This has been one of my more exciting finds as of late. I thought I would share it with the group. It's a first for me. I have never seen one before. It's a 18s Ball-Elgin #333 in a hunter case.

Beautiful hunter case with no monograms.

Both back & the front are the same. very little wear. Details are still sharp & crisp.

Handsome watch...

Inner dust cover is free from any presentation engraving.

Keystone J. Boss. 14k gold filled case

Everything is tight including bow, covers open 90 degrees.

18s Elgin #333 17 jewel movement. This watch will be part of my fall auctions. Anyone know anything about these scarce Ball Hunters? Thanks, Jim

Beautiful watch, Jim. I'll keep an eye open for it come auction time.

Eric

Jim,

Very unusual and attractive watch there. You are not boring me....I love seeing beautiful rare timepieces. Keep them coming as far as I'm concerned.

Steve

Just a great hard to get watch, what a beauty !!
Bill

Hi All,

Elgins being my "Pet" watch, I just had to look this one up for additional information, and I found some different information, so we may need to check this out a little further.

The Name 333 is an unusual one, but the Elgin records show some things that make it complicated to figure out.

Thank goodness for Wayne's site, because we get to put it all together in a way that helps a lot.

If you check out the NAME 333, with the link below, you will see what I mean.

GRADING makes this confusing, but seems there are more of these than what has been known before.

The grades are 327, 328, 329, 330, 332, 333, 334.

Even the models are 10, 11, and 12 more confusion.

It seems total produced was 11,000 or thereabouts.

ALL were marked as being made for the Ball Watch Co.

Check it out here.

http://elginwatches.org/cgi-bi...%3D333&action=search

Hello Sheila,
I think you are missing what is rare about this watch. To say 11,000 produced would be misleading. The fact it is a 18s 17j Ball-Elgin HUNTER CASE makes this rare. The open face is more common. It seems that the 17j hunter is the rarest of these watches. Less were produced than the 21 j models. Talking to Lindell, he has informed me that Ball blocked 1000 serial numbers for this run. But the highest serial number known to exist in this model run is below 200 and no serial number above 200 has been recorded. This has lead some to believe that possibly only 200 were produced & not the 1000 that were blocked for this run. If one reads the chart below they will notice that this run was produced during one year, 1904 and never again.

Serial Number SN Range Quanty Name Year grade size code jewels Adj/reg/etc.
-------------- -------- ------ ---- ---- ----- ---- ------ ------ ------------
11958014 11958001 1000 333 1904 329* 18s hfn10l 17j ? j
only run of grade 329; 14 of 1000 in grade;
2014 of 10th model in 18s


grade total runs first yr last yr class size code jewels Adj/name
----- ----- ----- -------- ------- ----- ---- ------ ------ ----------
329 1000 1 1904 1904 119 18s hfn10l 17j ? / 333

(*) notes on grade 329: # Made for Ball Watch Co


Class 119: 18s HC fp lever model 10
329 1000 made 17j ? Marked 333. Made for Ball Watch Co
330 1000 made 21j Adj Marked 333. Made for Ball Watch Co marked "333" on mvt(?)

James,
You have a beautiful and rare watch indeed!!, and since Elgin is my favorite watch brand of all, for many reasons, I certainly will be watching for this watch to come up.

Some folks have all the luck and others just get to watch....pun intended...

Thanks for sharing this one with us.

Jerry

James,
I'm sorry, I see now that it looks like I was saying that I didn't agree, but I DO!

I only mean that I (me) could use some more information about this watch and others like it.

Elgin's are my passion, and I love to know everything I can about them. I certainly trust what the pro's have to say about them, and they know that I'm limited when it comes to knowing the in's and out's of any watch.

I was confused about it, when there is so much more to understand. The jewel counts, the different grades, and all being a 333. That's really IS unusual to me, and I want more information if anyone has more.

One name 333, different grades, different model numbers, and jewel counts, so like I said, confusing. Especially the 11,000 part.

I trust those here on IHC, more than what we see on any other site, so if there is more to add, I'm really interested.

I will be keeping my eye out for these from now on, that's for sure.

She sure is a Gorgeous watch!!!

No problem Sheila. It's very easy to get confused. Lindell has been of great help playing detective for me. Maybe Lindell could post his thoughts on this scarce timepiece for all to read & learn.
Best, Jim

PS. you are right, she sure is gorgeous! Even nicer in person...

Beautiful watch Jim. Interesting that the plates are gilt. Ehrhardt's book says they should be nickel, but there it is!