The watch in the image below was purchased at a place advertised as "The Largest Antique Mall in Texas," while I was attending the 1999 National Convention there.

Does anyone (besides Jerry Tremain) notice anything unusual about it?

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Steve Maddox
President, NAWCC Chapter #62
North Little Rock, Arkansas
IHC Charter Member 49

Dial view of movement above:

Steve,
I made a zoom to the picture of the movement and see a couple of strange details in the balance wheel: there is some kind of outer ring to the wheel that looks like "bridges" the cut of the wheel and I can see just one half of the arm... not really know much about it, mmmhh!
It looks like a fine watch.

Carlos,

There's nothing unusual about the balance; the movement still has the dust band around the perimeter, which may be causing a reflection, but the balance is just an ordinary split-compensation balance.

The unusual thing about the watch is something a Rockford connoisseur would notice immediately, but the average watchmaker probably wouldn't.

It isn't a mechanical feature.

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SM

I dont know anything about Rockfords but that little screw next to the crown wheel looks out of place.

Aaron

Ok Steve, I am not even an average watchmaker, I need a clue, come on , at least on where to look for one
¿Any Rockford connoisseur out there that can give us non-experts a liiiittle hint?

Is it the picture lighting or is the regulator blued...

John Pavlik

The extra (gold plated) screw next to the crown wheel is for adjusting the movement out of the case; it prevents the setting mechanism from engaging, and thus adding an additional "drag" to the train. This feature was common on all pendant-set Rockfords for a long time, and it's entirely different from the "pendant/lever-set" feature, which is occasionally seen of a few 18s Rockford models.

The escape wheel is in the usual position for a hunter case movement, and the only blued steel part is the hairspring. Any other "unusual" colors that appear are merely products of my (not-so-great) "scanner-photography."

OK Carlos, here's your "clue:" If you divide the movement image (above) directly down the center, the unusual characteristic is in the left half of the image. Furthermore, it's in the upper half of the left side..........

For what it's worth, when I bought the watch above, it was (and still is) in a pristine nickel open face case, which appears to be original. All three of the hands also appear to be original, and the whole watch looks as though it's essentially unused. I'll bet that someone bought it at a bargain price, and stuck it back for a day when they might use it, that never came. I paid $75 for it in a very large market area, and at a time when I'm sure the place was (or had been) crawling with watch collectors. It's just another example of how interesting things CAN still be found at affordable prices, if one has sufficient knowledge.

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SM

Let's see, upper left. Serial Number, Whip-Spring and Regulator are all in the upper left.

Hmmmm. Not marked as to Positions or Double Roller either.

OK, my turn to look foolish.
This is the highest Rockford serial number I have seen reported. Is that it?

Ed Ueberall
NAWCC 49688
IHC Member 34
The Escapement

The reg. has the same damaskeening as the plates?

Eric Kroon

NAWCC Member 151367
Proud IHC Member 183

sorry i meant balance cock!

Eric Kroon

NAWCC Member 151367
Proud IHC Member 183

The only thing left is the regulator scale..

John

I'm not sure if anyone has ever found a higher numbered example, but at the time I found the watch above, it was the higest serial number ever recorded on a Rockford. To say the very least, it's from the final run, and was among the last watches ever produced by the Rockford Watch Company.

Thanks to everyone for the guesses!

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SM

gosh! that was really for a pro...good for Ed

In spite of Steve disqualifying me at the start, I did not have a clue.

Steve,

Does anyone have an idea or estimate of what the last serial number might be?

John D. Duvall
Vice President, Education

John,

For all anyone knows, the watch above might be the highest serial number Rockford ever produced.

The highest numbered Rockford watches known to exist are from the run that began with 937,001, but no one knows if the entire run was completed, or exactly how many were in the run. At the time, Rockford had been in a habit of making runs of 1,000, and most serial number lists I've seen show the run to be 937,001 - 938,000, but no one really knows. They'd also recently made runs of 500, 300, and 200, and it's possible the run could have been any of those, or that production ceased in the middle of the intended run. The watches in the 937,xxx range are described as 16s, 17j, HC models, but no one has ever determined their assigned grade, nor the exact final number.

I've seen serial number lists that show the numbers 938,000 - 939,000, but without any description of what those movements might be. I have no idea where that "block" originated, but no one that I know has ever seen a Rockford in that serial number range, and it's possible (if not probable) that none exist. The numbers may have ended at 937,148 (mine above), or at any number in that run, however long it was.

Advertisements from 1915 show 16s, 17j, HC Rockfords, complete in hand engraved 20 year gold filled hunting cases, selling for $10.50. The equivalent watch in an OF case was $8.75, or the movements alone were $6.87. A year before, similar 16s, 17j Rockfords were listed at $27.00 for the movement alone.

I can't believe Jerry T. was finally stumped! All you guys had to do was look at any recent and complete Rockford serial number list, and you'd have noticed immediately that the watch above was from the last recorded run. To tell you the truth, I can't remember if I was certain of that fact when I bought it, but I did realize it was a REALLY high number for a Rockford, and it was a nice watch for the price.

Again, thanks to all for the excellent replies!

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SM