Not at “book stores”?

 

The information contained in the front of the “bible” is always good to have. It hasn’t changed a lot, over decades. The prices will no longer be current in the earlier guides. Older copies should be readily available on line.

Guides are only that. A guide. How your collection evolves is based on how your interests develop. I am intrigued by how railroads, telegraphy, time zones, and standards for railroad grade and railroad standard watches evolved. And how the railroads tried to operate safely and profitably over almost a century, considering how they were handicapped by inadequate systems as they evolved. The guides don’t tell you WHAT to collect. They help you learn about what is available, and how to judge quality.

I have long found that the best way (for me) to collect, is by networking. That way, you don’t have to rely on having to find collectibles. They often find you!

 

Possibly at “used book stores”...but most likely not at “used Hooters stores”.

 

This Hamilton sits at the pinnacle of my pocket watch collection.

A Masterpiece and priced accordingly.



12s size
Sterling silver dial
18kt yellow gold hands and numerals
Hand chased heavy 18kt white gold case
A segregated group of Hamilton's best artisans were only allow to produce these, and only by special order.
Most have presentations/initials/decorations, mine does not.

Roughly $3800 in todays dollars per one online calculator.

 

I have that! I think it's that very edition on the shelf here. I've likely perused the pages to which you refer. I've also likely forgotten everything I read because that's what I do these days unless I read it at least twice.

Thanks Mad Dog!

 

Never too late to ask JW here’s some info from Wikipedia on what a Bar Mitzvah is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_bat_mitzvah

 

The poor man’s Hamilton Masterpiece is the Hamilton 922, for anybody with a yen to own the real thing. The 922 movement (in my view) is every bit as nice as the Masterpiece. Or, the Hamilton 902 could be a capture if you can find one.

 

My family would be glad you sent that to me since I don’t think I have set foot in a synagogue more than a dozen times since my bar mitzvah

 

I’m sure there are fetish folks that would pay extra for used hooters merch. We don’t kink shame on OF!

 

Yeppers...that dude named @JwRosenthal set himself up for that one.

 

@Duracuir1 ,

Thank you for your generous offer. But no thanks. Some folks collect such watches. But not me.

 

As promised here is my 1904 Illinois model 6 Bunn Special in a 14K Keystone triple hinge case.

 

One significant difference in how railroad grade and railroad approved watch standards changed over decades, was how these movements are marked. I have shown the model 6 Illinois Bunn Special belonging to @Waltesefalcon , along with my Illinois Bunn Special model 6 which was made a bit later. According to Bill Megger’s and Roy Ehrhardt’s “blue book” on Illinois, s# 1729840 was made in early 1905. My Illinois Bunn Special model 6, s# 1916379 was made about two years later. Compare the markings on the two virtually identical movements. At one point, standards concerning how railroad approved watches were marked, changed. Notice the model 6 with the earlier s# is simply marked “Adjusted”, and shows the jewel count. The later s# shows”Adjusted to Temperature (heat & cold), 6 positions and Isochronism”, “Double Roller”, and the jewel count. Yet they are virtually identical movements. Both produced to the same standards. I don’t know when these changes were made as to how railroad standard movements were marked, but at one point, railroad standard watch movements had to have these added markings.


View attachment 1173028

 

For Saturday, a railroad grade Elgin B.W.R. 571 from the early 1950s...

 

Notice the cut out (see arrow) in the case rim on @Mad Dog ’s Elgin grade 571, B W Raymond. This shows up on these Elgin cases which allows access to the regulator screw on the balance cock. The “P” prefix on the s# of the watch indicates 1952. After about 1937, Elgin replaced the first two digits of serial numbers (representing millions), with a letter prefix.

 

Weighing in at 6oz and originally made as a anchor for navy cruisers...



...this 1893 Hampden, Grade 21, Model 3 lever set pocket watch is still ticking away 128 years later. It would have cost you $8 to purchase this new, the same year that Webb C. Ball introduced railroad chronometers, and the 1893 World's Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition, opened to the public in Chicago, Illinois, not far from the Hampden factory in Ohio.



Check out that super-thick crystal, it plays with the light and distorts the dial in a very fun way


Many thanks to @Fritz for this charming piece

 

In 1889, case maker John C. Dueber, bought the Hampden Watch Co., and moved it to Canton, Ohio. We often find these Hampden watches with movements marked Dueber Watch Co. Here is a picture of a later iteration of the Hampden, with the dial marked Dueber Watch Co., and the movement similarly marked. But it is a Hampden watch in every respect, except for the name.

 

Note the boat anchor

 

Dueber used the anchor trade mark on his cases as well.