Information on this Pocket watch?

[triplesticks]

Hello,

My uncle just forwarded a couple photos of a pocket watch that has been passed down in our family for a while. We grew up relatively poor so the chances that it's a rare or valuable watch are relatively slim but I wanted to see if I could get any information on it for to add to what we already know about it and our relatives.

This was originally owned by my great grandfather in Davis, WV. The watch has a makers name location (Hagerstown, MD) on it but I haven't been able to find any information about it. I'm either not looking in the correct place or I'm spelling the name incorrectly.

If anyone has some knowledge about this I would appreciate it.

Larger photos can be seen at the following address.
https://picasaweb.google.com/johnt1969/February72012

Thanks,
j

[AbslomRob]

Well, it'll be hard to tell you much without a picture of the movement. It has the look of a "jobber" watch; that's a watch that would be customized with the name of the store that sold it. This was a very common practice around the turn of the century. Inside could be a worthless swiss fake or a top grade railroad quality movement. No real way to know without looking.

The other thing we can tell you is that it was likely recased. Watches with the crown at the 3 o'clock position were usually sold in "hunter" cases (cases with a front, spring loaded cover). The original may have worn out, or may have been gold(and sold ages ago).

[ltri]

It is in a hunter case, look at the second picture. looks like it is also a Lever set movement.

[AbslomRob]

Thanks Ltri; guess I should wait for all the pics to load on my phone before replying. I'm curious about your Lever comment? What makes you think that (other then the fact that hunter movements tended to be lever set to begin with)?

[triplesticks]

I'll ask my uncle if he can get a picture of the movement. I don't think it's something he's ever done before so he might not be comfortable taking it apart.

He did say that he thought it would have been purchased some time between 1890 and 1920. That's just a guess based on where my great grandfather was at the time and what he was doing.

I just talked to him and I can confirm that it's a lever set movement. It looks like the lever is in the 5 oclock position. He also said that it's in the spring loaded case where you press down the stem and it pops open.

[triplesticks]

Pictures of the markings and the movement.

[Ben_hutcherson]

11j Hampden

[triplesticks]

Based on the assumption that this is a Hampden movement, then that would put the manufacture date at 1899. I'm assuming that from a list of serial numbers I found on the net.

Why would it say 15 Jewels if it's an 11j? Could there have been an aftermarket modification to the movement? I'm also curious about the Eureka engraving. I found a little about the Eureka watch company being related to Gallet but It doesn't look like this is the same thing.

I hope this isn't boring for you because it's fun for me. I appreciate your help.

[Ben_hutcherson]

Ooops, I looked right past the 15 jewel marking on it :)

My earlier 11j statement(which I typed out VERY quickly) was based on the fact that the jewels visible on the top plate are rubbed in rather than being set into chatons. On American watches, this is commonly indicative of a jewel count of 11j, although there are almost as many exceptions to this rule as there are watches that follow it.

If the movement is marked 15 jewels, it more than likely is 15 jewels, although you'd have to remove the dial to be 100% sure.

In fact, using the NAWCC Ch. 149 Hampden database, the movement actually comes up as being a 17j "3 Ball" grade. This database, however, is a modern day reconstruction based primarily on observations, and while it's accurate fairly often, it's still far from infallible.

NAWCC Chapter 149 - Early American Watch Club - Data Base Research

[Ben_hutcherson]

And, I'm going to have to eat my words once again(this isn't a good day!) and correct myself.

It's not a Hampden, but rather an Illinois-I should have recognized the very Illinois-like script on the movement, as well as the dial that screams Illinois.

It does come up in the records as an 11j gr. 101, which likely explains the bezel set jewels. Pretty much anything goes with Illinois private labels, so the fact that it's a 15j private label from a run of 11j watches is not at all surprising.