Featured Little Old Enameled Watch and Fob.......

I'd hang it on a cord, put it around my neck, and wear it working or not.

 

AF knows a whole lot more about watches than I, and can't add much that hasn't already been said, but believe the tiny mark is most likely the small Swiss grouse (coq de bruyère), for some reason, both marks sometimes appear on watch cases, and the German crescent & crown would have been stamped by the jeweler there after import. Would have guessed Czech art glass on the fob charm's cabochon - I like the foxes and grapes, reminds me of some of the nice quality brass pieces from the late 19th-early 20th century, like those by George Steere...

~Cheryl

 

The German hallmarks of the crescent & crown along with the Swiss hallmarks means it was imported into Germany from Switzerland per the following website about watch hallmarking.
"These marks were stamped on imported items as well as German made items, so the half moon and crown can be seen alongside e.g. Swiss hallmarks such as the bear or grouse on Swiss items imported into Germany."

A good 3/4 of the way down the page to the section: "German Hallmarks."
http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/casemarks.php

http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/swisshallmarks.php#Act1880

BTW, that small hallmark on the right is the small wood grouse .800 purity Swiss hallmark for small items while the larger wood grouse mark on the right is the .800 purity for larger items. Used from 1880-1933. Supposedly there is a mark above the neck of the grouse in the large mark and a mark below or in front of the grouse's head in the smaller mark. The mark is a code for the city of assay. Very very to nearly impossible to see on these marks. It could be a star, but doubt it. Basel has been using a star for sometime, though back in the late 1800s to whenever the city mark was a "B."
Page 5, table 2:
http://www.offwatch.it/PDF/punzonioro.pdf

--- Susan

 

Oops, while researching, etc... Cheryl beat me on the small mark, import info. I had to hunt around for the info while Cheryl with her wealth of knowledge can do it off the top of her head!

--- Susan

 

Ohhhh, I like when Lady & Dragon show up one after another on the same thread !!!!

It's almost info overload !!!

You gals are awesome !

 

Guilloche engine turned enamel. Lovely. I think the other is art glass, probably Czech.

 

...................
@afantiques
Hi Af, The watch seems pretty tightly wound as it is....but I can get it to wind a bit and then the 'winding stem' springs back....it seems fairly tight....am afraid of winding it to it's limit (?)too......But waaaaaait......it was set to 6:00 and now it says 6:14!!!!!! So SOMETHING'S running!!!!! But NO ticking can be heard!!!! 6:15!!! Aaaaand the beat goes ON!!!! But I imagine it still might need a GOOD cleaning????? HOLY PATOOTIE!!!! And the SUN just came out!!!!! Miracle Man!!!!! THANK YOU!!!! YOU ARE DA MAN!!!! Of course I presume the watch will not STAY running either!!!! A QUESTION for you: The hour hand was not right on the #6 when it said 6:00......is it all right to move it to the hour when it's directly ON an hour??????

And again Thank you Af, your help was also immeasurable!!!!!

 

SO, Ladybranch and Dragonfly, Evelyb, Johnnycb, Afantiques, Ownedbybear, Bakersma, and everyone else who has helped, with what I thought was a piece of junque sitting in a jewelry box for forever, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

 

Clearly it has come unstuck to some extent. Just keep restarting it and after a while it will run the full spring length, 30 hours, or somewhere near.

Unless a watch has been dropped and the balance staff broken, or it has been messed about with at some stage, non working old watches are almost always that way due to gumming up of old oil. It's no miracle that my suggestion semi-fixed it. However, I am always happy to take excessive credit. It's what my bank always used to complain about.

Do not attempt to move the hour hand yourself unless you are really good at delicate stuff. It is a push fit on the cannon pinion, so will move but will also break if not done properly, ideally with a tiny special tweezer that grips the central portion of the hand. Moving the minute hand will have the same effect, but with the same warnings. If it is tolerable leave it alone.

It would need cleaning, but as already mentioned this is likely to cost more than the watch is worth nowadays.

 

O.K., Again.........THANK YOU!!!.....I will be getting an estimate on the cleaning eventually.....so will at least know where I stand with it!!! I'm pretty good with small delicate stuff, BUT would not want to mess it up, so, will wisely wait!!!!!

 

If you do get a cleaning estimate do not go to a jewellers, they will send it off to their repairer and charge you double what he charges them. Instead find a actual artisan repairer and get your quote direct.

 

I've got a watchmaker/jeweler around the corner here who hails from Chile.
He wanted $600 to clean & repair ( overwound) my dads 50's era swiss chronograph watch....but he said he'd have to take it apart...

 

He wanted $600 to clean & repair ( overwound) my dad's 50s era Swiss chronograph watch....but he said he'd have to take it apart.

No watch or clock since the abandonment of the fusee and chain in the 19th C has ever been overwound. It is layman speak for "It is wound up but won't go and I have no idea why but do not want to look a fool".

It guarantees you look like a fool to the repairman, who knows just what you mean.

You cannot do a decent job cleaning a watch unless you take it apart and a chronograph has lots of extra fiddly parts to re-assemble.

You can just put the movement in an ultrasonic tank, but you cannot properly relubricate it and the spring barrel will always retain some cleaning solution.

However, $600 sounds steep. I estimate about 4 hours work done competently.

 

Thanks for that.................I think....

 

Aquitaine, I just came across this thread for the first time. I love the microscope photos! I've been thinking of getting one.

 

Hi Fig....I don't use it often, but when I do, it does an amazing job!!! And they're not too pricey..... somewhere between $29. To $39. is average on Amazon, but you can also spend what you want! Mine was $29.