Hi River rat... This is about as fine a timekeeper that any company has ever made.. .Plus Hamilton did this on a large scale production line for the war effort.... I always loved these !!! Good Hunting Bill
https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/waltham/22203015 Your Waltham was introduced in 1894, when 18-size and 16-size pocket watches comprised the bulk of the watch business for men. It was a sign of things to come, and by about 1918 when yours was made, the 12-size watch had become a major factor in the watch market with the introduction of numerous other 12-size grades. The 18-size watch was reaching the end of the road, and the 16-size seeing the writing on the wall. These smaller watches fitted in with men’s clothing fashions of the 1920s. Slimmer, smaller, lighter. Yours is like a snapshot of a time 101 years ago, being as close to original as it is. Complete with the original linen sachet, no less! And a solid 14-karat gold case. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the trade mark in the case is the Boss Watch Case Co. I too have a 12-size Waltham in a 14-karat gold case (by Keystone) which was a service award given in 1936. Like yours, my 12-size shows little sign that it was ever used. I told it’s story earlier in this thread. Nice watch, and special!
Hamilton 940 RR Grade (prior to the requirement it be stamped on movement) 18s 21j circa 1903 Nice coin edge Philadelphia case A Favorite dial layout with Hamilton font and Roman numerals. The 940 was very popular and sold well over many years, till the RR regulations changed to a 16s, then their 992 took off in popularity for 30 years or so when introduced. On a DaveK leather lanyard in navy, highly recommended
I too have a Hamilton 940. Mine has a private label dial for D R Dingwall, Limited. That is the only marking on the dial. I love finds like this one. I bought it at an NAWCC mart in Portland, Ore. I don’t know how many people looked at it before I stumbled upon it! But it would take a Canadian collector of railroadiana who knew that D R Dingwall was a major power in the railroad watch business, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At one time, they had 22 watchmakers on staff, and were railroad watch inspectors around the turn of the 20th century. They sold out to Henry Birks & Sons, eventually. Another deterrent to the curious is that it has a “swing ring” case! I bought another one at the same mart, from the same dealer. A Hamilton grade 944 with a dial marked for G M Rioch, Kenora, Ontario. Had these two been marked for U S retailers, they’d have been gone long before I got there. Don’t you just ❤️ it when a plan comes together? Glad to see yet another @DaveK lanyard doing service where it belongs. Thumbs up!
This one can’t really be called a “pocket watch”, but it is interesting, nonetheless. A number of years ago, after a career managing jewellery stores, I was approached by a local independent jeweller, asking if I would consider part time work. I maybe shouldn’t have bothered but that is another story. While I worked there, the owner showed me a watch by Patek, just like the one in the link. It had been left by the owner on consignment as he wanted to sell it. I called a friend. The owner wanted $8,000 (Cdn.) for it. My friend wanted to bargain. I suggested the owner might consider accepting an offer if my friend found another exact Patek that was being offered ata lower price. Of course, he couldn’t, so he paid the owner’s price. if you have never had your hand on one of these, they are a work of art! With the watch concealed, it is very difficult to identify either the hidden latch, or the hinge. A thing of beauty, indeed. I thought it would be more appropriate to provide a link, rather than to cop an image. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6085836
My late father was a watchmaker, and had his own small jewellery store. He wasn’t an officially appointed railroad watch inspector, but his store was in a neighbourhood where many railroaders lived. So he repaired a lot of railroad watches for these fellows. He wasn’t a Hamilton watch dealer, but when he was asked to supply Hamilton railroad watch, he was able to obtain them. I recall one time, in 1957, he had ordered a Hamilton 992B for a railroader. When it arrived in his store, I was in my teens, and as much as I was doing watch repairs at that time, I had never seen a 992B. I was intrigued. Get this! The retail price on the 992B at that time, was $195.00, (Cdn.) It was about at that same time, that the Hamilton Electric watch arrived on the market. I recall that he had ordered one of those on approval. Battery powered watches in 1957 were a hot item. Not that there were many in the marketplace or on the wrists of people, but the buzz was noticeable. My father ended up sending the Hamilton Electric, back. He must have had a feeling that that the watch was going to be trouble, and wanted no part of it. Oh how right he was! Hamilton spent a decade from the Electric’s introduction, trying make the thing work. They finally ended up buying the Buren Watch Co. of Switzerland, developer of the thin micro rotor automatic movement. Hamilton did this, as they replaced a lot of unsatisfactory Hamilton Electrics with Hamilton Thin-O-Matics, as they called the Buren. I have a feeling that this fiasco was one of the reasons that Hamilton bit the dust. People lost confidence in the brand, and they cost themselves a lot of money, and market share.
