Pocket Watchlopnik: Curse-related family heirloom edition!

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 06/20/2020 at 18:09 • Filed to: watchlopnik, WATCHES

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I’ve been inspired by El_ULY’s posts, so here’s our family heirloom Elgin pocket watch! This model was made from 1904-1933, with this one being made in 1905.

The original crystal is missing and in its place is a strangely foggy replacement which none of us know the explanation for. However, the watch still works and keeps time accurately. Elgin was a pretty innovative company during its 100-year history from 1864 to 1964, being one of the few true American watchmakers and one of the first to adopt mass-production techniques. Pocket watches used to all be individually hand-made, which meant that if a part broke you had to take it to a specialist to have a custom replacement part made and fitted by hand. As a result, buying and repairing watches was quite expensive. Although Elgin watches were still assembled by hand, their mass-produced mechanical components made them more affordable and easier to fix while still being good quality.

This does mean, however, that Elgin watches were produced in relatively high numbers, so their values aren’t as high compared to other antique watches. So with the few little scratches on the case and the foggy crystal, our pocket watch probably isn’t a valuable collectors’ item or anything like that.

But it’s still a 115-year-old antique pocket watch in good working condition, which makes it seriously cool IMO. And what makes it even cooler is that the case has some really cool engraved pictures on it which I haven’t seen on any other Elgin watch, making it a bit more unique.

The best part, though, is that it came with a note listing all the theories about how my great-grandpa originally obtained the watch and why the crystal is fogged. The most interesting one is that a mysterious stranger brought it to him around 1960something and asked him to fix it and replace the crystal. My great-grandpa was an inventor and had done plenty of stuff like this before, so I could see him doing something like this. The story goes that he used a piece of a bottle to make a replacement crystal, but then he tried to clean it using the wrong cleaning solution, which resulted in the crystal fogging up. When the stranger returned and saw the fogged-up crystal, he was furious and CURSED my great-grandpa with a speech impediment! Supposedly, this is why he spoke with a lisp later in life. But the stranger left the watch behind, and it became a family heirloom. My dad has it currently, and someday it will be mine. It may not be all that valuable, but I like it :)

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 06/20/2020 at 18:14

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Another one of those respectable, quality brands that has lead a zombie afterlife slapped onto cheap, generic garbage imported from lowest cost bidders in the Far East. 

Jim Spanfeller > ranwhenparked 06/20/2020 at 18:16

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I haven’t heard of modern knockoff Elgins... Perhaps that’s why my mom is convinced she’s seen the brand name on modern watches.

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 06/20/2020 at 18:19

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I’ve seen it used mainly on wall clocks. Not sure who owns the brand now, doesn’t seem to be consistently marketed, but they seem to turn up from time to time at housewares and department stores.

Jim Spanfeller > ranwhenparked 06/20/2020 at 18:23

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Interesting... From what I’ve read, the real Elgin company went out of business in 1964. They’re gone for good. Whoever is making these new “Elgins” is making a knockoff product, but there’s probably no actual copyright infringement going on or nobody cares, since the real Elgin certainly isn’t losing money from this...

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Jim Spanfeller 06/20/2020 at 19:08

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Oh I think I have a family Elgin somewhere, I don’t think it works, it was in a chest full of stuff. My grandparents had a huge house with lots of hoarding room. 

ClassicDatsunDebate > Jim Spanfeller 06/20/2020 at 19:33

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Ha! EL_ULY’s post inspired me to seek out my grandfather’s pocket watch from the back of my closet. I’ve never really thought about it since I inherited it in 2002. It’s a Waltham built in 1916. Looks like the case was built in 1930. It was definitely a working mans watch and it’s got the scars to show for it. I wish it could tell all the stories of clearing a homestead, raising 4 kids on a 1/4 section farm, fishing camps and wrenching on all that equipment..and neighbours equipment and cars and boats and buildings.

Jim Spanfeller > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 06/20/2020 at 20:10

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The nice thing about Elgins is that you can still get parts for them since they were mass-produced. So i f you wanted to, you could probably fix your watch if it’s broken.

Jim Spanfeller > ClassicDatsunDebate 06/20/2020 at 20:14

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Nice! I love how even the more common pocket watches of this era have fancy engravings/pretty patterns inside. Have you tried winding it up to see if it works?

ClassicDatsunDebate > Jim Spanfeller 06/20/2020 at 20:28

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I did...it was whirring away when I took those shots.

The workmanship, even on these less expensive models, is crazy. Waltham built 325k of this model between 1906 and 1919 but if you look at the workings, they look like masterpieces. I boggles the mind why they went through all the hassle of filigree on those components hardly anyone would see. I guess it was an expensive purchase back in the day...regardless of where it sat on the quality scale,  therefore all the fanciness.

Jim Spanfeller > ClassicDatsunDebate 06/20/2020 at 20:33

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Cool! I imagine anyone would’ve felt proud after purchasing a pocket watch back then. When doing some research on ours , I discovered that the original price was $10-12. When a steak cost 3 cents back then, that was no small amount! A nd with the fancy engraved case ours has, it would’ve cost even more...