Identify these 2 watches please

These watches belonged to my grandmother. Anyone know anything about them? The white gold Coronation watch (second picture) has gems, don't know if they are real.

The first one, Gross brand, says 1/40-10k on the clasp, with a patent number from 1937. I can't find anything about this watch. I found a jeweler, H.L. Gross & Brothers in Garden City NY, in business since 1910, and called them since our family is from that area. The girl I spoke with said they didn't make it but I have doubts.

Thanks for ANY info!

 

The girl may have been right. Gross might have been the *retailer*, not the watchmaker. It was common for some items of jewelry such as watches to have been made for a specific store, retailer, and marked with the retailer's name. To find the watchmaker's name, you will probably have to open the back of the watch and with a magnifying glass look for the name on the actual works. To this untrained jewelry/watches eye, the Gross watch looks like nothing special. Do wait for more knowledgeable watch people to chime in.

BTW, what is the patent number? With the number one can look up the patent and see who filed it.

--- Susan

 

The marking on the bracelet is meaningless to the watch.
If either case is precious metal the scrap value will exceed the watch value. Otherwise they are low interest items.

 

Good point, Terry. I missed that the patent number was on the clasp. The patent would be for the bracelet clasp and not for the watch. Also with the patent number dating to 1937 means that would be the very earliest for the making of that particular clasp. That particular clasp could have been made up into the 1950s.

--- Susan

 

check the 2nd one on the clasp and back of the watch.....those jewels look real...& i'd expect you to find 14K gold marks somewhere..

 

Yes the chain does say 14k on it.

 

I already looked up the patent and it is just for the clasp. I figured that would be just the earliest date. Thanks

 

I wasn't looking for the value, I am just looking for information about the watch out of curiosity.

 

A number of Swiss companies produced watch movements that got rebranded on their face like this. They are generally lower end timepieces.

 

I did find out that the bracelet was made by Jacoby-Bender, who made wrist bands for Champion and Rolex. Can't find much about that defunct company either, but I'm guessing they manufactured bands for lots of other companies. I don't know when the company started either...that info might help me narrow down the age of the watch. Thanks for all the input, any additional info would certainly be welcomed ☺

 

Both watches are routine Swiss movements made by (almost certainaly) the Swiss conglomerate ESA in the 50s and 60s. During this period, and later, a number of routine Swiss watch movement or ebauche manufacturers combined together to market their product as a sort of co-operative. Although it is possible by small code letters on the movement to specify which minor maker it was, the information is pretty meaningless.

As already noted, the value is in the metal weight. The one with a rolled gold strap probably has a RG case, the other has value in the weight of gold in case and strap, I'd guess about 10 grams.
There is no collector demand for these, men only collect men's watches, and modern women find them unattractive.
The jewels, real or not, are too tiny to have any practical value.

 

the 2nd one is delicate and sweet....& would still make a nice bracelet !!!

& just FYI......" I should have collected and held on to ( whatever..) when they were out of fashion.....cuz now they're hot again ! "

How many times have I heard that rant !!

 

Thanks for the info. As I stated earlier, I'm interested in the stories of the watches. The values are meaningless to me since I would never sell them, being my grandmother's. They have infinite sentimental value to me.

 

As an interesting aside, both watches still work, which surprised me. And as a modern woman in my 50s, I think they are attractive, lol.

 

Cat, I have a watch that's rather similar to the 2nd one you have shown. It was a wedding gift from my father to my mother for their wedding in 1952.
At least according to a jeweler I approached a while back, it's not worth a whole heck of a lot, monetarily, but to me, it's priceless. It still works, and I won't be getting rid of it any time soon.
-C-

 

I'd wear that second one, it's charming.