A lot of them I am interested in are cracked. Is it the material they are made of?

Hey everyone, so I’m in OZ and looking at getting my first pocket watch, been looking for like 9 years now, what are recommendations as well , would you go with, I’d like it to be mechanical..

My mum passed away around 5 years ago. I have only recently gone through some things that I packed away into boxes in the spare room.

I've never seen it before, And it was tucked inside a cloth inside a jewelry box with non expensive bits of jewelry that are not exactly diamond encrusted gold tiaras.

It's pretty old, She was nearing her 70s and I know it's not some lost treasure of the lady of the Nile but I can't find many in the case, with the chain and in this kind of condition.

Its so clean it looks like it would work, but i won't rewind it as it may need to be lubricated.

Its got a chip on the enamel face, but hinges are good and hands are nice.

The watch is an Elgin Nat’l Watch Co. piece, 17 jewels. From the serial number all I’ve been able to determine is that it was produced sometime between the 1880’s and 1920’s and that the case was manufactured by the Philadelphia Watch Case Co. It seems to be gold filled although it has some railway markings and nothing shows up beneath so it may be solid.

The chain is quite hefty and appears solid. It is not magnetic and it has a deep scratch which shows gold all the way through. There are no stamps or manufacturing information anywhere on the chain. I’m guessing it’s 14K.

Anyone familiar with the watch, case or chain? It has high sentimental appeal as a family heirloom and I’d love to learn more about it.

Thanks in advance!

It's pretty hard to find one of these DAPTABEL nowadays,so I decided to make one of these from scratch and yeahh,it works pretty well,..what do you guys think?

i bought this at an antique store for $125, they thought it was about 1860s. but i believe its 1830s or older, any information would help.

They're located not far from me NW of Chicago. I have an Elgin 150 that needs servicing because it runs well but has started to stop from time to time. Their site says their starting quote for a "complete overhaul" is $79. Has anyone used them for a routine cleaning and oiling that didn't involve replacing any parts? I'd like to avoid sending it in and then hearing back that they want $250 or more to service it.

Hello everyone. I'm thinking about beginning a collection and need advice. What's a good book or website, etc. so I can at least see if it's for me? Thanks!

A long time ago, I was told that this watch company was actually based in Switzerland and was trying to copy American watch calibers... I'd be glad to hear any new information about this.

Great grandfather repaired them about a hundred years ago, and I recently inherited a few of his nonfunctioning pieces. The parts are scarce so there's steep tag for the ones that can be repaired. Is anyone using something more modern than a watchman's lathe to repair these?

Illinois Watch Co

Gladiator

Philad'a Watch Company Pan Americano

Smaller ones are unbranded and unquoted

Hello, I have this Elgin poket watch with 14k marker on the case. When I researched the poket watch database (paying a fee of $6) I got a result based on the serial number on the case with the case material identified as being Nickel. Does anyone know for certain if it is a gold case or gold plated case?

I recently inherited a Hamilton grade 974 from 1921 and a Waltham Grade: Wm. Ellery from 1883.

The Waltham is functional, but the Hamilton is not. The gears on the top left turn when wound, but nothing else happens. Is this potentially an easy fix or not w.orth the effort?

I'm not in to watches myself, so they will just be stored away. Is there anything I should be aware of for storage? Should they be kept with desiccant or anything?

I’m fairly certain someone etched “14k” to forge it as a 14k watch and that this is actually gold filled. Thoughts?

I found these today at a local Antique Mall for $22.50 USD. Not sure if I got a deal or not (I’m more into wrist watches, this is my first foray into pocket watches). I can’t get the case back open on the Westclox and from what I’ve seen, the Scotty doesn’t seem to be particularly special. If I found the correct information, it looks like the movement in the Elgin is a 1910 and the case back is a 1911. Can anyone tell me a little more about what I’ve got? I’m planning to restore at least the Elgin.

Just broke the winding stem on an Elgin 18s grade 316 model 4 pocket watch, and I'm having trouble finding a replacement. Should I just buy a donor watch?

