Complete Sterling Silver Pocket Watch

[Sooper Dave]

I stopped by one of my old school spots after work Friday evening. I did't have much time to detect after catching up with the property owner. I've dug here two other times years ago and it produced a couple of nice Barbers and a Seated dime along with an amazing WWII era eagle hat pin. I headed to where the old ball field was and dug a couple of wheaties and then a War nickel. The sun had set and it was getting dark when I got a nice high tone on my old Etrac. I was happy to see a Merc come out of the hole. I was making my last row back to the truck when I got another high tone down deep. I was hoping for another silver coin but surprised to see a pocket watch case when I scooped it out. I was even more surprised to see the glass was still intact and I could see the face of the watch. I made that my last dig for the night and stopped back by to show the owners what I had found. They were as excited about the old watch as I was. I'm not sure how old the watch is and I debated about trying to open the case. I thought it would damage it if I tried, but my curiosity got the best of me. Luckily I was able to slowly open it without any damage. I did't find a makers mark, just a serial number and an engraving of the watches movement I guess you would call it. The biggest surprise was the initials L.E.G hand carved into the inside of the case. I would love to know who it belonged to and when it was lost.

 

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[grasshopper]

That's awesome!! Great find!!

 

[Bamasteve]

Great find, congrats!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Killer finds Dave - keep up the good work !

 

[Red-Coat]

Cool find. The wording on the movement is “Cylindre 4 rubis”, which means the watch has a cylinder escapement and 4 jewels (“rubis” is French for “ruby”). It’s almost certainly Swiss, and watches of this type frequently have no maker name. You say there’s a serial number, but I don’t see it in your pictures.

Cylinder escapements progressively fell out of favour after 1755 when the English watchmaker Thomas Mudge invented the superior lever escapement, although they continued to be made for some years thereafter. Four jewels would be at the lower quality end.

The case looks to be second half of the 19th Century and also probably Swiss. You say it’s “Sterling Silver” (.925), but what makes you think so? Until 1887 Switzerland operated with standards of .800 and .875 but then introduced a standard of .935 on 24 December and chose that higher standard rather than .925 because of a misunderstanding about the tolerances Britain allowed for imported silver. They didn’t have a .925 standard fully aligned to Sterling until 1933. [If the case is American, the sterling standard only began to be embraced from around 1868, progressively replacing the nominal standard of .900 for coin silver, with the sterling standard mark being adopted in 1907.]

 

[Digger RJ]

I stopped by one of my old school spots after work Friday evening. I did't have much time to detect after catching up with the property owner. I've dug here two other times years ago and it produced a couple of nice Barbers and a Seated dime along with an amazing WWII era eagle hat pin. I headed to where the old ball field was and dug a couple of wheaties and then a War nickel. The sun had set and it was getting dark when I got a nice high tone on my old Etrac. I was happy to see a Merc come out of the hole. I was making my last row back to the truck when I got another high tone down deep. I was hoping for another silver coin but surprised to see a pocket watch case when I scooped it out. I was even more surprised to see the glass was still intact and I could see the face of the watch. I made that my last dig for the night and stopped back by to show the owners what I had found. They were as excited about the old watch as I was. I'm not sure how old the watch is and I debated about trying to open the case. I thought it would damage it if I tried, but my curiosity got the best of me. Luckily I was able to slowly open it without any damage. I did't find a makers mark, just a serial number and an engraving of the watches movement I guess you would call it. The biggest surprise was the initials L.E.G hand carved into the inside of the case. I would love to know who it belonged to and when it was lost.

Very Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[scruggs]

Congratulations on the fantastic pocket watch!

 

[xr7ator]

I bet I have dug two dozen pocket watches, maybe more, over the years.
I have yet to find one that is silver or gold.
Congratulations on the hunt and thanks for sharing.

 

[pepperj]

I bet I have dug two dozen pocket watches, maybe more, over the years.
I have yet to find one that is silver or gold.
Congratulations on the hunt and thanks for sharing.

I have done the same, and never digging a silver or gold.
Congrats 👏 on the silver pocket watch.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Great find. Thaks, Red-Coat for the information and knowledge you are always willing to share.

 

[oldmxrat]

Congrats on a great hunt!

 

[Sooper Dave]

You say it’s “Sterling Silver” (.925), but what makes you think so?

Thanks for all the great information. My lack of knowledge is what made me call it sterling over calling it silver. I did not include a photo of the serial number. It is difficult to make out one of the numbers. I believe it is 17626 or 17526.

 

[Sooper Dave]

I bet I have dug two dozen pocket watches, maybe more, over the years.
I have yet to find one that is silver or gold.
Congratulations on the hunt and thanks for sharing.

Thanks. This is a first for me. I've dug several frames and guts and partial pieces of watches. Some of the cases I've dug are heavily plated gold. This is my first complete pocket watch and first silver one as well.

 

[Silvermonkey]

Yowzers! Great hunt! The pocket watch is a magnificent find...and the silver coins are pretty fantastic too!
Well done!

 

[Nathan W]

How did you clean it? I would be scared to clean it with my iron or brass/copper stuff