Same Name Private Labeled Rockford and Hamilton

[Bill B]

I have a private labeled Rockford it is 18 size, 17 jewel, adjusted, model 9 open faced with serial # 766450 It is marked on dial and barrel bridge W C Balcom Special. I was hoping that someone could give me information as to where this jeweler W C Balcom was located.
I also have a 18 size Hamilton 17 jewel 924 with W C Balcom on dial and barrel bridge. I am interested because the name and initials are the same as mine.

[Bill B]

I have a private labeled Rockford it is 18 size, 17 jewel, adjusted, model 9 open faced with serial # 766450 It is marked on dial and barrel bridge W C Balcom Special. I was hoping that someone could give me information as to where this jeweler W C Balcom was located.
I also have a 18 size Hamilton 17 jewel 924 with W C Balcom on dial and barrel bridge. I am interested because the name and initials are the same as mine.

[Don Dahlberg]

If you are a member of NAWCC and if the serial number of the Hamilton 924 is below about 850,000 you can send in a request for the date that your watch was completed and the date and to whom it was sold. The buyer will be the wholesaler, not the retailer, but it will still give you a region.

Don

[4thdimension]

Hi Bill, I just received a group of watches from Canada which included a Hamilton W.C.Balcom Special(#222418)in a "Fortune" case which I believe is a Canadian make. Among the other watches in the pile were other, more obviosly, Canadian watches. In the Erhardt "Beginning to End... "
book, W.C. Balcom seems to be presented as being the "B" in watches signed "M&B". A couple of years ago I had an Illinois 7J with that mark on it but I couldn't identify it any better at the time.

So, are you related ?
-Cort

[4thdimension]

I finally put the the loupe on and can see other case screw marks so nix the Canadian angle.
Would someone who has Greg Frauenhoff's Watch Inspector book please take a look to see if W.C. Balcom made the list? :smile:
-Cort

[Kent]

Cort:

Nope, I couldn't find it in there.

[4thdimension]

Rats! But thanks for looking it up Kent.
-Cort

[Bill B]

I don't know if I am related but I enjoy carring a watch with my name on it. I have tried to search on net, so far I've found nothing. If I could find a location of the jeweler, the search would be easy as I have a time frame of 1902-1907 It is interesting that the run of Balcom seems to be large your # is 222418 mine is 224916 or maybe it was 2 runs of 100. Is there a written record Hamilton sales from the early 1900's ?

[4thdimension]

Bill, Yes! Read Don Dahlberg's response above.
I reread the info in the "Beginning to End...."
book and must correct myself again. W.C. Balcom
was not the "B" in "M&B" or "B&M". My Illinois had the two letters as a monogram so I didn't know which letter was supposed to be first. The book says that these initial were of the Boston
& Maine railroad. If that is so then the 7 jewel Illinois one I had was probably something
else. I staffed and cleaned my Balcom Ham.926
today and am pleased with it.
-Cort

[Bill B]

Well I guess I'm out of luck, I'm not a member. How about one of ya'll looking this up for me,please?

[Jeff Hess]

It is a stretch... quite a stretch... but after an hour or two surfing I found a fellow named William c. Balcom who was associated with the Dominion Atlantic Railway in Hantsport Nova Scotia.

This one is a tough one.....

[4thdimension]

Jeff, I'll take it! ..and I like it too, it's
railroad, it's Canadian, it's...a theory needing some R&D but I like it. Thank you for the effort! There's nothing like the passionate
collector gene at work when you want answers NOW!
-Cort

[whackamole]

Hi...found this thread by Google. I have a W C Balcom signed watch, which was owned by my great grandfather when he worked on the Dominion Railway in Nova Scotia. Near as I can tell, W C Balcom was a jeweller in Kentville, Nova Scotia. I know diddly about watches, but I was doing some searching to see if I could source this watch.

Hope this helps.

[Kent]

Hi whackamole:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!

It would be helpful if you could post a picture of the movement (the "works"), the clearer and sharper, the better, other pictures will help a little, but this is the most important. We may be able to identify it by the shape of the plates. In trying to open the watch, you might find the information in How To Open A Pocket Watch Case" (http://k_singer.home.comcast.net/opening_pocket_watch_cases__k.htm), or Opening the Case (http://www.ozdoba.net/swisswatch/pocket_howto.html#open) useful.

Currently, Tom Chaudoir, the NAWCC Message Board Administrator, is recommending that those who do not have web space in which to post pictures register for a free account at flickr.com (http://flickr.com/register.gne). This may now open a Yahoo page, but it will still let you register to post pictures. Their menu-driven procedure for loading pictures is about as easy as it gets. After you enlarge the picture, using flickr's magnifying glass icon (the magnifying glass icon appears in a toolbar above the loaded & saved picture once you've clicked on the picture), scroll down below the picture to find the field labeled "1. Grab the photo's URL:" The link in that field is the one to post on the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board. Vic Rose has posted an excellent old ref::Description on How to Post a Picture on the NAWCC Clock Message Board, which of course also works on for posting a picture on the pocket watch message board.

If you have a problem posting the picture(s), you can attach it (them) to an e-mail to me (you can get my email address by clicking on my name in the upper left-hand corner of this post and viewing my Public Profile) and I'll post it (them) 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,