Greetings again all.
I just received this in the mail today and am a little stumped. At first, I was trying to take the back off to see what I had, but quickly noticed that it wasn't working. When I looked closer, I noticed that the back doesn't actually come off of the rest of the case. Here is the first shot of the watch.

When I realized the back couldn't come off, I took off the bezel with it's nice, thick crystal. Here's what that looked like.

It looked to me like it was hinged and that I should be able to lift the movement up using the notch at the bottom and the hinge at the top. However, when I tried, this is all the higher I could get it lifted.

Am I wrong to assume that this is actually a hinge and the the whole movement should swing up? Is it something else that I'm missing? I hate the thought of forcing it up because with my luck I'll break it and ruin something.

Any thoughts or ideas? This was actually an extra watch that came with another one that I purchased, so it really is more of a bonus. I've just never seen this before and was looking for some advice. I'd love to know what I have here.
As always, any and all thoughts are welcome!
Ed

Ed, that is a swing out case. All you have to do is to pull up on the crown as if you were going to set the time, and you can then swing the movement up and out of the case. You will then be able to see the case screws on the ring that will hold the movement in place. It was supposed to be more of a dust proof case as it didn't have a back bezel.

Be sure to always pull that crown up before you try to swing the movement up, as you can break the stem if you don't. They are a good case, but many don't like them because they don't know how to adjust them so they work properly. If that stem is not adjusted properly it can still catch when you are trying to swing the movement out, OR if it is adjusted wrong the other way and you pull the crown up to set the time it will not work. Real easy once you learn how to do it.

Also, always leave the crown up while swinging the movement back into the case and if you feel it catching, just turn the crown a little and the stem will seat in the movement and go in nice and smooth. Then just push the crown back in and your good to go!

Regards,
Larry

And right you are Larry!
Popped right up. It doesn't appear to be anything unusual as far as my only partially educated eye can see. Looks like a whole bunch of them were made back in 1899. I do like the pattern on the movement though.

I do have a couple of questions about the case though. It is an Illinois case, but it says that it contains both nickel and silver. How usual is that? And how often were these types of cases used? Again, just a couple of things that are new to me.
Thanks again Larry!
Ed

The nickel silver wording means it is nickel made to look like silver. Many other case makers made imitation silver cases with names such as Silverode, Silveroid, Silverine, etc. They are base metal cases that were made to look like the silver cases that were made for earlier watches. They are attractive cases that don't wear out as easily as the gold filled ones. They were also pretty common because they cost less.

The swing out design was also fairly common. My 1910 Hamilton 940 is in a swing out "Nickel Silver" case made by the Illinois Watch Case Company and my 1925 Waltham Crescent Street is in a yellow gold filled "Elgin Giant" swing out also made by the Illinois Watch Case Company. In fact, the "Nickel Silver" case looks exactly like yours. It has an inner ring under the crystal that is brass. It looks like yours has that too. It also looks like your case serial number of 238983 shows that the case is older than mine that has the number 0099793. Your winding crown is in much better shape though. Mine is pretty worn down.

You can see mine at https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...523961977#1523961977

Hi Donald.
I think you're right. It does look like the same case, right down to the brass inner ring. And it's amazing just how much your crown has been worn down.
I'm coming to realize that aside from the dial being chipped around the edges and the inside back being a little pitted, this thing is in pretty good shape. I just took the front off and it just started ticking away.
Thanks for the info and your watch pics! I just keep tryin' to keep learnin'!

Yeah, mine is a RR watch that probably had a lot of pocket time in rough overalls and that contributed to the wear on the crown. Or maybe it was caused by rubbing of a chain. The watch runs great though and is otherwise in excellent condition.

Thanks for you help on the case Donald, as I know very little about them.

I do have one that just says Trade Mark on it, and the gold is just on the outside under the crystal, and under the crown.

Regards,
Larry

A better look at the inside. Is this still the same material?

Regards,
Larry

The gold ring, and it is usually 10k, is knurled so it could be screwed down and are called "screw down dust rings or caps". Those type cases with the gold knurled ring/cap used to have a piece of holed oiled leather inside that when the ring/cap was screwed in place it created a tighter seal to help keep dust and condensation out of the works! Today most of the leather seals are gone as laymen didn't understand the importance of the seal !

regards,
bb

The gold or brass ring is inside the front bezel between the crystal and the bezel threads. It's interesting that it could be 10k gold.

I haven't tried to replace the crown on mine and I don't know if it is threaded on to the shaft or pressed on. If it's threaded, that would be better. I would like to replace it if I could.

No we're talking about the knurled gold ring/cap that sits directly under the crown on the pendant base !

Now on your Hamilton 940 in the swing ring case, it has a brass "reflector" ring that is screwed and threaded inside the bezel. It is unusual as the reflector rings were generally polished nickel or silver to reflect light onto the dial in low light hours so that the time could be read easily such as in a locomotive cab or caboose or any place that wasn't lit up like a Christmas Tree ! Brass in a very short time would tarnish and the reflecting ability would be lost so it doesn't make a lot of sense as it defeats it's purpose.

regards,
bb

Well the ring in mine is tarnished on the back of it but from the front, it is very bright and shiny. I believe it is there more for decorative purposes than for anything else. I do have the ring under the crown as well but it's not knurled. maybe that wore down along with the crown.

I have seen a few if them with the leather ring, and also felt, and had no idea that it was supposed to be oiled!

Thank you so much for that info Buster. You always add so much great info to these posts.

I and the members thank you, and appreciate your valuable input!!

Regards,
Larry

Larry, your case was made by the Crescent Watch Case company and is the same nickel alloy material. I said they were base metal but nickel alloy is more accurate.

Other names used by case makers for these cases are Ore Silver, Argentine, and Alaska Silver. None actually had any silver in them.

Why thank you Larry ! While we are only here for a short time, if we can help one or two, with what we have seen or learned, then we have accomplished what we were put here to do....

regards,
bb

Hi All,

Just thought I would let you know (FYI) that the reference to these cases as "Trademark" is incorrect. I have seen this regularly here and on various other watch info sites, if you take a look you will see a "crescent and a star" logo, these are "Crescent Case Co" cases for those that do not know.

Yes, I had already posted that.