Waltham Pocket Watch

[Jerry Lawson]

I recently purchased a Waltham Pocket Watch suposedly Rail Road Grade. I am trying to find out what i did buy. Not too much information to go by. On the face it say's Waltham with a small 25 under the name. Alse Incabloc Antimagnetic on top of minute hand. At very bottom say's SWISS. Case say's, Star Case Watch Company, 10K Rolled Gold Plate # 3684173. Movement has Waltham Watch Company. Also Swiss Unadjusted 25 Jewels. A small WXO on adjusting lever. US PATENT 2.478.865. NO model number to go by.Can anyone tell me the approx. age and what i have bought, thank's again.

[Jerry Lawson]

I recently purchased a Waltham Pocket Watch suposedly Rail Road Grade. I am trying to find out what i did buy. Not too much information to go by. On the face it say's Waltham with a small 25 under the name. Alse Incabloc Antimagnetic on top of minute hand. At very bottom say's SWISS. Case say's, Star Case Watch Company, 10K Rolled Gold Plate # 3684173. Movement has Waltham Watch Company. Also Swiss Unadjusted 25 Jewels. A small WXO on adjusting lever. US PATENT 2.478.865. NO model number to go by.Can anyone tell me the approx. age and what i have bought, thank's again.

[Kent]

Jerry:

Using the "Find" button at the top of the post and doing an "Advanced Search," old ref::Barry Goldberg's Earlier Discussion on this watch popped up. It covers the subject fairly well. Although Barry didn't specifically say so, these watches are not railroad grade.

Kent

[Jon Hanson]

Barry says, "I'm sorry to say that your watch is neither a genuine Waltham nor an actual Railroad watch."

For years when the collectors were hot and heavy for 25 and higher jeweled AMERICAN watches, these "Swiss 25J Walthams" were a popular sucker item for the uninformed collector!

[Jerry Lawson]

Well it looks as i have been bitten by the ebay bug. It is hard to beleive there are so many crooked dealers out there. Anyway it is a really nice pocket watch and i am sure i paid too much but as you say a novice had better learn his watches or get a knock off watch. Thank's again, it is allways interesting to ask the pro's questions as you all ways have the answers. Thank's till the next time.

[larrlarr]

They also made some high jeweled wrist watches too. I have a 60 jewel in a 14K case and a 100 jewel movement. The watches were 17 jewel and the rest of the jewels were under the slefwinding weight. It kind of floated on them.
Larry

[BrianC]

A 100 jewel watch must be a beautiful thing. Do you trust the 14k case?
Brian C.

[Jerry Lawson]

When you say : they: whom are you refering to? Was thtis a reputable company who made these wrist and pocket watches? And are they worth keeping as a collector item?

[Kent]

Jerry:

"<span class="ev_code_blue">And are they worth keeping as a collector item?</span>

The choice of what is collectable depends upon individual tastes. The "Waltham" pocket watches under discussion are low-to-medium grade watches, produced in Switzerland after the Waltham Watch Company went out of the watch business in the 1950s. Some collectors may find these, and other similar watches, such as those labeled "Elgin" or "Delaware," collectable. Most American watch collectors ignore them. Some try to use their cases to recase American watches.

Kent

[Claude Girardin]

I am sorry that SWISS MADE and Switzerland can be associated with lower grade Waltham watches than what was the standard in the great days of the American Waltham Watch Company, Mass. U.S.A. (AWWCo)

Upon the demise of the original company, until the late Seventies our company, which had been founded in 1954 by the AWWCo to supply them with all necessary parts missing in U.S.A., was (miss)used as an exporter for the watches manufactured by Invicta SA (part of SGT = Société des Gardes Temps, which went bankrupts early 1980) by a then newly created Waltham company, located in Chicago, and headed by a Mr. Aronson. This company banked on the excellent reputation of the brand Waltham in order to inundate the market with cheaper Waltham, through parallel channels, just like another company does now with the Waltham (under a "licence & quality control agreement" with us as the owners of the TM in China,Hong Kong, etc), Elgin and Gruen brands.

On our side, since 1978, we have been concentrating our efforts on re-establishing the brand into the quality segment it used to be, primarily in Japan, and, we hope, step by step in the other watch countries of the world, where we own the rights to the Trade Mark Waltham, with the exception of U.S.A. & Canada, where a twist of history diverted them to another company.

We regret that you may have been misled by the cheaper replicas made in those days of the "quality unconsciousness" prevailing in those days, prior to the invasion of good quality Japanese watches, which fortunately brought the survivors of the Swiss watch industry and their distributors to reason.

You are kindly invited to check on the quality of today’s Waltham watches and our own replicas at our site: www.waltham.ch (http://www.waltham.ch)

Please understand my interventions for what they are: factual information on behalf of an eminently meriting brand, which badly need it. (no marketing plot)

Appreciating your interest in Waltham and any possible assistance in future in re-establishing the brand’s reputation to the levels established by our forefathers.

Best regards

Claude Girardin, NAWCC #138194
General Manager
Waltham International SA
CH-2074 Marin/Neuchatel, Switzerland
c.girardin@waltham.ch