22 jewel, Emile Richard - Locle, 18K

[amber106]

I inherited this pocket watch from my great-aunt.

(See picture links in post below)

I've been doing research on the net, but I have come to a dead end. The face says "Emile Richard - Locle" There is no design on the case. It is just plain 18K gold. When you open the first little door on the back, it says the following on the second little door:
22 Rubis
Ligne Droite
Remontoir
Levees visibles

It is in pretty good condition, but there is no glass cover over the face. Anything anyone can tell me about this watch would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a Bunch,
Amber

[amber106]

I inherited this pocket watch from my great-aunt.

(See picture links in post below)

I've been doing research on the net, but I have come to a dead end. The face says "Emile Richard - Locle" There is no design on the case. It is just plain 18K gold. When you open the first little door on the back, it says the following on the second little door:
22 Rubis
Ligne Droite
Remontoir
Levees visibles

It is in pretty good condition, but there is no glass cover over the face. Anything anyone can tell me about this watch would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a Bunch,
Amber

[Kent]

Hi Amber:

Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!

Pictures, especially of the movement (the "works"), will be very helpful.

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.

Good luck,

[Jerry Matthews]

Hello Amber,

Le Locle is a small town in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and an important centre of Swiss watchmaking. Richard is a fairly common surname in that area; the horological museum in Le Locle lists about 40 Richards in watchmaking. None with the first name Emile, but I think you can be pretty sure he was a member of one of the watchmaking families.

The French writing on the inner cover can be translated as follows: 22 Rubis - 22 jewels; Remontoir - stem wind; Ligne Droite (straight line) and Levees visibles refer to the mechanics of the movement. There should be someone on here with more technical knowledge than I have who can explain those terms more fully.

My guess, without having seen any photos, is that the watch dates to late 19th--very early 20th centuries. The fact that it has 22 jewels and an 18 carat gold case indicates that it is a watch of some quality.

Any competent watch repair man should be able to replace the glass.

Hope this is of some help.

Jerry

[amber106]

Hi Jerry,

Thank you so much for the info! I did know about the town of Le Locle, but that is about as far as I got. I was thinking that, perhaps, Emile Richard was a student at the school there, since I could not find out anything about him. It's been a while since high school, so my French is very rusty. Thank you for translating the cover for me. I have attached pictures for you to see and, hopefully, others will check them out also.
Have a Great Day!
Amber
http://static.flickr.com/19/103477761_c5c5785404_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/43/103477760_bc79e7796d.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/42/103477758_584c3e253b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/27/103477757_f3f617fdbb_b.jpg

[Jerry Matthews]

Hello again Amber -
They are great pictures, thanks for sending. I hope others more knowledgable about Swiss watches will check them out. I can't add much to what I said earlier, except that I did look up the meaning of Ligne droite. According to Britten's Handbookit is a form of escapement in which the escape wheel arbor, pallet staff and balance staff are in a straight line.

I still think the watch dates to around the turn of the last century, and it is certainly worthy of a professional cleaning, oiling and glass replacement.

Jerry

[importtimepieces]

Hi Amber,

Unless I'm not looking at the pictures of the movement clearly, I see no "cap jewels" on the lever and the escape wheel. If this movement was a 22 jewel model, it would have these "Caps" over the ruby jewels on these parts. I appears to be a mid quality 17 jewel movement. If this is the case, then the case is not original to the movement. Just something I noticed while reading your post!
Best regards,
Don

[amber106]

Hi Don,
Thank you for bringing this possible discrepancy to my attention. I really don't know anything about watches except for what I've learned in the past couple weeks about this particular watch. Which wheel is the "escape wheel" and what would the "cap jewels" look like? Is there any other way to tell if the case I have does not belong to this movement? What are the "jewels", anyway? I am still looking for someone in the Pgh area to whom I can take the watch. I went to 4 antique stores today and no one had any knowledge about pocket watches or knew of anyone who does. Next week, I am headed to Downtown Pgh to try some stores down there and to go to the big library. The library in my small town only has a couple books about watches and I feel like I've been on every watch and clock website there is. In the meantime, I would be very grateful for anything else you can tell me about the watch.
Thanks a Bunch,
Amber

[Kate N]

Hi Amber, The jewels are red, clear or blue jewels (tiny rubies or sapphires) most of which act as bearings for the pivots on watches. The uppermost wheel on the left side of the picture is the balance wheel. This has both hole jewels and cap jewels. The hole jewel is beneath the cap jewel. The cap jewels look like a bubble, from the top. The hole jewels--like the ones on the other wheels, look like a donut, with a tiny piece of metal in the center--because that's where the wheels' pivots protrude through the jewels.
The escape wheel is the uppermost wheel on the right side. The lever is the item directly in line between the escape and balance wheels.
Typically, when there's a jewel on the back of the watch, there's another like it that you can't see, because it's hidden by the dial/face of the watch. There are exceptions and, if I'm not mistaken, some Swiss makers intentionally mislabeled watches to indicate more jewels than were actually present, back in those days.
Wish I could help you with the maker, but there were quite a number of different watchmakers over the years and not all of them have been noted in books. As was mentioned by importtimepieces, it's not a low-quality watch movement.

Kate

[Joe Jones]

Hi Amber,
I just had a look at your photos. That looks like a very pretty watch with a nice movement. One thing that struck me was where the glass should be located. When you look at the side of the dial, or face, do you see the edge of the dial? These is supposed to be a narrow ring that snaps onto the case just around the dial and covers just the edge of the dial. This is the bezel, and it holds the glass. If it is missing, as I suspect from your photo but could be mistaken, finding a replacement, or having one made, could be tricky. I am pointing that out in case it is missing in the hopes that someone on the forum would be able to help with this.
Best wishes.
Joe