Hi, I have an opportunity to buy an Elgin ladies watch.
S/N 1359423, six size, 11 jewels. The case is marked B.W.C. Co.
There is an 18 within an oval, and an eagle with outstretched wings... Not sure if this means 18k?
I would like to know if it is gold, or gold filled. There is another thread here that describes a B.W.C Co. Marked case, and in that thread it was decided that the case name needed to be inside of a "dog bone" shaped symbol to be solid gold... No dog bone on this one, but has what might be gold stamps - and that's where I need your help.
Thank you.

Pic 2.

Marc try doing a search for Brooklyn watch case co. I think you will find a lot of post on it.

Here are some of their marks

There is a possibility it could be a fraudulently marked case. The 18K normally indicated 18k solid gold but the Eagle trademark indicated 8k solid gold. After the Brooklyn Company was taken over by Fahy's there were a lot of fraudulent Brooklyn cases produced by other people that were not gold at all but bore the markings that they were. These cases usually had the Eagle mark.

quote from another source:

quote:

In 1898, a news item appeared in the trade press that may explain what appears to be misleadingly marked, or even fraudulently marked, surviving Brooklyn cases. At that time, somebody was stamping Brooklyn trade marks which indicated solid gold cases on cheap, brass cases and upon Brooklyn gold-filled cases. Brooklyn was forced to place ads warning that such cases existed and that the person(s) behind the scheme would be prosecuted. Nevertheless, cases bearing Brooklyn's Eagle trade mark were still showing up a full year later.

The serial number of the watch dates it to 1884 however so the above information may not apply.

More info suggests that the 18 marking may not even mean 18K because there is no K after the number. People have seen cases like the one shown with the same markings that proved to be 8k gold.

It also appears that the "dog bone" around the B.W.C. Co letters of Brooklyn watch cases didn't exist prior to 1887 so it might be genuine since the movement dates from 1884.

I would bid on the premise that it is not an 18K solid gold case and may not be solid gold at all.

Hi Marc

The movement of given watch was produced 1884.
The cas was inscripted 1884 and shows some of the old B.W.C Co markings. So lets assume 1884 is the correct year.

This was prior to the time when BWCCo became part of the Fahys Imperium and far prior to the restrictions by US law on gold markings. We also can not compare the makings with marks used later.

There is an advertisement fom BWCCo dated 1887 where they show the new case marks for 'eagle' and 'wheat' cases.

...The 'Brooklyn-Eagle' cases are made troughout of Full 8-karat Gold...they have given universal satisfaction during the ten years in which they have been manufactured...

My conclusion: the case is made of 8-K solid gold.

Regards
Gerald

Thank you ALL for the excellent replies! Exactly the help I needed.
The eagle stamp looks like it might belong. For some reason, the 18 stamp looks "out of place". I believe it is well explained above. Thank you!

Mark, I agree with Gerald that it is 8K. I say that because I had a similar BWC case with the 18 marking tested by a jeweler friend who is quite knowledgeable. It was a scrap case as it was damaged, and it tested as 8K. They may not be definitive but I would definitely not want to conclude it is more than 8K.

Hi Deacon, thank you! yes, the 18 mark has been very confusing. Any Idea what it meant? or was it clearly a false mark placed on it to deceive? (And placed there by whom ) The Eagle mark appears to be correct. The case seems a bit too nice to be gold filled, yet it doesn't seem to "flex" as easy as I would expect if it was say 14k or 18k.