Bulova Accutron was introduced about the same time, and it was two things Hamilton Electric’s were not, accurate and reliable, hastening the decline of Hamilton Watch Company.
Here is my oldest Waltham. When I started collecting pocket watches I would collect a certain kind like key winds then I moved onto railroad or some pocket watches that were different than others. This is a Waltham Wm. Ellery model 1857 with 7 jewel key wind movement you use a key to wind it in the back and the key on the front of the hands to set the time. This has what some call the eagle case with early balance wheel. This was made in 1864 during the civil war. Got this one at a NAWCC show in Reno years ago think I paid 400 for some reason ones made during the civil war go for a little more money. Wonder what it's worth now some 16 years later. The early ones had a plain dial the hands are cool on this one silver like tips
The skinny on your Wm. Ellery. https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/waltham/132038 The movement listed as “adaptable”. Being key wound, it could be used in a hunter case, or open faced. I bought an 1857 model Waltham 15-jewel, in an open faced case, in Clackamas, (Ore.) about 20 years ago. There were several at that mart, but the one I bought was at the best price, and in a coin silver case. I almost bought one for more money, in a nickel silver case, but passed on it. Mine was made in 1873, so the cachet of “Civil War” didn’t apply to mine. I paid (US) $250.00, or about (Cdn.) $325.00.
The decoration on the movement is interesting, it looks like puzzle pieces. Handsome! Does the coin edge on the case provide a noticeably more secure grip than a more common smooth case?
“Birks” is basically Canada’s Tiffany’s. Here’s my NOS Henry Birks & Sons (HB&S) pocket watch key. I’m not sure if these were promotional incentives that they gave away, or if they sold these along with the watches they sold (or did the movement makers always provide a matching key), perhaps they sold them as replacement keys - or all of the above! I have no need for the key, but bought it because it’s cool, it’s Birks and it’s from Vancouver, as I currently am.
My 940 also is damask finished in a similar way. The lighting in this picture is different, so it is tough to say whether the pattern is the same.
Here is one were I bought the movement because it looked interesting at a NAWCC mart for cheap it just needed a case. When I got this eBay was a great place for parts so got a case off that. Even the case is interesting it's open face but the back pops open like a hunter case. The movement a private label Elgin. The regulator interesting had a hart cut out that's what made me buy it. Mite have 200 in it. The case is coin silver and heavy.
Illinois 18s 17j RR grade 61 Ore-Silver case Circa 1896 Nice, thick glass crystal Double sunk Roman Numeral dial Moon hands I like their Gothic font more, but not by much.
The skinny on @TexOmega ’s Illinois. Indeed a handsome watch with a pristine double-sunk vitreous enamel dial. I wonder if @DaveK gives a “fleet price” on his lanyards? https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/1333965
I recall a thread where a certain member who will remain nameless revealed that he did not consider pocket watches actual watches. 100 years ago the reverse was true. Here is a quote from my great-grandfather I found in a newspaper archive (he sold watches): "It wasn't until around 1916 when wrist watches started to come in and the reaction to them was poor. No one liked them. Only a few men bought the new innovation and even fewer women were interested. Wrist watches didn't become popular until 1928 and 1929."