We recently have been given the opportunity of viewing Harold Visser's late mother's 14K tri-gold pocket watch in "Timekeepers Gallery".

Are there other IHC 185 members lucky enough to own their forefathers pocket watches? Would love to see them here and learn more about them.

As of this thread, we will now have a concise place to view members ancestral pocket watches. Join in - in participating in ancestral pocket watches!

Harold V., feel free to post your watches here. Will look forward to learning about and viewing other lucky ones ancestral pocket watches!

Stephanie,check out the April Bulletin,page 248....it's my great grandfathers New Railway housed in a rare 18 size NAWCO Security Heavy Duty Railroad Model case. I also have my dads watch(BWR 571) as well as my uncles Wakkman navigational/stop and my great,great grandfathers 1868 Elgin B W Raymond. I am a very,very lucky man. When I get time,I'll put them in the photo archives here at the best horology board in the world,chapter 185.

great idea Stephaine here is a 23 jewel bw raymond my uncle gave me.He had no kids to pass the watch to and knowing how much i like the old watches he made a trip from springfield illinois and gave me the watch when he was 82 years old..

he went to Springfiel illinois in the 30,s during the depression looking for work and after a couple of years got a job working for the CHICAGO& ILLINOIS MIDLAND RR. .He worked on the crew that repaired and maintained the tracks ,sideing,s and varoius siginals for the railroad and was later foreman for the crew..He continued working there till 1957...This railroad was the last in the USA. to be fully steam.

He gave me a book that was writing about the railroad he worked for and made several notes in the book about things concering the rr.
one was a wreck he helped work..

the watch still works great and in very good condition..

here is one of the notes he made concerning a wreck he helped clean up.

Not lucky enough -

I have just located my Grandfather's watch. He passed away in the mid 60's. A cousin has the watch, and I hope to get to see it for the first time next month.

From the gleam in his eye, I don't think it will be going home with me. It's an Illinois .

Charlie

This LINK is the closest thing I have to an heirloom watch. It came from my grandfather to my father to me, but I believe my grandfather must have picked it up in trade and it probably never worked (in our family) until I restored it several years ago.

No pics but my Oma gave me Opa'a Elgin to me at age 13. My father was not happy about it but I have cherished it ever since and it of course runs great. It is in a GF case and has his initials engraved in it.

This was my grandfathers pocket watch. My folks were Dutch and I was born in Holland also, and when the last remaining family member on my mothers side, her sister, passed away in Holland about 20 years ago we were the last remaining close relatives and consequently a large crate arrived from the old country and included among a lot of other personal items was an old Friesian “Staartclock”, a Frisian “Stoelclock” and a Mdl.83 (P.S. Bartlett) hunter case Waltham . This Waltham was the one that got me started in watch collecting. At the time I knew practically nothing about pocket watches. Grandpa's Waltham was claimed by my brother, but it didn't take long for me to talk him out of it. The hand scratched engraving on the inner lid has always been intriguing to me, I presume it is in “Fries” a northern Holland dialect, the area we were from, unfortunately I have never been able to decipher it other than the partial date ??-11-1900. The gold case is also marked “Warranted U.S. Assay” but the area where the 14K or 18K would be stamped is left blank. Anyway this is one of the few watches that will always stay in the family!
Harold

Here's the hand sctatched engraving....

The movement..

And the odd Hallmark...

I have two watches that have been in the family. One is my father's the other is my grandfather's.

This one was given to my Dad by his brother on his 21st. birthday. He would be 100 this year. It is a nice Elgin 12s.

The inscription in the case.

My Grandfather's watch. A nice Waltham in a swing out case.

The movement.

Am I here yet? lol

After coming in here and reading the posts, I tapped into Jerry's link above, and instead of posting here, I posted there!!! LOLOL
I am losing it!

Great pictures everyone. Serious detail there.
I so enjoy seeing all your pictures.

Stephanie, terrific idea. Do you have one? Post it if you do please.

Sam W., I remember reading about your great grandfather's watch. I'll need to pull the bulletin again to refresh my memory. I look forward to seeing your pictures here soon! And yes, you are a very, very lucky man!

Samie S.,
Thanks! Great watch, story and fascinating book! Do you have a lucky son?

Jerry T.,
Interesting heirloom watch!

David F.,
Lucky you.

Harold V.,
Thanks for posting your grandfather's P. S. Bartlett as well as sharing your ancestral story.

Tom S.,
Two very nice ancestral watches, you lucky dog!

and Sheila,
I can only wish I had a pocket watch or two handed down to me. Instead, here's what I do have and I AM lucky enough to have it - a picture of my great grandparents on their wedding day in New Orleans in 1890! My great grandfather, Gregorio was a Sicilian immigrant. He was 31 years of age at the time the picture was taken! He migrated to New Orleans at age 17 in 1877.

