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View Full Version : Hail to the Chief - The President

StanJS
10-01-2006, 11:59 AM
I thought I'd show this to some folks that would appreciate it. This is a Shugart 3 star watch - purportedly 350 or fewer made. So, it's unlikely you'll find one of these in your corner antique shop.

I found this in a corner antique shop when I went to visit my folks in the Catskill area of NY in the late 1970s. I looked at the watch and ran out to the car to search through Ehrhardt's "American Pocket Watch Identification and Price Guide." Ehrhardt said it was worth $150. I ran back in and bought it for $63 (including tax) and had to put about $35 in it to get it running. Of course, being a beginning collector, I had buyer's remorse until my fellow collector told me that I'd found my first "sleeper."

Below is a 1893/4 18s 17J U. S. Watch Co. of Waltham "The President" in the HC configuration. It is in a silveroid OF case.

http://static.flickr.com/115/257985790_03d589f9d7.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/115/257985799_cfd81f720a.jpg

The dial is chipped in a couple of places but it would be hard to replace. There is also a scratch on the plates at about 1:00 o'clock in the picture.

Cheers,
Stan
StanJS
10-01-2006, 11:59 AM
I thought I'd show this to some folks that would appreciate it. This is a Shugart 3 star watch - purportedly 350 or fewer made. So, it's unlikely you'll find one of these in your corner antique shop.

I found this in a corner antique shop when I went to visit my folks in the Catskill area of NY in the late 1970s. I looked at the watch and ran out to the car to search through Ehrhardt's "American Pocket Watch Identification and Price Guide." Ehrhardt said it was worth $150. I ran back in and bought it for $63 (including tax) and had to put about $35 in it to get it running. Of course, being a beginning collector, I had buyer's remorse until my fellow collector told me that I'd found my first "sleeper."

Below is a 1893/4 18s 17J U. S. Watch Co. of Waltham "The President" in the HC configuration. It is in a silveroid OF case.

http://static.flickr.com/115/257985790_03d589f9d7.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/115/257985799_cfd81f720a.jpg

The dial is chipped in a couple of places but it would be hard to replace. There is also a scratch on the plates at about 1:00 o'clock in the picture.

Cheers,
Stan
Greg Frauenhoff
10-01-2006, 12:06 PM
Stan,

Super neat watch and very under appreciated. Based on the data that has been posted on this board previously, the hunters are considerably fewer than the open face ones.

I have a slightly lower numbered one and will try to dig out a picture for comparison.
Fred Hansen
10-01-2006, 12:47 PM
Very nice and the 2-tone looks great!

Fred
Kent
10-01-2006, 01:27 PM
Based upon the serial numbers in our data base, there was a run of 1,000 with the first <span class="ev_code_red">150</span> or <span class="ev_code_red">200</span> being hunting-case and the rest open-face.

HC
150,006
150,007
150,020
150,047
150,057
150,106

<span class="ev_code_red">OF</span>
150,207
150,224<span class="ev_code_red"> - 21J</span>
150,227
150,236<span class="ev_code_red"> - 21J</span>
150,237
150,268
150,276
150,326 - HC or OF Not noted
150,346 - HC or OF Not noted
150,350
150,376
150,391
150,399
150,404
150,424
150,437
150,450
150,591
150,670
150,738
150,764
150,792
150,951

Roman dials seem to be a little more common.

Edited to correct HC/OF split and to add 21-jewel information.
StanJS
10-01-2006, 11:01 PM
Kent (and others),

It is amazing how much useful information you have squirreled away! I'm guessing I just added one entry to it. This is a very useful site.

It also shows how few of this particular watch are in members' hands. There's quite a few left to find. I'm on the hunt...

Thanks for the information,
Stan
HenryB
10-01-2006, 11:07 PM
Great looking movement, thanks for posting it.
Greg Frauenhoff
10-02-2006, 12:59 AM
Kent,

In a previous thread you showed a different s/n break for Htg/OF. Did the earlier one have a typo?

As always, thanks for sharing the great data that you and Ed have collected over the years.
Tom McIntyre
10-02-2006, 03:22 AM
The HC and the two tone are both very nice to have. For reference, here is the "ordinary" 17J OF model. Kent and Ed, do you have numbers on the 21J sightings. I had a chance to buy one about 20 years ago and I was unwilling to pay $1200 for it when I knew the 17J could be easily had for $400 or $500 at that time.

http://www.awco.org/OtherHigh/USWatch/movement.jpg
Kent
10-02-2006, 11:49 AM
Greg et. al.:

I gotta stop doing this when I'm tired. I've corrected the post to something that should correspond to an earlier post on the subject.

By the way, those are some nice watches you guys have posted. My example isn't as nice by far.

Tom:

The post above has the only two 21-jewel movements that Ed and I know about noted.

Stan:

The information hasn't been "squirreled away." Apparently it has been posted earlier. Also, it was published on page 818 of the December 1999 NAWCC Bulletin.
StanJS
10-02-2006, 11:19 PM
Kent,

By "squirreled away" I didn't mean "hidden" but "assiduously collected and stored." I am very thankful to have it so readily available. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who have collected the information.

That updated set of numbers makes it look like the HC movements are quite a bit more rare than the OF ones. Very interesting.

Tom,

I love coming here and seeing a nice watch. I note that yours states "17 jewels" whereas I had to deduce the number by finding a picture like my watch.

Thanks guys.

Cheers,
Stan
Greg Frauenhoff
10-03-2006, 01:49 PM
Stan,

Here's a scan of the Arabic dial on my President:

http://members.aol.com/gfrauen/103pres.jpg
StanJS
11-03-2009, 11:35 AM
Just a note to report a sighting...

S/N 150,287 sold on eBay (Item No. 120485578958) and I was outbid.

Cheers,
Stan