Longines watch identifier serial number serial numbers#
Longines watch identifier serial number serial number#

This is the most common issue mark among all issued watches. Using this guide, you should be able to develop a basic understanding of the issue markings on most military watches you encounter. The guide is organized into a few major categories of markings, with a few examples in each category. Today, we’ll share a quick guide for deciphering a majority of military and government issue watch markings. Interpreting those meanings can sometimes be like solving a puzzle, with long strings of numbers telling you important information about the watch, like where it’s from, how it was designed to be used, when it was made, and a lot more. These numbers and symbols–sometimes on the dial and almost always on the case–can carry a number of different meanings. IF they show two numbers that are wildly different, I think I would use the higher one.One of the more interesting and unique characteristics of military watches that sets them apart from their civilian counterparts are the issue markings.

Longines watch identifier serial number serial number#

No Agassiz specialists but I have looked for soem and may have used one I do keep track of the sourceģ) Ads I think ads that show a serial number are fairly reliable. If the hiuse specializes in the item they can be good. Interesting inscriptions might make a neat thread.Ģ) auction date estimates are often crude and even wrong but they are information. Another English watch has a presentaion dated ten years after the case was made so the jeweler proving the presnetation burned off some old stock. I have another with a long inscription that I interpret as a 21st birthday presedntaion of an ancestor's watch.

SOmetimes the presented gets an old watch engraved. I have a Hammie 900 circa 1915 with a presentation date of 1946. IN my seral numebr versus date assignments I have used three sourcesįor inscriptions I accept the date if it is something liek a Christmas present from a spouse of workers but these are fallible. Seems Wittnauer kept pretty good campany!! Thanks Kent. I had no idea they were related but how many Agassiz families are there? The famous US agassiz is Louis Agassiz of Harvard who was a towering figure in biology and is also famous for opposing the theory of Evolution. Seems that Longines Agassiz Wittanuer and Touchon are all tangled together. These tend to be 10 or 12 size which I date to 1920's by default (Despite knowing of US 12 sizes well before that and some Swiss from the 1890's) I think that by about 1920 Agassiz was mostly casing their own but this is based on memory of a watches I have seen and estimated dates. I don't think I ever saw a Touchon I didn't like. (And is now or was until very recently, owned by Westinghouse) It is just a movement that I am recasing to make into a carry watch That sure surprized me becuase I had thought Wittnauer was the budget brand of Longines. I have a lovely Touchon, very high grade that is signed Wittnauer under the dial so the family may be extended. He works for Tiffany and has access to theor archives but liek Longines a lot of data is lost. Rollins Maxwell is publishing a book on Tiffany watches due November and it will probably have some Agassiz mopvements. Catalogs and inscriptions are about all we have. Problem with many of these is that there is no relaible way to date them. The 1885 number is new top me and I'll put that in an update. Kents ad for teh 1884 has the same watch I pulled from Waynes Elgin site and is probably teh same ad. Thanks I am inspired to do some more web scrounging.

Longines watch identifier serial number serial numbers#

Serial numbers from cuts in dated Ads and cases with inscriptions particularly a presentation date are the best.ĥ) As Matthias wrote the old records are gone so this is the only way we will be able to reconstruct the serial numbers. As before, a serial number on an uncased movement does not help much. Your 23,000 serial number if an Agassiz would be circa 1890ģ) The old Agassiz company did use a fish and most of their cases had this trademark on them and I have seen some dials with it too.Ĥ) I should resume my net scarfing to get mode numbers. It included several iterations and there were no nasty surprisesġ) Longines and Agassiz were separate and different companies despite havng a common ownerĢ) Thus, until Longines started using the Agassiz name recently, and even now, they are different serial number sequences. I did hear from Loongines and they asked me not to publish their reply so here is the sense of it.