As you can see, my great grandfather was wearing a watch chain. Unfortunately, no one in our family has information regarding his watch or it's whereabouts. I suspect the watch was quite large as his watch chain looks heavy and very ornate. I can say the age of the watch was prior to 1890. Manufacturer, size, gold content, is anybody's guess.

What I wouldn't give to have his watch, watch chain, fob charm and T bar!

What puzzles me is the location of the pocket in which my great grandfather has the watch in. Possibly the top coat instead of his vest? Speculation members on watch etc.?

Are there other members willing to share their ancestral pocket watches with us?

Stephanie,
Wow what a great piece of genealogy!
Funny, your last question was exactly what I was wondering too. Where did he keep his watch?
looks like it's almost under his arm in the picture. Wouldn't that be so cool if you could find out more about the watch?

Even though you may never have any more information on the watch he obviously had in his pocket, I think it's MUCH BETTER to have that fantastic picture of your grandparents.

Kinda why I like Watches so much. Keeping information of the history of people and things facinate me.
It's not only important to have your family history to pass on to your children or family members, but knowing about watches and having good examples of them, keeps the history of the "beginnings of this country" kinda at hand, for future generations to experience, just like people do, with their families histories.

If it's so much fun, and unusual for me to look over an old 1893 Sears Catalog today, just think what others will think of us in 2105!

101 years can make a huge difference. They may even read this message board in a study of watches, maybe even from space, or on another planet!!! lol All because of YOUR GRANDPARENTS!

Hi Steph, Great pic of your great-grand parents. It looks to me like his watch is being carried in his left vest pocket. The T-bar chain could be hooked into any buttonhole in the vest depending upon the wearer's preference. He chose the top buttonhole.

When I wear a vest with a three piece suit, I place my watch in the right vest pocket, run the chain through the third hole from the bottom and place the knife hooked on the chain end into the left pocket. If I wear a T-end chain, I hook it into the same buttonhole.

Tom

Sheila,
No doubt about it, I am thankful to have the wonderful picture of my great grandparents. Would choose the picture over the watch any old day! For sure!!!! Would have been nice to have his watch, know more about his watch, or be given the opportunity of even seeing his watch! Highly unlikely I will learn more about his watch.

Tom H.,
Thanks, glad you enjoyed picture.

Are there others who would like to share their ancestral pocket watches?

Most original 'vest coats' had 4 pockets, two lower for watches, change, pocket knives, cigar cutters and the like, two top pockets for pens, pencils, papers, and what not. Many folks who sat at desks a lot used the top pockets for their watches so it would bang against the desk front. This is the location it appears your grandfather is wearing his. Regards. Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your added information regarding pockets in vest coats! It makes more sense as to the location of my great grandfather's pocket watch! Mark, you always seem to post interesting information. Love to read your posts! Thanks again.

Other comments? Others with ancestral pocket watches they may want to share with us?

I seem to remember useless trivia, rather than the stuff I REALLY need to remember, according to my family. (grins) Regards. Mark

At last! I must admit that I have been a little envious reading stories about ancestral watches when I did not have one.

After a few years of patiently listening to me natter on about pocket watches, my parents presented a watch to me that had been sitting in my Father's dresser drawer for years.

It belonged to my Great Grandfather on my Mother's side of the family. It is an Illinois, 16s, 11j, hunter case. Model 4, Grade 172 manufactured in 1902.

Jack

The dial.

I really like the case on this. Especially the cartouche which is raised slightly from the rest of the case.

The strap is braided leather and has a patent date of Feb. 20 17.

Jack,
That is terrific news! Interesting case and strap. What a thrill huh?

Others?

Stephanie the Bromefield watch is in the pocket watch discussion forum.You can move it here if you like.I will try to post a picture of my granfather,s grandfather later.
It is believed that probaly the watch was brought over when he came to the U.S from England.

Enclosed is the dial pic of the Elgin watch that my uncle told me was his first good watch. He was born in 1889, and with the watch SN at 18,889,969, would mean he was about 27 years old when he got this first "good" watch. I don't know what he carried prior to this. He carried this as a dress watch. He worked for the local shortline railroad on the track crew and he told me that he carried an Elgin to work for many years until he traded it on his new watch. In 1954, he traded in his Elgin and treated himself to a really good watch. What he got was a Hamilton 992B in a model 15 stainless steel case. I also am in possession of that watch.

The unique thing about this Elgin is that it is a 6S spread to a 10-12S without the seconds register. These were cased by Elgin at the factory. This was a marketing ploy to sell a vast inventory of unsold 6S watch movements that had gone out of style. By doing this they were able to put out a thin gentleman's watch and use up the inventory.

The movement pic will be in the next post.

Elgin movement