View Full Version : How to open locket watch on a chain....
Kim M
10-06-2008, 09:06 PM
I just found this site after 3 years ago losing it to computer crash. I had a E Howard watch post, and now have the other heirloom my mother gave me.
It is a rose gold case, and has a hinge at bottom, and is on a chain that has an almost heart shaped piece with a ruby looking stone in it that seems is an adjuster of chain size (not sure). I am trying to open it but cannot. It looks like a miniature pocket watch....how do I open? Thanks....
Can you post some pictures?
Kim M
10-06-2008, 09:18 PM
Kent
Unfortunately my scanner isnt working and my camera isnt here, somebody borrowed. I opened the front part just now after fiddling with it, pressing down on crown, and it says "Vallon".? I havent figured how to open other side yet...fiddling some more.
LloydB
10-06-2008, 09:19 PM
I just found this site after 3 years ago losing it to computer crash. I had a E Howard watch post, and now have the other heirloom my mother gave me.
It is a rose gold case, and has a hinge at bottom, and is on a chain that has an almost heart shaped piece with a ruby looking stone in it that seems is an adjuster of chain size (not sure). I am trying to open it but cannot. It looks like a miniature pocket watch....how do I open? Thanks....
It's at least possible that what you're describing (locket watch) is
a small hunter-cased lady's watch. If you press straight down on
the crown (winder) toward the watch, that may cause the cover
over the dial to open.
(And if it does, again press the crown in as you close it, to avoid
wear on the catch)
Kim M
10-06-2008, 09:22 PM
It did open that way, and I just got the back open, but the back is blank, I guess for a picture...locket type.
The winder is at the 3 o'clock...Vallon is marked inside. There is a small dial at bottom, and it isnt working. It has crystal, hands, etc but how do I get inside to see movement?
Look at the edge of the inner back (the blank one) with a magnafying glass and see if there is a small, tiny, slot into which you can get your finger nail. If so, slide your finger nail around the edge and the inner back should pop open. You can try to pry with your finger nailinstead, but you risk breaking your nail if it doesn't open easily.
Kim M
10-06-2008, 09:53 PM
Kent
Thanks..it is open.!! You guys are great. Came open pretty easy. It says SWISS, and then further down says No 78369
VALLON
On case it says: PROVIDENCE
WARRANTED20 years
1040829
Kim:
A search of the American Pocket Watch Forum came up with a Few Threads regarding Vallon (http://mb.nawcc.org/search.php?searchid=7550). However, it seems that none of them had any real concrete information.
The watch may well have just been a generic Swiss movement, made under contract for an exporter or jobber. Swiss watch manufacture was made up of a large number of small shops. Many would buy movements in the rough (known as ebauches) from factories who mass-produced them, and finish the movements to the grade (quality) contracted for by the distributor/exporter. The distributor/exporter would probably have specified the name on the movement and/or dial to meet a retailer's requirement. The result is that there are a large number of generic Swiss watches whose origins may never be fully known. Dr. Roland Ranfft has an online description about European watch manufacture and dates, entitled Date and Origin of a Watch (http://www.ranfft.de/uhr/info-e.html#D1).
Oh, the Providence case is a gold-filled case. A large proportion of movements are housed in gold-filled cases. These cases are made of a sheet of inexpensive, "composition" metal (brass), sandwiched between two thinner sheets of gold by applying heat and pressure. This produces a much heavier layer of gold than electro-plating. One process of doing this is defined by the term, "rolled gold-plate" (which is generally considered to use a thinner gold sheet). The gold sheet that becomes the inside of the case is thinner than the gold sheet that becomes the outside of the case. Frequently, the purity of the gold used in the sheets, expressed in karats, is stamped inside the back of the case. Some case companies indicated the thickness of the outer layer of gold by using different trademarks for different thicknesses.
Before Federal Regulations Outlawed the Practice (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/walt845/1924_Jan_1_Cease_Guarantee_Stamp.jpg), some case companies indicated the thickness of the outer layer by the number of years for which the case was warranted. Not all case companies were forthright about marking the cases or honoring the warranty (which is what gave rise to the federal regulations). These were the makers of the cut-rate cases, bearing names few of us recognize, the surviving examples of which are almost always badly worn. Nevertheless, like any product that carries a guarantee today, case guarantees from the reputable companies were in effect, within their specified time, as long as those companies stayed in business. Crescent (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1217458/1892_May_25_Crescent_Guarantee_LR.jpg), Philadelphia (http://static.flickr.com/21/31451680_9e0334ef4f_o.jpg), Fahys (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1217458/1901_Feb_20_Fahys_LR.jpg), Illinios (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1217458/1900_May_9_IWCCo_Guarantee_LR.jpg), and quite a few others, were companies who would replace the cases if the gold wore through to the brass within the guarantee period. The watch companies, such as Hamilton, Keystone-Howard, Illinois, Elgin and others also probably stood behind their cases, to not do so would seem to have been unthinkable to them.
Kim M
10-13-2008, 02:47 PM
Do you think it is worthwhile to get this repaired, or at first look probably just cleaned?
Jon Hanson
10-13-2008, 03:30 PM
Leave AS IS, and save your money!
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