just got the watch 17 jewels 3 fingers Elgin sz 16
3 colors sterling case.
what you all think of it.
Gold or blue hands?

front

dial

I normally don't like gold hands. But they do look nice on this one.

Same here Jim.

Peter, the gold hands that are on it kind of blend in with the background.. I think blue hands would stand out more... Maybe some diamond hands... Just a thought

A real beauty...Gold hands look ok to me..

I'd keep the gold hands, though blue would probably be easier to read the time

Gary

Peter, I don't care how you look at it that is one beautiful watch. 3 colors are great and remind me of the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Great looking watch. the gold hands blend a little to much for me. some shiny blue ones sure would look good

Nice Peter, very nice. I suspect it is a 12sz looking at the dial & hands.

I think a set of deep blued hands will put it over the top !!

regards,
bb

nope its size 16 Buster

Yes, I see it stated on the first line of your post at the end, missed that, !! Of course you are right !!

And yes definitely deep blue or royal blue hands for this watch !! Too much gold tones on and around the dial make the hands difficult to see without looking for them.

regards,
bb

As far as I know Elgin never made a three finger in any size other than for the size 16. Which grade of the 3 finger is it. Having more than a few 3 finger Elgins running from 17 up to 21 jewel, hunters and open face, I tend to be a fan of them.

I'm a sucker for 3 fingers
Movement Serial Number: 9290125
looks to be grade 241 not the best grade but runs and keep good time what more can you ask from a watch

Beautiful Peter! However, I'm with Buster and Bruce on this. The gold hands are very pretty, but the dial has so much gold coloring on it already that it is a little hard to see them. I think a set of blues would be better. IMHO. Regards, Brad

Nice looking watch Peter. Nothing wrong with a 241!

so lets see who likes the blue hands
just have to dig deeper for the right second hand
I know I have it .

I have to admit, I can sure see those blue hands a lot better than the gold ones.

Regards! Mark

The blue hands are better by far, very nice watch.

What a world of difference, IMHO, no comparison, the blue hands win, hands down!

I also like the 3 finger bridge models. I have one that is 17j marked adjusted with the serial # of 15810942.That makes it a grade 381 made in 1911. It has a double sunk white dial with Roman numerals and red arabic numbers outside the Roman ones like 5 at the I, 10 at the II, and so on. It has very thin spade style hands but the thing that made me really want it is the case. It is housed in a gold filled Hunter case from the Union Watch Case Company that has a blank shield on the front cover and a gaff rigged sailing ship on the back. Being a sailor myself and having sailed twice to the Bahamas on a 25 foot sailboat, the case really caught my eye.

Back to your watch, it's really beautiful and I would agree that the blued hands do make it easier to see the time at a glance. I read somewhere that Elgin made the 3 finger bridge movements to appeal to people who liked the pre- 1900 look of pocket watches. They made a higher grade movement, and used dial styles that could have been found on watches 20 or 30 years earlier.

Peter,
Much better.. I like the contrast now.. Can you post a pic of the movement or us to drool over..

top right one is the one we looking at now

Peter, the blue hands are a home run, Superb.

Gary

Yes blue hands made all the diff. Good looking piece Peter.

Blue is the way to go! Brad