Inherited pocket watch

[dnhb]

A family member has sent me some photos of her late father's pocket watch. She needs to know if it is of significant value for Probate purposes. A jeweler has quoted £250 for a valuation but before shelling out such a sum she would like to know if that's likely to be worthwhile. My input is only that the case marking indicates it's 93.5% silver & that the balance wheel looks like it has a cylinder escapement. The key does fit but she hasn't tried to wind it. Grateful for any comments/advice.

[RichardHarris123]

Unfortunately unless someone disagrees, there's no monetary value.  I can't see it selling for more than £30, probably less. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

39 minutes ago, dnhb said:

A family member has sent me some photos of her late father's pocket watch. She needs to know if it is of significant value for Probate purposes. A jeweler has quoted £250 for a valuation but before shelling out such a sum she would like to know if that's likely to be worthwhile. My input is only that the case marking indicates it's 93.5% silver & that the balance wheel looks like it has a cylinder escapement. The key does fit but she hasn't tried to wind it. Grateful for any comments/advice.

Doesn't look of any significance a fairly standard 5 bar cylinder movement. £250.00 to value it, good god I'm in the wrong job, that's 3-5x what its actually  worth. Would be interesting to date it , hallmarks-  Queen Vicky's head and lion salient indicate English Victorian, find the date letter code and assaying symbol to post up please.

[rjenkinsgb]

It's a nice little watch, however the sentimental value is near infinitely greater than the monetary value.

Anyone looking at "Buy it now" prices on ebay and other sites would drastically over-value it.

See the sold item below for an example of an actual selling price for a virtually identical watch, earlier this year (£12.99):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126543496906

I'd pass that on to your relative as the taxable value - she's far better off keeping it & the cost of that is negligible.

 

It could possibly sell for rather more if two bidders particularly liked the look of it, but there are no guarantees whatsoever. I've put unusual items on ebay many times & some sell for the starting price (if at all), as there is only one person actually interested - as with the watch above, just one bid!

 

Unless they have particularly rare or unusual movements, most of the value in old pocket watches is in the case rather than the movement - that's why there are vastly more movements than complete watches on such as ebay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SwissSeiko]

Something I have to tell people when they bring in pocket watches, is that they are usually never monetarily worth more than what a service will be, of course with exceptions. They are mostly repaired and restored because its a family heirloom, or some type of emotional attachment. Heck, I had a lady bring in a pocket watch that said Hong Kong on the dial, had a movement with 1 jewel, and a pot metal case. She was told her great grandfather got it as a gift and its been in the family for generations. I pegged it at probably 1990s. She needed some custom work done on the case and tube to get a new crown in. Spent quite a bit on a pocket watch worth just a few dollars. But it reminds her of family and that's what is important to her.

[oldhippy]

This is known as a 5 bar movement. made on the Swiss French border. Some of the dials are extremely decorative, yours is quite nice and I don't see any cracks to it. The style of the hands are called spade and very ordinary again some are very decorative. Cylinder escapements can be poor timekeepers as the balance is not compensated and the weather will cause fluctuation in time keeping.  £80 if you are lucky. There are thousands of these about. 

Edited September 21, 2024 by oldhippy