| Subject: Re: Ser.No.1158622 |
Author:
John
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Date Posted: 08:18:20 11/27/05 Sun
In reply to:
Ed O'Mara
's message, "Ser.No.1158622" on 08:50:08 11/26/05 Sat
This watch was made about 1904, and is a railroad quality-grade watch - that is, it met the high standards for use on railroads at the time. As you note, it's a "private label" watch. For a small fee (or sometimes no fee at all), a watch manufacturer would inscribe the jeweler's name, or just about anything at all, on the dial and/or the movement. At the time, these were typically called "specially ordered" or "specially marked" watches, but today are more commonly called private labels. Couture was a local jeweler who ordered at least one batch of watches from Elgin with his name and location, although I don't have any more specific information about him or his business. I have seen one other from this jeweler, marked "M. Couture, Jeweler Megantic, Que."
Railroad standard watches for the Canadian market typically had a "24 hour" dial, sometimes called a "Canadian dial." The outer chapter ring would have the numbers 1-12 in a large size type, and a smaller 13-24 on the inside portion of the chapter ring. I would expect yours to be like this. Many of these Canadian private label dials are "double sunk," as well. A double sunk dial is generally considered a fancier, more desireable dial, but it is also somewhat more fragile than the single sunk dial and so were not often used on railroads, where the conditions could be quite harsh.
Is yours marked with Couture's name also on the movement, or the standard Elgin markings? Note that it also should be a "motor barrel," which was a sophisticated device to help protect the watch from damage in case the mainspring were to break. You can tell a motor barrel by the three small screws around the hub of the mainspring wheel.
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