Figured I would share some picture of my newest addition to my Military Collection. Case & Movement were made by Rose Watch Co. which I understand to be the import mark for Heuer around 1912. Case is Sterling Silver & measures approx. 1-3/8" in diameter. There is a button between the bottom wire lug that flips the top open when pushed.

Front of case is engraved PRESENTED TO "MAC" BY MEN OF THE SEVENTH.

Original porcelain dial and luminous markers/hands are in excellent condition.

Adam

Close Up

Front Open

Back of Case

Case Markings

Last Picture: Movement

Adam, that's a much higher grade wristwatch than most WWI wire-lug models. The case is thick and well made. I assume it has a screw on back. The springloaded demi-hunter cover is a big plus, esp given how often these are broken.

Any idea who Mac was?

Best regards,
Greg

Greg,

Still trying to figure out who Mac was. Can't find anything on the net. The case is very well made and is approx. .4" thick. The back is a screw on.

Adam

Thanks for sharing the photos of that great looking watch!

The hallmarks on the inside of the case signify the case is an imported item assayed in London (the horseshoe shape inside the four segments forming an oval) in 1915 (the lower case letter "u" in the shield shaped cartouche) as .925 pure silver (the 925 in the oval). The presentation could have been at any time after that - either during or after the war. It would have been a private purchase item from a jewelry store somewhere - most likely somewhere around London, but it could have been sold almost anywhere after it was originally imported through London.

I don't think you will be successful in trying to find out the man to whom it was presented. The reason is there is no way to tell which "Seventh" presented it since there were a great many units in WW I that included the designation "Seventh". They are found throughout the military organizations of the UK, the Commonwealth countries, and the US. The other challenge would be to try to find one particular man named "Mac" since that was an extremely common nickname at that time.

Jim,

Thank you for the Hallmark information. It is appreciated.

I know it is a shot in the dark trying to figure out who the watch actually belonged to but I was informed that original owner lived Greenville, South Carolina.

With any luck, the original owner, is the person who the watch originally belonged to. The person I bought it off of said that the estate sale was from a "prominent person in local Government in Greenville."

I am trying to get the name of the estate just so I can check. With any luck I may be able to find out some information.

Adam

Hi Adam. That is definitely the only way with such a generic inscription. You need to locate the family from whom it was purchased and talk with them to see if it not only belonged to someone in their family but was also actually presented to him. People acquire all sorts of things over the years through various means and just because something came from a person's estate does not necessarily mean that it was theirs originally. Also, most people tend to move around over the years the place where a timepiece is sold is not always the place where the original owner was from. Hopefully you will be able to find out something definitive about the watch. What I do is I write down whatever history I find on one of those small cardboard tags with the loop of thread attached on one end and I hook onto the watch or clock case so that sometime in the future whenever the next owner of my timepieces gets them the information will stay with them.

Jim,

I will let you know what I find out. With any luck, I will have some information next week. A little off topic, but would you happen to know what the hallmark W.G.B. would be for on an 18K case?

Adam

Adam,

That is a fabulous watch, thanks for posting the photo's!

If the cartouche at the bottom of the hallmarking contains the letter 'GS' (not too clear) then the importer was George Stockwell, who registered and used that same mark (as Foreign Agent - Importer) consistently from 15 June 1907 until 27 June 1918, at 16-18 Finsbury Street London EC. My records show that he registered the mark on 21 successive dates during that time.
George Stockwell's mark will be found on many silver watch cases of that era.

If you can post a photo of the gold hallmarkings, and it's a UK hallmark, I may be able to tell you who the casemaker was that used 'WGB'

John.

A marking of WGB would not be a hallmark, it would be either a maker's mark or a retailer's mark. I don't have the reference books for UK makers but hopefully John will be able to look it up for you. You will really need to provide a photo of the marking since there are a great many makers and sometimes their markings are quite similar.

Hallmarks are applied by one of the several official assay offices (London, Birmingham, Chester, etc.) to silver or gold objects that are submitted to it by either a maker or an importer. In the UK a maker does not apply hallmarks. The maker of the object normally (but not always) applies only their maker's mark that has been registered to them for their exclusive use. Sometimes the retail establishment will also apply their marking, or in some situations they will buy things from the maker on the condition the maker does not apply their mark so that the retailer can apply only theirs. Better known jewelry stores tend to do this. For example, these days Tiffany does not actually make their timepieces but they put their name on them.

Sorry for the delay. Have been busy buying and selling. Thank you for the information so far. Here is a picture of the marking.

Thanks again,

Adam

Adam,
Sorry, don't think I can help with this one!

With UK hallmarks on precious metals, the casemaker's initials are usually inside a crest and form part of a sequence of marks, not 'free' as in your watch case.
Most continental marks I've seen on precious metals are inside a crest too, don't know about the US.

John

Could you please post a closeup of all of the markings? At first glance and without seeing any of the other markings these do not look like British marks. Also, maker's markings or retailer's markings tend to be a little more artful in terms of being combined in a cartouche of some kind rather than just being stamped in like these.