I am a Canadian collector and just love the Private Labels we have experienced up here. In the Hamilton theme this is my Hamilton 18S 17J Model 924 by W Mallett of Brandon Manitoba. Dates to 1905 in a sterling case. The inscriptions on the movement are very Canadianized.
That's very interesting. Canadian dials seem to be prevalent on the collectors market but I have never seen specifically marked Canadian movements. I'm not Canadian but would love to find one of those.
The closest I can come to movements that are perhaps considered “private label” are two Waltham movements marked Canadian Railway Time Service, although the dials are not marked CRTS. I also have two Canadian Pacific Railway marked movements, although the dials are not marked CPR. My one CRTS marked movement is behind a private label dial marked for a retailer/watch inspector G W Beall, Lindsay, Ontario. To add to the confusion on this one, the dial is also marked Waltham! These movements are all Walthams. Only rarely do I run into private label watches with both movement and dial marked as private label.
Your Waltham with the Canadian Pacific logo & beaver is fantastic! Wow! Great piece of history.
Awesome.....I congratulate you! I am familiar with the GW Beall name from Lindsay which is close by where I live but I have never had the good fortune to find one of his watches for sale here.
The CPR beaver logos are relatively common but expensive so I have only ever gotten one. Many of the private labels in this area turn out to be Regina/Omega products.....my 21 J Regina F. Chinnek of Napanee is the best of the bunch I have collected. You must have a significant collection...
The CPR logo is found on a number of different Waltham movements. I have an 1883 model with the logo on the mainspring barrel bridge. This is one of the more common ones. My other CPR is the 1892 model. It is somewhat less common, and brings a bigger price. The CPR logo is also found on the 16-size 1888, 1899, and 1908 models, as well as the 1883 and 1892 models. The 16-size models must be reasonably scarce as they bring a bigger price. Particularly the 21-jewel models. If I’m not mistaken, the CPR 1888 model is the scarcest, and brings the bigger price. When you find these watches on line, the prices are all over the yard.
The closest I can come to movements that are perhaps considered “private label” are two Waltham movements marked Canadian Railway Time Service, although the dials are not marked CRTS. I also have two Canadian Pacific Railway marked movements, although the dials are not marked CPR. My one CRTS marked movement is behind a private label dial marked for a retailer/watch inspector G W Beall, Lindsay, Ontario. To add to the confusion on this one, the dial is also marked Waltham! These movements are all Walthams. Only rarely do I run into private label watches with both movement and dial marked as private label.
If that's a wolf's tooth, it's a wolf that has gotten up in years. 🤣
When someone says wolf's tooth it needs to be sharp. Back before I became educated on such terminology I called these gears saw tooth. Here's an example I yanked from the web.
@bobertdob are you planning on bidding on that watch? If so I'd be real interested to see under the dial if you win. It looks like a quality watch, it's just a mystery as to who made it. At least, it's a mystery to a guy like me who doesn't know a lot about Swiss watches.
I am thinking it is a Longines as per the first comment. I spent hours last evening and the serial number on the movement is too large to be patek filippe but perfect if Longines ie. dates to 1911. I investigated NAWCC blogs and found two similar movements one being a Birks and the other a US Jeweler but interestingly both these were private label as well with no inscriptions pointing to a manufacturer. I am currently of the opinion this is an O size longines private label. The auction house has shown the watch to a local watchmaker and he suggested it was in good condition but needing a cleaning. I will follow the auction and depending on the price try and buy it I think. There are a few interesing items in this online auction from Shelburne on Feb 6th. They are offering a nice early Waltham and a nice Omega 17J pocket watch and wrist watches like a Brietling and others I would be interested in......
I have seen many Canadian private label watches over the decades which had Longines movements in them. I ran into a drop dead gorgeous hunter cased pocket watch this past Tuesday. The case was a near mint 14-karat hunter with a Regal trade mark, set with 4 old European cut diamonds on the case back, a 12-hour vitreous enamel dial marked DINGWALL. The movement was a nice 3/4 plate, 15-jewel Longines, in nice running condition. She had the watch hung on a beautiful 14-karat chatelaine (brooch) which her heirs had made by Birks Jewellers in Winnipeg, about 50 years ago. D R Dingwall was an early 20th century jeweller and railroad watch inspector in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Sold out to Henry Birks & Sons Jewellers circa 1933, thereafter named Birks/Dingwall. The building still stands. At one point, Dingwall employed 22 watchmakers, likely because of the city of Winnipeg having been a major railroad hub.
The subject watch is marked RYRIE, of Toronto. Another firm who interestingly sold out to Birks Jewellers.
Thank you for the comments regarding Longines being active in the Canadian private label industry. I have a couple Eatons early pocket watches one being a Gallet and the other I have thought might be a Longines as it is Swiss. Other than that I have owned a couple of Longines Express Leader Railroad watches from the Quebec region but they were clearly labelled by Longines on their movements. Do you see many W Mallett
pocket watches in the Winnipeg area? My only watch of his came from Brandon. A nice Hamilton 924. Maybe he only operated around Brandon I don't know.....but thanks for your comments....
Why do you say "possibly" on the above example? Not only does it look like an Agassiz it is marked as such.
Edit: you mean the PL that bibertdob shared might be an Agassiz don't you?
