Pocket watches serve an excellent and exquisite gift for men who deserve real appreciation. Nothing tells love and affection like that of a silver watch engraved with a special heart felt message. Silver Pocket Watches are generally of two kinds; the ones that wind up and automatic mechanical pocket watches. Avalon, Bernex (Swiss), Camero Railroad (Swiss), Charles Hubert, Paris, Desperado, Dueber (Swiss), Jean Marcel (Swiss), Jules Jurgensen, and Rapport of London are some names worth mentioning for manufacturing exclusive pocket watches. The wind up silver pocket watches make great wedding and groomsmen gifts. They are also perfect for corporate gifts as well as for a retiree or for anyone that deserves the classic look and realism of a wind up pocket watch.
These silver watches come in various price ranges. There’s one for everyone and for every occasion. If you are an antique lover, there’s something for you as well. Authentic mechanical antique and vintage silver pocket watches are also available. Hamilton, Dueber-Hampden, Ball, Howard, Rockford, Illinois, Waltham, and Elgin are some of the well known manufacturers for vintage pocket watches. If you like to personalize your silver pocket watch, say for an baby announcement or wedding anniversary gift for dad/husband/son or father’s day, wedding or for birthdays, you can monogram your special message or engraving on the silver pocket watches. It not only adds a classic look but also shows your passion for your loved one.
Before engraving your precious silver pocket watch with the special message, you have to consider these tips in mind:
Explain your requirements to the store that does the engraving for you. They may also help you in choosing the best pocket watches for engraving. They might also be able to recommend an engraver in particular who will do a top quality job for you. Look for pocket watches with room to engrave. You don’t want a smaller watch with no room to engrave which could end up in congested messages. Before the engraving begins make sure the spelling and names are all correct on a piece of paper so that there is no room for mistakes, well in that case it could be a costly mistake!
Pocket watches though lost their popularity down the lane after the invention of the wrist watches they still hold a special place in a man’s heart. After all you will never know what you might just find in your pocket the next time you reach for a change!
Silver pocket watches are a fine piece of jewelry that is quite valuable nowadays. Silver pocket watches look elegant and are timeless in their value. You will not get your hands on an genuine antique silver pocket watch nowadays unless you pay a high price or you are very lucky. Silver pocket watches make a great gift for your loved ones. Not only the genuine watches but also replicas are considered as gifts these days. Replicas are particularly gifted to children and youngsters. These replica silver pocket watches are mass produced with latest technologies but lack the antique quality of the real ones hence they come quite cheap.
As can be understood by their name, pocket watches are meant to be carried inside a pocket. Since they are supposed to be worn in a pocket, they are often accompanied with a chain to fasten the watch to the waistcoat, belt or button holes of the shirt while wearing it in the pocket. The numbers used in a silver pocket watch are often roman numerals although it is not uncommon to see normal numbers at times. In addition, most silver pocket watches come with a lid to protect the glass of watch from scratches and breakage. There are also some models without lids but they will not last long because there is no protection. Hence it is important to make sure there is a lid mechanism for the watch before purchasing it. Also, it is important to check whether the lid mechanism is working properly because it may be worn with time.
Pocket watches are made of precious metals particularly gold and silver. Silver pocket watches come with a number of different designs on them. Collectors take pride in the number of designs they have in their collection silver pocket watches. You should be lucky to get your hands on one of the older and beautiful designs on silver pocket watches. During the early 19th century, it is customary for the US government to issue silver pocket watches to the railway workers to ensure all the workers have the same time running on their watches to avoid train accidents.
In the late 20th century the silver pocket watches were overtaken by wrist watches. Most of the manufacturers stopped producing silver pocket watches. However some manufacturers like Hamilton, Waltham, Elgin and Ingersoll are sill highly sought after for silver pocket watches. After all these years, the silver pocket watch though lost as a mainstream timekeeping watch, is still used by many people for their antique value and sheer elegance.
Although examples of portable clocks, that could be placed inside a pocket, can be found dating from as early as the middle 15th century, it was not until virtually the start of the 1700''s that improvements to the escapement mechanism of the pocket watch enabled pocket watches to be regarded as a practical means of both recording and telling the time.
Early portable watches were cumbersome, had only an hour hand, and had to be wound up at least twice a day and to find the timing of the clock to be inaccurate by over an hour was not at all unusual.
