Hi, I have this great first year production Elgin KWKS, and have found this case for it, it is marked Registered trade mark inside cover a crown and as stamp I cant make out, case No 432, I will be selling this on later and was wondering if this is a suitable case?, this case is over ¾ thick a 4 hinge model!.

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Chris,

The case nice very nice looking..The only thing I would question is the winding crown.. While this "feature" was seen on keywind cases, it ususally was not as early as a first run Elgin..Key winding was not seen much before the early 1870's..With a hinged bezel I am quite sure it is an original keywind case but, Remove the movement and see if there is a hole thru the latch spring.. I have seen the markings on this case before but am at loss for maker at the moment..A very thin spade hour hand would make this complete.....

Hi John

I had the movement out and there is no hole for a normal lenght stem to come through the case spring. The crowns only fuction it to release the cover, there is also a small location hole for the movements orientation pin both in tact and marry up well. I was wondering about the crown myself, shouldnt it be more of a stud/buttom.

Hi John,

I see what you mean about the hand, I just checked my elgin cabinet and had what I think is the perfect hour hand.

Chris,


What I meant about the case was it is probably an 1870's case, the first run Elgin dates from the 1867 era..I have seen the crown before.. I believe it was to modernize the "look" of the watch..during the transition to stem winding..In fact I have an Elgin key wind in a 5 oz coin open face case, that has a crown to open the rear cover, which has a lift spring...I'll get a picture later if you want to see it..

Hi John
Would like to see a similar example. At least this style is within a few years, I think I have seen somthing like this trade mark in the past on a old HC KW version, no doubt someone will know of its origin.

Hi Chris, I have a watch that has a nearly identical case, although the inside logo differs slightly. Mine houses a Swiss fake KW. The case is original to my watch as the inside front cover is hallmarked with the watch name.

Mine was acquired missing a pusher stem or crown. So I don't know if mine originally had a crown or just a pusher. I fabricated a pusher stem for mine. BTW, my case is not gold filled, but is lacquered solid brass. As my Swiss fake is not marked with the country of origin, I have dated mine to pre 1878, when marking was mandated by law. Wonder if yours and mine came from the same place.

Tom

Hi Tom
It maybe a Swiss one, it has the pretence of trying to imply quality with crowns odd stamped figures symbols & banners, I was looking at the stamp in the inner cover and cant make out if its wear or a poor stamp!, I did a acid test, using my stone and it showed GF, of course no brassing showing being in such nice condition. From what has been said so far we are not at all far off in years and more than likely the best match I will find and a very well made case end of day, total weight is about 6oz

Chris,

The hour hand is perfect, and the watch looks much, much better....Here is a "crown" case keywind...

Now to make it absolutely correct you need to work on that second hand...

John,

Thanks for showing that watch and helping me get mine correct, I think I have one of those second hands also.