Ray MacDonald
May 3rd, 2005, 22:18
I get lots of questions here about age and value of watches. I'll give you all some general comments about this. In this post I'll deal with the question of identification.
How successful we can be at identifying a watch is dependent on its brand and country of origin. Lets look at a few scenarios.
(1) You own a large American-made brand (Elgin, Waltham, Hamilton, Hampden). In this case, you are in luck. Extensive records exist to determine the year of manufacture, model, size, etc. All you need is the serial number from the movement.
(2) You own an American brand with a Swiss movement (Gruen, Bulova, Benrus). In this case, it is not as easy. Gruen's records were destroyed when the company was sold (Barbarous!) Bulovas made after 1949 have a code on the case which gives the year of manufacture. Before that it's a matter of guesswork.
(2) You own a famous Swiss brand (Patek, Vacheron, Omega). Again a nice story. There are lists of serial numbers around to pinpoint the year of manufacture.
(4) You own one of the hundreds of minor Swiss brands. Good luck. Unfortunately most of the questions I get here are about these and there just are no records to refer to. Often the movements were made in tiny "mom and pop" operations. Occasionally we can identify a large ebauche maker but not often. Many of these brands disappeared when the Swiss watch industry was devestated by the quartz revolution. We can sometimes tell the decade of manufacture by styling clues, but otherwise, you are on your own.
Don't let me discourage you from posting any watch ID qustion here though. We'll always try, and there are some real experts in European watches around here.
How successful we can be at identifying a watch is dependent on its brand and country of origin. Lets look at a few scenarios.
(1) You own a large American-made brand (Elgin, Waltham, Hamilton, Hampden). In this case, you are in luck. Extensive records exist to determine the year of manufacture, model, size, etc. All you need is the serial number from the movement.
(2) You own an American brand with a Swiss movement (Gruen, Bulova, Benrus). In this case, it is not as easy. Gruen's records were destroyed when the company was sold (Barbarous!) Bulovas made after 1949 have a code on the case which gives the year of manufacture. Before that it's a matter of guesswork.
(2) You own a famous Swiss brand (Patek, Vacheron, Omega). Again a nice story. There are lists of serial numbers around to pinpoint the year of manufacture.
(4) You own one of the hundreds of minor Swiss brands. Good luck. Unfortunately most of the questions I get here are about these and there just are no records to refer to. Often the movements were made in tiny "mom and pop" operations. Occasionally we can identify a large ebauche maker but not often. Many of these brands disappeared when the Swiss watch industry was devestated by the quartz revolution. We can sometimes tell the decade of manufacture by styling clues, but otherwise, you are on your own.
Don't let me discourage you from posting any watch ID qustion here though. We'll always try, and there are some real experts in European watches around here.