Hi fellas .cant find any info on this. Any insights are appreciated

 

Hi there, welcome to the forum. This is a late 1940s US market Longines watch, calober 23Z as indicated on the movement. 14k gold as indicated on the case back. Pictures of the dial are not crisp enough to say if it is original or refinished.
Its is quite a funky model with those crazy square lugs, quite typical of Us Longines watches of that era.
Watches did not have any names in those days so that’s about it.

Why did you want to know?

 

Wierd .Its incribed from my grandmother to grandfather from 1958. Would there have been a market for used watches then? I had just assumed it was late 50s

 

Not sure about a « market strictly speaking » but I know of at least another instance. I own a watch inscribed « from Elvira to Gary 12-25-1966 », quite obviously a Christmas present— and the watch is dated 1940s, both when you look at the style of the watch and the movement serial number (like yours where the serial number and the style and the caliber number absolutely confirm 1940s).
If you send those pictures to Longines with the serial number of the movement they can give you an extract of archive with a precise date of sale.

 

Online ressources give an approximate date of 1952-
So a tad later. It is also possible that the watch left the factory in 1952 but was in stock for a few years before it actually got sold.

 

Very interesting .any idea of rough value? Its too small for me by far .im torn between keeping it for the kids or replacing with something I'd wear . not sure the kids would really appreciate it either .
Thank you for your thoughts

 

Ive spent hours looking for something online .where did you find that?

 

There are several websites on line which will give approximate info. Google «longines serial number».
Another source is the web site « vintage watch ressouces.

 

No idea of rough value without a very crisp picture of the dial. But many people prefer larger watches nowadays so that does have an impact on value.

 

Beside the unusual case, the roman numeral hour markers are uncommon. Quite stylish for the time!

 

It’s still blurry. You need to sit your phone on top of a mug. Also best to have a picture looking at the part that’s below the number « 6 »....And looking at the cross around the subseconds

 

Any of these better?

 

A similarly cased Wittnauer watch can be seen in this 1953 advertisement, lower right:

 

Slightly better but not perfect. I’ll let others chime in as I don’t know this period well enough to give you a proper answer.
You really need to get a focus that’s much sharper. One way to do that is to rest your phone on a stable object (eg a mug) and avoid zooming too much when you focus and take the picture. Then you enlarge and crop before you post.
Regards

PS I saw a watch with similar lugs on Ebay, posted in a thread whose title is «look at those lugs » or something to that effect.

 

It hasn't seen much wear, assuming the crown is original.

The movt. & probably dial were typically made in Switzerland, & the case in USA. The Star Watch Case Co. was a big concern, making cases for all the big watch brands.Star Watch Case Company - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Watch_Case_Company

 

Cool. Thanks

 

It was his only watch for close to 30 years worn daily