• 24 Jun 2020, 5:43 p.m.

    As some of you know, I am collecting pocketwatches, IWC only.

    Far from saying that my collection is a museum collection but I am proud to
    have found some nice and rare pieces over time.

    Some of the pocketwatches are common, easy to find on the market, sometimes in
    better condition than mine, but some I have are gems.

    So in these crazy times, as the museum in Schaffhausen is closed, why not open
    one here on the forum.

    As long as the museum is closed, I will post here daily a pocketwatch from my
    collection.

    I hope I don't run out of pieces before the virus is beaten. Fingers crossed
    for all of us.

    I will post them in a random order, with some comments, feel free to join.

    Keep safe all.

    DAY 95, Jones Romney.

    Coming closer to the final day of this virtual museum, I kept some nice onces
    for these days.

    So today, another Jones of my collection ( now 5 Jones )

    When you want to learn something about Jones and the Jones calibres, the best
    advice I can give is to read the book F.A. Jones, legacy and watches , written
    by David Seyffer, Thomas Konig and Alan Myers.

    As a collector, finding an early number of a movement is always a bonus, gives
    you pleasure, and during this series, we saw some pretty low numbers, of the
    first numbering and of the second numbering. Even the number 22 of the second
    numbering was shown here.

    So an early Jones would fit into a collection.

    But when you see these pages here and read that when the book was written,
    only 16 movements between number 500 and 999 , and 15 between 1000 and 1500
    were known still to excist, you know these are rare ones to find.

    So I am super happy that I could add this one to my collection, having the
    number 1461 on the movement.

    It is a pattern B, and can be dated around 1872.

    It has the name Romney engraved. Romney was the town in New Hampshire where
    Jones used to live.

    It is cased in a gold filled hunter case, from that era. Not original to the
    movement, but correct in age and being a hunter.

    Enjoy the beauty of this early Jones.

  • Master
    24 Jun 2020, 5:45 p.m.

    For the love of Jones!

    Well, my earliest Jones is not as early as that of Tonny's - but still... it's
    a Romney and I do so like her.

    Now, heres the interesting thing about these Jones pocket watches, no matter
    which or what Jones you have, it's collectable - period.

    Add to that, that no matter how many Jones' you have in your Collection you
    are going to like each and every one of them.

    The Watch

    Pure Jones - pure Gold - and pure Probus Scafusia - way before
    Schaffhausen started to use that Probus Scafusia logo too!

    And the original dial - with that logo. One needs to understand that this is
    an enamel dial, and that logo was hand painted on with black enamel power and
    a minute paint brush. Mind boggling !

    And as for the movement - well not a old as Tonny's but for sure good enough
    to be clasified as a 1st generation Jones Type Romney, and with the movement
    number #2197 as you see here below its just pipes Adrian's Jones Romney (post
    below here) by a mere 269 watches.

    One has to wonder, how many days after this watch of mine was completed in
    Schaffhausen, did they complete Adrians? Was it the same week?

    And yes, she bears her Romney name quiet well (note, this picture before the
    watch was fully restored - so please excuse the 140 years of gung on the
    movement)

    And her case has some weird hand engraved number...

    So I understand we are winding down - so I have already decided that tomorrow
    night we show you a Jones with a twist!

  • Master
    24 Jun 2020, 8:13 p.m.

    Here is another hunter, pattern B,
    'Romney'

    The movement number is higher, but it still belongs to the early Jones
    series.It has 15 jewels and a Breguet balance spring ( high quality).

    Apart from 'Romney', pattern B hunters have other signatures such as
    'Bradley', Stuyvesant' , Int. nl. Watch Co and H. Burns . The latter is a key-
    wind movement. It is still not completely clear to whom the names belong. On
    the pattern 'H' movement the name 'Craig' has been added and in a collectors
    article, to be found on the IWC forum, Thomas Koenig revealed who 'Craig' was.

    Regards,

    Adrian.