Does anyone know anything about these cases?, it a four hinge seems well made HC, but is marked warranted Aluminum around a crown, has a gold finish, made for KW.

p2

Chris,

Aluminum used to be considered a precious metal. On even par with gold. It was very hard for the metalsmiths to smelt aluminum in the 1800's and this drove the price up drasticly. Did you know that the Lincoln Memorial is capped with aluminum? These cases are valuable if they are in good condition. Aluminum wears quite quickly and thus there are not many cases left in good condition.

Nice find. Who is the manufacturer? Possibly Philadelphia?

Thanks Aaron, This one is in excellent condition, lovley 4 hinge job with a perfect bulls eye crystal that looks original, will post a Photo Set later so you can see it better, also the watch inside is a Ohio Watch CO KW KS(on Dial) S18 ever heard of them?

Chris, I believe that the Ohio Watch Co. was a name used by the Swiss to market their "fakes" durring the 1800's.

Aaron the watch does look like swiss Junk, but the case is smart, here another of the stamp

p4

Chris, how about a movement shot just for kicks?

The movement is a copy of Walthams mod. 1857 as you can see not quite the quality of the Waltham.

Chris,

Aaron said it well!

The movement is a miniature boat anchor, but the case is very worthwhile. Perhaps the case will soon house a worthwhile movement. If the combination were original, these are actually collectible.

Early-on I remember coming across one of these "Ohio Watch Company" fakes. It was priced at a couple hundred as I recall. Fortunately, one more experienced steered me away from it before I made a big mistake.

However, there are some who have put together groups of the early knock-offs and might find your movement of interest. Clearly the combination is not original, for that reason you may want to be on the lookout for something more appropriate to that unusual case.

Lindell

The crystal is not easy to come by, and if you find them they are expensive.
Does the movement work Chris?

Kevin,

As you can see in the photo there is a odd jewel jammed in there, but it is tryig to run, I dont think it would take much to get it up and running. as you say that crystal is great. the crown is loose needs the correct style button fitting.

Notice the English way of spelling Aluminum. They add the "i". This gives us a clue as to where the case was made.

Jerry,

Well spotted, also that answer another question, I was sure I was spelling it correctly but my spell checker kept flagging it. Aluminium

Aluminum cases are very scarce. I have only seen one other in 35 years. It also was a gold colored KW case. Aluminum was non-magnetic. It seems to me that the non-magnetic feature was a selling point.

quote:

---

Notice the English way of spelling Aluminum. They add the "i".

---

The British pronunciation is also different. The vowel sound "u" is long. They say aloo- min-ium.

Canadians just say aluminum and leave the i out.
Thre is a english guy at work and he says and spells it the other way, interesting.

The metal used seems very hard and is quite thick I suppose it wasn’t as refined as well as modern aluminium, given the complex process.

Aluminium could also be the American way aluminum was spelled back in the 1880s. Howard made a few watches using aluminum pallet forks in the 1880s and the factory records spelled it "aluminium". And I recall seeing an ad in an old "Scientific American" magazine that used that spelling version of aluminum.
Harold

I would think that,the person,or persons who first gave the metal it's name, would be the way it should be spelled. Only my humble opinion.

Frank

Good Point Frank, Now is that from the French or the American?
In 1831 Pierre Berthier, a French mineralologist and mine engineer discovered samples of aluminium ore near Les Baux-de-Provence, and named it bauxite. In 1845, Friedrich Wöhler, a German scientist, obtained impure aluminium particles. In France, in 1854, Henri Sainte-Claire Deville produced pure aluminium and perfected the first industrial manufacturing process. In 1866, Paul Héroult in France and Charles Martin Hall in the United States independently discovered that Aluminium oxide, or alumina, dissolved in cryolite and could be decomposed by electrolysis to obtain molten crude metal. The Austrian chemist Karl Joseph Bayer received a patent in 1887 for a transformation process.

Research in industrial fields began to accelerate after Napoleon III became interested in this new metal. In 1855, pure aluminium was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris with the name, “clay transformed into silver.” As it was difficult to extract, its price was close to that of gold. Displays in store windows, jewelry stores and silversmith shops offer proof of this former era. Later on, aluminium became a part of daily life and aluminium was used in clocks, binoculars, and surgical instruments…

Chris
My vote goes to Henri Sante-Claire Deville's spelling of the metal.


Frank

Hey but Frank, the question is, it is a metal or alloy? LOL

Chris
I believe it is a metalic element(AL), there by classifying it as a metal. I still vote for the Frenchman.

Frank

Ok Frank we will go with the metal, frenchman now is it Le or La?

Chris
French was not a language that I took in school,too many letters in the spelling that are not pronounced. I will have to: " SAY UNCLE", to that one.

Frank