# Can anyone tell me anything about this pocket watch?



## Weewards (Apr 14, 2020)

Hi I inherited this watch which I believe was my great grandfathers.

I will try to open the flap for the mechanism but I dont want to do damagae & can't find a suitable blade at the moment to flip it up.

It certainly wont open with finger nail pressure only.


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## Weewards (Apr 14, 2020)

I managed to get into it!


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Weewards said:


> __
> https://flic.kr/p/2
> 
> I managed to get into it!


 If you slide the curved bar, top right, you should be able to pull the cover off the movement. There may be a name or logo engraved on it.

However, that I V Y logo is probably Numa Jeannin, a Swiss watch company who operated from the Ivy factory in Fleurier. There's several examples of IVY watches on the web, if you Google for them. Early 20th century at a guess.

The patent number isn't bringing up any hits for me.


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## Weewards (Apr 14, 2020)

I managed to get the cover plate off, I hope this helps?


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## Weewards (Apr 14, 2020)

spinynorman said:


> If you slide the curved bar, top right, you should be able to pull the cover off the movement. There may be a name or logo engraved on it.
> 
> However, that I V Y logo is probably Numa Jeannin, a Swiss watch company who operated from the Ivy factory in Fleurier. There's several examples of IVY watches on the web, if you Google for them. Early 20th century at a guess.
> 
> The patent number isn't bringing up any hits for me.


 Thanks for the advice, I did that & uploaded another picture for you.


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## Weewards (Apr 14, 2020)

Any idea of the date it was made & whether it is a Swiss copy of a US railway pocket watch?

not that I would sell it but also wondered how much it is worth?


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

Well, dear @Weewards, I have also tried to find out more about this interesting watch but with little result. It would seem, as Norman has indicated, that the most likely contender for this piece is Numa Jeannin of the Ivy works, Fleurier, but I would like to be able to decipher the script trade name mark on the watch to see where that might lead. Like Norman, I have not been able to locate the patent either, which might give us a more accurate date for the watch; in my opinion it could be late 19th century moving into the early 20th.


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## vinn (Jun 14, 2015)

Weewards said:


> Any idea of the date it was made & whether it is a Swiss copy of a US railway pocket watch?
> 
> not that I would sell it but also wondered how much it is worth?


 look up the history of US pocket watches. my guess; is British rail road type watch. vin


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Weewards said:


> Any idea of the date it was made & whether it is a Swiss copy of a US railway pocket watch?
> 
> not that I would sell it but also wondered how much it is worth?





> I would like to be able to decipher the script trade name mark on the watch to see where that might lead.


 Well, I downloaded the picture and rotated it, from which I'm pretty sure the script says "Ivyneck". That didn't sound promising, but actually it confirms my earlier guess. "Ivyneck" was a trademark (not in Mikrolisk) which was registered by Numa Jeannin, originally in 1908 and renewed in 1927. Pressed for time now, will add more later.


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Only reference I can find anywhere to "Railway Timekeeper" is in "Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers" - F Britten 1922, which references an English company that made watches marked "Railway Timekeeper" for export to the US. That company lapsed in 1885. Best guess was NJ was doing the same thing. They certainly had a large number of brands and exported around Europe.

Brief history of Numa Jeanin.


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