I have just purchased a key wound key set repeater . It is supposed to be in good running condition . Do you think that they are a good investment? I can't date it or identify the maker as it has no marking I can see from the photos I have seen . Can anyone help me get an idea of it's history .

I doubt that many of the watches we buy are good investments. Repeaters or other complicated watches are much less common than time only watches, and their higher values reflect that, both at purchase and sale. As always, if you get a great buy, it is possible to make money when selling a watch, but repeaters and other complicated watches can be very expensive to service. Restoration and maintenance costs -- I am not a do-it-yourselfer -- usually eliminate any potential profit on watches I sell.

For example, in 2007, I bought an 18k Ed. Koehn minute repeater at an Antiquorom auction for $2,950, bidding by mail or on-line. That's a good price, but the watch did not work properly. Antiquorom refused to take it back. My former watchmaker charged me $375 to service it. He took a year, declared it irreparable, damaged the already badly hairlined dial, but put a nice pair of hands on the watch. My current watchmaker restored it to complete health for $1576. I had the enamel dial restored for $400, the case polished for $65, and spent $55 on a spring. My total investment is $5,421, plus a huge amount of frustration. The watch is swell now, but I probably would not get back my investment if I sold it.

So, I expect that few of us make money on our collections.

That is so true Ethan, great way to show it. The ultimate wildcard in any investment is what does it take to make it right. the repairs can be 100 or 1000 and that will determine the end profits.

Well the investment part is not so important as the enjoyment I expect to get from it . I would still like to know where this watch was from or who made it . I guess I will wait until it arrives maybe I can get a clue to it's origin .

Well the watch arrived in good condition . Still no clue as it it's origins . Some pictures of it for you to enjoy though .

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JUST TRAVEL THE WORLD AND FIND THE CASTLE AND YOU WILL FIND IT'S ORIGINS...

great world 100-200 years ago, you could go to Switzerland and find hundreds of places where men would be making watches like this and it was a normal desirable career and living. How many careers like this have stayed in demand? It is one career that cannot be outsourced and remain in demand.

Well a trip around the world sounds nice it is out of my price range . Especially now that I have this watch Another photo and a clue the watch was purchased from some one in Europe .

Brian I believe what Andy is saying if you travel the world and find the castle. Then you will find it's origins. Sort of like a adventure. From the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and so on.

I doubt that you would have to travel far to find the castle, perhaps no further than an image search on the Web. I'll wager the castle is in Switzerland or an adjacent watchmaking area. It seems modest and in poor repair, e.g, the crenellated towers likely once had tall conical roofs. I don't recognize the castle, but there is a fairly similar castle, actually two, in Sion, about halfway between Montreux and the turnoff to Zermatt on the southern east-west road through the Alps. Valere-Sion

Ethan I love castles but would never have your wonderful knowledge. I would just ask my 14 year old grandson to tell me which video game had a castle like that. Seasons greetings to all.