I recently was scanning ebay and picked up an Elgin BWR 571 in very good condition, near mint case (still had butler lines and no wear) but was engraved at a price just over $200. I have in the past picked up Elgins, Hamiltons, Hampdens, etc with engraved cases much cheaper than non-engraved watches of the same type and condition.

Do you as a collector avoid them? Some are retirement presentation type engraving, some are parents to children or children to parent messages but as a whole no matter how well the engraving is done it drops the value.

One Elgin 478 in a streamline case that looked new I got dirt cheap because it was engraved
Joe Bob Jones (not real name)
born July xx, xxxx after passing, someone added
died Sept xx xxxx

The fact they added when he died in professional lettering is a bit odd but the watch looks new and was just over $125. I don't mind engraving if it looks clean and professional but I do notice engraved watches appear to go for less.

I don't avoid them and I have a couple. I see if I can find any information about the person which adds to the watch.

I avoid them unless it's a watch or case I really want and the price is right.

I don't avoid them either, but I buy them with the knowledge that I probably won't be able to resell them, or will at least have problems should I ever decide to attempt resale due to the engraving.

Good to see you active again, Clyde! I've missed your Elgin related posts!

Regards! Mark

I don't avoid them but if offered 2 watches of same quality,one engraved the other not,I would choose the unengraved one.

Roger

Busy year with work and now traveling more that I did when I was in Georgia. Was in the Netherlands for 8 weeks this year during the summer so that killed all the warm weather, now that it is cold again I have time to settle down and get back to watches.

I don't buy engraved watches.

For me, in wristwatches, it depends on the engraving.

I have had a few bad ones buffed. On the other hand, some personal engravings add value -- Eatons 1/4 Century Club Rolexes, for example.

I recall a garden variety old Longines windup that sold at auction for over $100,000. Name on the back? "Albert Einstein".

I'm curious about military pocket watches where a soldier has carved their name into the back. Does that add or subtract?

Thanks.

The antipathy to engraving surely must depend on the kind of watch one collects.

I almost solely collect high grade solid gold or platinum watches. I think those kinds of watches were more likely to have engraved inscriptions because they were more likely to have been gifts than work-a-day watches such as railroad watches. Furthermore, the watches I collect were made in small quantities with a wide variety of cases and dials. I rarely see identically cased and dialed examples. Hence, if I only bought unengraved watches, I would have to pass on a large number of otherwise desirable watches and would never be able to find unengraved counterparts. For example: All four of my solid gold 21j Elgin convertibles are engraved. Two of my three solid gold Model 1872 AWCO Grade watches are engraved. Both of my solid gold Model 1888 AWCO Grade watches are engraved. These all are scarce watches that aren't readily available, and unengraved examples of them are scarcer yet.

If, in contrast, I collected Hamilton 992Bs or other relatively common railroad watches, I likely would have reasonable opportunities for getting the same watch, case, and dial in varying degrees of condition, with or without engraving. I can readily see why pristine unengraved examples of such relatively fungible watches would command a premium.

Finally, I think high-quality engraving adds significantly to a watch's "story" if not its value. Of course, some engraving is terrible. I won't buy a crudely engraved watch.

I agree with Ethan on watches that have nasty looking crudely done engraving, I've seen some otherwise nice cases that someone ruined by trying to engrave them themselves.I don't mind nice looking monograms, especially those real ornate scroll ones that are hard to figure out, many look more like a design than anything.I don't like presentation engravings, though.Nice to have you back Claude!...Ted.

I thought I'd show you the engravings or other personalizations on some of my watches, all of which I think add value to the watch.

Let's start with this enameled monogram on the back of an ultra-thin platinum Cartier. The initials are of the pre-eminent builder of skyscrapers in NY during the roaring '20s. He was ruined by the Great Depression.

Here is the incised and enameled monogram on an 18k Poitevin minute repeater.

Here's the fancy monogram on an 18k Jeannot & Shiebler-cased Patek Philippe.

Would this 14k Dueber case housing an Elgin 21j convertible look better without the monogram?

Doesn't this inscription on an 18k Charles Frodsham add value, indicating that this watch was presented to the speaker of the State of Nevada's first legislative assembly? The cuvette is engraved "1865."

Would you rather have this 14k Elgin C.H. Hulburd with a unmonogrammed back?

In 1943, Cy gave his friend George a 14k watch/master hotel key when he hired George to run the hotel.

