June 13, 2010, 23:56
William Thomassterling silver casemaker ID question
I picked up a nice screw back and bezel 16 size sterling silver case. Inside the case back is engraved: c.w.mfg co 925/1000 fine. looks to be hand engraved and not stamped. I believe case dates to 1900-1910 as it has Waltham 1899-08 case crew marks. I can find info on Couvoisier-Wilcox Mfg. Co but no definite info on them after 1892. I believe that the majority of pre-1900 silver cases were hinged. The hand engraving suggests a trademark re-use by a later factory. Any ideas on who actually made this case??
June 14, 2010, 08:21
Edward L. Parsons, Jr.Just on general principles, I would be very skeptical about any case hallmark that was hand-engraved instead of stamped.
It strongly suggests something that was added later, rather than an original marking.
If you could post a picture of the case & hallmark, we could get a much better handle on it.