Quote History Quoted:Thanks! Yes, not everything old is valuable, that's for sure. Everything is stamped 14k, the chain, the clasps, the locket, and the BPOE mount. With google lens I have found one identical chain listed online, and several similar ones (there is currently one on ebay with an insane price). Beyond that initial curiosity I'm not concerned with the scrap value of the gold, my son is named after my great-grandfather to whom who the watch belonged. It will be nice to gift it for him someday, should he want it.
If the age of the case could be somewhat accurately determined, that might shed light on the movement. There is some damage to the main case edge where someone did some prying, so it is possible that the movement was replaced and a less expensive one installed. Of course, my family was never very wealthy, so it could be that my great-grandfather bought the most expensive case & chain he could afford, and saved some pennies on the movement.
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@Andrapos
You're very welcome. That is really neat about your son being named after your great grandfather, the original owner of the watch. Hopefully he will appreciate the watch some day!
Unfortunately it's pretty difficult to determine when a specific pocket watch case was manufactured since there just aren't very many historical records to reference regarding cases. With watch movements the records are much better and you can often cross reference the serial number with one of several databases to learn details of the movement and the estimated production year. (It sounds like you did this, which is how you dated the movement to 1921.) With pocket watch cases about the best you can do most of the time is to try to find digitized catalogs from the case manufacturer and learn when different case designs were available.
It's very possible that your great-grandfather simply decided to spend more of his budget on the solid gold case (and solid gold chain/clasps/locket/etc) and then went with a slightly more modest but still very reliable/serviceable mid-grade Elgin movement. Many people did just that. Of course, I've also seen the exact opposite, high end movements in very basic nickel cases. I guess it all depended on a persons priorities at the time.
I also don't see any obvious signs that another movement was ever in that case -- usually you'll see additional screw marks around the inside lip of the case where a different movement had been mounted previously, since the location of the mounting screws varied from one model/brand of movement to the next.
Btw, I did a little bit of searching and it looks like the retail price of that Elgin 16s Grade 312 movement was $14.00 in 1907. It doesn't sound like much to us, but that was 1907 dollars!
Attached FileFinally, you mentioned some damage to the case from prying... If you're referring to the scratches/scuff marks along the back edge of the case (picture #2), this is very normal and not really considered "damage". Only the front case was spring loaded, so people often used a case opening tool (basically a small knife/blade) to pry open the back cover(s) to gain access to the movement. Nearly every antique pocket watch out there is going to show some normal wear/scratches in that area. Just FYI.
Hope this is helpful!