Serial Numbers Identification Elgin Pocket Watch Antique

So if someone is selling a watch as solid gold and it has a movement serial number of say 3 870 123 and it has.

Serial numbers identification elgin pocket watch antique. Identification value database. For more information see the watch serial number web page. The 3 digit number is not the serial number but the elgin movement number which this tool cannot decode. For elgin watches case serial numbers on solid gold watches will usually be only 10 or less of the serial number on the movement.

It was the genuine. Elgin national watch company. Not all vintage watches can be dated using the serial number. Elgin stopped including serial numbers on their movements around 1956.

Sometimes movements sat on the shelf for years before being inserted into a case and put into distribution. Elgin stopped using serial numbers on their watches in 1955. Harper s magazine summed their sentiment perfectly. While we may be able to establish the date the movement was manufactured it does not tell us when the watch was assembled.

Some american watch brands did not use a consistent series of serial numbers but most of the big manufacturers did. Elgin used the case back model numbers during the 1950s 1960s but at some point went back to model numbers that don t match the case back numbers in their sales catalog. Elgin serial numbers are at least 5 characters long and may start with a letter please include the initial letter if you have one. In the spring of 1864 half a dozen ambitious chicago businessmen decided that if massachusetts could build a factory that built watches illinois could too.

You must give the letter prefix of the serial number if there is one. The serial number must be off the movement of the watch where the gears are not off the case these two serial numbers are unrelated. We do have a copy and are integrating it with the watch catalog database. The case components book is extremely scarce to find in paper print.

Elgin national watch company serial number elgin pocket watch. Limitations of this identification method.