Good afternoon gentlemen and ladies;

As it turned out, the deal on that Civil War Waltham fell through and the seller re-listed it. Instead of paying his asking price of $600.00 I was able to win the auction at $431.99 I thought that was fair, (a little high perhaps, but I'm thrilled).

The reason I'm posting it here for you to see is to ask a huge favour of you. I'm having a horrendous time trying to find correct information on it in "the book". The guide to watches etc.

I would appreciate knowing a bit more about it. I know it was made in April of 1864. Serial # 107837, and is marked Appleton Tracy & Co., Waltham Mass. They ran for one month and made apparently only ten of this configuration (if I'm reading the Waltham chart correctlyy). Anyway, here's a few pictures to help you, and I hope I can learn a lot about this watch that I wouldn't have learned without all of you. Possibly the current value and future possibilies?

Many thanks for any help, it is most appreciated.

Bud

Hey Bud, that is a nice A T Waltham....

This is the info that my limited resouces says....
Mdl. 1857, 15j, 18s,FP with a gold balance, KW and is the 7th. one made in the run that started on 4.1.1864 with Serial No. 107831 and ended on 4.30.1864 at serial No. 107840....

Nice find Bud....

The price guide has it listed at: $200 $300 $450....

Regards,

Jerry

Hi Jerry, and thanks ever so much. Can you tell me how to find it in the price guide? I don't mean what page number specifically, but HOW do I find it?

Thanks

Bud

Bud, first find the American Waltham Watch Co. section on page 108....then turn to the 18 size watches, pg.112 and go down the list till you come to the Appleton Tracy & Co. listings....keeping in mind the attributes of your watch you go down the list and you will find an A.T.& Co.,15j, mdl.1857, SW/LS which yours is not, so keep on going down till you see the second from the bottom on the page which is 15j, Mdl. 1857,KW which is your watch and walla, you have found it....

However, if you look on the next page there are additional AT&Co, 15j but none match your criteria but as you go down the page a little further you will find one that is like yours except that it is listed as being in an 18K HC.... so if yours was in the 18K HC the value would be considerably higher; $1500 - $3000 - $4500....

Find an 18K case and make the change and you have a much more valuable watch....Who knows, your watch may have been in an 18K case and someone removed it to scrap the case and put your movement into another GF case....Never know, it could have happened....

Good Luck

Regards,

Jerry

Hi Jerry;

Thanks very much, this is a big help. I find that book quite difficult to figure out how to find something but I doubt it's the books fault. I have trouble getting past two or threee sentences of technical stuff anymore.

Thanks again Jerry, really appreciate it. Bye the way, thank you for last night's auction.

Bud
ps
.... so if yours was in the 18K HC the value would be considerably higher; $1500 - $3000 - $4500....

So, where can I find a can of gold colored paint Jerry?

Bud

Don't even think that lest some f**l gets the idea and try's it on some watch case....

Good Luck....

Regards,

Jerry

Oh my, wouldn't THAT be the dumbest of all things to do to a fine watch case?

I'd like to think that there aren't any people that would actually do that, but hey, you never know, do you?

Cheers Jerry

Bud

Your AT&C is quite nice, but please don't think there are only 10 of them out there. The series of which your is a member is only one of a very large number of similar Appleton Tracy watches.

I have an AT&C with identical plate signatures numbered 58,071 with expansion balance from April, 1863. I have also seen this same wavy-line signature AT&C with serial numbers well below 20,000. As a result, I cannot estimate the size of the total universe.

Your original idea of valuation is spot on. A price over $400 is a bit high, but certainly not unreasonable. $300 to $350 would seem about right to me.

Thanks for your input Laurence, it is great to hear from you and Welcome to our Club, we are very happy when new members express their opinion....and you are correct in your assumptions....Except that, we did not mean to imply that the watch in question is only 1 of 10 pieces ever made by Waltham....Waltham made the Grade 1857 from July of 1857 until July 31, 1877 with many variations consisting of 16 & 18 sizes and configurations....Probably over or close to 1,000,000 pieces....

The pricing for these watches was taken from the Complete Price Guide for Watches, 2010 Edition....

The price guide has it listed at: $200 $300 $450....and the condition of the watch certainly adds much to consider when making a purchase....

Thanks again and we hope to see more of your posts with your thoughts and opinions....

Regards,

Jerry

In researching this one MUST extract many "little details" from the hubris of the price guide (???!!!);

"Gold Balance Wheel GJS"; AWWCo. +$65.00

"S/N Below 180,000 (Pre-Civil War)"; P.S. Bartlett +$215.00

These alone, not counting the case material add another $275.00 to the collectible value of this watch and there may be more . . . keep looking

Thanks David and I agree....I am not privy to informational database for the Waltham's that would allow for any 'fine tuning' of the prices such as you have added, but these are the things that do add to the value of any timepiece....

Now if Bud can only find the 18k case that this movement was "originally" in he will be in tall cotton, if you will....

Regards,

Jerry

Thank you Jerry and as always your input is highly valued. As is David's. I hope one day that I'll be able to extract some of those fine little details from "the book" also, just as you're able to do David. With practice I suppose it will come one day, maybe, I hope.

And to you Laurence J. Although I too am a fairly recent member of IHC185, please allow me also, to welcome you. I've found numerous times that it's one of the best places in the world to find the "right" information. I've never sat down and figured it out (an impossible task no doubt) but I'd be willing to bet there are centuries of information about pocket watches hidden within this club.

Regards to all

Bud