Value of a 1923 Illinois pocket watch?

Hello, I'm having trouble valuing a pocket watch I have. Any help would be appreciated! Here's what I know:

Made in 1923 according to the serial number, 4273266

Wadsworth Warrented case 6450305 - Autocrat model

~ thank you!

 

Does it keep time after winding? How many jewels? What size is it? Does the back case screw off to see the internal operation (gears and jewels)? Would need pics of the internal operation and info on the other questions to put a value on it. From the one picture you provided it looks like a nice one.
And by the way - welcome to the forum and very nice picture!!

 

Thanks, Rayo!

So, I know nothing about pocket watches and haven't wound it yet. Didn't want to hurt it!

The back hinges down. Here are a couple of photos. If there's something else you need to see, let me know...

 

Well if it doesn't wind gently then stop - don't want to force anything - I collect alot of old pocket watches and if they don't wind easily then off the the jewelers it goes for them to clean, oil, and replace parts if necessary. Does it say how many jewels inside the watch case - I couldn't see any from your pics!

 

Okay! My husband just wound it and it works perfectly.

He also saw the words double roller under the big wheel. He sees five red jewels.

 

OK - pocket watches are notorious for running perfectly for a few hours then stop - see if it keeps pretty good time for about 10 hours before re-winding. And 5 jewels visible but others underneath the gears. All this matters in price , Most of my Illinois has 15 to 17 jewels and in running condition yours can be worth between 75 - 125$ depending on the buyer. Most buyers will take it in to get cleaned and oiled, Me, I would keep it but that's cause I never met an old pocket watch I didn't like!!

 

Can I tell how many jewels there are?

Okay! I'll let this sweetie run and check on it the morning

Thank you for all your help!


Ps: I have another six or seven pocket watches and several wrist watches to figure out!

 

OH BOY!!!

 

Looks like 17 jewel or maybe 7 can't see it real clear.

 

17 jewels, coreya. I missed that completely! Thanks!

 

I'm wondering just to throw this out there - Every Illinois ceramic face I have seen has black letters and the word is curved. Could this be a real movement but a reproduction face? It seems pretty nice for an old ceramic dial plus the hands seem very nice also!

 

That's what drew me to post here. I couldn't find any others quite like it, but many similar. It seems unlikely that it is a repro, but I'm definitely not an expert. It was purchased new by my husbands great uncle in New York. He was quite wealthy and seems odd that if the face was damaged in some way, he wouldn't just buy a new watch. Its been in storage for probably 40 years...

 

Just found this one on a watch sellers website but it appears to be sold and no record of the price. Took a screen shot off google search...

 

The watch appears to be entirely original and of better than average quality but not a Railroad Grade watch. 17 jewels is good, they are all set in screwed seats, and the watch has swan-neck micro-regulation, both signs of above average quality (and higher original price).
The case is 25 year rolled gold (gold filled) which is quite a good quality as you'd expect.
I'd estimate it at around $100 give or take a bit.

OP, it is a good plan when asking about a warch (and other things if inscribed) to write out all the wording, etc, that you can see when asking about the item, since it can be hard to make these details out from the pictures posted.
The watch is of fairly late manufacture, hence the luminous dial.
Dials can get damaged, but undamaged there is no way a thousand year old ceramic dial would look any different from a new one.

You set the time by pulling out the winding crown.

 

Pocketwatches are not worth massively gigantic amounts of money. The ones which are, are usually the older, higher-grade, or precious-metal-cased ones.

Something like this certainly looks to be of later manufacture, but still of good quality. Would love to see the other pocketwatches!!

 

Thank you for all the information about this watch and guidance on how to help identify watches in the future! I'm a complete newbie about watches, having never worn one or collected them. I had no idea even what to look for before yesterday. Thank you again.

 

Thank you! I figured it wasn't going to make us wealthy, but I'm trying to be careful about sorting through the ~many~ boxes we brought home from storage. It's an amazing combination of worthless and wonderful. I guess that sums up most folks belongings, aye??? I'm sure I'll be posting more watches here. I also have hundreds of pieces of fine and costume jewelry to go through. Not looking forward to that. It's also not my area of expertise.

 

Jewelry & watches? There's loads of people here who will be able to help with that. I love antique pocketwatches, so I'll be haunting your threads like a tortured soul