The Beginning of Antique Gold Pocket Watches

Time has usually been a valued component, and now becomes a valuable part for people that collect antique gold pocket watches. 

The history of pocket watches extends back to the mid 1400’s, shown by a letter from an Italian clockmaker to a noble.  In the document, the nobleman is offered what was called as a pocket clock by the clockmaker.  A businessperson of German descent was making pocket watches in 1524 in Britain using a revolutionary spring technology ; clock faces that exhibited only 1 hand to indicate the hour now took the place of using the sun to tell what time it is.  Time could be guestimated inside an hour or so of the genuine time.  The minute hand was added much later in the late 1600’s when technology complicated further ; enabling wearers of the watches to gauge time within minutes of the time.  As technology allowed more definite time gauging, more elaborations were added to meet a growing interest in the watches. 

Portable watches, as they were called in the beginning, were first built of steel by blacksmiths and locksmiths as they were used to working with the alloy.  Over time, other more suitable substances were used instead, for example brass, silver and gold.  Jewels and fragile scroll work were added to adorn some of the watches to make them more tasty for the rich.  Antique gold pocket watches, particularly those with jewels, are especially valuable for collectors due to these embellishments. 

Waltham, Elgin, Hamilton, Ball and Illinois are just some of the early producers of pocket watches whose products are among those valued the highest.  Dating back to the mid 1800’s and of attractive design, many of these watches are requested as collectibles.  Another popular collector kind of pocket watch is a series called Railroad watches.  These timepieces were employed by train engineers in critical time keeping schedules for train arrivals and departures.  The accuracy of the watches were more exactly accurate than most, as any variance of time faster or slower could mean sad scenarios for 2 trains on one track.  As with any antique, the value of the item depends on how much a buyer is willing to pay for it. 

The prize of many collectors is antique gold pocket watches, with histories that go back almost 150 years.  Frequently owned by the well to do in society, these watchs would likely have wonderful stories if they were only in a position to tell more than time.