Elgin grade 342 with Platold case?

[49stude63]

I picked up another Elgin grade 342 to go with the other ones that I have and so far out of the 5 runs of 1000 I have one from the first, second(this one) and two from the 5th run. I have noticed that Elgin did a rolling change with each run of movements, first says adjusted, 2nd says adjusted 3 positions, and 5th say adjusted 4 positions and I will continue with finding one for runs 3 and 4 to see what they have engraved on them. Usually they are not that expensive, typically less than $80 and decent LS 17J movements but this one has a "Platold" case. I did some searches and I guess it this "Platold" case has been mentioned in the past on here but the link appears to be "busted" (maybe so old it doesn't work anymore). From the pictures it appears to have silveroid/stainless steel bezel and back with a gold filled center ring. Is this correct?

Thanks

 

[Fred Hansen]

Just catching this thread now ...

All "Platold" marked cases I've seen have been made by Wadsworth and are open face threaded cases with nickel type front and back and a gold-filled center ring. I have two of these on my desk right now and will plan to post some pics to another thread on this board later today.

Fred

 

[49stude63]

Thanks Fred to be honest they are very attractive cases and I keep trolling on ebay to find one of two more myself. The front and back being nickel and the middle ring being gold and very ornate really creates a nice look. It was a nice watch, well worth what I paid for it, filled a gap in my 342 collection (2nd run) and would make a good "wear watch" and save my gold cased watches from any damage.

 

[SLUFDRIVER]

I just found an Omega 17J in a beautiful Platoid case on Ebay. I agree, it is a very attractive look! The case is marked only Wadsworth Warranted 25 Yrs. and a serial number. It is a hinged back and snap front. The Omega movement dates to roughly 1917.

 

[artbissell]

I do not know what a 342 or Platold looks like. I have this one with plain Lord Elgin movement that seems like description here. Wadsworth case. EDIT: quick look on Google. Looks similar but 16 size not 12 and different material.

 

[49stude63]

Art a 342 is 16s 17j adjusted 4pos Elgin movement total of 5 runs for 5000 total production. The Platold was a term used by Wadsworth for the case type that Fred mentions, gold filled center ring typically with nickel bezel and case back. I would tend to think the Lord Elgin that you posted might be white and yellow gold since the Lord Elgin 12s was a fancy dress watch and I could not see Elgin using nickel for a watch that would have had a pretty price tag in its day.

 

[artbissell]

You are right. Appreciate the platold description. The ugly grey metal is unpolished platinum. Some 14k gold. I wonder about the dial. I assume Wadsworth made it for use with the case. Probably gold alloy plate with unusually good silver plate. Was considering possibly a platinum with gold dial since the case is. The dial silver is kind of grayish not like silver tarnish.

 

[49stude63]

Even more pricey than white gold (plat.), some of these 12 size Lord Elgins are works for art. The nice thing about the Platold case is that I am sure it was much less than the typical gold case but a bit more fancy than the nickely case, you don't see a lot of them on ebay or other places so I don't think they were extremely popular.