I've found three 16s dials in a junk lot that seem worthwhile. Problem is even though I know what they fit I don't know what the correct time period would be. Can anyone help? The Waltham's fit the 1899/1908 models (most likely Vanguard) and the Elgin fits most if not all 16s Elgins. All of them are single sunk porcelain. Thanks!

Frank, In the Earhart/ Meggars "Beginning to End"book there is an valuable section about
identifying dial by dial feet positions. With this you can determine what movements the dials will fit and narrow down the options. You probably know this and are hoping for specific info but I can't help there. I don't keep that many notes.
-Cort

Frank, I am going to take a stab at timeframes. I would say the two Waltham dials would be appropriate for watches from late 1920's on to the end. The Elgin--from 1920's to about 1940.

Tom

Tom,

Thank you very much for that info.
I had guessed about that for the Walthams but did not know about the Elgin. Now I'll have to go through the junk pile and see if there are any candidates for fixing.

Best,

Frank "407" Kusumoto

Frank - first, as far as the number style alone goes, the lower Waltham dial is in my 1924 material catalog but not the upper (boxcar) dial. Both styles are shown in my 1930 material catalog, but neither is labeled with the number of jewels. In the 1936 catalog and beyond these dial patterns are shown with "VANGUARD 23 JEWELS" but none without the Vanguard name.

Jerry,

If I understood correctly you are saying that you didn't see a dial in the Waltham catalogs that matched either of mine? Or did you mean that the lower one is shown as identical in the 1924 catalog but the top one is not shown as identical in any of your sources?

Best,

Frank "407" Kusumoto

The identical patterns with respect to numbers and layout, but not number of jewels appear in the material catalogs indicated. These dials only say "WALTHAM" or, from 1936 onward, may have "VANGUARD 23 JEWELS". There are none shown with only the number of jewels indicated.