Last Few Outings: Silver pocket watch, Sales Tax Tokens, Letter Opener..

[black651]

Been so busy at work that I haven't had hardly any time to go out hunting. I did manage to scrape a few quick "in and out" forays together and got some various items.

The best one was the silver pocket watch. It has some scratches in the glass face but inside was very clean. The coolest part was when I saw inside that it was labeled with ".800" - as this means it's coin silver I think. Silver's always good on my book. When I hold the winding dial, it TICKS! Something must be kind of off inside as I can't get it to run without my holding the dial but it does work well when I do. The inside case was inscribed with "Cylindre 10 Rubis" and had both German and Swiss stamps. The mechanism is labeled "Swiss Made". I'm not sure of how old it is but some of the other items I got out of that area were from the late 1800's.

Other finds: Silver earrings, Advertising letter opener, Axe head, Old Yale lock, Mississippi sales tax token, 1890 Indian Cent, couple wheats: 1934, 1936, and on and on. Lots of misc stuff....

I don't know much about old tools but I may work on getting the axe head cleaned up. It'll give me something to do while I go through detecting withdrawl this winter. ARRRGGHH! I don't even want to think about it!

Enough of my banter. I have to go do some laundry before I head to sleep. Good luck everyone!!

(Darn! I forgot to upload some of the photos to my computer - I'll post them as a follow up post to this one. My apologies to all.)

-Chris

 

[BobinSouthVA]

Wow that watch is very nice. Everyone I've found has been in pieces and packed with dirt.

 

[augusthog]

Outstanding watch! Well done!

 

[black651]

Thanks - I know what you mean. The first one I found was smashed and the second one was better, but rusted (although the insides were much better and it had it's plastic face plate intact.) This one was in very good shape. I'm hoping I can figure out how to get it running again maybe.

As promised, here are the rest of my misc photos that I stupidly forgot to upload:

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Beautiful pocket watch and other finds ! Better than the watch I dug up last week d aWg

 

[Mr Tuff]

AWESOME watch!!!! MR TUFF

 

[Aquila]

Nice pocketwatch!

 

[treasurefiend]

Sweeeeeet finds!!!!!!!

 

[Night Stalker]

Wow, awesome finds and VERY clear pictures, that watch is beautiful....wtg and keep posting those finds!

 

[Dirt fishing Wolf]

Super find B651!! Looks like the yellow car is a 1957 Chevy.

 

[Indianhead Jones]

That is one gorgeous watch, Chris...I am envious, sir!

Larry G.

 

[txconservative]

Wow man those are some awesome finds ! ! 8)

 

[colorado14ers]

very cool watcha dn other finds!!!!! you always find the great stuff!!!

 

[DirtMan1]

Man, i'd like to find a pocket watch like that! CONGRATS

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Thats a sweet watch. I think an 800 mark for silver is a german mark. You see that on WWII german badges.

 

[Iron Patch]

I've never seen a pocket watch come out that clean! Especially comparing the two I've found. There must be a name somewhere, and is probably worth looking into because it's one of the very few that can probably be completely restored.

 

[Argentium]

Black , Your watch is a wonderful find in that condition, I think a date of 1890--1910 is about
right . the 800 designation is for the silver purity - typically coin silver is 900 - it is not uncommon
to see 800 on silver from Russia and some Scandinavian countries - Although it was apparently
made in Switzerland , it may very well have been hallmarked and marketed elsewhere . Great
Find ! Argentium.

 

[mountainplayer]

Black,

Fantastic pocket watch! You ought to be able to date that one conclusively from the serial number on the movement. If found one this spring, and its condition is almost as nice as yours. Wish mine had a silver case.

MP

 

[black651]

Thank you all for the comments and information!

I was not able to find any clues online so far on the company that made this watch. The number on the outside case is the same as the one on the inside watch case (the double case was one of the reasons the mechanism was better protected from the elements I believe - that and it was buried in some rotted cloth/rug when I dug it up).

The watch mechanism does say "Swiss Made" but I haven't lucked into any info on the actual maker yet. I would love to get this running again but when I looked up the "Cylinder" type pocket watch I did find out it would be very difficult or expensive to have repaired. Just wish I could figure out how to do it myself because this does start ticking if I hold the winder manually, as though winding it (it's wound as far as it can go, and I just hold it until the small latch lets up just a bit on the gear) - but it stops when I let go. When I heard the ticking sound it was one of the most wonderful sounds I have ever heard. Like hearing a voice from 100 years ago.

Thanks again for the insights to this watch!