Dating a Keystone Case 122052

[Stan Smith]

Would anyone be able to date a Keystone Case number 122052? Its a hunting case made of coin silver. The hinges appear to be made of gold. The B.W. Raymond movement in the case dates to the late 1800s.

[Stan Smith]

Would anyone be able to date a Keystone Case number 122052? Its a hunting case made of coin silver. The hinges appear to be made of gold. The B.W. Raymond movement in the case dates to the late 1800s.

[Kent]

Stan:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!

Although a lot can be learned about an American watch by knowing the movement's serial number, there seems to be very few surviving records from the watch case companies. So, other than studying the style of the case and making an educated guess as to which era it belongs, it is extremely difficult to trace the case's history. If the case still contains the movement it originally housed, an approximate date (within a year or three) can be assigned to the case. Also, there don't seem to be any surviving records from watch case companies linking case serial numbers to specific cases, their grades, sizes & etc. About the only way to find out more about the specific model case on a watch would be to go through old jewelry trade magazines and catalogs, hoping to find a picture of one that matches. The best place to do this may be the NAWCC Library & Research Center (http://www.nawcc.org/Library/library.htm). Also, a number of case ads may be found in the "Documents & Pictures" section of Wayne Schlitt's Elgin Website:
<span class="ev_code_brown">www.elginwatches.org/scans/index.html</span>
<span class="ev_code_blue">To view, go to the </span><span class="ev_code_brown">Elgin Watch Collectors Site Home Page</span> <span class="ev_code_blue">at</span> <span class="ev_code_brown">elginwatches.com</span>, <span class="ev_code_blue">then copy and paste the address in your browser's address bar and click on </span>'Go'.


Good luck,

[Stan Smith]

Thank You for the fast response Kent. The movement is a B.W. Raymond number 2890210 Adjusted. I don't see any screw holes that look out of place, so I'm assuming its the original movement.

[Wes]

Stan,
Welcome to the board!
According to Wayne Schlitt's Elgin Website (http://elginwatches.org), serial number 2890210 (http://elginwatches.org/cgi-bin/elgin_sn?sn=2890210&action=search) watch should be a size 18s (large man's watch), hunter movement (winds at the 3 oclock position of the dial), full plate with a gilt finish (gold in color), lever set, "BW Raymond" marked grade 170, with 15 or 17 jewels, from about 1887.
It sounds like you have a nice original watch!

[Stan Smith]

Wes,
Your a scolar! Thank You so much.

[Wes]

Of all of the names I have been called today that is the nicest one! :wink:

Actually, the one to thank is Wayne Schlitt, as he is the one that spent all the time to develop that research site.

Enjoy your BW Raymond! Should look a lot like this...
http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/sale/elgin/elgin_03747956d_s.jpg (http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/sale/elgin/elgin_03747956d.jpg)