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Help Identify hall marks on Ottoman Pocket Watch?

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:06 pm
by jarozila
Here is a picture of the hall marks.

Image

From what I gather the Lion on the left might be the standard mark for Sterling .925.

I suspect that the letter on th right is a date hall mark. I don't know what city table to look at. I looked at the date chart for London and there are a few letters that look quite similar to me... Any help much appreciated.

I don't know what the bull head at the top is. From what I understand these watches have Swiss movements. Canton Uri in switzerland has a very similar bull head as its symbol.

I would love to know a bit more about this watch - age and place of manufacture.

Thanks for taking a look.

Cheers,

Jascha

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:58 am
by Neruda
Do you have any idea of the approximate date of the movement?

I wonder if your bull's head is in fact a leopard's face - thus London. The "old English" capital K should be 1845. The lion indicates sterling.

I would expect one further mark, probably two or three letters, the initials of the watch case maker, if it is English.

I'm also wondering if the bull's head (the more I look at it, the more bovine it becomes) could be some form of import mark for foreign silver assayed in England.....

Interesting!

Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 6:56 pm
by jarozila
Hi,

there are no markings on the movement. I also can't see a makers mark. There are some numbers on the inside cover - an 8 at the top and 43184 at the bottom.

Looking at date number charts, the chart for Exeter seems the most appropriate - the shape of the lion's shield and the shape of the letter's shield.

The bull head is quite distinct and I have seen it in pictures of other Ottoman pocket watches - just can't seem to find any information on it!!

Thanks for your imput.

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 4:00 pm
by Doos
Hi the bull's head might be a Shaffhausen mark. Don't have an index of watch marks.

Thanks :)

Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:29 pm
by jarozila
Thanks for the tip.

What makes you suspect that it might be a Shaffhausen mark?

Cheers,

Jascha

Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:40 am
by Doos
Just a thought because schaffhausen used a bullshead in earlier times on silver and they make watches there, well IWC does.

But again, just guessing. The other marks could well be Exeter, but I'm missing some other marks.
If it is Exeter thn the dates don't add up for Schaffhausen.