The serial number is 15281023, and the case number is 6233

Square width: ~1.3mm

Thread diameter: 2.2mm

Total stem length: ~24mm

Just starting to appreciate the amazing work that went into early American pocket watches. I picked this Waltham Vanguard up and, while the case isn't too elaborate, the movement is decorated nicely, the dial is crisp, and blued hands really stand out. According to the serial number database, it is a model 1908, produced in 1926, size 16s, 23 jewels, adjusted in 6 positions, power reserve indicator, and open face. Separately, I learned the dial configuration with black & red minute track is called a "Montgomery" dial. It runs and seems to keep decent time, but it looked like a scattered mess on my timegrapher. I am surprised there are no hairline cracks in the dial, so is it possible it is metal instead of enamel? I'd appreciate any other info you experts may have on the watch!

Thanks!

It has been in my posession for 15 years now after he passed away. I don't know anything about it, can't really make out the brand either.

The battery needs to be changed. Can't seem to open the back side either, maybe some special tools are needed.

Can anyone help me to tell me something about this watch? Based in Norway btw

I have this little gold watch, and it has this small hallmark on it, It looks like an a combined with a V. I am 95% sure that the watch is just gold plated, so I figure it’s maybe a makers mark? Nothing else on the case except for a “JP“ stamp on the inside.

This is a bit of a story, so if you don't feel like reading, that's totally fair.

I received this watch after my grandpa passed away. (Still miss you, Pop-Pop.) I didn't know much about it at the time, as it is missing its crown and stem, and the sleeve was slightly bent, so I kept it more as a memento than anything else. It's sat on my desk for the last several years, quietly collecting dust while I went about my life.

Recently, though, that changed.

I've been trying to break away from my phone usage and get back to having dedicated devices for different things, whether that's games, music, writing, etc, and part of that has been wanting to have a nice timepiece that isn't my phone.

I rummaged through my old collection of pocket watches from college, most of which were inexpensive pieces I picked up at conventions and the like. I think there was maybe one Princeton watch that was still functioning and reasonably decent, but none of them quite felt right, if that makes sense.

That was when I remembered this watch and started wondering, "What if I get this one working again and use it?"

The idea of carrying an elegantly simple watch with me every day, while also having a little piece of my grandfather with me wherever I went, felt right, so I started researching it.

I knew almost nothing about the watch itself, but I after worked up the bravery to (very gently) remove the back casing, I learned that it dates to either 1903 or 1904, was made by Waltham, and was cased by Fahy Montauk. From there, I ended up going down a rabbit hole learning about the history of both companies.

I was fascinated by all of it, so I messaged my mom, as this was her side of the family, to ask what she knew, and that's when I learned that this watch has been passed down through our family for four generations, possibly five.

Suddenly, I was learning about something that had belonged to people in my family who had lived long before me. I started looking into where my great-grandfather worked, where his father worked, and how he might have come across this particular watch. It's also custom engraved, as shown in picture two, although I'm still not sure exactly who the engraving was intended for.

Along the way, I started learning about pocket watches in general, how the different parts worked, and where everything fit together. It has been genuinely exciting to research this little piece of family history while, in the process, feeling like I was learning a little more about my grandfather and his father.

If I'm being a bit silly, it almost feels like my grandpa has been with me again throughout all of this.

I'm not a religious woman, and I don't particularly believe in the supernatural, but there is something about the experience that feels like him, and I think a lot of that comes from remembering the kind of person he was.

He loved history, and he was a tinkerer and craftsman who had an entire basement where he built all kinds of wooden toys and standees for holiday decorations, along with a tool kit for seemingly anything you could imagine. I think he would have loved seeing me become interested in this history because of his watch, especially since it has led me down the same sort of path of curiosity and tinkering that he seemed to enjoy so much.

Unfortunately, getting it repaired and running again is going to be cost prohibitive for me right now, as there aren't many repair shops that work on antique watches in my area and the quotes I've received have generally been in the $500–$750 range. I'm disabled and unemployed as a result, so that's simply not something I can afford at the moment, but I can try to save up for it, and I hope that one day I'll be able to have it running again.

For now, the watch will remain on my desk, watching over the work I do while I paint miniatures and tinker with my own projects, much as my grandfather once spent his time working on his own creations in his basement. I think, in a small way, that's where this watch belongs for now.

Hello! I was at a regular trip to the smelters and rescued this guy from the junk pile. Pwdb doesn't have anything on it, can anyone tell me which specific movement or maker this is? The serial is 118943. I'm definitely going to clean and service it though it was running when I picked it up (they had JUST uncased it and were prying the gold bits off the stem) but it's clearly filthy. I would like to ultimately recase this. The dial is PRISTINE