How old is this watch?

[JudyK]

What can you tell me about this watch? It probably belonged to one of my grandparents or great grandparents in England. How old is it? Is the pendant that holds it also from Longines? Doesn’t seem to work at the moment. I found it while clearing out my Dad’s house.

 

[Dan S]

We could take a guess, but if you can take it out of the mounting (not from Longines, BTW), you might be able to open the case and show the serial number on the movement.

 

[DaveK]

Just open the back and get pics Dan suggested. The dial has a lot of radium on it, you don’t want to play with it out of the case.

 

[JudyK]

How do you open it? It’s not obvious to me

 

[Dan S]

J JudyK

How do you open it? It’s not obvious to me

You will probably need to pry it open with a knife. First, remove it from the mounting, then look closely at the back and around the side and see if you can figure it out. If you can't, take it to a watchmaker. We can't help you with the photos you've provided.

 

[JudyK]

Dan S

You will probably need to pry it open with a knife. First, remove it from the mounting, then look closely at the back and around the side and see if you can figure it out. If you can't, take it to a watchmaker. We can't help you with the photos you've provided.

Ok, got it apart. There is a number on the watch mechanism itself - 4709683 which puts it around 1926-27. It also has 4063 stamped on it. The case says Wadsworth Quality 14 karat gold filled 7364062 11 88. Does that date seem right?

I used this page https://www.brittons-watches.co.uk/... approximate age,when your watch was produced.

 

[Dan S]

I would say late 20s is about right, I wouldn't trust those charts to greater accuracy than that. It appears to be a cal 1188 movement, and it is in a US case made by Wadsworth, which was sometimes done to save on import duty. Note the 4063 on the back of the case itself matches the last 4 digits of the case number inside the case-back. That was done as a way to marking matching case and case-back.

 

[JudyK]

Dan S

I would say late 20s is about right, I wouldn't trust those charts to greater accuracy than that. It appears to be a cal 1188 movement, and it is in a US case made by Wadsworth, which was sometimes done to save on import duty. Note the 4063 on the back of the case itself matches the last 4 digits of the case number inside the case-back. That was done as a way to marking matching case and case-back.

It was owned either my my relatives in England or Canada, not the US. I’m thinking it must have been my Canadian grandmother or great grandmother’s. When did people wear watches on pendants?

 

[Dan S]

I'm pretty sure Wadsworth was a US watch case company, but I suppose it could have been cased in the US for the Canadian market. If it was actually sold in England, then that case is probably not original. But I think it's more likely that the case is original.

The pendant was probably added at the point of sale or after. The 20s were an interesting and transitional time for watches, with wristwatches still gradually gaining acceptance. IIRC, they were actually more common for women than for men, who still largely preferred PWs. The pendant mount isn't terribly common to find these days, so it's an interesting piece of history.

Edited: Sep 15, 2024

 

[JudyK]

Thanks. It’s interesting to learn about it.

 

[Syrte]

Over the years I saw a great many American market Longines such as this one which ended up in the UK or Canada. It would totally make sense if this one belonged to a Canadian relative.

The style is indeed typical of the 1920s, I find the movement in incredibly good shape for a watch of this era. Looks to have been serviced only once judging by the marks on the case back- and the condition of the screws.
It’s a nice watch, which if properly serviced could serve another 100 years perhaps.