My Great Grandfather's Watch... [Archive]

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MrMisanthropy

March 18th, 2006, 05:11

I found this old watch that belonged to my grandfather's dad. I'm no expert, but i'm guessing it's from maybe anywhere between the 30's and 60's. Here are some shots...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1108.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1107.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1106.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1105.jpg

Dimensions:
1" wide (including dial)
1 3/16" high

The face itself is 3/4" wide and 7/8" high.
The watch is 1/4" thick.

The face says "Empire" which i'm guessing is the brand. I saw no other markings. The silver plate on back comes off, but i'm afraid to dig around inside. If anyone who knows about watches can tell me what to look for inside and how to do it, I may venture, but for now, I'll leave it in it's drawer.

This is not the original band, and the watch currently doesn't work. I don't really care what it's worth, I really just want to know how old it is.

JohnF

March 18th, 2006, 15:26

Hi -

Nice art-deco watch most likely from the 1930s to 1940s. The face design points me towards the 1930s, but not much later than that. The font of the numbers and the writing point to that for me...

Empire existed as a brand name, since I've run across a few on eBay, but that's the extent of my knowledge of the company.

Empire is almost certainly one of the New York watchmaking companies (New York is called "The Empire State") that didn't survive the decimation of the US watchmaking industry in the 1930s and the war years.

JohnF

Ray MacDonald

March 18th, 2006, 18:10

I'm leaning toward the 1930s as well, based on the dial styling.
If you can get the back off (it probably will require a sharp knife or case opener-don't do it if you are nervous about it) then take a photo of the movement. We might be able to identify it as Swiss or American.
Empire is a pretty obscure brand and I'm not sure what else we'll be able to tell you.

MrMisanthropy

March 19th, 2006, 01:13

Ray MacDonald

March 19th, 2006, 13:31

I got it open fairly easily.. and here's what's inside.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1120.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a78/Odinoneeye/100_1121.jpg

Here's what some of the pieces inside say..
Near the large dial it says "unadjusted". By the small dial it says "Swiss"
On the metal area with the three red dots, it says "Savoy Watch Co" and "Seventeen17 Jewels"
One the inside of the cover plate it says "Pioneer: Stainless back" and below it, the number 564784.
Anf other than that, just a maze of dials and things that blow my mind.

Thanks!
Hmmm..obviously it's a Swiss made movement but what I see tells me that it's from the 1940s, probably just after World War II. Maybe the movement is a replacement as the dial and case look older. Savoy is part of Geneva but I don't know the Savoy company, sorry. Pioneer was probably a watch case company but I don't know anything about them them either.

sevesteen

March 19th, 2006, 18:33

I got it open fairly easily.. and here's what's inside.

Here's what some of the pieces inside say..
Near the large dial it says "unadjusted". By the small dial it says "Swiss"
On the metal area with the three red dots, it says "Savoy Watch Co" and "Seventeen17 Jewels"
One the inside of the cover plate it says "Pioneer: Stainless back" and below it, the number 564784.
Anf other than that, just a maze of dials and things that blow my mind.

Thanks!

You might be able to see a number under the balance wheel, the wheel opposite the winding stem on this watch. With that, http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&uswk
will let you look up the movement, and it will usually give the years of production.

MrMisanthropy

March 19th, 2006, 20:29

Thanks! I'll open it back up and have a look to see what I can find out.

JohnF

March 19th, 2006, 20:43

Hi -

Savoy Watch Company, founded by Eli Miller... looks like a New York company (Empire watch). Wittnauer has a Savoy Watch collection, but whether that has anything to do with the original is probably questionable...

JohnF

Chascomm

March 21st, 2006, 06:04

I found this old watch that belonged to my grandfather's dad. I'm no expert, but i'm guessing it's from maybe anywhere between the 30's and 60's. Here are some shots...

Dimensions:
1" wide (including dial)
1 3/16" high

The face itself is 3/4" wide and 7/8" high.
The watch is 1/4" thick.

The face says "Empire" which i'm guessing is the brand. I saw no other markings. The silver plate on back comes off, but i'm afraid to dig around inside. If anyone who knows about watches can tell me what to look for inside and how to do it, I may venture, but for now, I'll leave it in it's drawer.

This is not the original band, and the watch currently doesn't work. I don't really care what it's worth, I really just want to know how old it is.I won't swear by it, but I believe that Empire was a sub-brand of Smiths, so it dates from that period before WW2 when Smiths were only importing watches, rather than building their own.

Chascomm

March 21st, 2006, 06:08

I won't swear by it, but I believe that Empire was a sub-brand of Smiths, so it dates from that period before WW2 when Smiths were only importing watches, rather than building their own.There's some possibly useful leads here:
http://www.smiths-clocks.co.uk/smnames.htm