F. Courvosier S St Louis 18S MKD RAILROAD WATCH ON MOVEMENT??

18S 15"J stem wind lever set hunter.

#553925 Seems I've heard of this maker before

This is NOT a swiss fake, marked Switzerland under balance, I'd put it similiar quality or better to the Longines Monarch.

Mkd adjusted safety pinion and "Railroad Watch" on movement

Can anyone identify this one?

Here's the dial

F. Courvosier S St Louis 18S MKD RAILROAD WATCH ON MOVEMENT

Hi Tom. Interesting watch. I cannot help you much but would say that I immediatly thought of an early Zenith, propably because of the regulator. Not the one usually seen on a Zenith but possibly an early varient?. What is your thinking re. the case/ Do do you think it is a recase? I think I detect a spacer ring around the movement and makes me think it has been recased. As you probably know that is a famous swiss name that had several generations of watch makers. Not saying it was made by them but possibly a descendent was a jeweller in St. Louis and had a "jewellers Dial Watch " made up. Hopefully someone else can help ID it. John

Tom, I don't know who made the F. Courvoisier's movement or its ebauche, but fairly similar movements were made by J.J. Badollet. These movements fairly often were signed by C.H. Meylan and perhaps finished by C.H. Meylan; more often, they are signed only by the retailer. (Some believe that C.H. Meylan, not Badollet, was the actual maker, but not me.) As far as I know, these movement all have a left-facing rampant lion trademark stamped near the balance wheel. There are some significant differences between them and the Courvoisier, e.g., the Courvoisier is missing the rampant lion trademark. I keep a comprehensive CH Meylan database. I have never seen a Courvoiser PL Meylan of any design. Because of that, the design differences, and a serial number well beyond the highest C.H. Meylan serial number I have ever seen, I would not attribute the Courvoisier to C.H. Meylan or Badollet, but it is possible that they all were based on the same third-party ebauche.

Here is a photo of a typical C.H. Meylan 3/4-plate movement. It is in its original red 14k Jeannot & Shiebler case with an 1886 inscription.