J Harrison Watch, Can’t Identify

[AC7A]

Good afternoon!

I am not sure where to begin. I picked up a silver pocket watch on eBay because it looked nice, and I started looking into it a bit. I could tell that it’s silver—there is a double chevron “Argent” hallmark on the case—and I was happy enough to see that.

I am trying to find the likely production era. There’s a signature inside of the case lid; I can’t reading the name, but the date is 4/19/67. Service, perhaps? It seems pretty tarnished, and I am in the process of cleaning the silver. It appears to be serial no. 12669, and it is stamped with “Four Cylinder Escapement.” I have included some images.

Any help identifying would be great. Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jon]

Welcome to our forum.

You have a fairly generic but mostly original watch. Its layout suggest it was made 1850 to 1860 . The service date is probably 1869.
The description is that 4 hole are jeweled. These are the ends of the cylinder escape wheel and the balance for a total of 6 jewels. the balance has cap jewels.

It has a nice and unusual dial. It is probably silver and nicely made. I doubt that these hands were on the watch when it was new. They may have been added for use in World War i because they look like radium hands which would have been visible in darkness.

 

[Lychnobius]

Although this watch bears the name of a reputable Liverpool (English) maker of the middle nineteenth century, it is actually Swiss; the layout of the movement, the hinged inner back panel (cuvette), the style of lettering and the cylinder escapement with steel escape-wheel are all signs of this. The Swiss often put English names on their work until the 1870s when they finally gave up this practice (the influx of cheap but good watches from the United States had made it unprofitable) and set about raising their standards instead.

Oliver Mundy.