I got this Hamilton 941 on ebay a few months back. The inside of the cuvette is marked 'I.W.C Co., Elgin Ill, Napoleon 14K' and a serial no. The seller's listing said it was probably gold filled, and I bid accordingly. In hand it feels hefty & rigid like gold-filled.

I'm wondering, however, since the only marking is 14K, might it be solid? Although there's some wear to the engraving, there's no brassing except to the pendant and bow. You can see in the picture some lighter, almost silvery, discoloration inside the cuvette. I don't know much about Illinois Watch Case Co. cases, nor what 'Napoleon' indicates. Any thoughts?

Norman

Here's the back cover of the watch, which is identical to the front cover.

Dial

And the seller's pic of the movement of this 1903 single roller 941. The picture doesn't do it justice, it's perfectly clean & bright with bright gold lettering. And this case isn't original to this watch.

Norman

Norman,

A couple of pictures of trademarks from the Illinois Watch Case Co..

And another

Thanks, John and Lindell, that's the info I was looking for. As I said, the case feels too "solid" to be solid gold. But it shows that even a cheap '10 year' case can look good after a hundred years or so. The dealer represented it as gold-filled; had he not done so, I'm sure it would have gone for much more than I wanted to pay, especially since I like to be able to carry the watches I buy.

I know about "J.Boss", and guarantee periods. Then there were the ploys like the case on my Burlington watch "14K gold strata" or the cases that proclaim in big letters 'MADE OF TWO SOLID GOLD PLATES' and in smaller letters 'over composition'. So now I've added IWC co.s 'Napoleon' to my watch case dictionary (and a number of others too, thanks to John's pics).

Norman

Norman,

Illinois Watch Case Co made some pretty nice cases in gold filled.. Also many interesting tu-tones.. with gold fill and silver..If you ever get a chance, pick up a copy of this book, loaded with info on watch case marks..

Thanks John, I meant to ask what book you were using.

Norman

I have a question on the "Ramona" case that they made. Is it 10K or14K gold filled? It being a 20 year case, I was wondering.


Frank

Frank
Twenty(20) year cases were typically 10kt Gold filled and 25 year cases were normally 14kt gold filled.
I am sure there were many exceptions.

Bob

Bob, thanks for that information. It looked like a 10k case.



Frank