Clearly having double the thickness to begin with means that these cases are more amenable to engraving but remember that 14 carat gold will wear quicker than 10 carat so a Moon case will be the best bet – although still risky, particularly on the back.
Gold plated watches can be a problem: A Dennison rolled gold (Star Grade) case started life with about 0.036mm of gold on the outer skin and were electro plated on the inside, so after years of wear and polishing the outer skin is probably going to be too thin to take an engraving without going through to the composite core, and an engraving on the inner skin would definitely go thought to the core.Ī Dennison Filled gold case started off at 0.072mm of 10 carat (Moon grade) or 14 carat (Sun grade) gold on both sides of the composite. Gilt or electro plated surfaces cannot sensibly be engraved.Įngraving Gunmetal is probably not a god idea. Cavalier, March 23rd 1899 in recognition of his dutiful perseverance and honourable conduct in my business. The example here may be one of the exceptions, it reads “Presented to my stepson, F. With solid Gold, Silver, Nickel and alloy cases such as Silveriod then the answer is yes but be aware that dedications will generally decrease the value of a watch.
True English Lever watches are rarer after about 1900 although companies such as Rotherham and J.W.
Prefer the true English as being traditional although the Swiss variant is There is not a lot of difference in value between them although many Swiss Lever which is laid out as an English lever but has a “Club tooth” EscapeĪnd which was normally described as an English Lever even though technically it You will not find any pin lever watches on this site and very few cylinder watches, there will be the odd fusee but no Verge Fusee as they are too expensive for me to play with.Įnglish Lever escapements come in two flavours, the trueĮnglish lever with its “spiked” or “horned” escape wheel and a variation of the Verge fuse movement will be early 19 thĬentury or earlier and in good condition can get very expensive.