Another vintage watch I’m wearing in rotation is this nice 21 jewel Lord Elgin Art Deco model.
Great ‘fancy lugs’ 14k Gold Filled Case, sets off the brilliant perfect condition dial. This features what was quite an early use of the Dauphine shaped gold hour and minute hands and unusually, a matching Dauphine profile hand in the sub-seconds dial @6. Applied numerals and markers and a curved crystal semi curved case give this model an unusual look and style.
Fitted to a Crocodile leather strap and matching buckle and working very well, this is now a firm favourite of mine, especially as it is in such great condition (not often seen as good).
Note the strongly curved crystal and case top plate, which give that nice ‘close to the wrist’ look. The case back however, is straight, so an optical illusion really, but as the case dimensions are just 37mm lug to lug, a curved back is not required.
The ‘fancy lugs’ as they are often called are more correctly known as ‘shrouded’ lugs and in this case semi-shrouded as the strap can still be seen from the front when worn on the wrist. Note too that the shrouds also are included in the ‘curve’ of the complete watch.
The case back is by Wadsworth, who were a prime case maker in this period and Elgin liked them so much they took them over in 1953. They specialised in solid and Gold filled cases. Factually Gold Filled was a high quality alternative to solid Gold and was at least 5% gold by weight, is heat-bonded and a very much thicker layer than Gold plated – which only required around 0.05% gold by weight and was a very thin layer indeed and can often be seen wearing off and showing the base metal underneath.
So, no fear of that with 14k Gold filled as this watch, which is why they can look so good after so many years.
Anyway over the next week in rotation I’m wrist wearing Elin, Lord Elgin, Buren, Vertex, Gruen Veri-thin, Longines and Blancpain. The week after yet another set, which keeps my vintage watches wound and working just as they did when first made a very long time ago. And ‘batteries’ – who needs ’em?
Watch space 