Pocket Watch, Brass Hinges, and a thing...

Bucket Lister

Bronze Member
Dec 20, 2023
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XP Dēus II
XP MI-6
XP WSA II-XL
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Today started out extremely discouraging (continuation of bad month detectorily speaking). I had just decided the hole I was digging would be my last for the day (hadn't found bupkis aside from the usual fistful of rusty nails), when things began to turn around. I can't even remember what the piece of junk was that I found that encouraged me to continue, but I did.

The next hole, I found a brass hinge. Two feet away, I found another--identical, and the pocket watch, and the... thing.
I found a wristwatch once before in this yard--much smaller.

I thought the cool thing about this watch is that the minute hand is still there, and you can see where the second hand (or days) dial was just above 6 o'clock. Hinges are both frozen and slightly deformed (Why else would they throw brass hinges away?)
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Then comes the "thing" (whatever it is). Most of it appears to be shiny black plastic (possibly bakelite?) but it set off my pinpointer like a hot rock would.
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Upvote 10
Last item pictured looks like the base portion of an old light bulb.
Possible. It didn't occur to me that the black part was glass; the edges are smooth--not sharp.

I'll have to look up some old bulb construction to see if I can date it.
 

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Glad you got the pocket watch that would have made my day worthwhile
It did. 😁 I dug the first brass hinge, then got the signal for the second hinge, and when I flipped the plug, there was the watch. The second hinge was below it but to one side.

After that I dug one more hole--only to find I was chasing yet another square nail. Time to call it a day...
 

Possible. It didn't occur to me that the black part was glass; the edges are smooth--not sharp.

I'll have to look up some old bulb construction to see if I can date it.
Would guess age is after the discovery of AC electrical current in 1886. Have seen a few of the earlier bulbs before and think the full black glass base was fairly common from the 1890s to around the 1920-30s or so..? not certain on/for dates into the 1900s.
 

Those brass hinges should be usable with a little cleanup. I have a set on a little box outside our door that have been in use for 11 years and are just the same as new.
 

Today started out extremely discouraging (continuation of bad month detectorily speaking). I had just decided the hole I was digging would be my last for the day (hadn't found bupkis aside from the usual fistful of rusty nails), when things began to turn around. I can't even remember what the piece of junk was that I found that encouraged me to continue, but I did.

The next hole, I found a brass hinge. Two feet away, I found another--identical, and the pocket watch, and the... thing.
I found a wristwatch once before in this yard--much smaller.

I thought the cool thing about this watch is that the minute hand is still there, and you can see where the second hand (or days) dial was just above 6 o'clock. Hinges are both frozen and slightly deformed (Why else would they throw brass hinges away?)
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Then comes the "thing" (whatever it is). Most of it appears to be shiny black plastic (possibly bakelite?) but it set off my pinpointer like a hot rock would.
View attachment 2170268
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Nice!!! Congrats!!!
 

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