Gentlemen, your thoughts on this Elgin Veritas Hunter, please

[A.F.W.]

http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas1.JPG
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http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas91.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas92.JPG

[A.F.W.]

http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas1.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas2.JPG
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http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas7.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas8.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas9.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas91.JPG
http://www.oniva.com/upload/1523/elginveritas92.JPG

[Kent]

Its an open-face movement (that used to be very high grade), recased into a used hunting-case (which has a second set of screw marks).

Its not in good condition, with corrosion spots all over the winding wheels and click.

Its missing the jewel from the center of the winding wheel.

Its got other issues insofar as the regulator is all the way to one side.

The dial is poor shape, having major cracks and a hairline cluster (with a chip) in what is probably one of the dial feet positions.

The minute and second hand aren't in too nice of a shape.

The case was nice at one time, but is worn. I can't see if there is any brass showing.

[A.F.W.]

Thank you Kent. Would it be worth while changing the winding wheels and the click and the dial ? I knew the watch was very much used when I bought it but figured it was worth buying, given the quality of the movement ( when new of course... ).
The case does not have much brassing but I had to repair the lip that holds the front cover shot by soldering a piece of gold.

[Wes]

As Kent mentioned, the movement is not original to the case, as is evident by the winding at 12 instead of 3, and the extra set of case screw marks.
It is a high quality movement that probably could be repaired. I am sure the missing jewel can be found and the wheels can be replaced if you desire, as well as finding a duplicate dial.

That is a very nice mulitcolor gold filled case, even though it appears to be missing a stone, and has some wear. I think the case might be worth resurrecting, but it all depends on the money. If you pay to have work done to it, you could easily put more money into it than it is worth.
Who knows what something like this would be worth in the future, but I can't see it being worth a whole lot more in tomorrow's market as it is in today's. I would certainly recommend against throwing money at it as an investment. Further, it may be best to put the RR mov't in a correct open faced case, and putting a correct movement in the repaired case.
Maybe you could find a "sidewinder" and use its case and movement for this purpose.
Still, it would be a switch as it is now, and the bottom line is it may not be worth it unless you are doing it yourself.

[A.F.W.]

Thanks for your input Wes.
I am not going to sink much money into this project. I think this case is nicer than most open faced G.F. cases out there. It looks like a rolled gold of heavier thickness than gold filled. The application of the pink, yellow, white and green gold pieces sure took some work.
Try to duplicate this today...
The watch is what it is, if it was pristine it would be worth over $1500 easily.