

 

[VintageEveryday]

That's a very nice pocket watch, I have several Model 1883s & love them all, they're excellent time keepers. I have them in both the hunter & the open face configurations.

Until roughtly post-WWI the large American watch manufacturers shipped their movements uncased, the first buyer would then attend at the jeweller's or watchmaker's & chose his own case. Your watch having the hunter configuration, it would almost certainly have been cased in a hunter case at the original point of sale. There is of course no way of knowing when the movement was removed from its original hunter case & re-cased in the open face case. Sidewinders nevertheless for some reason appeal to me as being a bit "different".

If you post some particulars about your case, someone here may be able to tell you more about it. There's usually some manufacturer's info on the inside of the back cover &/or on the cuvette (if the interior dust cover is included).

True. I had forgotten about that. There's a mark inside: two initials interlocked, but no definite name. An R interlocked with an S. And co after it. I can't get a clear shot of it though

 

[VintageEveryday]

True. I had forgotten about that. There's a mark inside: two initials interlocked, but no definite name. An R interlocked with an S. And co after it. I can't get a clear shot of it though

I also get the feeling the case is older. It seems too..... "Fussy" and heavily engraved to be Art Nouveau. Maybe 1880s or 90s, but not early '00s.

 

[viclip]

I also get the feeling the case is older. It seems too..... "Fussy" and heavily engraved to be Art Nouveau. Maybe 1880s or 90s, but not early '00s.

Could it be "S & R" in which case "Serex & Robert" could be the case makers as per the listing on the linked page:

http://www.pocketwatchrepair.com/hi...nies-8.htmlse-companies/case-companies-8.html

I don't see anything under the Rs which could stand for "R & S".

Of course there were thousands of American & foreign case makers ...

 

[VintageEveryday]

Could it be "S & R" in which case "Serex & Robert" could be the case makers as per the listing on the linked page:

http://www.pocketwatchrepair.com/hi...nies-8.htmlse-companies/case-companies-8.html

I don't see anything under the Rs which could stand for "R & S".

Of course there were thousands of American & foreign case makers ...

I can't click the link. It's sending an error message. But thank you for the information

 

[VintageEveryday]

I can't click the link. It's sending an error message. But thank you for the information

The watch was purchased from a Waltham antique shop, literally across the river from the old factory. It probably never left Massachusetts in its life, so the fact that Serex and Robert was a Boston based company makes sense.

 

[viclip]

The watch was purchased from a Waltham antique shop, literally across the river from the old factory. It probably never left Massachusetts in its life, so the fact that Serex and Robert was a Boston based company makes sense.

I recently purchased Warren H. Niebling's reference book "History of the American Watch Case" on eBay & am currently awaiting delivery. Perhaps it contains a depiction of the trademark used by Messrs. John F. Serex & Arnold Robert, described as "watch-casemakers" in the 1882 Boston directory. If so I'll provide a copy so you can compare it to what's found on the interior of your case. Remind me in a couple of weeks in the event that I forget.

 

[VintageEveryday]

I recently purchased Warren H. Niebling's reference book "History of the American Watch Case" on eBay & am currently awaiting delivery. Perhaps it contains a depiction of the trademark used by Messrs. John F. Serex & Arnold Robert, described as "watch-casemakers" in the 1882 Boston directory. If so I'll provide a copy so you can compare it to what's found on the interior of your case. Remind me in a couple of weeks in the event that I forget.

thank you so much for your help! I haven't been able to find anything on them anywhere!

 

[viclip]

thank you so much for your help! I haven't been able to find anything on them anywhere!

"Serex & Robert" were located at 7 & 9 Province Court in 1882 Boston. I wonder what's there now?

 

[VintageEveryday]

"Serex & Robert" were located at 7 & 9 Province Court in 1882 Boston. I wonder what's there now?

I was there recently. Some sort of glass building with an awning. Hotel? Apartments?

 

[viclip]

View attachment 69196
The watch was purchased from a Waltham antique shop, literally across the river from the old factory. It probably never left Massachusetts in its life, so the fact that Serex and Robert was a Boston based company makes sense.

I have now received the recently purchased reference book "History of the American Watch Case" by Warren H. Niebling. Although it lists the casemaking firm of Serex & Robert as being active in 1880s Boston, the author did not include a reproduction of any trademark granted to or business mark used by, that firm.

Perhaps there is an on-line database of searchable trademark applications which would assist in determining whether that firm in its own name or in the individual name(s) of its principals - John F. Serex & Arnold Robert - sought protection for a business logo unique to their operation. Let us know if you pursue this!

 

[VintageEveryday]

I haven't found anything on them besidesthe fact that they're a Boston firm who made gold cases. I haven't found any cases attributed to them though so I have no info on their Hallmark. I've been looking for days. I don't even know if my own case is gold (you think it would have been stamped along with the makers mark, but no)

 

[viclip]

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, it is incumbent and necessary to resurrect the vintage mechanical watch thread.

Today's showcase watch is a one-button chronograph produced by the LIP company that was based in Besancon, France from 1867 until its bankuptcy in the mid-1970s. This particular timepiece was made in circa 1925:

Being a chronograph, it has a watch movement combined with a stopwatch mechanism; the former is LIP's in-house 43 mm (19 lignes) calibre while the latter was provided by the Reymond chronograph mechanism manufacturer (in 1929 Reymond became part of the Valjou brand).

The gold colored hands tell the time in tandem with the running seconds subdial at 6 o'clock. A single press of the small central button incorporated into the crown, starts the black central sweep hand which indicates the elapsed seconds, with the small subdial at 12 o'clock counting the elapsed minutes. A second press of that button stops the counter function, while a third press resets the central sweep as well as the minutes counter subdial.

About the outer perimeter there are no less than 4 scales, variously colored, which can be used while in chronograph mode to compute time-lapse-based information. I can figure out the tachymeter function but I must confess that I haven't the slightest idea about how to use the other 3 scales.

Perhaps a few green beers later today will smarten me up.

Anyways, pocket watch chronographs aren't all that common and to have a well-preserved running example hanging from my vest dating back to the 1920s, is both interesting & entertaining.