By the early 18th century - gradual improvements to the escapement mechanism meant that pocket watches were able to be made, by locksmiths, in a more compact style and Swiss jewelers started to place precious gems such as diamonds, sapphires and rubies at points of contact between the metal parts - increasing the quality of performance and reducing wear and tear. Using sterling silver (which is a silver alloy at least 92.5 per cent pure silver) casings were made, to protect both the movement and face of the watch. From its very rough beginnings, the pocket watch reached its zenith in the century between 1840 and 1940, with the introduction of machine made parts making quality, reliable pocket watches readily and cheaply available. At the high-end of the market, many pocket watches were produced which might appropriately be regarded as jewelry – with encrusted gems and enameled with casing of silver and gold.
It is interesting to note the importance of reliable pocket watches to the running of the US railroad, and how the necessity for accurate watches in order to run the railroad led to improvements in the mechanisms of the pocket watch. Not surprisingly, with this close affinity, quite a number of pocket watches have been named after railroad conductors. When the trench watch, which was worn on the wrist, came to be used by the military as being more accessible than the pocket watch to use in active warfare, it popularized the use of the wrist watch by both men and women and by the end of the 1940’s the pocket watch finally met its demise.
Are you thinking about buying or start collecting some antique silver pocket watches? You have come to the right place. Here you will find all the information you need to start your hobby or just buy those antique silver pocket that you always dreamed of buying.
Let us start with a little history about silver pocket watches. The first pocket watches started to appear as early as the 16th century. The classic antique type silver pocket watches which followed these early silver pocket watches have become a status symbol of those times. Earlier these watches were primarily made of steel and as metalworkers got skilled with precious metals such as gold and silver, silver pocket watches started to appear. During the earlier stages of the silver pocket watches, they were not very accurate due to the coil spring clock used to measure time. Also, early pocket watches did not have any protecting cover over them.
However, as time went by pocket watches became more sophisticated and more accurate in measuring time. In fact, it was said that a train accident was caused by this silver pocket watch because one of the train engineers’ watch has stopped for a few minutes. By the end of the 19th century, these watches became quite popular and people started collecting them. The antique pieces before this time can be found only in national museum collections nowadays. Since, before that time these watches were not produced in large numbers, their value raises exponentially with time and more so in the future. Particularly, antique watches from Europe are more valuable in this sense since they are very rare.
Antique watches also need skill to maintain them properly once you get hands on one of them. The wonderful mechanical engineering of olden times is so subtle that you need to take extreme care while handling those watches to avoid any accidents. In addition to this, it should also be remembered that it is extremely difficult to find any missing parts of those watches in these modern times. If any part of the watch is gone, it is gone forever. If you must have a missing part of an antique watch then the only way to get one is to get one made customized.
It is to be remembered that during the long history of silver pocket watches there have also been duplicates and imitations produced that look exactly like the original ones at the first look. But of course they lack the quality and value of the real antique silver pocket watches.
A gold or silver Hunter style pocket watch was an indispensable accessory to the gentlemen of the period 1840 into the early 20th century, and reference to the Hunter is made in many a novel and writing of this period and time. The Hunter was held by a fob, consisting of chain and ornaments attaching to the pocket watch, by which the pocket watch was attached to the waistcoat, lapel or belt loop.
The Hunter is a pocket watch contained in a hinged casing so as to give protection to both the dial and the crystal from damage. The spring hinge is released by pressing on the winding stem, located at the 3 o’clock position on the dial and this releases the cover of the Hunter pocket watch, which is hinged at the 9 o’clock position, so that the face of the dial can be read.
The traditional Hunter pocket watch is in the savonnette style, meaning that the seconds dial is aligned at 90 degrees to the winding stem, as opposed to a lepine style in which the seconds dial and the winding stem are on the same axis - placing the winding stem in the lepine style in the 12 o’clock position. In modern times, this tradition has been ignored and it is possible to find later versions of the Hunter made in either savonnette or lepine style.
A full Hunter pocket watch has a solid metal lid over the face of the dial and the crystal – in order to view the dial – the lid has to be opened. A half- hunter is made in a similar way to the full hunter, so as to enclose the watch and movement but in the front lid is contained a small round glazed panel of glass through which the various positions on the dial can easily be viewed without any need to remove the cover. The half- hunter makes the dial more readily accessible and provides to the pocket watch additional protection against damage and dust.
The casing of a Hunter is sometimes known by its alternative name of Consular – so that the pocket watch becomes known as a Consular watch. In the casing of the consular watch, there are two sets of hinges. Not only does the front cover open by pressing on the winding stem – but the back of the watch itself is attached to the inside back of the casing.