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
Posts: 153 | Location: Northeastern United States | Registered: December 18, 2005
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
Posts: 153 | Location: Northeastern United States | Registered: December 18, 2005
As John pointed out the "Napolean" was only a 10 year case, so the gold layer was pretty thin. As a rule model names such as shown on the references John provided usually indicate a gold-filled case. On some of the earliest gold-filled cases the content of the gold layering is also shown which can be confusing.
Unfortunately we see sellers claiming such cases are solid-gold when the facts are readily available.
Many thanks to you John!
Lindell
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
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
Posts: 153 | Location: Northeastern United States | Registered: December 18, 2005
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..
Posts: 638 | Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin USA | Registered: November 22, 2002
