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Pocket watch hallmarks
Pocket watch hallmarks





Watch cases made of gold could be either 18 carats / 750 thousand parts and above, or 14 carats / 583 thousand parts. Standards for gold were expressed in carats and parts per thousand fine gold, standards for silver in parts per thousand fine silver. With the passing of the 1880 Federal Act, the Bureaux de Contrôle, the Swiss assay offices, were established and authorised to assay watch cases made of gold and silver, and to hallmark them if they were of the required fineness. A mark stamped by a manufacturer is not a hallmark.

pocket watch hallmarks

Before this, Swiss gold watch cases were usually stamped by their manufacturer with the gold fineness, usually 14 carats, a popular standard on the continent, and silver watch cases were often simply marked "Fine Silver" or "Argent Fin", an unspecified standard of fineness with no legal definition but most likely 0♸00. There were no Swiss national legal standards for the fineness of gold or silver used for watch cases until the Precious Metals Control Act of 1880. They were not used on watch cases, although the canton of Neuchâtel could hallmark watch cases. These hallmarks were required by individual Swiss cantons on dishes, plates, bowls, candlesticks etc. These assay offices were established by law, superseding the medieval Guild system of regulation. Markham's "Handbook to Foreign Hallmarks" says that an Assay Office was established in Geneva on 22 September 1815, and one in Neuchâtel in 1839. To begin with the standards and marking were controlled by the local Guilds. Regulations were later introduced in the cantons of Neuchâtel and Schaffhausen, each having its own standards for gold and silver, its own system of testing and hallmarking, and its own unique set of marks.

pocket watch hallmarks

Standards for precious metals in Switzerland originated in Geneva in the 15th century, the first recorded regulation concerning the fineness and marking of silver was enacted by Bishop John of Brogny in the year 1424. Swiss hallmarks do not carry a specific indication of the date when an item was hallmarked, but changes in the hallmarks over the years can give an idea of the period. In the Swiss system, the manufacturer marks the quality and then submits the items to a federal Bureau de Contrôle to be tested and hallmarked. Hallmarking means that items made of precious metals are independently tested for fineness, and those that meet a legally defined standard are hallmarked. On 23 December 1880 Switzerland introduced a law requiring the hallmarking of gold and silver watch cases. Bocks and Rams: IWC and Stauffer Trademarks.New product: Leather and Sterling Alberts.Savonnette and Lépine Watches and Cases.Converted Wristwatches - Transitional? No.Bears Galore! Three Bears and 0♹35 Silver.Borgel 2: Taubert & Fils and Taubert Frères.Borgel 1: François Borgel and Louisa Borgel.Straps for Vintage Fixed Wire Lug Trench Watches or Officer's Wristwatches







Pocket watch hallmarks