Hey guys found this pocket watch right at the end of 2016. I was visiting a local pawn when I noticed a sad old looking pocket watch sitting neglected by everyone. The crystal had yellowed, the hands were rusty, the dial was dirty, a small part of the gold had worn off the bottom of the case. They had it marked at $380 and I thought absolutely no way but before I put it away the lady explained to me that they had never been able to get it open thus nobody had seen the movement, some guy had loaned it to them and never came back for it. It was a swing out movement case which are actually quite hard to open if you have no idea. When I saw the movement I was shocked, one of Hamilton's best movements ever made the 946!! 23 jewels with only a little over 10,000 produced, produced August 12, 1905. Eventually she came all the way down to $275. Still quite a bit but definitely worth it for this, gave my watchmaker $35 and he restored it cosmetically. Runs nicely for now but really should be serviced. I was the first to actually open it up in their shop lol.
The next pocket watch I found at a really sketchy pawn shop. They only wanted $70 for it so I gave them $50 with a 7 day cash back policy which is always nice. Now $50 for any pocket watch in this condition is always a good deal. Problem was that again nobody could get the pocket watch open, neither could I because the back was stuck on tightly. When I bought it I knew it could have something very nice on the inside or something just OKAY..... I struggled to get it open for hours until I got a great idea to grab my sticky lint roller and peeled off some of the paper, I wadded it up onto the back of the watch and twisted as hard as I could and it finally gave and opened up. The movement really couldn't have been any better!! 21 jewels Bunn Special Illinois railroad grade. The watch is in very very nice condition aside from the fact it doesn't run great. Sweet gamble and it paid off, also had tons of fun trying to get it open just wondering what was inside!
The next pocket watch I found at a really sketchy pawn shop. They only wanted $70 for it so I gave them $50 with a 7 day cash back policy which is always nice. Now $50 for any pocket watch in this condition is always a good deal. Problem was that again nobody could get the pocket watch open, neither could I because the back was stuck on tightly. When I bought it I knew it could have something very nice on the inside or something just OKAY..... I struggled to get it open for hours until I got a great idea to grab my sticky lint roller and peeled off some of the paper, I wadded it up onto the back of the watch and twisted as hard as I could and it finally gave and opened up. The movement really couldn't have been any better!! 21 jewels Bunn Special Illinois railroad grade. The watch is in very very nice condition aside from the fact it doesn't run great. Sweet gamble and it paid off, also had tons of fun trying to get it open just wondering what was inside!
