Need help with vintage pocket watch

[Nomad]

Hey all, I need some help identifying a vintage pocket watch I have. I have searched the web and nothing comes up. It is branded a "Delta" and is a 35mm diameter approx. It has a hinged crystal, a hinged back cover and inner cover. The back cover and rim is highly and decoratively engraved. Inside the covers are these marks:serial 543862, 0.935, 2 standing lion passants and 1 smaller one, the upper case letter "B". The back of the movement says 'Made in Switzerland" and nothing else. Anyone got any ideas? Also can someone tell me why on the back of every older watch there are rough scratchings of a series of numbers? If it helps I can email you a pic of the watch. Just send me your email. Thank you.

[Shangas]

It's best if you just post the pictures here so everyone can see them, Nomad.

The scratch-marks are likely marks leftover by watchmakers, indicating when the watch was serviced. It was common in the old days, when a watch was serviced, for a watchmaker to leave a mark inside the watch (usually a series of numbers). The numbers corresponded to an entry in the watchmaker's logbook, where the watchmaker noted down the repairs done to the watch, the date, and possibly the cost, of repairs, as well.

[Nomad]

It's best if you just post the pictures here so everyone can see them, Nomad.

The scratch-marks are likely marks leftover by watchmakers, indicating when the watch was serviced. It was common in the old days, when a watch was serviced, for a watchmaker to leave a mark inside the watch (usually a series of numbers). The numbers corresponded to an entry in the watchmaker's logbook, where the watchmaker noted down the repairs done to the watch, the date, and possibly the cost, of repairs, as well.

Hi, we have just noticed that on the fob ring are the letters R.F. which we thought may relate to a guy Richard Ferris from exeter, but we think he may have been much earlier. I'll post some pics, but can you tell me how as the website asks for URL??? I am in the dark here. Thanks for the help.

[Shangas]

Go to www.photobucket.com (http://www.photobucket.com)

Register a free account.

Upload the photos.

Once the photos are successfully uploaded to the album, select the URL from underneath the photo and paste it into the text-box here. Make sure the URL is surrounded by "Image" tags. They have square brackets...like this:

URL

[Nomad]

Hi, let me know if this upload worked. Thanks. I have more pics but could only load one.
http://http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/DSCF0285.jpg

[Nomad]

Hi, in case the upload didn't work try this link to see all pics. http://s728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/ Thank you.

[Shangas]

Nice work, Nomad.

Here are the photos, folks:

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/DSCF0286.jpg

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/DSCF0285.jpg

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/DSCF0287.jpg

http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww286/2_nazarenes/DSCF0288.jpg

[AbslomRob]

The symbols stamped on the inside of the back cover are probably hallmarks...they're required on "precious" metals by many countries for import. The 0.935 is likely the "purity" of the silver, but it's an odd number...sterling silver is typically .925. One of the "lions" will likely represent the assaying office, while the other may be the manufacturer's mark. The "B" will usually represent the year that the case was made, but different assaying offices used different letters, and you have to look at the the typeface and the box shape to know for sure. If you can get a clear picture of the marks, that'd help.

[Marrick]

Quite a few European countries used .935 silver. See

http://www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks.html

e.g. Estonia and Hungary.

[Hartmut Richter]

The movement looks a little like one of the older Cortebert calibres:

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?00&ranfft&0&2uswk&Cortebert_488

...except that yours is a lepine and the one in the link a savonnette (which means that the two large gearwheels around the winding area swap position).

Hartmut Richter