Collecting Pocket Watches

Whilst you may be buying a new silver pocket watch to wear as a new jewellery accessory timepiece or to give to a best man for a wedding gift, there is a culture of collecting pocket watches, with many of the older models fetching some very high prices.

Since the pocket watch has its beginnings in the 16th century, there is a ripe history out there although you will be unlikely to find any dated before the 18^th century. For early models you will have to go to specialist auctions and be prepared to pay a very high price.

Watches have progressed from timepieces that didn’t really live up to the name ‘pocket watch’ to small pieces that included the  balance (hair) spring to regulate the balance, a minute hand,  alarms and some featured engraved decorated cases. It’s these kinds of quality designs that draw the attention of collectors as there are some very exquisite examples of hand crafted pocket watches.

Watches from the 1730’s onwards will normally be plain silver watches and can garner prices in the high hundreds and even into the thousands of pounds. The early 19th century saw high quality pocket watches being produced in higher quantities and was considered the golden age for the English watch trade. After this the market became dominated by the Swiss and American watch makers with most Swiss makers stamping their movements ‘SWISS MADE’.

It’s not just complete watches that are collected either, some people specialise in collecting the watch movements since they are more interested in the engineering and insides of the pocket watch. Parts can be picked up at considerably cheaper prices than complete pocket watches but still come at surprisingly high prices.