Expert: Melvin Mills - 2/25/2009

Question
I just inherited 4 pocket watches from my father's estate, he was born in 1918.  One says Illinois in block letters on the face, is engraved on the back with my great uncle's name & the Masonic emblem raised seems to be gold and crystal is still intact. Second one is without a crystal but opens in front and back and says Illinois Watch Co in script writing with the serial number of 8219404 is a rose gold color and engraved as a locket would be on front & back.  The stem is located at the 3 o'clock position instead of 12. Also has red second numbers outside of the normal numbers. The 3rd watch is a regular gold color and it says Elgin on the front in block letters with the stem at the 3 and red second numbers on outside also It opens on both sides and is engraved front & back but the engraving is worn more than the 2nd watch the serial number is 9288740 with no crystal.  The 4th watch appears to be nickel, is very large and heavy, has a crystal, with the stem at the 12 and red seconds on the outside of the regular numbers.  All of these watches were in our family and all came from the era of my grandfather who was born in the 1890's.  None of these watches run anymore.  Should I see if any can be repaired or get them cleaned.  I would really like to know when they were made or any other info you may have.  I have already found the Illinois Watch Co history on line through your web site.  My family comes from the Springfield IL area. Sorry I don't have any pictures of them I can send.  Thank you for your time.

Answer
Ms. Carol,

For the elgin watch history, go to this site:

http://elginwatches.org/

Whether to repair or not, that is the question.  And it is a good one.  If you want to repair them to keep them in good working order as family heirlooms, that would make sense, regardless of price.

If you are trying to sell them, that is when it gets tricky.
Watch prices have come down for approximately 3 years now.  Just like everything else, the watch market has cycles.  
Secondly, if a watch only needs to a cleaning, oiling and adjusting, it will cost $100-$150.  That might eat up most of the money you could get from a sale.  Because you will need crystals, for certain and perhaps other parts, it is questionable whether it will be feasible to fix them for the purpose of selling them.

Another option is to sell the watches as is for parts.

Kind regards,

Melvin