Introduction!

Hello and thank you for visiting!

My name is Rick, 37 years old and from Pittsburgh, PA.  Earlier American watches are my hobby and the reason for starting this blog!  

Earlier in the 2000's, my late great grandmother moved from her long time home.  In this house a few old watches were found. I ended up with an old Elgin and it lived in a drawer for over a decade! In the mid 2010's I found myself with a good bit of time needing to be filled and out came the watch!
It needed serviced, that much I knew.  After receiving a rather shocking quote, it was decided that learning to do the work myself would be fun and rewarding.  Then I wanted to learn all about the history of the watch.  Then bought another watch... And another...  Descending into watch collecting madness! 

Here is the culprit that started it all.  An Elgin grade 240.  18 size, 19 jewels and marked B.W. Raymond.  
Nice double sunk dial with some hairlines and edge chip. 
The case is produced by the Philadelphia Watch Case Company.  Made of Silverode, it has a screw on back and bezel with a neat train engraving.  
I had never owned or used an antique pocket watch before.  Some of the first questions were very basic.  How do I set it?  Why does the movement say BW Raymond and the dial Elgin?  What is Silverode?  How many of these did they make?   Finding the answers to all of these led me down the path to research, meeting some great people, and joining the NAWCC.  Now there are more watches around here than I can count! I try to keep up with a few ongoing projects with other researchers, as well as my own, and help out the newcommers as well.  

As an avid pocket watch collector, I wanted somewhere to store information and write about my findings. Here, I can continually update posts with new information.  This blog format should work well.

The main areas of my collecting and research include the beginnings of Elgin stemwinding (which has actually turned into National/Elgin in the 1870s), early Hampden/NYWCo grey area, and private labels from those companies.  

 If there is any topic you would like to discuss further please leave a question or comment!  Also, visit the NAWCC Forums board and start a thread!  I've been a member of the NAWCC for a couple years now, along with our local chapter 37.  It's been a great experience meeting (in person and on the forums) many knowledgeable collectors with similar interests!  Anyone interested in clocks and watches of any make or model should check out the organization!  www.nawcc.org

The first few post of the blog have been started. They are a basic overview of my experience with exploring the various American watch companies. 

Please check out a few of my favorite websites!  Each of these websites have been instrumental in research, repair and collecting!  All run by incredibly dedicated and helpful individuals.  Each of these people have gone above and beyond to help make watch collecting fun and rewarding!  

For a broad range of information of all makes of American Pocket Watches, patents, trademarks, horological catalogs, or just to browse pictures of watches!

For extensive research into the Elgin National Watch Company;

Parts, mainsprings, jewels, dials, crystals, parts movements, tools, general supplies and a nice selection of complete watches! 

Need a watchmaker?  Look no further!

For all of your watch case repair needs:

Balance hole jewels made for American Pocket Watches:

Thank you for reading my madness and have a good day!  Check back often!! 



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