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Calling all Pocket Watch Buffs

ghce
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Well I suppose it was inevitable and to me its not a good thing for PW's in general. Silver prices have in recent months spiked and with of course the inevitable drive to buy up silver cased PW's for scrapping.

I was watching a silver ALD cased with probably generic Swiss movement fitted ( no photos of movement ) started low at only a few dollars working or not working who knows as not stated but a good dial but broken glass and a somewhat worn case.
Auction closed at NZ$180.00, the sort of watch given no description just front and back photos would normally close out at 45 to 60 NZ or just as likely attract no bids, 33 bids in this auction!!
 
Canuck
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Currently about $150.00 per Troy ounce (Cdn.) for fine silver. Recently, I bought a late 19th century sterling pocket watch with a sterling chain that weighed 66 grams! Bought the watch for very little, chain included. That chain today is worth roughly $ 300.00! Who knew? I have numerous pocket watches in coin silver (.800 and .900), and sterling silver cases. I’d sooner have the watches than the money I’d get from a scrapper.

Several years ago, I was asked by a fellow to remove a 24-jewel (that is correct) 18-size Illinois movement from a 14-karat gold, open faced case to determine weight of the case. He had a hand shake deal with a scrapper for the case. I made him an offer of more than the scrapper was likely to pay him. He declined my offer. Less than a year later, I got a call from him, asking me if I wanted the 24-jewel movement for $500.00! You might guess what I told him!
 
Canuck
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Waltesefalcon Waltesefalcon
In my pocket today is my 1951 950B.
20260129_162724.webp 20260129_162928.webp
I have a 950B and a 950. I am waiting for the right deal to acquire a 950 E. I have a Ball grade 999 with a 950E movement in it, in my safe right now. Unfortunately, it isn’t mine.
 
Waltesefalcon
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Canuck Canuck
I have a 950B and a 950. I am waiting for the right deal to acquire a 950 E. I have a Ball grade 999 with a 950E movement in it, in my safe right now. Unfortunately, it isn’t mine.
The B is the only variant I own. I know a fella who is trying to sell me a stem set 950. I want the watch, but right now it is a bit too pricey for me. Maybe in a few months I'll be able to pick it up.

One day I'd like to be able to have a 950 and a 950E to go with my B.
 
Canuck
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My 950 and 950B. Many things about the 950, I prefer. The 950B was the victim of cheapening many of the design characteristics.
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Lucky14
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Canuck Canuck
Currently about $150.00 per Troy ounce (Cdn.) for fine silver. Recently, I bought a late 19th century sterling pocket watch with a sterling chain that weighed 66 grams! Bought the watch for very little, chain included. That chain today is worth roughly $ 300.00! Who knew? I have numerous pocket watches in coin silver (.800 and .900), and sterling silver cases. I’d sooner have the watches than the money I’d get from a scrapper.

Several years ago, I was asked by a fellow to remove a 24-jewel (that is correct) 18-size Illinois movement from a 14-karat gold, open faced case to determine weight of the case. He had a hand shake deal with a scrapper for the case. I made him an offer of more than the scrapper was likely to pay him. He declined my offer. Less than a year later, I got a call from him, asking me if I wanted the 24-jewel movement for $500.00! You might guess what I told him!
It is a shame that we’re losing so many complete pocket watches to the scrappers. eBay and Etsy have almost as many bare movements as they do complete pocket watches.
 
ghce
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What shocked most was a Japanese saki drinking cup I picked about 12 months ago for NZ$1.00 it was fine silver and at 80 grams came in at about NZ$155.00 melt, checked it last week and it was worth NZ$440.00.
Most of my growing and quite extensive PW collection is in Sterling with some in coin too but don't make the photo displays here in this thread as they arnt US RR grade. I would never melt them but as the price of silver rises I can see the temptation of the melt as I have many thousands of dollars in sterling cases with either pedestrian Swiss or English movements.
 
noelekal
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Hold the line, ghce! Don't succumb to the melt temptation!
 
Waltesefalcon
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My gold watch chain is just 10k but at the current prices it is now worth close to $600. I paid well under $100 for it when I bought it.

I just saw that gold and silver prices are coming down. I do think this is a good thing, but I also don't expect the prices to get back to what they were in October, either.
 
ghce
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Waltesefalcon Waltesefalcon
My gold watch chain is just 10k but at the current prices it is now worth close to $600. I paid well under $100 for it when I bought it.

I just saw that gold and silver prices are coming down. I do think this is a good thing, but I also don't expect the prices to get back to what they were in October, either.

Part of the driver for silver and gold increases has apparently been China selling off it's massive US debt as it is wishing to decouple from any US disruptions to its wealth base with the arbitrary way US foreign policy has been running of late. So enabled with this effort they are selling off at a loss to distance themselves from the Orange factor. This has of course led to the world wide spike in prices with China converting it all to gold silver and other minerals including oil reserves hedging against an uncertain global world future.
 
Lucky14
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Orange factor? Do you mean OJ futures? I didn’t know that affected the int’l demand for silver and gold. 😁
 
Canuck
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Waltesefalcon Waltesefalcon
My gold watch chain is just 10k but at the current prices it is now worth close to $600. I paid well under $100 for it when I bought it.

I just saw that gold and silver prices are coming down. I do think this is a good thing, but I also don't expect the prices to get back to what they were in October, either.
About four years ago, I went to an automobile show and shine. I ran into an acquaintance there. He figured I’d put in an appearance. He had three watches that were given to him, and he had no use for them. He offered them to me for free. There was really only one that I wanted, and I offered him $100.00 for it. “Take them all” was his reply, and he insisted they were free, as they were given to him. I insisted. I paid him $100.00. When I got home with the watches, I put two of them into a bin of scrap watches. The one I was interested in had a chain on it. Several days later, I checked over the chain. It was 40” long, and weighed 16 grams. It took me a while to find a 10-karat stamp on it. I figured at the time it would scrap out at over $400.00! I phoned him and told him to retrieve the chain! He picked it up. At the price of gold now, I suspect that chain is now about $600.00 as scrap. I hope his wife appreciates it!
 
Canuck
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Pride cometh before a fall! I recently posted that my Hamilton grade 992 was running within 5 seconds per week. Within two days after that, I found it was 90 seconds fast. I wondered if it was banking because of a too strong mainspring, so I let it run for 12 hours and put it back on the Vibrograph timing machine. No change in the gaining rate. I work on a lot of quartz watches, and my screwdrivers become magnetized. So I wondered if the Hamilton had become magnetized by a magnetized screw driver. Bingo! I ran the Hamilton through the demagnetizer, and the rate stabilized,
 
Erik_H
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Hampden Railway from 1905. The case is a Dueber gold filled "Hampden Watch Co Railway Primus".
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Canuck
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Erik_H Erik_H
I tried to find out the significance of the Primus marked cases for Hampden in 2010 and 2013, but the only replies I got was that it is rare. I haven’t researched it later, with NAWCC or elsewhere.
Not likely, I guess. 😊

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