I don't know the story behind this watch. Having great difficulty reading this person's handwriting.

40mm is a rare size in 1920s even for a caliber 15.26. Production appears to be about 1913-1914.

Similar to one appearing in "Longines Watches" by John Goldberger page 22

 

Clearly a dated dedication in French, as I see "le 4 Nov... / Constantinople" at the bottom. The reflection makes it so that I cannot read the upper two lines, I wonder if a picture from a different angle would help?

It really is a strangely large size for this period! A similar example, but with different hands, sold at Antiquorum in 2005. https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/lot-104-246

I would love to know more about the Djezvedjian business in Istanbul, as they seem to have had a long relationship with Longines, at least from the 1890s to 1920s. Anytime know a good source?

 

Here is a short post about it in English (http://maviboncuk.blogspot.com/2015/07/nacib-k-djezvedijan.html) .

 

A few of these traded in recent years.

 

Thanks! For those who don't read Turkish, Dzezvedjian was located in the Covered Bazaar/Kapaliçarsi (usually called the grand bazaar in English) in central Istanbul. Looks like the address is now a currency exchange shop:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/YThZw8NR1c1cS4uy7

 

Still not sure what the writing says. Any guesses?

 

I see:

Damasios / Phylo??polous / le 4 Nov 1922 / Constantinople

The top two lines are definitely a Greek personal name, though I may not have it quite right. At that time, ethnic Greeks were a plurality of the population in Constantinople.

It was a troubled time: Constantinople was still under occupation by the British, French, and Greek armies, but Ataturk's Republican armies had just destroyed the Greek armies in Asia Minor - this watch was engraved just a few weeks after the armistice in late October 1922. It is easy to imagine its Greek buyer having having some trepidation about the political situation, which was not unreasonable considering the huge forced migrations of Greeks and Turks after the treaty of Lausanne in July 1923. An interesting time in an interesting place.

 

I hope I won't bore you all with more historical sociology, but it is also interesting to think about the use of French by an ethnic Greek in such a personal inscription at this place and time. Surely he spoke Greek, probably Turkish as well. But French was (literally) the lingua franca of educated Turks, Jews, Armenians, Greeks, and foreigners in the Ottoman period, and anyone who was educated would learn it (not unlike the rest of Europe at the time). It's plausible that the whole watch transaction took place in French, though then as now the merchants of the Grand Bazaar would no doubt speak to you in pretty much any language you like.

France had a long relationship with the Ottoman state going back to the 1550s, and cultivated a political relationship that had both an economic dimension (playing a large role in financing the Ottoman debt) and a religious dimension (in France's desire to play the protector of Christians in Jerusalem and Ottoman Christians more generally). Inasmuch as the Ottoman elite were looking to Europe in the 19th century, they looked to France for education. For instance Osman Hamdi Bey, the great Ottoman painter, archaeologist, and administrator, spent 9 years in Paris first as a law student, then as an apprentice to the painters Gerome and Boulanger. In a sense Paris was one of the most important sites of Ottoman modernisation.

Anyhow, this is all to point out the extent to which educated Ottomans of any ethnicity internalized the French language as a marker of class and identity. So that when Mr. Phylo??polous bought this lovely watch from Dzevedjian, he chose to memorialize his watch purchase in that language, rather than Greek. In a personal inscription that hardly anyone but him would see, we have to imagine that using French was meaningful to him as a marker of his identity as an educated person of the metropolis.

Ok, now back to your regularly scheduled watch programming!

 

Thank you so much! This is a wonderfully educational reply giving me the historical context of the watch, it's place, culture, and political environment. Perhaps the person who owned the watch may not have been a significant person in history, but the background of the time is great to know.

If you have anything else you would like to share about Constantinople, I would enjoy further reading. Watches are my window into the past. It gives me an incentive to study cultures and histories that I may never otherwise study.

Best Regards

S.

 

The name appears to be
Anastasios Phylactojsoulos. Not sure about the last name.


Anastasius (Latinized) or Anastasios (Greek: Αναστάσιος, romanized: Anastasios) is a masculine given name of Greek origin derived from the Greek word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) meaning "resurrection".

A phylactery, seems to be associated in ancient Greek to protection of the souls. Maybe something like an amulet. It is also found in Hebrew where the person in mourning wears a small box like item strapped to their forehead.

 

Of course, it does look like Anastasios. The last name is Phylactopoulos. The root 'phylak-' refers to watching or guarding, and I would suspect that the name means something like 'son of a watchman' or 'son of a guard'. It's an unusual name in Greek. You're right that a phylactery is an amulet of sorts, but the meaning is of a container that protects something. In English 'prophylactic' (a "guard-against") comes from the same root.

 

Ah! I think you got the name correctly! It does look like your spelling. Perhaps confirmation bias, but I do believe you figured it out. Now how to find a person's history assuming we have the correct name?

 

Well, if we were in the US I would have shared it already! (I do that sort of research professionally).

But Turkey is tricky; official documents are not readily accessible online and those that are are in Ottoman Turkish before 1924. I read Turkish OK, but even most Turks can't read Ottoman since it's written in the Arabic alphabet and has different grammar and vocabulary.

