Hi All, Merry Christmas, hopefully Lindell can chime in on evaluating this "Ch Suchy & Fils" [see third image] solid 14k hunters case pocket watch. I'm no Swiss watch buff so I have no idea what I have. Note the wolf teeth winding gears, it's about a 16 size or a hair smaller.

The case is solid 14k and on the movement train bridge it is marked "CH Suchy & Fils". The inside rear dust cover has a bunch of information engraved about the watch. The watch is pin set, stem wind, I guess made in the late 1800's, there are no serial #'s on the case or movement. I was wondering if this is a rare watch or is it fairly common? And is there any real value other than the gold content in the case? The case is original to the movement, the dial is without flaws and the hands are original. let me know what you all think.

rear

rear dust cover

whoops, I forgot there is a serial # on the inside dust cover. but none on the movement

dial

and the movement

pic of movement

But for the worn case, you have a nice example of a typical style of medium to high grade watch made in the area a little north of Lausanne, e.g., in Locle or Le Chaud de Fonds, near the end of the 19th Century. (Lausanne is on the north side on Lake Geneva, about half way between Geneva (at the western end) and Montreux (at the eastern end).)

I have a number of watches with very similar movements, e.g., an 18k F. Sagne 39mm hunter with wolf's teeth winding gears but slightly different bridgework, a 14k H Cottier 42mm hunter with identical bridgework but without wolf's teeth winding gears, a 14k Salter 58mm hunter without wolf's teeth winding gears and with slightly different bridgework and more jewels.

The cuvette inscriptions on your watch recounts its obvious features, e.g., that has a keyless movement with a straight line lever escapement with a Breguet overcoil hairspring and a compensated balance.

Ch. Suchy & Fils, according to Pritchard, was located in Le Chaud de Fonds, which is utterly consistent with the style of movement. Beyond that, the only thing she reports is that "This firm had an Honorable Mention for horology at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878."

I don't recall ever seeing a Ch. Suchy before, but rarity -- if it is rare -- does not translate into value unless it is coupled with collector demand. I am not aware of significant collector demand for this sort of watch. The worn case detracts from value. Hence, it likely is worth little more than scrap value, which will not be insubstantial in view of the high price of gold.

Hello. Can it help?

Hi Ilya
Welcome to the IHC 185 !
Help from this side of the globe is always good.

Thank you for sharing this picture. It should be a reason to round up this older post with some more informations. Can you tell us a bit more about the watch ?

Suchy was in fact a well known and highly reputated name in the regions of the former Austrian empire.

Regards
Gerald