I have the original documentation, signed by E. Koehn, for two pocket watches bought by my family in 1894. Are these watches rare? Could some tell me a little more about Koehn watches like these. Does having the original documents enhance their value, if any?

Everett,need the serial numbers of the watch
movements.Probably there will be the name of the
watch manufacturer there also.Pictures would help.
Any documentation will enhance the value IMO.
Regards
Roger

more photos for E. Koehn pocket watch posting

Thank you Roger. I will look for the serial numbers on the watches. Here is a photo of the documentation.

the second watch

view of the back of the watch opened

the front of the watch

Ed. Koehn was a noted Swiss watch manufacturer. He started his own business after leaving Patek Philippe. His watches are probably equal in quality, but not in fame or value, to the Patek Pilippes then being made.

Your second watch is the more interesting of the two. your photo of the paperwork is hard to read but it says the watch is a repeater, a five minute repeater if I am reading it correctly, and the watch has other complications, e.g., calendar and moon phases features. The bow is badly worn and may not be original.

Having the original documentation will make these watches more interesting to collectors but I doubt that it will add appreciably to their market value.

Thank you Ethan

a better photo of document

My French is weak, but I do think the document says you have a five-minute repeater. A "repeater" is a watch that chimes the time when you press a button or slide a bar. A minute repeater chimes the hour, then the quarter hour, then the minutes. A quarter-hour repeater chimes the hour and the quarter hour. A five-minute repeater chimes the hour and the time down to the nearest five minutes. I have a number of minute repeaters (including an Ed. Koehn), but no quarter or five-minute repeaters. I am not sure whether five-minute repeaters chime hours, quarter hours, and five-minutes or just hours and five-minutes. Either way, they are at least as complicated as quarter-hour repeaters, but not as complicated as minute repeaters. Minute repeaters are more valuable, everything else being equal, that quarter-hour or five-minute repeaters.

Your watch, however, does not look like a repeater to me from the photos you have attached so far. Swiss repeaters usually have distinctive looking movement features that I don't see in your photos. For example, I don't see a button or slide to active the repeater feature or the hammers and gongs that make the chimes ring.

However, I do see what looks like (a) a moon phase feature, (b) a dial showing the month, (c) a retrograde indicator for the day (retrograde means that the dial is less than 360 degrees and the hand snaps back to the beginning of the dial's arc when it reaches the end of the arc), and (d) a window that also shows something, but I don't know what. I cannot tell from your photos whether the serial number on the movement matches the serial number on the certificate. Please confirm that it does.

Here is a photo of my Koehn minute repeater. You can see the hammers at around 12 o'clock and the repeater actuation slide on the rim at around 11 o'clock.

Everett,

Super fine stuff! The second watch does not appear to me to have any repeating function but it does have the additional complications of a month indicator, day of the week through the small window, flyback date and moon phase ...Just as Ethan noted, and I will second his findings. A very beautiful timepiece!

William

Thank you so much Ethan and William. That is very interesting information. I am going to look at the serial number this weekend. The watches are with my uncle who is in his late 80's. I know he had the one worked on about 15 years ago, it was cleaned and I am not sure if anything else was done. I'll gather more information.
I appreciate your thoughts and the information.

Yes, the serial number on the movement matches the serial number on the certificate.