Private label Fredonia

[John Cote]

Hey all you experts! Here is a picture of an interesting private label Fredonial watch. The name on the movement is Franz P. Siegletz, Anderson, Indiana.
http://www.interstatetime.com/PrivateLabels/Fredonia_Big.htm

The dial says Fredonia. This watch seems to be in its original case and I am pretty sure it has had this dial for a while. Does anyone know if Fredonia private labels typically had Fredonia marked dials or dials marked with the private label?

John Cote https://mb.nawcc.org/

 

[John Cote]

Hey all you experts! Here is a picture of an interesting private label Fredonial watch. The name on the movement is Franz P. Siegletz, Anderson, Indiana.
http://www.interstatetime.com/PrivateLabels/Fredonia_Big.htm

The dial says Fredonia. This watch seems to be in its original case and I am pretty sure it has had this dial for a while. Does anyone know if Fredonia private labels typically had Fredonia marked dials or dials marked with the private label?

John Cote https://mb.nawcc.org/

 

[Jon Hanson]

Hi John,

In my experience most of the "all original" Fredonias had matching dials; however, the original customer might not have paid the extra 2 or three dollars for the name on the dial.

Also, it is quite possible that the original "named" dial might have been broken in 1900 or 1910; or switched or replaced in 1960.

Please wait and I will look up the name in my "master list" tonight.

Certainly they are "more sexy" with the matching dial, eg. Hamilton watches.

Jon


------------------
Jon Hanson, moderator, nawcc#8801

 

[Jon Hanson]

Hi again,

My records list Frank P. as having been in business since 1884; he had a poor credit rating as "credit should be limited to very small lines." (0-500.00)

I do not have his name listed on my master record, but I do have another Indiana listing: Mat Klein, Crawfordsville, Ind. (not that anybody cares).

Since your movement is the only one seen to date, SM will rate it an R-8! :biggrin:

Jon

------------------
Jon Hanson, moderator, nawcc#8801

 

[Greg Frauenhoff]

John,

I maintain a database on Fredonia and Peoria movements and will add your watch to it.

As for matching dials, there are many Fredonia mvts with private label markings on the movement but not the dial, so the chances of your dial being original to the mvt are probably quite good, but certainly not provable beyond all doubt.

Nice dial and mvt.

Thanks for posting the picture.

Greg

 

[John Cote]

Thanks Jon and Greg for the replies and thanks for the private emails I got on this topic. Sounds like this could be original, but we will never know for sure.

Regarding Jon's post about the credit problems of the jeweler in question. There are a lot of private labels from Anderson, IN. Maybe the fact that Mr. Sieglitz' name is on a Fredonia means he could only get credit from this company. Maybe this is one of the reasons Fredonia did not last very long (a bottom feeder dealing with a bottom feeder).

This is why I love private labels. With a little research, almost every one of them can offer a story which says something about the times, the local area, or the manufacturer.

John Cote https://mb.nawcc.org/