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An old pocket watch

By Ahric, 24 March, 2013
Description

I have a pocket watch that has been in the family for a few generations.  There are a few different stories about how we came to possess it and what it is, and how old it is.  All family stories are I'm sure woefully innacurate so I won't repeat them.  My guess is possibly european mid 1800s but I have no idea.

I did have the item appraised for just the gold weight in 2009 and it was appraised at around 2,800 for gold value, but I was hoping to find out when/where it was made.

The dial is engraved with the scene of a little town, and the back has a non-descript shield looking emblem on it (railroad?).

 

Category
Clocks
Medium
gold
Distinguishing marks
No idea.
Condition
Good
Date Period
The story is that it's mid 1800s but do not know.
History
None known.
eBay Auction Link
Price Paid (If known)
Family item.
For Sale?
No
Photos
Profile picture for user fishwhacker

fishwhacker

12 years 1 month ago

Re: An old pocket watch

It does not have anywhere near $2800 in gold. It appears to be swiss and would date to the 1880s or 1890s most likely. Would need to see the watch movement itself to determine origins for sure and possibly identify a maker. If the watch is 2" diameter across the face not including the stem/winding crown, I'm guessing it weighs about 75-80 grams,  most swiss pocket watches use very thin gold and are on the light side. Yours does appear to have a nice solid gold dial. You can expect there to be 20-30% of the weight in gold if that with open faced watches of swiss nature. With those numbers in mind, you're looking at about $600-$925 or so in actual gold weight assuming it is 18k gold like comprabale watches usually are. These watches values are a direct reflection of high gold prices and the their solid gold cases, there will be very little premium over the gold content value for the watch itself as it appears to be a very mid class timepiece, it looks nice but in reality they were mass produced and the internal mechanism is very common, the same watch 5 years ago would have been selling for $300 or so. Add another $50 or so for the movement and that's what I would expect  market value to be if you were to put it up for auction tomorrow. It has a very small chance of being English as well, but after seeing hundreds of similar watches I am almost certain the movement will be unsigned and the watch is swiss. Obviously if the chain (watch fob) is solid gold that would add some more value, but at least from the photos given the colorization points to it being gold filled and worth $30-$50 or so. If it is solid gold it would be a low 9k or 10k purity and an estimate on value would be $200-$300. Thanks for sharing, I love looking at pocket watches. Again, if you ever get the back of the case popped off (I would reccomend taking it to a watch maker or jeweler for doing such to avoid damage) feel free to post a picture or two of the movement.

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Profile picture for user fishwhacker

fishwhacker

12 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: An old pocket watch by fishwhacker

Re: An old pocket watch

Oops, I meant 1880s at the latest and 1850s as the earliest, most likely 1860s/1870s, no way to be absolutely certain unfortunately. It also may be 14k gold. Here is one in 18k of English origins that sold recently, near identical to yours. The dust cover (piece of metal between the movement and case) is gold filled and has worn away on this one, a solid gold dust cover would up the value another $100 or so. The price this timepiece went for is fairly typical of a watch of this nature, the person that bought it paid slightly above the gold value. I did locate a near identical swiss version w/solid gold dust cover and they had removed the movement to weigh the gold case, it was 19.5 grams. That would make a 18k version worth $700-$800 and a 14k $500~.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arnold-Adams-Co-18S-Pocket-Watch-In-Solid-18K-G…

No votes yet

Ahric

12 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: An old pocket watch by fishwhacker

Re: An old pocket watch

Thank you for your quick response.  I expected as much as far as what it was and the value.  The 2,800 in gold value also came from a family member, which I thought had to be off as well.  But it's a nice looking watch to me, so that's all I need. :)

No votes yet
Profile picture for user fishwhacker

fishwhacker

12 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: An old pocket watch by Ahric

Re: An old pocket watch

Yes, it's certainly a nice looking watch and the gold dial makes it pop. It's a nice piece that I would be proud to own as well and didn't mean to put it down in anyway, it's just not something that would make your educated watch collector go bonkers over as they were mass producing these in shops all over Switzerland and England during the era. Most watch collectors put the quality and rarity of the internal mechanisms or in some cases unique provenance above anything else and add the metal value on top of that.

 

Again thanks for sharing

Nicholas

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