I was just given 3 old pocket watches. Please help identify.

[RRuss656]

Silver "Improved Lever" St Imier, 3 jewels, #47984
with wind up keys.
Gold Seth Thomas with pattern on case. # 833711
Gold Waltham, simple - no closing cover.
What can I do with these? Is there a market for them? Please advise. Thanks, Roy

[RRuss656]

Silver "Improved Lever" St Imier, 3 jewels, #47984
with wind up keys.
Gold Seth Thomas with pattern on case. # 833711
Gold Waltham, simple - no closing cover.
What can I do with these? Is there a market for them? Please advise. Thanks, Roy

[Andy Dervan]

Hello Roy,

Board policy does not allow discussion of values of horological items. Please focus your questions around identifying the watches.

Your watch desciptions are very vague. If you could post photographs, members could help identify the watches.

Reasonable way to determine an item's market value is searching what a similar item sells for on ebay. Generally pocket watch values are driven by movement's quality and overall watches condition.

Andy Dervan

[Kent]

Hi Roy:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!

To add to what Andy said, it would be helpful if you could post a picture of the movement (the "works"), 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 Opening the Case (http://www.ozdoba.net/swisswatch/pocket_howto.html#open) useful.

Larry Jones has written up a useful article on Image Posting (http://www.larjones.com/data/imagehelp.html), which may be helpful.

Currently, Tom Chaudoir, the NAWCC Message Board Administrator, is recommending that those who do not have web space in which to post pictures register for a free account at flickr.com (http://flickr.com/register.gne). This may now open a Yahoo page, but it will still let you register to post pictures. Their menu-driven procedure for loading pictures is about as easy as it gets. After you enlarge the picture, using flickr's magnifying glass icon (the magnifying glass icon appears in a toolbar above the loaded & saved picture once you've clicked on the picture), scroll down below the picture to find the field labeled "1. Grab the photo's URL:" The link in that field is the one to post on the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board. Vic Rose has posted an excellent old ref::Description on How to Post a Picture on the NAWCC Clock Message Board.

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,

[Wes]

Countless members of the NAWCC and the general public have found Kent Singer's <span class="ev_code_blue"> How to Open a Watch Case (http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/opencase_singer)</span> article very helpful as well.

[Greg Davis]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Silver "Improved Lever" St Imier, 3 jewels, #47984 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Swiss watch of a very low grade.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Gold Seth Thomas with pattern on case. # 833711 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
A relatively low grade American watch.


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Gold Waltham, simple - no closing cover. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Too little information to be useful, but the fact that you describe it has having no closing cover seems to suggest it is in a damaged case... and you can imagine that doesn't do much to make a market for the watch.

In general, it sounds like someone gave you stuff for which there isn't much of a market.

- Greg