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  1. DirtyDozen12 Thanks, mystery donor! Feb 25, 2016

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    Swiss watches that were originally imported by France often possess distinguishing features. These features can be immediately visible (e.g. “Fab. Suisse”) or less obvious (e.g. French made cases). One practice that is not often discussed is the discreet marking of movements.

    These markings consist of a single letter that is usually stamped on the barrel bridge. This letter indicates the case material. However, only three letters are used: “O”, “A”, and “M”. The letters correspond to the words or, argent, and métal. I have chosen to study these letters by focusing on Longines watches as their historical department is highly cooperative.

    The earliest incidence that I have encountered and confirmed is this example from 1901.

    1901.JPG

    The latest is this example from 1949.

    movement5.JPG

    The letters were used consistently up until the mid-1930’s and seem to disappear entirely by the early 1950’s.

    The impetus to mark movements in such a manner is presently unknown to me. The first clue is the significance given to precious metals. The markings do not distinguish between different non-precious metal case materials.

    It would seem as though the markings were an attempt to confirm that a movement was in its original case (or at least a case made of the ‘correct’ material). This assumes that both marking and case originated from Switzerland. In many cases, Swiss hallmarks confirm the latter and this would suggest that the former is also true.

    One might imagine that cases made of precious metal could have been separated from their movements and sold for their bullion value upon arrival. The letters would serve as evidence that a movement had been re-cased. But was this a particularly French problem? Or was France simply more pre-emptive than other countries in this regard? Also, why would movements encased in non-precious metal require markings?

    If anyone has information regarding these markings or the French importation regulations concerning precious metals during the twentieth century, I am quite interested.
     
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