T. Eaton Co Limited wristwatch

[Tim Orr]

Good evening, all!

I recently purchased an old men's wristwatch marked inside "T. Eaton Co Limited." (The Canadian department store) On the dial face, there is a small diamond with the letter "E" inside it. It has a glass crystal and 17 jewel movement. I suspect the case is silver. There is no indication of where manufactured. The case is marked "Scepter" in a ribbon, which was supposed to the a Star brand for gold-filled cases. Lug width appears to be 19mm.

It has an unusual feature, in that while you pull out the crown to set the time, as on a normal watch, you must push the crown in against a spring to wind the watch. If you try to wind it without doing that, the crown just spins against a ratchet. I would very much appreciate help dating the watch.


Thank you!

Tim Orr

 

[Kevin W.]

Nice watch Tim. I know Swiss makers were used as movements in their watches. Gallet being one of them. Not sure the makers of your movement.

 

[Chris Radek]

What a neat dial!

 

[Hawk53]

Can't help you Tim, but nice watch!

 

[Tim Orr]

Good evening, all!

I also heard that from about 1930-1950, Eaton's gave engraved Rolex wristwatches to employees with 25 years of service. These, from what I can see, were private label Rolexes. Know of any company that would give you a Rolex for 25 years service today?

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Hawk53]

" Know of any company that would give you a Rolex for 25 years service today? "

You'd be lucky to get a can opener in today's world....

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, all!

Attended the meeting of Chapter 160 (Boulder Horological Society) on Zoom today. Very knowledgable watchmaker, Jack Wood, points out that the "Scepter" trademark was used by Star on cases other than gold-filled, but that was the way the mark was registered. He also points out that the two screw holes on the balance cock indicate the watch was once fitted with a swan-neck regulator.

Finally, Jack says this watch may be a "negative set" watch. By that I understand that the crown and stem are part of the case, so to speak, not part of the movement. I'm still trying to grasp what this means, except that you don't have to pull the stem out to get the movement out of the case.

According to one source, you would pull the crown normally to set the watch, but it would go into winding mode as soon as you push it back – like a normal watch. That's not what happens here, as I mentioned above. You must push the crown back in, then push it against a spring to wind. Perhaps this is a variation on "negative set"?

Forgot to mention that the lug width is a bit unusual, but not necessarily for a vintage watch, at 19mm. The case is 32mm excluding the crown. Crown adds about 5mm. Case is definitely square. Another member says it might very well be a Gallet movement, but we'll need a Gallet expert to weigh in on that.

Still unsure of date, but guessing sometime between WWI and WWII?

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Bila]

Have you measured the movement's diameter Tim, as it narrows down the search when looking?

 

[Jack_W]

On the " Scepter " name, what I said is that it IS associated with goldfilled cases from Star Watch Case Co. This is from Stan Czubernat's book and here: Mikrolisk - The horological trade mark index

Negative set is the same as what Elgin and Waltham were using. The type can take a stem sleeve; likely the non threaded kind. It is also possible that the watch is the normal type of keyless works that was common on Swiss. Your description though sounds like there is some play in the negative setting works where the netural postion is not engaging for wiinding without some pressure on the crown. Could be that the stem is too short OR that the sleeve is not set correctly. I suspect the former.

For a sure fire way to ID the maker of the movement, the setting works should have a distictive pattern to them that can be looked up in any number of references that I have on Swiss makers. Size matters though. I suspect that your watch is closer to the 3/0s equivalent, or ~12 ligne.

Also.... not a watchmaker, just an avocational student of Horology like you.

 

[Tim Orr]

Good evening, Jack and Bila!

My apologies for any and all inaccuracies. All are mine. I am working from memory.

I use "watchmaker" as an honorific. I have no authority to confer a title.

For Bila: I am not sufficiently confident of my skills to remove the works from the case. Measuring across the movement plates while still in the case, I reckon the movement to be just about 28mm in diameter. According to Wikipedia, Jack's estimate is right.

Best regards!

Tim