# my grandfathers marvin



## kaz1337 (Feb 15, 2019)

Hi

i have a marvin watch that belonged to my grandfather, or maybe even my great grandfather

could anyone give me an idea on the date or any background info at all

the watch is quite plain looking and has a elasticated strap (is it original) until you take off the back off, then it shines

also it looks like the winder is going rusty, is this something i should get professionally sorted?







TIA


----------



## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

that is a 9k gold case, hallmarked from Birmingham 1951/2

and an in-house Marvin calibre 520 movement

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&2&2uswk&Marvin_520

the stem looks to only have surface rust to me, so fix it if you want to keep the watch

The expandable bracelet could be original, but throw it away - they are real dirt catchers, and more critically the steel ends are harder than the gold case so they end up damaging the case. Plus they pull the hairs on my arms!


----------



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Dear @kaz1337, may I be so bold as to recommend my own article entitled, "Marvin Watches," which you will find in my Honour's Topics section of the Forum? The topic was posted on 2 February 2017.

With specific regard to your own Marvin watch, the hallmarks on the caseback give you a good indication of the date of the watch, and your pictures confirm in my own mind that your Marvin timepiece dates to the early 1950s.


----------



## NOTSHARP (May 2, 2018)

Kaz, that is a lovely vintage piece.

Have it sympathetically serviced , and wear it. ( after junking the bracelet, and replacing it with a nice alligator strap ) :thumbsup:

Steve.


----------



## stdape (Mar 9, 2018)

Shave your Arms lol.


----------



## kaz1337 (Feb 15, 2019)

wow thanks for the reply's guys, lots of great info

Tourbillon, thank yo i've just read your piece on Marvin and it just about tells me everything i wanted to know about the company

one thing that intrigues me is the marking on the back, can you see them, its like they have been scratched into it


----------



## Boots (Sep 22, 2018)

kaz1337 said:


> one thing that intrigues me is the marking on the back, can you see them, its like they have been scratched into it


 I have learnt quite a lot of things from this forum over the past few months - some of them to do with watches. This is one of those things - watch repairers would typically scratch something onto the caseback when they serviced or repaired a watch. That way they would have some kind of an audit trail. Sadly there is no common convention for what is scratched, so unless you are the watch repairer, you cannot learn anything of any use.


----------



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

My dear @kaz1337, I believe that I am the author of the article you have just read about Marvin watches, and I smiled when I spotted your easy-to-make mistake. The moniker, "Tourbillon," accorded to me is one of the Forum terms used to reveal our status in terms of how many posts we have put on the Forum. My actual user-name is Always"watching" and my real first name is Honour. No, it's not all that clear, is it? :laugh:


----------



## kaz1337 (Feb 15, 2019)

> My dear @kaz1337, I believe that I am the author of the article you have just read about Marvin watches, and I smiled when I spotted your easy-to-make mistake. The moniker, "Tourbillon," accorded to me is one of the Forum terms used to reveal our status in terms of how many posts we have put on the Forum. My actual user-name is Always"watching" and my real first name is Honour. No, it's not all that clear, is it? :laugh:


 well i actually laughed out loud when i read that :laugh:

Its a lot more obvious now you've pointed it out to me Always "Watching"

i even got the Pun :biggrin:


----------

