Another onliner's opinion from some time ago:
Orvin watches were sold exclusively by Sears and Roebucks and were largely either of a relatively inexpensive mechanism (ebauche) or a more highly regarded movement from Cortebert. Immediately after the second world war the Swiss watchmaking industry dominated the watch market, but Orvin is generally not a sought after brand for collectors, and certainly not outside the USA where a certain sentimental interest probably buoys pricesAnyway, if you've got the lower quality ebauche I would think the watch is worth a few dollars, and if it is the more high-end ebauche, maybe 50 dollars if it is good condition and working.. if you can open the back and take a picture of the movement that would be helpful in establishing the type of watch. Incidentally, the 17 jewels is exactly what you'd expect in a normal fully-jeweled watch and the jewels themselves are artificial rubies of no intrinsic worth.
Don....
