ILLINOIS WATCH CASE.Giant exchange

does anyone know what this case is made of and why it has the exchange on it.i cant find anything out there like it with the exchange on it..

That may have been some kind of US-Canada cross-trade customs deal. Trading (exchange?) goods instead of taxes.

From what I think I know the Giant, made by the Illinois Watch Case Co. was a 20 year 10K gold filled case.

I would assume that this case was exchanged for one that wore through to the brass prior to the expiration of it's guarantee. I have seen other cases with just EX on them and took that to mean the same.

Can you post a picture go the pendant?

here is a picture of the watch.nice mint dial and a very nice heavy case with no brass anywhere.

Beautiful watch.. and I really like the warranty exchange theory.

I have nothing concrete to back it up but let's look a bit further.

Victor, what is the serial number on that watch?

97512 serial number on movement,1586364 on case..

Well, it's feasible, 97512 was made in late 1899.

A 20 year case could have been worn thru in 15 or so years and the pendant on Victor's case is appropriate for the mid teens.

I sure wish something could be found that explains the procedure. Was it pro-rated so the customer had to pay 75% of the cost of the new case?

I asked about the "Dueber Exchange" mark on a case I have several years ago, there doesn't seem to be an answer.I have a 16s YGF Dueber case marked "Dueber Exchange", no karat mark but it is gold filled.I also have an 18s Philadelphia YGF case that is also marked "EXC" ,I think short for exchange.Must be something to do with the gold market back then.

Steve Middlesworth mentioned in his topic...

19 jewel 60 HOUR collection

…about a "Dueber Exchange" case…

"Type II serial #4726875 in a Dueber Exchange case"

I would have to agree with Lorne on this.it seems to make the most sense.the previous case probably wore through the gold plating and was guaranteed not to wear through in the period of time that it did,so they replaced it with a new one in exchange for the old worn out one.seems to make good sense to me.they would have had to replace some of the cases because under heavy use,there must have been some that didn't last for as long as they were warranted for.thanks for the input Lorne.

I assume that everything I assume is correct.

To me, EXCHANGE, EXC, and X all are indications of a gold filled case exchanged for one that had worn thru the gold layer.

Now I am reminded of a line from the Clint Eastwood movie, Trouble With the Curve in which Clint says "You don't know half of what you think you know".

I found a SOLID 14K gold Howard case containing a Series 10 movement and the case has an X on the cuvette just below the serial number. Kinda blows at least 1/3 of my theory.

I will post a pic when the sale is over.

Well I have come full circle on this one. I am back to believing the "X" on the Howard case mentioned above, even though solid gold is legitimate.

Note the back is marked Howard 14K yet the cuvette is marked with the Keystone Watch Case Co. 14K logo.

Different case companies yet the serial numbers match. (408)

Now a pic of a Howard 14K case that I have.

Buster, do you remember a thread about a Howard case Deacon owned with similar circumstances? I tried to find it but have had no success as yet.

I have a theory, it's pretty simple.

What do you guys think?

Yes Debbie, that is the thread I was asking Buster about, thanks for finding it.

Although it was a bit confusing and we never did see pictures I took it that Deacon had a case with one J. Boss cover and one Crescent cover with matching serial numbers.

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It seems the same scenario with this solid gold case. The 129176 and the X on the Keystone cuvette appear to be stamped later than the logo itself.

Whoever did it would have had access to unstamped factory case parts so to me the # and X are legitimate indications of an exchange or replacement part