ASTIN WATCH - Help with identification!

[legitimist]

Hi! I recently bought in the UK a lady vintage watch that I beleive to be from the 1930'. It's a sprung hinged bangle wind up watch, gold plated with a domed face and numbered 109641. It says on the dial ASTIN 17 JEWELS. Does anyone know anything about that maker, its history, etc...Many thanks for your much appreciated help! :thanks

[Marrick]

Hi! I recently bought in the UK a lady vintage watch that I beleive to be from the 1930'. It's a sprung hinged bangle wind up watch, gold plated with a domed face and numbered 109641. It says on the dial ASTIN 17 JEWELS. Does anyone know anything about that maker, its history, etc...Many thanks for your much appreciated help! :thanks

I can find it in a list of Swiss watch companies - Astin Watch S.A. - but that's all. The only item I can find by googling is a rather expensive one on this page:

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/thisar...t%20and%20deco

[legitimist]

Many thanks for your reply! So it's a Swiss watch then. Where would you suggest I look to find out more? Many thanks again for taking the time to answer. :thanks

[Marrick]

Many thanks for your reply! So it's a Swiss watch then. Where would you suggest I look to find out more? Many thanks again for taking the time to answer. :thanks

I'm sorry I just don't know. There's another one here:

http://www.goantiques.com/search/sea...hen=&itemType=


It seems to me that it was probably more of a jewellery brand than a true watchmaker. Many low volume brands have simply dropped off the radar and never made it onto the web. There is a very comprehensive and hard to find book by Katherine Pritchard (that I've never seen) that might have it in:

In 1997, her 1,800-page, two-volume book, "Swiss Timepiece Makers, 1775-1975," was published. It covers more than 2,000 Swiss firms.

But there were a lot more than 2000 Swiss firms. Good luck.