Some Old Watches Evoke Time Warps

Most of us checked our timepieces the evening of Dec. 31 to accurately clock in the New Year.

Some of these ticking masterpieces, displayed either on the wrist or free standing, had state-of-the-art mechanisms that are supposed to lose only a few seconds a year. Others undoubtedly were family heirlooms that have to be wound nightly.

Arguably, few collectibles are as ubiquitous as timepieces. You’ll find them everywhere at antique shows and flea markets. Frequently they surface at estate auctions.

Collectors tend to regard them as old friends, particularly on New Year’s Eve when they take on an especially nostalgic aura, recording the passing of another year.

Sentiment aside, how valuable are timepieces to the collector?

Value in a watch depends on a number of factors. Age, of course, is important. But, according to collectors, the watch’s maker and the complexity of the movement are more important.

Popular among collectors are watches produced by American firms in the late 1800s and the early part of this century. For example, railroad watches manufactured by the Elgin National Watch Co., American Waltham Watch Co. or Hamilton Watch Co. are sought by collectors.

Additionally, 19th-Century pocket watches have attracted many dealers and collectors. Some of these watches had springs coiled so long they took several minutes to wind.

As for wristwatches, they actually didn’t become fashionable for men until after World War I, a couple of decades after they became part of a woman’s wardrobe. Some dealers insist that investing in older European clocks and wristwatches is a better deal. They point to such famous artisans as Abraham-Louis Breguet of Paris, whose 250-year-old ticking creations have changed hands for thousands of dollars.

But collectors with an American bias can counter with megabuck sales of timekeeping gems fashioned half a century ago by Cartier or Tiffany.

Dating a watch isn’t too difficult. Timepieces wound with a key probably predate the Civil War. Winding systems attached to watches by a stem weren’t on the American market in any great numbers until the 1870s.

For information on a watch’s history, open the case. Oftentimes, you’ll find serial numbers or inscriptions that will give you clues as to the year of production and the watchmaker.

And don’t back way from a watch simply because it doesn’t run. Movements can be repaired. In fact, we’ve seen instances were a routine cleaning will breathe new life into an ancient timepiece.

Question: I have a number of mail-order catalogues dating toward the turn of the century. How far back can we document publication of these excellent examples of Americana?--H.O.

Answer: The first major mail-order catalogue published by an American retailer appears to have been the Montgomery Ward edition of 1872. Sears Roebuck followed in 1895.

These volumes not only provide big doses of nostalgia, but also are of practical use to the collector.

Both collectors and dealers have told us that one way they authenticate some of their prized collectibles is to check them out in early mail-order catalogues. The pictures and descriptive text often help them in distinguishing the real from the fake, they say.

Needless to say, display advertising in early American magazines also serves the same purpose. Early editions of Collier’s, Harper’s Bazaar, Ladies Home Journal, Life and Saturday Evening Post, to name but a few, are useful in providing authentic details of products now dim in our memories.

Such catalogues and magazines also give us an insight into the culture of a particular time and place. These periodicals were, in effect, as influential in their time as television is today in keeping Americans informed as to the latest trends and fashions.

And they performed another important function since, a century ago, America was a mail-order society that depended on these publications for access to domestic and world markets.

Q: In buying a Bowie knife, should I look for one knife maker or are there several who produce this famous knife?--C.F.

A: Many American knife makers, from New York City to San Francisco, and some European craftsmen as well, have produced the legendary Bowie knife. (Indeed, many Bowie knives were produced in Sheffield, England, in the late 19th Century.)

Each knife has its own characteristics, but most share two common denominators--quality and a high price tag.

Top-grade Bowies command prices in the thousands of dollars. Usually, they have a fine etched blade, often carrying a patriotic motto; and the handle may be pearl, ivory or horn with an ornate hilt and guard. Generally, the workmanship receives high marks.

Jim Bowie, born in the 1790s in the Southeast, made his fortune in land speculation and slave running. His death in 1836 at the Alamo has been recounted widely.

Historians have never been absolutely certain that Bowie invented the legendary knife. But after an 1827 blood bath on a Mississippi River sand bar, during which Bowie used his knife to drop several attackers, he and his weapon became a sensation.

Although top-grade Bowies do exchange hands for astronomical prices, less ornate Bowies will sell for less than $500, dealers say. Some of these lower-price Bowies have wooden handles rather than more expensive material such as ivory.

Some San Francisco producers of the Bowie (their work generally surfaced in the latter part of the 19th Century) included Louis Bauer, M. J. Hanes, Reinhold Hoppe, Fredrick Kesmodel, Michael Price and J. H. Schintz.

Ronald L. Soble cannot answer mail personally but will respond in this column to questions of general interest about collectibles. Do not telephone. Write to Your Collectibles, You section, The Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.