The next year, George returned the favor, giving Cy this inscribed Patek Philippe.

Ethan I have an Elgin that has an inscribed dustcover that ran through a few generations. The original person that it was presented to was part of Tenn's early government and then his son and what appears to be the grandson had the watch and had it inscribed. The original person was fairly famous from TN's early history. I pass on chicken scratch types but I have some that you know the people cared about each other and that it was a special gift.

I've owned or come across some really mint pieces over the years that were engraved gifts that appear to have never been carried. One has to wonder if the gifts were either not appreciated (which one can't really believe), or the owner thought the watch too nice to carry....which COMPLETELY negates the whole reason for the gift!

I've always thought that sad.

Just my opinion, though.

Regards! Mark

The BWR571 that I recently purchased is from Mark's neck of the woods. Engraved on the back

To
S. M. Jackson
From
K-25 Utilities

Very well done lettering, K-25 was the code name for the Oak Ridge Nuclear plant as part of the Manhattan project which supplied the early bombs.

The utilities consisted of a water and power plant producing electricity and supplying water for the production of nuclear material. The power plant produced electricity at a different hertz than the typical 60hz house current. Since I was born north of Oak Ridge I thought it would be an interesting pickup with some history to it.

I tried to do some searches for S M Jackson but did not find anything that I could say, it was a logical hit.

Interesting inscription, Claude.

I worked at the Goodyear Atomic Corporation Uranium Enrichment plant (GAT) in Piketon, Ohio for 13 years, (my Dad retired from there), which was the sister plant to K25.

I have Dad's 25th anniversary 218 Accutron from Goodyear, also engraved, with his name and date at GAT.

Regards! Mark

That is why I bought it, because of the inscription and the history behind it. It is also why I wondered if people avoid inscriptions since cleaned up this watch only has a few sock drawer micro-scratching, nice like new tight bow, runs but I have not checked it for accuracy. Have 260 into it but that is not a bad price in the current market.

The engraving on this Omega Labrador demi-hunter is similar to Ethan's watch engraving.

Clyde, my Dad used his. That's how I got his 1943 Lipton 'back in the day'.

Regard! Mark

Ernest, pretty engraving!

I will have to take some pictures of the ones I have picked up over the years. I have a Elgin 574 that still has its pouch and original box that a daughter gave to her father "with love" in 1951. Another from a city that I think is in Alabama or Maine that was given to him for 50 yrs of service, I am thinking if he started at 18 that would have been retiring at 68 or starting at 15 and retiring at 65 but 50 years with the same company or job would be unheard of now.

Some have the initials that even after a few shots of JD I still can't figure out what they are. But probably the best one I have is an Elgin 361 with a very detailed engraving of a steam locomotive on the back.

Fun topic
Ingravings are difficult to see, don't know why?

I apologize for resurrecting an old thread but since it was relevant I thought it was better than starting a new one.

What's the general view of the pocket watch collecting community with regards to removing engravings from watches? Is it not done because it's sacrilegious? Because the results aren't good? I read somewhere that with laser fill techniques it's possible to cover up the engraving but somehow that seems like destroying history.

It makes me just prefer to avoid engraved watches altogether but it does cut down on collecting options. A bunch of times now I've seen a watch and thought "wow... that's amazing... oh ****... it's engraved. Next."

As I said earlier in this thread, I believe that the "antipathy to engraving surely must depend on the kind of watch one collects."

High grade, solid gold or platinum watches were more likely to have engraved inscriptions because they were more likely to have been gifts than work-a-day watches such as railroad watches; they also were made in such small quantities that collectors usually do not have the option of choosing between identical watches with and without inscriptions. The inscriptions, e.g., monograms, on high grade watches often are very decorative and add some history or provenance to them.

Therefore, I have no concern about buying watches that have inscriptions as long as they are well-done.

As I said in my earlier posting, if "I collected Hamilton 992Bs or other relatively common railroad watches, I likely would have reasonable opportunities for getting the same watch, case, and dial in varying degrees of condition, with or without engraving. I can readily see why pristine unengraved examples of such relatively fungible watches would command a premium."

To me it is not a detriment and in many situations gives some insight to the history of the watch. Engraved gift or birthday or work related events are in no way objectionable to me but in cases where it looks like a drunken person or 3yr old did the engraving then I pass on to the next watch.