Help case france

TimeODanaos

Please would anyone engaged with this thread please tell me who << PGF >> are? 📖 That is, the letters inscribed inside the diamond shape at the top of the inside of the caseback in the OP photo? That logo has been driving me mad for a couple of years now, so you would be kindly assisting my mental wellbeing - thank you! 👍

kedrico

I'm late sorry, hope you'll catch this.
P"G"F stands for Paul Frank et Fils, an established case maker near Paris (in Saint Leu la forêt) who was working in precious metals, for Longines and Omega, afaik. The G is not a letter but a symbol between two initials, a mandatory jeweller's stamp.

François Pépin

Hi,


Thanks for your message. I have seen this Paul Franck hypothesis but with no clear evidence until now. Could you please tell us how or where you got this info? Thanks!


Cheers,

Francois

Flip

I think you are maybe correct to assume the 750 was added later, likely at the assay office. I believe this is the case (pardon the pun) previously discussed about mine.
I recently found this which has added a new twist to my search ...

http://info.hktdc.com/alert/eu0416a.htm

As a rule, jewellery items produced in or imported into France must be engraved with two hallmarks:
the producer's or responsible person's hallmark i.e., the specific hallmark of the producer or the importer in France which is meant to identify him; and

the so-called certifying hallmark which, until 1 July 2004, had to be engraved by either the State, an accredited body or the producer himself, certifying the percentage of gold, silver or platinum in items of jewellery.

I will elaborate at a future date but I’m inclined to think that different makers, importers, accredited bodies etc will have all had their own way of doing things during this period and sometimes there were anomalies

S sinowatch

Hi, Kedrico, I wish I could help more but unfortunately I do not read or write French. The fellow collector thinks that PF was bought out by Cartier (did not know when) which was not unusual as Cartier had a small workshop of its own and mostly farmed out watch production out to Jaeger (prior to the 70s before all three branches were bought out by investors.)
Perhaps Cartier itself can shed light on this hallmark but they are not very receptive to inquiries.

aprax

I am reviving this thread because I have come across an entry for the PF stamp in the french government database @kedrico pointed out above. So maybe this is now conclusive evidence for what the stamp stands for. It is indeed Paul Franck (written with a c) and the symbol in the middle is a chisel (a burin).

aprax

I am reviving this thread because I have come across an entry for the PF stamp in the french government database @kedrico pointed out above. So maybe this is now conclusive evidence for what the stamp stands for. It is indeed Paul Franck (written with a c) and the symbol in the middle is a chisel (a burin).