Pocket Watch Cases....how to know what came with what?

[jringo8769]

well hello again my friends
i am curious how do we know what brands came with what cases?
i see so many different brands of cases in my searches and i see many different cases even on the same brands
did they use different ones maybe due to years?
clarity would be amazing
i am working on Standard and NY Standard Pocket watches
stay safe out there
God Bless,John

 

[Rick Hufnagel]

Watch movements and cases came separately. (There are many exceptions to this). The customer picked each and they were paired at the point of sale, or paired by a jobber or retailer that sold complete watches. That is why you see so many different cases.

 

[jringo8769]

well thank you for that
that explains a lot
that will help as i try and reassemble mine
truly appreciate it
stay safe out there
God Bless,John

 

[Les harland]

A lot of Waltham movements were imported into the UK and cased here
That was to avoid import duty

 

[topspin]

If you have a common movement and want to know what are the likely correct cases for it -
Search your favourite online auction site (including the Sold Listings) for complete watches with the same movement and similar era. See what cases they are inhabiting. It won't be perfect (because so many watches have been recased over the years) but hopefully you can start to build up a picture.

Further confusing things - some of the more prolific case manufacturers had very similar names to movement manufacturers who they weren't actually a part of.

 

[thesnark17]

For example, the Illinois Watch Case Company in Elgin, Illinois is not affiliated with either the Elgin National Watch Company in Elgin or the Illinois Watch Company in Springfield.

I think you can see the scope for confusion...

 

[Kent]

i see so many different brands of cases in my searches and i see many different cases even on the same brands
did they use different ones maybe due to years?
clarity would be amazing

jringo8769:

It may be helpful to read the Watch case Encyclopedia article.

The Encyclopedia articles listed in these links may also be helpful to you, especially the items and links listed in each article's References section.

American Watch Makers
Watch Case Makers
Railroad Watches
Jobbers Catalogs

Unfortunately, many of the links in our Encyclopedia articles were disrupted when we changed to the current version of our Message Board and its been a long process getting them all reinstated. So, if you come across a broken link and want to see what it led to, just let us know and we'll try and post it.

Please feel free to ask about anything that isn't clear to you.

Good luck,