Thread: POCKET WATCHES

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Well, now I'll have to add something else to the list of things I want... Thanks gents!

I was just thinking the same

Thank you for the tips, gents!

I wear a pocketwatch all the time. I usually carry a Hamilton 950 which is from about 1910. I carry it on a leather pouch on my belt and though I use a chain you do have to be careful because chains can snag on just about everything. The leather strap with a fob on the other end was how working stiffs carried them years ago and it's much safer that way. If you search Eboy you can get a nice sterling silver vintage chain for a pretty reasonable price which is better than the plated garbage most places seem to have.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I wear a pocketwatch all the time. I usually carry a Hamilton 950 which is from about 1910. I carry it on a leather pouch on my belt and though I use a chain you do have to be careful because chains can snag on just about everything. The leather strap with a fob on the other end was how working stiffs carried them years ago and it's much safer that way. If you search Eboy you can get a nice sterling silver vintage chain for a pretty reasonable price which is better than the plated garbage most places seem to have.

A Hamilton 950 is an awesome timepiece. I always wanted one but they always brought more $ then I wanted to spend. Great watch.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A Hamilton 950 is an awesome timepiece. I always wanted one but they always brought more $ then I wanted to spend. Great watch.

I got most of my pocketwatch collection quite a few years ago when they were fetching much lower prices. I picked up an Illinois Sangamo Special in totally mint condition, top of the line with matching stiff bow case and when I bought it , it was the most expensive watch I had ever bought and I though i was crazy spending a grand for it. Now I probably couldn't touch it for 3 grand.

yea the 950 is pretty much mint also. Its so accurate I only set it 2x a year when we change the clocks. It beats out my quartz wristwatches and some pretty high end mechanicals.

I bought the 992 for slightly over $200 from a collector who also services pocket watches. He says he prefers the feeling of 992 over 992B (the 992B having some "optimizations" that made them easier to manufacture); and that he never had to actually touch the one I bought as it was always running strong and accurately.

I failed to make a proper research but I figured that in that price range, I cannot go totally wrong and perhaps overpay a just a little bit. Those impulse purchases...

If you look around on ebay you'll find 992E will usually bring more than the standard 992. This was the addition of the Elinvar mainspring which was supposed to be an improved design and/or tempering of the mainspring. It was only made with that designation stamped on the movement in 1933 and maybe '34. Subesquently all of the 992 movements had the Elinvar spring and were marked 992B.

The early 992Bs were as well made as any of the Hamiltons with the later production going up into the '60s probably being not quite as well made like just about everything else. As wages went up so did productivity and quality suffers.

The only other Hamilton I always wanted was the Masterpiece. Here is a nice example the price shows why I never got one. It is a smaller size then the railroad approved models but a truly beautiful example of American workmanship. Item # 390038939881.

I have eight pocket watches. I had a thing about watches some years ago. The ones I kept are in a box somewhere.

One of them is about three hundred years old.

The English in particular made pocket watches from about 1700 to 1920. Just about every major city in England made watches. England was the centre of the universe as far as watches were concerned but then in the 1900's the Swiss took over.

Some of the watches I have are amazing mechanical devices. One is 18ct gold and every single part on the watch is stamped with the watch number. The movement, the face, and the three lids. It make the Rolex hologram look a bit pathetic. The balance has gold adjusting weights and the bearing it runs on is a diamond. Needless to say this watch is made in London and I think it's still by anybodies fair judgement a wonderful time keeping instrument. When I bought it in an auction, I bid the value of the gold. Maybe I should sell it as the price of gold has risen three fold since then.

I have one American Waltham pocket watch in an English silver case and it's not got jewels but it's a nice timepiece.

When I was in my early teens in the '60s you would still find many pairs of trousers made with watch pockets. By somewhere around 1965 they had pretty much disappeared with the exception of Levi type blue jeans. It is interesting that many of the men who are shaving with straight razors would be attracted to pocket watches. Some sort of nostalgia involved in it no doubt.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It is interesting that many of the men who are shaving with straight razors would be attracted to pocket watches. Some sort of nostalgia involved in it no doubt.

.. and they sign checks with fountain pens, too.

I did a bit of research on the topic and finally understand what an Enlivar spring is. I've also found out that the serial number of my watch dates it to 1920s, not 1930s; and the first run on 992E started in 1927.

Here is a neat old book about Hamiltons: A0499: The Hamilton Watch: The Rail Road Timekeeper of America