Kent
07-29-2002, 04:28 PM
I'm sorry Jill, but as it says in the upper left-hand corner of the page, we can't discuss values here.
However, your watch sounds like a 'private label,' or 'contract,' watch. Just about all the watch companies, including the Swiss firms, would mark both the watch movements and/or the dials in just about any manner for any customer who wished to pay for the service. I don't have any exact references for the costs, but I've heard (read?) that, for some companies, if five or more watches were ordered, there was no charge for marking the movements. Special dials were said to cost 25 or 50 cents each. Some watch manufacturers were more liberal. Several examples of private labeling availablity of Hampden watches are noted in the 1917 Oskamp-Nolting (http://www.midwestcs.com/elgin/pictures/sales_catalogs/1917_Oskamp-Nolting/index.html) catalog (on Wayne Schlitt's website). The illustration of the 18-size Standard Dial in the lower right-hand corner of page DH02 is over the notation that there is 'No Extra Charge for Special Name on Dials'. Page DH06, showing 12-size movements, has a case cuvette illustrated in the bottom center of the page. Its captioned, 'Dealer's Name on Caps of 25 or More 25-Year Cases and on Single 14-K Gold Cases, Without Charge'. Private label watches were contracted for by a large range of companies, from Sears, Roebuck down to the smaller jewelers in the little towns.
We can try to identify the watch and you can search the net and see what similar watches are selling for. It would be helpful if you could post a picture of the movement, the clearer and sharper, the better. 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. We may be able to identify it by the shape of the plates. 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. Larry Jones has written up a useful article on Image Posting (http://www.larjones.com/data/imagehelp.html), which may be helpful. If you have a problem posting the picture, you can attach it to an e-mail to me (by clicking on the speeding letter at the top of my post) and I'll post it 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 :smile:
However, your watch sounds like a 'private label,' or 'contract,' watch. Just about all the watch companies, including the Swiss firms, would mark both the watch movements and/or the dials in just about any manner for any customer who wished to pay for the service. I don't have any exact references for the costs, but I've heard (read?) that, for some companies, if five or more watches were ordered, there was no charge for marking the movements. Special dials were said to cost 25 or 50 cents each. Some watch manufacturers were more liberal. Several examples of private labeling availablity of Hampden watches are noted in the 1917 Oskamp-Nolting (http://www.midwestcs.com/elgin/pictures/sales_catalogs/1917_Oskamp-Nolting/index.html) catalog (on Wayne Schlitt's website). The illustration of the 18-size Standard Dial in the lower right-hand corner of page DH02 is over the notation that there is 'No Extra Charge for Special Name on Dials'. Page DH06, showing 12-size movements, has a case cuvette illustrated in the bottom center of the page. Its captioned, 'Dealer's Name on Caps of 25 or More 25-Year Cases and on Single 14-K Gold Cases, Without Charge'. Private label watches were contracted for by a large range of companies, from Sears, Roebuck down to the smaller jewelers in the little towns.
We can try to identify the watch and you can search the net and see what similar watches are selling for. It would be helpful if you could post a picture of the movement, the clearer and sharper, the better. 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. We may be able to identify it by the shape of the plates. 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. Larry Jones has written up a useful article on Image Posting (http://www.larjones.com/data/imagehelp.html), which may be helpful. If you have a problem posting the picture, you can attach it to an e-mail to me (by clicking on the speeding letter at the top of my post) and I'll post it 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 :smile: