Tom,
So that's why I've seen so many small Elgin movements in larger cases. Great information.

I like your watch, and being from family, makes it that much more special.

I love Elgins!

Hi Stephanie,
Great thread. My grandfather, Luigi Belmonte, came to the US from Calabria, Southern Italy, in 1910. He worked on the railroad section gangs in the Chicago area, then he became a gardener. I have two of his watches; this one is an Elgin 6s, multi-color case (movement ca. 1878), with his initials on it. He bought it before 1920. I also have two of his watch chains and fobs, and photos of him wearing those. Thanks,
Pete

...And the back of the watch case (with a nice bird on it). My uncle has my maternal great-grandfather's Elgin 18s--he came to the US in 1891 and worked on section gangs all over the midwest and northwest (Chicago and North Western Railroad). His Elgin is big and heavy and non-working.
Pete

Harold,
The scratched inscription on your watch is in Swedish and reads "till minne av föräldrar xxxxxx".
The first part in English would be: "in memory of parents...". If you could spell out the last part of the inscr I might help with that, too.

Hej Peter, tills nyss trodde jag att jag var ensam svensk här, men apperently not!

My Great grandfather, August Leonard Tinglöf was a watchmaker and jeweler in Grythyttan. Grythyttan is a small village in the middle of Sweden 70 kolometers north of the city of Örebro. Grythyttan has it´s roots back to the 16th century with iron mining. His shop is still in use by my uncle Schmidts ur och guld
First a picture of August. The watches below were sold in his shop but the two last ones is from his private collection.
/Bernhard

Omega marked AL Tinglöf Grythyttehed

....with the church of Grythyttan on the back

from his private collection, Longines chronograph

The firm was established 1885.
a chain fusse from around 1720

Gosh! there were digital watches in 1720!, that is a nice treasure Bernard

Tom H.,
You are one lucky person to have not only one but two antique pocket watches from your uncle. Interesting info on your Elgin. Thanks for sharing!

Peter B.,
Welcome to Chapter 185 and glad you are enjoying my thread as well as participating!
Thanks for a little background history regarding your grandfather. Your Elgin 6s
is very pretty! I'd love to see the pictures of your grandfather wearing his watch chain and fobs now in your possession! Please?

Hi Bernhard,
Great historical horology info on your family. You must be proud huh? Wow! Thanks for showing watches once in your great grandfather's collection. Wonderful treasures I'm sure will be handed down for future generations in your family! Can you post an English version to the link?

Hi Stephanie,
Here is one with my grandfather, his first wife (Raffaela Scornavacco), my uncle Gasparo (Gasper, standing, b. 1913 in Highwood, IL), and my aunt Catarina (Kay, b. 1915 in Lake Forest, IL). It was taken about 1916 in Lake Forest; you can barely see the watch chain. It is the one I use now, a long thin, with many interlocking links, fairly delicate. I have another picture taken in the early 1940s that shows the chain better, but I can't get to that one (under glass, framed). Soon I will try to post a photo of the other chain, plus the fobs.
Best regards,
Pete

Peter,
What a lovely picture of your ancestors. Your grandfather's/now yours watch chain appears to be a prince albert chain (hung from both sides).

I look forward to the other pic of chain and fobs.

Great picture Peter!

Thanks Stephanie,
At the risk of turning this into a Belmonte genealogical site, here's a better view of how my grandfather wore one of his chains (the same one in the previous photo). That's him on the left, with a friend, aboard the steamship Duilio, in August, 1924, on his way back to Italy to visit his mother, Caterina Belmonte, and, incidentally, to marry his second wife, my grandmother, Raffaela Dodaro. His friend is wearing an interesting chain in an interesting manner -- it appears that he has placed it through a belt loop or perhaps over his belt.
I took a nice photo of the other chain and fobs, but it is too "large" (bit-wise) for posting; I'll try to get it smaller somehow and post it. Thanks for viewing,
Pete

Hi Peter!
Hey, we CAN turn this into a Belmonte genealogical thread! Why not?

Wow, too good looking men for sure! And another great picture you have of your grandfather! It is interesting how he wore his watch chain. Seems he used his bottom pocket for other items. Wondering what? His friend did have an interesting way in wearing his chain. I'll bet he didn't want to wear a vest and got a little creative and practical as a result!

Do you have your grandfather's pocket watch/pocket watches? If so,(sure hope so for you) tell us about them, maybe a picture or two?

Will look for forward to more pictures! Thanks Pete.

Stephanie,
Thanks for your kind comments. I don't know what my grandfather had in his pockets, or what he carried normally--but I know he enjoyed nice things, and he also left me some very nice stick-pins. These Italian immigrants liked nice things, no? Here is the other watch chain and fobs. The chain is braided thin gold strands; the bar is "twisted" with a beaded design amidst the twists; the long fob is a gold pencil with nice engraving and my grandfather's initials on it; the coin is a $5 gold piece from Costa Rica, 1905. I have no idea why grandpa had that -- as far as I know he never went to Costa Rica. All items are solid gold (one of the clasps has 14k on it).
I posted pictures of the case of one of grandpa's watches above. I will try to get a photo of the other watch. I hope this is of some interest!
Pete
PS. I'm awfully sorry about the size of these photos, apparently I'm not doing this correctly.

Peter, that is a great looking chain.


I resized your picture to eliminate scrolling.

Hi Peter,
A beautiful watch chain with fobs indeed! Your t-bar deserves a spot in a thread I once started in forum under "Horological Tools, Books & Misc., thread is titled
Unique T bars." You may find these of interest!

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=3206049661&f=5146029761&m=6046024385

I did see your multi-colored 6s Elgin above. Thanks, sooo pretty! May we see a shot of dial and movement? I'd love to see your grandfather's other watch as well.

If you set your camera for image size 640 x 480, that might work well for you and would be a great size here on our threads! Look forward to more pics Pete. You sure are one lucky person to have these fabulous treasures from your grandfather.

Well, this sure derails the argument I've read in the past that 6 size watches were for ladies only. This gentleman appears to be a 'mans man' and could (and apparently DID) carry any durn thing he wanted! NOW, with that said, time for me to start prowling around for a good 6 size hunter. If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me! High regards! Mark

Hi Stephanie,
Wow, great T-bars and chains on that link, thanks very much. Now I'll want to collect chains...
Tom, Thanks for "fixing" my picture, it looks very nice! The pencil on that chain/fob is really neat--you hold the main body of the pencil and pull up on the "plunger" top; as you pull up, another section emerges from the other end, holding the lead portion of the pencil. I'd love to get a look at the mechanism inside that gold pencil!
I will try to post more pictures of the movement and dial of the Elgin 6s, plus the other watch, too. Thanks,
Pete

Hi Stephanie,
Here is the movement of my grandfather's "other" watch, actually a pendant watch (my grandfather was about five and a half feet tall, so he liked smaller watches, apparently, like the 6s Elgin). The watch is 0 size, gold case, with "Rowe Bros" and "Swiss" on the enameled dial. The case serial number is: 38145 (marked "Warranted 18 Carat Fine"); movement serial number: 57337 (no other marks on the movement). I think it is 17 jeweled. According to information supplied to me, this is a movement by Agassiz. There is a monogram and gift inscription in the case, from a father to his daughter, dated Christmas, 1888. I understand the Rowe Brothers were jewelers in Chicago.
I disassembled this watch and cleaned it; it needs a new mainspring (old one is broken), but I couldn't find a supplier who has a similar spring, so it sits now back together but non-working.
Pete

Hi Peter!
Thanks for more info concerning your grandfather's watches. Someone here may be of help in locating a mainspring for your Agassiz.
You could enter a post in our "Wanted" forum section regarding your mainspring needed.

I'd still love to see your 6S dial and movement housed in your 6s multi colored case.

Thanks Pete for posting!

Peter,
I also wanted to say I've not seen anything like your grandfather's watch chain. The links/braid is so unusual. I've been a collector of antique watch chains for some time now and have not seen anything like yours! Very nice!!!

Stephanie,
Thanks for your kind words about my grandfather's chain. I am fond of it, but I cannot figure out how to wear that one with blue jeans and a watch pocket! I do have a vest, but I haven't worn it for a couple of years. So, I wear the the other chain while wearing the jeans.
I will try for a photo of the movement of the Elgin 6s; it is damaskeened, looking nice. The hunter case has an inner back cover, plus a glass cover over the movement, a real nice case. What is that type called??
I have tried, on this board and others, to get info about a replacement mainspring for the Agassiz movement, with no luck. My next attempt will probably be to try to drill a new hole at the end of the spring (that hooks onto the barrel wall). I tried with a small nail and ended up breaking another 1/4 inch off the end; then someone suggested annealing the end before working with it (Duh! ) and I had better luck, but, without a proper little drill bit, I will just wait a while. Thanks again, I hope to have more photos by next week.
Pete

Here's my Dad's remedy for wearing his BWR and chain without a vest. He attached a spring ring to the link of the chain where the bar, drop for a charm, and the main part of the chain are attached. The spring ring is opened and hooked around a belt loop and the watch goes into the watch pocket. The sales person at the store where he bought his clothes for many years automatically marked the alternations ticket for adding a watch pocket. I think the rings are available in several sizes from LaRose.

In addition the the BWR, I have my Granddad's 9-j Waltham, My Grandmaw's Gruen wristwatch, my Uncle Frank's 60-hr Sangamo, my Uncle Sylvester's 18-size 17-j Waltham, and my Uncle Charlie's 10-size 15-j Elgin.

John,
Thanks for the info and picture. I will see what I can do with my grandfather's chain. It is braided, so I'll have to take a close look. Maybe you can post some pictures of your other ancestral watches, too. Thanks,
Pete