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Early 1800s watch fob

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Pocket Watches487 of 1695Hamilton 992 gold pocket watch, 21 jewalsAntique Victorian sterling silver fob compass with painted horse
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    Posted 8 years ago

    Mooseman
    (1 item)

    I've been Searching for information on this for years, even reached out to antique dealers. The only information I've been able to acquire is that until recently, only parts of this fob have been found on civil war dig sites. The actual age is unknown. I have seen similar ones to this but nothing identical to this one. Any information on this would be great.

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    Comments

    1. Sunnybrook Sunnybrook, 8 years ago
      Hello Moosman,

      Can you type what is written in each section? The content may hold a clue.

      Sunnybrook
    2. Mooseman Mooseman, 8 years ago
      One of the sections says "Here's to our wives and sweethearts. May they never meet. ". This is a Royal Navy toast. I'll add the rest shortly.
    3. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Didn't we have something like this awhile back ?
    4. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      Blunderbuss, correct: it was up recently with a long, long amount of text on the fob and a Large Cent.
    5. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      So SB, I'm not losing it, except in Izenglish's mind ? Know how to locate that poste, or do we wait & see if they step forward ? I want a re-cap of it now.
    6. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      I'd have hit Like on it thus shortening my search, had the pics been better (at first I thought, from the pics, that the coin was a dug V-nickel, LOL).
      Going through several pages of posts, I realised our friend who has posted this one is why the old one was brought up again recently: he helpfully commented to the poster.
      Here it is, if this is the one I think you mean:
      http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/137916-watch-fob?in=activity
    7. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      SB, "you dun good!". I'm a bit confused (happens often). Moose commented on the older poste "yesterday". You came up with the old poste today (?) obviously. I'm at a loss as to what is going on. SB, do you know ?
    8. SpiritBear, 8 years ago
      Isn't that the post you meant?
      Moose has posted only one item at this date.
    9. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      The one posted a year ago was from ChrisAxe. Moose posts his yesterday & made a reply on ChrisAxe yesterday & doesn't share that info.(?). I'm confused, but as said, that happens often.
    10. Robbie3264, 2 years ago
      I just found this same fob. It has same medallion on end with same 2 squares and two triangles on it. Any Info on it would be greatly appreciated.
    11. keramikos, 2 years ago
      Hi, Robbie3264. :-)

      Here's the other post they were talking about:

      https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/137916-watch-fob

      Here's one at RubyLane:

      https://www.rubylane.com/item/1071878-JA12/Victorian-Watch-Fob-w-Drinking-Toast

      Here's one that's dated 1917 (it has a rectangular end-charm, rather than a round one):

      https://www.goantiques.com/ntique-1917-watch-53224867

      Here's the Sears Roebuck Egyptian themed variety (scroll down):

      https://www.brianrxm.com/comdir/cnsmain_egyptmagiccoin.htm

      However, with regard to the drinking toast variety of that fob: beware. Here is somebody who's casting reproductions:

      https://suegrayjewelry.com/products/whimsical-drinking-toasts-watch-fob-brass-fob-necklace-cheers
    12. Robbie3264, 2 years ago
      I found mine today metal detecting. It was about 8 inches in ground. Thanks for the quick response. Is made of brass or copper? Wished I knew the manufacturer.
    13. keramikos, 2 years ago
      Robbie3264, You're welcome. :-)

      Hmmm, finding one buried eight inches underground using a metal detector probably rules out a Sue Gray Jewelry reproduction, as her business has only been around in the third millennium:

      https://suegrayjewelry.com/pages/about

      If yours is anything like the Sears Roebuck Egyptian Revival watch fob, it's brass or bronze.

      I found more, similar fobs commemorating the 1905 Lewis and Clark Expedition:

      https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/exhibits/lc17-metalribbonsm.jpg

      *snip*

      Watch Fob
      Souvenir watch fob depicting the Forestry Building and Foreign Exhibit Building, with a medallion of the U.S. Government Building. (Courtesy Gov. Victor Atiyeh)
      Slide 17 / of 28

      *snip*

      https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/explore/exhibits/lc-slides.aspx

      *snip*

      Antique Watch Fob from the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. There are five sections each featuring different things. At the top is the kind of triangle shapped one with the date of 1905 and what I think is an Anvil, gears and maybe a hammer, next down is one that features the Forestry Building on one side and the European Exhibits Building on the opposite, next down features the Agricultural Palace and on the opposite side is the Foreign Exhibits Building, next down is another triangle shaped one with the 1905 date and features a Scroll and Palate w/Brushes which is ion both sides. At the bottom is a "Coin" shape medallion with one side featuring Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea (I think), the opposite side has the U.S. Government Building, Portland, Oregon and encircling it is the wording Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. There is a clip at the top for attaching it. Overall it is 5 1/2" long. The coin part is 1 1/8" in diameter and the sections which are attached to each other with small rings are 1 1/8" X 3/4". The metal is silver tone but no idea what it is made of. All original.

      *snip*

      https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/lewis-clark-centennial-exposition-430024041

      This one has more segments, and seems to have been commissioned by Monogram Cigars:

      https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--SuBs5gChms/UOxQ6AOoE5I/AAAAAAAAHbU/-Yrj0QPqqCk/s1600/07_Monogram+Cigar+chain+&+fob.jpg

      https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2013/01/cowboy-collectibles-watches-and-fobs.html

      Here's a Lewis and Clark round described as being gold-plated bronze:

      https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia154757.html

      As to the age of the drinking toasts fobs dating back to the early 1800s because of the antiquity of the drinking toasts themselves: some sources claim the Royal Navy "Wives and Sweethearts" toast goes back to Admiral Horatio Nelson's era; however, one source opines it's even older:

      *snip*

      Well before the time Horatio Nelson had reached the rank of post captain, the Royal Navy had evolved a Wardroom toast for every day of the week. Easily the favorite was the one reserved for Saturday night, when glasses were charged to drink the health of “Sweethearts and Wives”—a toast invariably replied to by the youngest member of the Mess. And this despite the uncompromising dictum of Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of St. Vincent that “a married man is damned for the Service.”

      Actually, Service conditions pretty nearly damned a man from getting married. For the naval officer, in a matrimonial sense, was anything but a catch—at any rate until he was fairly well advanced in years.

      *snip*

      https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1960/february/sweethearts-and-wives

      Possibly it gets associated with Nelson's era, because he famously had trouble with both his wife and sweetheart:

      https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lord-nelson-hero-andcad-105811218/

      I suppose it can't be ruled out that the drinking toasts fob is older than 1905, but we probably should consider that the "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" poem dates back to the early 1800s, yet it's still popular to this day.

      It's frustrating that there seems to be no manufacturer information about any of these watch fobs; however, 1905 seems to be a point of 'agreement' between the Lewis and Clark Expedition fob, and the Sears Roebuck fob, so that's what I'd go with on the drinking toasts one as well.
    14. keramikos, 2 years ago
      Oh, and on that one '1917' fob: you can see that the jewelry finding connecting the rectangular piece labeled 1917 is different from the others, so probably the paper had that piece made and joined to an older fob.

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