How common are the Waltham Crescent Street 19 jewel hunters?

That is like asking how many of all models of 2 door ford business coupes were made.

Seriously, 5 Position adjusted 19 Jewel Crescent Street movements were made as 18s Model 1892, 16s Model 1899 and (again) Model 1908's (Lever and Pendant Setting).

I should add here that the 19J was also made as a 18s & 16s B.W.Raymond, Waltham Ball, and in the 16s a Grade 645 1899 model. All of these are very respectable watches. Some examples that passed through my collection are below

I am guessing under 25,000 of each type were ever produced during the short period around 1900 when 19J movements were "legal" for RR use.

The significant feature of these were that the "extra" pair of jewels added to an already exceptional 17J movement were mounted on the motor barrel making it probably the best running, lowest maintenance RR quality watch produced by Waltham.

I have not seen too many of the 19j in the 1892 in hunter or open face and I could not find any numbers produced on the net. I see that it is $225 in average condition in my 2000 price guide so that what I paid for one on ebay was well worth it.

According to the on-line Waltham database there were 2186 HC Crescent St 1892's produced in 5 runs. There were 5400 OF produced in 11 runs.

Thanks Robert I have some 19j in the 16 size but can't recall seeing many in the 18 size. About 2200 isn't a lot so that is good to know and maybe one of these days I can pick up a 19j OF to match it.

Hey Claude -- The Price Guide is not always up-to-date in its assessment of value for units available/demand/appeal etc. Sometimes it's way off, as in some early Waltham models. The 18s hunting case '92 Crescent Streets are victims as well. They are difficult to find - especially in overall good condition. I saw a fine '92 21-jewel Cr. St. for a few hundred bucks, and I snapped that thing up right fast. What's not to like about that watch grade? The model '83s usually have some fantastic damaskene, and the model '92s are also nice-looking, and I believe keep RR time. These days I'm mostly studying the earlier Waltham models, but among the post-1880 Walthams, I'm still fond of the Crescents.

In addition to the one 'model '92 hunter, I have two 'model '83 Crescent Streets, Claude. Here's the open-face 17 jewel m'83 in its original sterling silver case, a full-out railroad watch!

ken

and the movement...

Claude, thanks for providing my first reason for consulting the new 2015 price guide that I just received today. It shows the 18s Crescent Street 19j 1892 hunter case at $175, $300 and $450. Open face variant lists at $150, $250, and $475.

It should arrive today and I will post pictures, what I paid was under the second figure. I see more 23J 1892's that I do 19j and by far the 21j are seen often enough that you can get your pick of price and condition. With this one I picked up a private label 12s Elgin 19j BWR for under $90. When I can find a hard to find hunter movement in a good gold case for under $300 I feel lucky, and a nice high grade 12s 19j in a gold case for under $90 adds to the lucky feeling.

I haven't purchased too many watches lately since I am going through the process of being tranferred and have to move from GA to MI, oh the winters will be different but the housing prices are good in Mich at the moment. Will have to buy some "anti-freeze" for my watches.

Claude -- On what site are you finding "often enough" 21J Crescent Street hunters? I see none up there now, and just two in the past six months or so. Both of those were recased.

kh

I did not specify Crescent streets or hunters, Michael mentioned the pricing for OF and Hunters, what I said was "I see more 23J 1892's that I do 19j and by far the 21j are seen often enough that you can get your pick of price and condition" I don't think they ever made a 23J Crescent Street, I was referring to 1892's in general and clearly OF would be much more common than the hunter.

The serial number is 12001954, raised gold jewel sets,gilt star adjuster, diamond endstone and only marked "Adjusted" but I think all the CS, 845's and Vanguards were adjusted 5 positions. In the case of the 17j 1892s I think some were adj3p and the later Appleton Premier was adj5p.

I have a Vanguard OF 21j and the Appleton Premier 17j, but don't recall seeing too many of the other 17j versions with different names.

Right. I paid no attention to the 23J stuff. Definitely non-existent. Just responding to 21J.

No problem Ken, to be honest I think I have seen more Vanguard hunters than any of the others and one would expect the 23j to be the least common, but hopefully someone can toss the hunter numbers out there for the CS, Vanguard and others in the 19-23j configurations.

Guess I will check myself

845
21j OF=51,775 HC=3800

Vanguard
17j OF=1027 HC=1030
19j OF=4490 HC=900
21j OF=26628 HC=8131
23j OF=49874 HC=10150

Crescent Street
17j HC=400
19j OF=5400 HC=2186
21j OF=51232 HC=11100

But based on this, the online database is saying that the CS HC were the most common with the CS OF just behind the 845 by around 550.

Claude - Thank you for taking the time to put those numbers up.
Most, if not all of the models you have there, were RR-grade for their day, and it's my theory that RR-grade watches were used harder than their pendant-set bretheren - especially if they saw field RR use. I don't think we should expect to find a lot of survivors in really good original condition. They saw service.


kh

We don't see very many 1892s on this side of the pond, but over the years I have managed to acquire a dozen. Six various Vanguards.

And six other various grades including a CPR, an 845, an A/T Premier, a 19j Crescent Street, a 21j Crescent Street from the first run and a P.S. Bartlett.