Fahys Watch Case

[stoney56]

I found a watch case at a recently razed house site. Inside is stamped Fahys Watch Co. Ore Silver, #0, and a patent date of Feb. 19, 1884. The glass crystal is still intact but there is no movement or watch face in it.

It's almost identical to the following one sold on Ebay, but it has no train on the back of the case.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Oresilver-case-...9QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:101


My question is what is considered as Ore Silver? It's not marked .925 or sterling.

 

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[Montana Jim]

Stoney... here is a discussion board that speaks to watch cases... maybe they can reply to you...

No answer on the silver content of the "oresilver" except to say I found a bunch one line referenceing the "silver ore"... I think it's a less refined siver...


http://www.whmb.webhorology.com/archive/index.php/f-37.html

 

[Mackaydon]

".....a special alloy was developed which went by several different names, such as, "Silveroid, Silverore, Silverode or Silverine. "Silveroid" appears to have become the standard name for this metal that consisted of 45% nickel, 54% copper and 1% manganese. This metal was fairly hard wearing and could withstand the rigors of everyday use, for instance on the Railroads.
Source:http://www.antique-pocket-watch.com/pocket-watch-case.html
Don....

 

[stoney56]

Thanks guys! After reading your links and a bit more checking, I've come to the conclusion that it's more like German silver which isn't real silver. Thanks again and HH!

 

[Mackaydon]

Stoney:
Here's an informative page on German Silver (nickel silver).
http://pages.zoom.co.uk/leveridge/nickel1.html

 

[Red-Coat]

Just tidying up some blasts from the past (including some very ancient ones), largely for the benefit of anyone searching the site for information.

“ORESILVER” has zero meaning in terms of its metallic composition. It doesn’t relate to a particular alloy and was nothing more than a trademark, registered to J Fahys & Co and Henry F. M. Cook in 1885:

There are lots of instances from the 1800s of companies registering names or trademarks including terms like ‘silver’ so that they could cynically be applied to base metal items with all kinds of compositions as a marketing ploy. As said, in this case it’s likely one of many variants of nickel silver with no silver content.

The patent reference for Feb 19, 1884 is a design patent relating to the case itself, granted to Charles K. Giles and assigned to the Fahys watch case company: