Case serial numbers, if they are recorded, can help if the watch is ever stolen.
The reverse, however, isn't true, a small serial numbers doesn't mean it is solid gold.
So, if someone is selling a watch as solid gold, and it has a movement serial number of, say, 3,870,123 and it has a case serial number of 1,073,678, a red flag should go up in your mind and you should be even more cautious about the claim. For Elgin watches, case serial numbers on solid gold watches will usually be only 10% or less of the serial number on the movement.This code is kind of strange since each digit is written as one block of Roman numbers, the "X" is for zero, not ten, and the 9 might not be written as "IX". For example, a case with a serial number of 153069 that has a screw on bezel might be marked "X VI VIIII". Usually the Roman numerals are scratched in by hand. Sometimes, the watch case companies would mark the bezels with the last few digits of the case number using Roman numerals. You can usually tell if you have a complete watch case by seeing if these serial numbers match. The case serial number is printed on several parts of the watch case.
There are a few minor things you can use case serial numbers for: To the best of my knowledge, there are no records from any case manufactures that can make these case serial numbers useful. Obviously, these later cases can't be related to the movement serial number.Įven after the 1920's, when watch companies started selling cased watches, the watch companies still bought the watch cases from outside sources and the serial numbers were still unrelated.Īre Case Serial Numbers Useful For Anything?Ĭase serial number is highlightedFor the most part, case serial numbers only server to confuse people about what kind of watch they have. So, the owner would sometimes go through two or three cases over the life time of the watch. In addition, watch cases tended to wear out much quicker than the watch movements. With only a few exceptions, the watch companies and watch case companies were completely unrelated business. The jeweler would then put the movement and the case together.
Or, if they were more interested in fashion than the watch's time keeping ability, they would pick out a case they liked and used the money left over for the watch movement. People would go to the local jewelry store, pick out a watch movement that they liked, and then with the money left over, they would pick out a watch case. The reason that the movement and case serial numbers are unrelated is because up until the 1920's, almost all American watches were sold separately from the watch cases.
Inside a watch case made by Illinois Watch Case Co.