I have a 0.585 (14K) rose gold Omega pocket watch which I found in my mother's things (probably my grandparent's) from around 1905 judging by the serial number. On the inside of the back there is mark that says Omega which is surrounded by a circle/oval at the bottom of which it appears to have an A over a W. Does this mean something? Above the Omega mark there is what I believe is a crown inside a circle. What dies this crown mean? When I open the back to access the works, the inside of the cover says what I believe is JUIVAR. What does that mean? I may be wrong about the AW and Juivar because my magnifying glass is not as strong as it should be for me to be sure that is what it says but I'll go with that for now. I would appreciate any comments regarding these things. Thank you

 

It would help if you could post clear and sharp photos of the watch.

Makes things a lot easier.

 

Hello @Signe and welcome to the forum!

The symbols you are describing are hallmarks or maker's marks. Hallmarks are marks that indicate and verify the purity of a precious metal (gold or silver) case. A maker's mark is the case manufacturer's trademark. Both hallmarks and maker's marks were required and regulated by many countries and each country and casemaker had their own system of marks. As you might imagine, there are dozens and dozens of different hallmarks and maker's marks seen on watch cases, which is why we need a picture of yours.

A crown inside a circle was seen on German-made gold cases from the 1880s and later:



An excellent resource for hallmarks and maker's marks is here: https://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/casemarks.php

 

I'll try but the marks are very tiny.

 

Juivar probably should be “cuiver “ which refers to the inner case back. The word cuiver is French for copper. The case may be karat gold, but the cuvette (inner case back) is base metal

 

Thanks. That is helpful. I will try to take a picture but the marks are very small and my phone camera without a tripod doesn't focus well on such small items.

 

Oh, very interesting.