R.J.A Lever Pocket Watch Help

[Aushotrods]

Hello, I was just wondering if anybody knows about a Watch company called "RJA Lever". I have a pocket watch with the bowtie logo, and was wondering if there is any more info on it. It has an engraving of an ID number, a date (4/9/15 or 25) and some other two words which i cannot see, too small. It must of belonged to my Great grandfather, so I really would like to get some more info on it. I am 16, from Melbourne Australia. I dont know how to post images, but the watch has a white background, roman numerals, a 60 second timer in a seperate little circle the covers the "VI" completly, with "Swiss Made" on both sides of the timer.
Sorry about my severe lack of knowlege :biggrin:. It is a priceless item for my family, it may not be worth much (have NO idea) but has been in the family a long time, and is obviously not for sale.
Any help would be Great, Sean.

[Aushotrods]

Hello, I was just wondering if anybody knows about a Watch company called "RJA Lever". I have a pocket watch with the bowtie logo, and was wondering if there is any more info on it. It has an engraving of an ID number, a date (4/9/15 or 25) and some other two words which i cannot see, too small. It must of belonged to my Great grandfather, so I really would like to get some more info on it. I am 16, from Melbourne Australia. I dont know how to post images, but the watch has a white background, roman numerals, a 60 second timer in a seperate little circle the covers the "VI" completly, with "Swiss Made" on both sides of the timer.
Sorry about my severe lack of knowlege :biggrin:. It is a priceless item for my family, it may not be worth much (have NO idea) but has been in the family a long time, and is obviously not for sale.
Any help would be Great, Sean.

[Steven Mercer]

Sean

Welcome to the NAWCC Message Board. There are many members that frequent this message board that might be able to help you with your request.

To help members indentify your watch, you should post pictures of the watch, i.e. dial, watch movement, and the case. Pictures or scans should be as clear as possible. Near the top of the board on the right hand side is a good article on "How to post images". Another way is to use the paperclip icon in the reply box when posting a reply.

Steve

[Kent]

Sean:

As Steve has said, it would be helpful if you could post a picture of the movement, the clearer and sharper, the better. We may be able to identify it by the shape of the plates. In trying to open the watch, you might find the information in "How To Open A Pocket Watch Case" (http://www.knology.net/~ksinger/opencase.txt) useful.

A digital camera would be very helpful. For an open-face, screw back & bezel watch you can get good results by placing the movement on a flatbed scanner. A hunting-case movement, or an open-face movement in a hinged case would have to be removed from the case for this to work. Otherwise, its back to the camera.

To expand on what Steve said about the paperclip icon, when you click on the Reply button, at the lower right-hand corner of the bottom post in a thread, the Reply To: box that opens has a toolbar at its top. The right-hand icon on the toolbar is a paperclip. Clicking upon the paperclip icon will open a box that allows you to select a picture file to attach to your post. Use the Browse button to navigate to the location in which the picture file resides on your disk drive and select it. Since this only permits one picture per reply, you can reply once for each picture.

If you have a problem posting the picture(s), you can attach it (them) to an e-mail to me (K_Singer@knology.net) and I'll post it (them) for you.

Its also helpful if you can post all the markings that are on the movement (the "works") in case they can't be seen in the picture(s).

Good luck,
Kent

[Barry Parker]

Hi Sean,

"R.J.A. lever" is not a watch company.
The initials stand for, "Retail Jeweller's Association" and apparently the "Association" of the time had watches made to their specific standards.
Many R.J.A. signed dial watches appear to have been sold in Australia.
All of those I have sighted had generic Swiss made movements.

The "R.J.A." may have been in existence prior to 1931 and superceded by the present J.A.A. see below;
The Jewellers Association of Australia was established early last century (1931) to represent and protect the interests of the jewellery industry and jewellery consumers.
It is a national association with membership representing over 2000 outlets, covering all areas of the jewellery industry from retailing to manufacturing.
JAA is proud to promote the highest standards and ethics within the Australian jewellery industry. Our members abide by the JAA Code of Ethics which ensures that you, the customer, are protected from unethical practices.

[Jon Hanson]

Or, simply the serial number on the plates of the movement!

[Kent]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Or, simply the serial number on the plates of the movement! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>What is this supposed to mean?

[Kent]

Sean sent a picture of his watch dial (link below). I'll post a movement picture if he sends one.

Kent

[Jon Hanson]

It reads AND asks (again, sigh) for the serial number on the plates of the movement!

[Jon Hanson]

Obviously SWISS!

[Kent]

"Obviously SWISS!"
Well yeah!, Since he said the dial was marked "Swiss Made" up in the first post.

[stephenlouis]

NO wait...I think...yes it..might...be English based on the spelling of "swiss" ! :biggrin:

I think Barry has done a nice job of information gathering...And Kent explained how to post pictures well....

I enjoyed the rest of the posts...we are a funny group!

Sean nice watch...glad you repect it for its family history...is it a silverine case? Looks like it to me...any markings?

[Aushotrods]

Ok heres some pics of the "works". Hope these help. Is this the number you are after? There another number on the back of the movement cocer/case.

[Aushotrods]

Another photo, of everything.

[Jon Hanson]

Is the case Swiss also?:biggrin:

[Aushotrods]

So anybody know what it is?

[Barry Parker]

Hi Sean,

Your best chance of identifying the actual maker of your watch movement would probably be found by contacting a working watch repairer, locally.

As you are in Melbourne, you could perhaps take the watch into the city and show it to them at;
TIME CONCEPT - WATCH REPAIRS
Shop 46, Royal Arcade, 152 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
They have a web site at;
http://www.timeconcept.com.au/repairs.htm
Regards,

[Don Dahlberg]

Swiss watches are very difficult for us to identify. This is because of the way most Swiss watches were made.

American watches after the 1850s were mostly made by a company that made the watch from start to finish (except the case). Any model by a given company is usually easily distinguished from watches by other companies. The company name is usually supplied on the movement, and even when it is not, the shape of the plates, bridges and other features are usually distinctive of the company. Futhermore they assigned serial numbers that allow us to identify the model, grade and a good estimate of the date of completion.

Most Swiss models were started at a Ebauche factory. They made the plates, wheels, screws and etc and partially assembled. These were then sold to an individual watchmaker or a company who then completed the watch. The individual watchmaker might complete fewer than one watch a week (or even a year), or be a factory producing 100s per day. They might make the watch into a highly jeweled and finished materpiece or a crudely finished low price watch. The shape of the plates and bridges that we use to identify American watches are determined by the company that made the Ebauche and not the person or company that finished the watch. To add to our frustration, the Swiss often used a large variety of company names or trademarks to identify their watches. Sometimes they tried to disguise their watches as American, English or even Swedish. We call these Swiss Fakes. So the best we can hope for is that someone can identify the company that made the Ebauche and if we are really lucky someone knows what company used the RJA in their trademark.

Sorry I could not be of more help.

Don

[HenryB]

Don:

Excellent post on the troubles with identification of Swiss Movements.