Probably Turkish phone books of the late 1920s-1930s would be helpful, assuming Mr. Phylactopoulos didn't leave Istanbul in 1923 like many Greeks. I am out of my depth in modern Greek, but if there are any interested members with a command of local history research there, please chime in!

One advantage is that the surname is very uncommon! There is a George Phylactopoulos born 1907, who studied at Robert College in Istanbul and helped to found Athens College in Greece:

https://www.thenationalherald.com/t...ebuilt-their-lives-and-built-a-better-greece/

George would be the right age to be Anastasios' son. (George's father would likely be in his 40s in 1922, and if he was prosperous enough to send his son to an elite school, he must have been prosperous enough to buy a nice watch as well.)

But that is just a tantalizing guess. It would be interesting to talk with George's descendants to see if they had a grandfather named Anastasios.

 

I thank you again

Seems limited information. It seems the name could be written:

Αναστάσιος Φυλακτόπουλος

 

I am beginning to understand the possible significance of 1922 Constantinople and why on such a nice
watch, the inscription was most likely done by hand by the owner of the watch.

I found on the outter side of the cuvee another name and date.
Phy Phylactopoulos ( a female name?)
( )
24 Nov 1922

The inner side said
Anastacios Phylactopoulos (a male name)
( ) 4 Nov 1922

I don't think they survived the Greek Genocide and someone wanted to remember the day they possibly died.
The watch seems to have witnessed a mass exodus of a Greek population from Istanbul in 1922.


==============================================================

 

The last several days there have been some updates to this story. I have been fortunate to get a contact from "G", a grand nephew of the original owner of this watch. This person is also doing a little more asking of questions among his family members to understand a little more background. So far, it seems that Phyl Phylactopoulos may have been a uniform supplier to the Turkish Rail Roads.



This is some quick information from Wikipedia about Chemin de Fer d'Anatolie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Republican Period (1920-1950)[edit]
During the Turkish War of Independence, the new breakaway government in Ankara held control over sections of railways located in central and southern Anatolia. In 1920, these were brought under the roof of Chemin de Fer d'Anatolie ("Anadolu Şimendiferleri" - distinct from "Ottoman Anatolian Railways") with its center in Ankara and administered by Behiç Erkin, the founding figure of modern Turkey's railway network and a colonel at the time. Erkin pursued his office as director general beyond the war during a crucial period that lasted until 1926, after which he was Turkey's minister for transports for two years.

In 1923, Turkish railways entered into what the Turkish State Railways term the "Republic Period", a "golden age" that lasted until 1950.[1] During this time, the railways that had already been created were repurposed to serve Turkish financial interests, prioritizing industrial growth in such industries as iron, steel and coal.[1] In addition to claiming existing lines, the Turkish government extended lines into the previously underrepresented Central and Eastern areas of Turkey to achieve near balance. Between 1935 and 1945, emphasis was placed on construction of junction lines, to improve industrial connectivity and also strengthen national defense. As a result, distance of travel between various points was significantly shortened.

During this period, the following main routes were constructed:[1]

• Ankara-Kayseri-Sivas
• Sivas-Erzurum (Caucasus line)
• Samsun-Kalin (near Sivas)
• Irmak-Filyos (Zonguldak ( coal line)
• Adana-Fevzipaşa-Diyarbakır ( Copper line)
• Sivas-Çetinkaya (Iron line)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Wonderful update! How did you manage to get in touch with the descendants?

It would be interesting to know whether 1922 was at the beginning or end of Mr. Phylactopolous' career. If the latter, he must have worked with the railroads in the late Ottoman period. There is an interesting story there, as rival European powers worked to build competing railroad projects in order to build their influence over the empire, which they anticipated dividing up amongst themselves (as indeed happened, mostly). The Ottoman state guaranteed the profits of the foreign railway companies, who mostly designed the routes to benefit their own national merchants. The Hejaz railway - made famous by Lawrence of Arabia's exploits in the First World War - was an Ottoman effort to build a railway managed by the state, for their own interests. The British hated it as it offered the Ottomans easier access to Palestine and western Arabia, which they saw as their own sphere of influence. The main work on this is Murat Özyüksel's "The Hejaz Railway", from which you can read a long excerpt here.

After the foundation of the Republic, the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) issued watches, like many other countries. There's a lot there for the completist - Omega, Longines, Zenith... Or for cheapskates like myself, Cortébert! Here's one that I used to own:

 

How did he contact me? Another mystery to add to the stack.

 

Hello - thanks for the interseting post. As one of rare Turkish members of the forum, I hope I can be of a little (and delayed!) help.

I have several Longines pocket and writswatches from the era, all supplied by Nasib Djezvedjian & Sons. They were the only and main supplier of Longines watches to Ottoman Empire and Turkiye until at least the 1970s.

As I mentioned in my post under a relevant thread, the Arabic letters read 'Nasib', so it has nothing to do with the owner but the dealer. I guess Longines were engraving 'Nasib' text to all the pocket and wrist watches that it supplied to Nasib Djezvedjian as a gesture. Just wanted to drop this, so that route would not lead anywhere in terms of any provenance.