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Watch | Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

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Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

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Elgin Student Watch & Papers, ca. 1924

Value (2019) | $1,000 Auction – $1,500 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
This is a picture of my father. He went to the Elgin watch college in 1922, '23, '24, and got his degree in 1925. And this is a watch over there that he made. And this is his drawings for making the watch. This shows my dad in the basketball team, and this is my dad right here at Elgin watch college. He made it in 1924. It's number 13.

APPRAISER:
It's great that you still have his certificate from watchmaker's school. You know, a lot of these things can get lost over the years.

GUEST:
And his drawings.

APPRAISER:
Yeah. It's not often we see these drawings. You have some 25, 30 of them.

GUEST:
That's right.

APPRAISER:
And they're technical drawings that he would have had to complete, along with his watchmaking course, for different movements, lever escapements, different wheels, because he not only had to know it on paper, he was going to translate it to his work at the bench. Elgin was the largest manufacturer of watches in the United States. From 1864 to 1964, they made some 55 million watches. They basically made almost half of the total production in the United States.

GUEST:
In Elgin, Illinois.

APPRAISER:
In Elgin, Illinois. Correct. Here's the watch that he made. Now, I'm going to flip it over.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
I'm going to show everybody the movement. You said that he made the watch.

GUEST:
From scratch.

APPRAISER:
From scratch. Now, a lot of these parts are die-struck and machine-retooled. So he may not have actually sat down and made every single little part, but he certainly had to tune them, fit them. You have over a hundred pieces in here.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
That takes upwards, towards 2,000 operations to put it together.

GUEST:
Oh, really?

APPRAISER:
But what he did do is, he customized the watch, also.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
These plates, these large areas, are usually solid throughout here.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
What he did was, he sat down and he pierced them with a saw. And he customized it. Number 13 is the number he put on it. He also put the date, and then he wrote his initials. It doesn't have a regular Elgin serial number. Why? Because he was making this in the class.

GUEST:
For himself.

APPRAISER:
Exactly. You can see, also, on the back cover, he put his initials, nicely engraved. I think when you put it all together, especially to somebody who collects Elgin...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
And tie it in with the drawings...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
I think you have something that would, at auction, probably bring $1,500 to $2,000 today.

GUEST:
Oh, really? (chuckles) I'm surprised. I had no idea. Of course, it's not for sale. We display it.

APPRAISER:
Well, it's great things to have in the family and pass down through the generations.

GUEST:
Absolutely.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Kevin Zavian
Jewelry, Watches
Doyle New York
New York, NY
Update (2019)
$1,000 Auction – $1,500 Auction
Appraised value (2005)
$1,500 Auction – $2,000 Auction
Featured In
Bismarck, Hour 2 (#1011)
Vintage Bismarck (#2320)
Event
Bismarck, ND (July 30, 2005)
Category
Watches
Period
20th Century
Form
Pocket Watch
Material
Gold

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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