My first dug silver watch

[neodetectorist]

I went out and hit the woods today. Found the usual nails, foil balls, headstamps and iron bits then had this screaming quarter hit. Actually thought I found my first silver quarter but much to my surprise it was a watch. Getting dark I put it in my pouch and headed back to the truck.
As I was cleaning it up at first I saw no markings on the back. The pin holding the back on easily broke and I lifted the back off and was stoked to find first the 935 stamp.
Very exciting for me.



There are 5 Halmarks stamped there also.
2 standing bears. 1 above and 1 below the 935 mark.
What looks like W over a Co
L M with a flower in between
A crescent moon next to a crown which research lead me to believe this stamp indicating a Swiss made watch imported to Germany.
This appears to be a WWI trench watch.
Maybe the owner served in the war and purchased this watch in Germany or possibly brought it home as a war souvenir.
A marking on the outer back put a personal touch on the watch. The owner scratched his initials “WEH” on the back.
This watch will not ever serve to display the time obviously but I think in some way is one of my most unique and favorite finds.
Any other info on this would be appreciated.
Thanks for looking.

 

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[diggingthe1]

Beauty of a watch! That was a treasure back then and now! I am excited to find out more. Congrats on such a nice piece of history!!!!

 

[scruggs]

Nice oldie watch!

 

[DigToChina]

Let's suppose that watch actually did come from Germany and was used in WW1. It had a heck of a journey (and a hellish one on the lines at that!) to get under your coil. Nice recovery [emoji106]🏻

 

[trdking]

Good Ol USA Crescent Watch Case Company 10 size with a Triple sunk Dial (high end dial) Any movement left? It says swiss because US watch makers "imported"watch makers from Switzerland to make watches here. "Swiss" Made made by "swiss" people? They got away with it My Great Grandfather was one of them. Still have the watch he made to graduate from Watch making school in Thailweil? Switzerland. It is curious to see the crescent and crown A German Hallmark without another country hallmark (That I recognize ) As If this were made in Germany it would have stayed there or have an import mark of the receiving country. You did say swiss made for Germany but it would have been the other way around as the swiss importing into Germany would not add Germanys Hall mark. This being the Crescent Watch Co stamp up top with the Crown and Crescent to the left This could be a case made in Germany for import to the USA (Im thinking) Either way the fact that you see Swiss on the part other the the case Dial? Movement? means nothing as Early watches were purchased in pieces and assembled by the jeweler "Custom" e.g. you bought the dial, hands, case and movement separately and it was assembled for you. It is not unusual at all to see high end movements in cheap case and the other way around depending on if you wanted accuracy on a budget or flashy but could care less about the time. or parts and pieces from different countries ending up in the same watch. Your watch looked a lot like this one when it was intact I think. 1912 {About?} - Antique Omega Watch

 

[against the wind]

Beautiful Recovery,, lots of great information in this post.

 

[neodetectorist]

Awesome info. Thank you so much. The S/N puts it between 1903-1904.

 

[trdking]

Is there a movement>? Or is it a shell? Would love to have a pic of it

 

[vpnavy]

..: NICE FIND NeoHioDetectorist :..
Thanks for sharing!​

 

[neodetectorist]

Is there a movement>? Or is it a shell? Would love to have a pic of it

The movement did not fair well in the ground.

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the nice old watch

 

[trdking]

View attachment 1506636
The movement did not fair well in the ground.

It faired better than I thought. Puzzling. Not what I expected to see. It looks like a Lepine movement 3/4 bridge with one floating finger to hold the escape. These were made for IWC but the quality is not there in this piece. Lepine made for anyone that wanted a movement. Wonder if someone was making knock offs? This happened a lot back then. Time for me to hit the bible and see if I can make it all add up. Do you see evidence of this case having wire lugs on both sides? Is there a hole for the crown? Is it at 3 or 9 o'clock to the crown or if no second lug is it on the bottom or other side of the lug?

 

[Loco-Digger]

Congrats on pulling that siver watch from the woods. That will display nicely.

 

[neodetectorist]

It faired better than I thought. Puzzling. Not what I expected to see. It looks like a Lepine movement 3/4 bridge with one floating finger to hold the escape. These were made for IWC but the quality is not there in this piece. Lepine made for anyone that wanted a movement. Wonder if someone was making knock offs? This happened a lot back then. Time for me to hit the bible and see if I can make it all add up. Do you see evidence of this case having wire lugs on both sides? Is there a hole for the crown? Is it at 3 or 9 o'clock to the crown or if no second lug is it on the bottom or other side of the lug?

If by lug you mean the other wrist strap loop yes there was evidence of one opposite of the one that survived.
Crown? Yes there is a hole where the crown would have been. Rotating the watch face under light, the crown is at the 3. In fact, rotating the face under light, all the numbers 1-12 can be seen except the 6 which is covered by the seconds face.
The hinge for the back is at the 9.
WOW I am getting an education on this. Thank you.
.

 

[sutphin]

DANG NICE

 

[Silver Saver]

That is a super cool and unique find. Grats on saving it from the ground and adding it to your collection!