About 10 years ago my brother and I got Dad (then 70) a computer. After a while he mastered it in his own way and he was off. Four years ago he discovered the Internet and then he discovered Ebay. Since then he has found all sorts of weird Ebay like sites some of them overseas. Since he can speak Hungarian and German he has the edge on me because alI I can do is look at the pictures. He has followed my growing interest in pocket watches and occasionally he decides to help me.

The first time he helped me I ended up with a reasonable Niello cased hunter. 16 size, a bit worn with the same picture on both sides save the front has a gold inlay and the back is all silver. It contains a typical 15 jewel Swiss movement of the period. The fob came with it and I managed to save all the fittings and replace the leather.

The next couple were duds and Dad was firmly told not to bid on them. I remember one where the pictures were only about 1.5 inches square and when you clicked on the icon for enlarged pictures you got a full screen box with the same sized picture in the middle. On another site we found something interesting but could not bid. It took over a month to sort that out due the the weird way that particular site was set up.
A couple of weeks ago the next one turned up and Dad was determined to have this one.
Here is a picture of the back.

The thing that got Dad going was the front because it has the coat of arms of Hungry which is where he grew up. Since I have never seen a watch with a coat of arms of anywhere on it I thought it would be worth getting.
Here is what it all means. (I hope I get this right or Dad will not be happy with me)
Within the gold shield on the left is 4 lines which stand for the four main rivers flowing through Hungry. To the right of these is a double cross which relates to Saint Istvan who was the Hungarian king who brought Christianity to the country. Under the cross is a mountain rang which according to Dad is incorrect. There should be 3 mountains as in Hungry there were 3 mountain ranges. (only one since the Great War. Perhaps this is a later coat of arms) On the top of the shield is a picture of the Hungarian Royal crown and on top of the crown is a cross that is bent to one side. I am told that some time in the past the Hungarian Royal family had to make a hasty exit due to the impending arrival of the Turks. During this excursion the crown was dropped and the cross got bent. Afterwards they decided to leave it that way as a reminder of the event. I don't remember anything about the rest but feel free to add a bit if you know about it.
The case is in good condition but the movement is nothing special. A 15 jewel Remontoir Ancre.
Does anyone else have a watch with a coat of arms or on it?

I was surprised to find so few coat-of-arms examples in my collection, but here are the ones I found, starting with the coat of arms of Sir John Bennett, on the cuvette of a very nice 18k watch.

Of course, Hamilton was as well "armed," as this coat of arms on the cuvette of a 14k 922 demonstrates.

This coat of arms is more visible on this certificate for a Hamilton 920.

I am not sure this engraving on the back of a 14k ygf Illinois Santa Fe Special qualifies as a coat of arms, but I will let you judge.

I haven't a clue as to this coat of arms on the back of a 14k ygf Illinois Burlington Special.

The coat of arms on the back of this 14k Hamilton 900 seems more legitimate.

But my best coat of arms is this coatless arm on the back of an 18k Audemars Piguet.

Great pictures fellas! As a side note, Stephan's watches and the history of Hungary's Coat of Arms are worthy of the proposed European watch forum under review at this moment. Like U.S. watches, many sidebars can be started with their unique histories!

Joe

Ethan,

Those are some very interesting crests and wonderful watches also. The crest on your Illinois Santa Fe is for the Catholic Fraternal Order "Knights of Columbus" but not belonging to this group I can't really give you any futher information.

On to the crest on your Hamilton 900 the latin words running in the ribbon below the crest translate to "Courageous and Trusty" but once again I am not familiar with the crest itself and can't offer any futher help.

Very neat watches Ethan.


John

Stephan, I like your Dad almost more than I like the watches!

What a Star!

What an amazing collection of crests too, never seen anything like them before now, great photo's!
Thanks for posting them!

John

Thanks all for the comments and great pictures. Perhaps coats of arms would be an interesting theme for a pocket watch collection. I would have thought that many of the well to do Elglish would have had their family crests applied to a watch case as per the example shown. They often did it to the family silver.
Steve

My father was a member of the Knights of Columbus and it is essentially a group of men that do charity work for the needy. There are thousands of chapters all over the world, and they offer help to anyone that needs it. There are as many different kinds of helps, as there are chapters, and the men within them.
All the ones I have even known were outstanding in the community, worked hard for anyone that needed help, and were a fun group to be around.

Some of my fondest memories are when I was very young, and they had a carnival each year to get funds for the projects they intended to support that year. All of my dad's friends would get together and build the carnival, complete with every ride you can immagine, and it was one event that everyone looked forward to. I even helped to put the tilt a whirl together!!!!

The ones I knew were a rough group of men, but boy could they accomplish what they set out to do. The outstanding dinners they had became known by everyone, and they had so many they had to make them stand in line to get dinner.

For me, my dad and his Knights friends are a huge part of learning what it means to be a giver, and I wouldn't trade that memory for anything. Dozens of men, all working together for a common goal.

The single best was seeing the poor children in our church get Christmas presents, the parents getting their rent or mortgage payments paid, and the laughter that it created, wow, what a memory!

Thanks for the reminder.