# Unknown Half Hunter



## Ava_Banana (Jun 13, 2011)

Hello all....very new to this so complete lack of knowledge aside from what I have read on forums or via google.

I wonder if anyone can shed some light on a recent acquisition from a friend.

It is a Half hunter in filled-gold.

Inside back of case is stamped:

Geneva Watch Case

Geneva

Guaranteed

Filled Gold

10 years

Swiss Made

150736

Movement cover is hand-engraved with the initials C H C and then Xmas 1923

Inside Movement cover is stamped:

This case guaranteed to wear 10 years 150736

No markings on movement or on face of watch.

The Advance and Retard are Spelt out (not just A/R).

Couple of pics...I will try to get some better ones, these have just been taken a short while ago.





































Any help you can give in identifying this watch would be greatly appreciated.

thank you.


----------



## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

The watch has been very heavily used. I suspect it was probably worn in the watch-pocket of trousers or jeans, as opposed to a waistcoat, for the majority of its life. I suspect it was dropped at some point (Crack at 11:00) and the seconds-hand had to be replaced as a result.

That's all I can deduce.


----------



## Ava_Banana (Jun 13, 2011)

Thanks for the quick reply Shangas.

Yes, as you say, showing plenty of signs of wear. I will try to give it a clean and takes ome better photographs.

The mark at 11:00 is only on the face itself, not on the glass (although I admit, the glass could have been replaced). It almost looks like a previous owner has tried to prise open the watch by levering under the face and has chipped the "white" face (unsure of what it is made of).

As I say, better photographs will be taken.

Do you say the second hand has had to be replaced because it shows as a different finish/colour?


----------



## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Unless it's a trick of the light, the second hand is steel, not gold. In really nice watches (as this appears to be), all the hands would MATCH. These hands don't. So obviously the second-hand has been replaced at some point, probably when whatever it was happened to the dial, took place.

The watch has been heavily, heavily, HEAVILY used. I have a 110-year-old Waltham with a 5 year gold-filled case that's in almost perfect condition. That watch has a 10-year case and that gold is almost all gone on the front cover. Wearing away the gold on the watch-bow is to be expected (caused by chain-scrape over several years of use), but the only way I can see the cover-gold and the black ink/paint of the numerals on the cover being rubbed away is from the constant abrasion against the fabric of jeans or trousers, from when the watch has been stuffed into the watch-pocket and pulled out again, repeatedly, dozens of times a day, thousands of times a year.


----------



## Ava_Banana (Jun 13, 2011)

Thanks again Shangas...I am keen to learn from people's experience so I really appreciate your comments.

I did wonder whether a previous owner had tried to polish the front and polished through the outer layer of gold, taking the numerals with it!

Good spot on the hands.......I have had a closer look under an eyeglass (work in the printing industry, so lots of magnification around).

The Minute had looks like it is gold, the hour hand (which I recognise is a half-hunter as it has the two "bulges")has the appearance of Copper!? and yes, the second hand looks like steel.

Do you think this is a bit of a "franken-watch"?....the lack of markings on either the face or movement leave me a bit stumped.


----------



## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

In my experience, polishing a watch-case wouldn't do that. This is pretty thick gold. YES, it's gold plate, but it's very very very thick. Only decades of daily wear and rub and scrape and use would wear away that gold. It's not something you could achieve in half an hour with some polish-paste and a box of tissues. That speaks of a watch that was VERY heavily used and relied on.

The Hour and Minute hands appear to match to me (although I can't see it that well), but the seconds hand certainly isn't part of the original watch. I doubt it's a 'Frankenwatch'. You should take it to a watchmaker. Some watches are marked in the most inaccessible places in the world (like under the dial or the reverse-side of the movement-bridges, for example), places that only a watchmaker would ever see.

I'm not sure what else I can tell you about this watch. But we do have some real pocketwatch experts here (as opposed to me!) who might be able to tell you more.


----------



## AlanJohn (Mar 17, 2011)

A very nice looking watch. Shangra has made deductions worthy of Sherlock Holmes. He has a hawk eye.


----------



## Ava_Banana (Jun 13, 2011)

AlanJohn said:


> A very nice looking watch. Shangra has made deductions worthy of Sherlock Holmes. He has a hawk eye.


Thanks, it is a shame it is so worn on the front, but as Shangra said, it looks well used.

I would still like to know if anyone has any ideas about where it may have come from? And why there are no markings on the face, is this common on rebuilt watches?

The case is swiss, but it is engraved xmas which as I said makes me think of the US.

Does the age (engraved 1923) sound about right for this?

thanks


----------



## Shangas (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey Alan,

I'm a BIG fan of Sherlock Holmes. How did you know!?


----------



## AlanJohn (Mar 17, 2011)

Shangas said:


> Hey Alan,
> 
> I'm a BIG fan of Sherlock Holmes. How did you know!?


It was elementary my dear Shangras. You know he never actually said, "It's elementary my dear Watson." He did say, "It was Elementary" though in "The Crooked Man.


----------

