I have unlaoded a few "found" watches and I give my friend who sells them 50%. If you have a relative you think might like it, its nice gift.Īnother possibility is to give it to a local antique dealer to sell on consignment. You can use that to estiamte fair market value for tax purposes. In 1891 a young, talented master watchmaker, Henri-Frederic Sandoz, founded the Tavannes Watch Company in a small Swiss village, Tavannes, in the Jura moun. It has a an estimate for the value of your watch. You can probably find a copy of Shugart's Complete Price guide to Watches at your library or local mega bookstore. The problem a seller has is that for an end user they have to put it in good working order and thatcost is comparable to its final retail value. You can get more but if you value your time at say $25 per hour you end up ahead donating it. If you put any value on your time that is probably your best option. If not them, a local Good Will or equivalent. If you want to get rid of it quickly I suggest you donate it to the NAWCC school of horology and take a tax deduction against its retail worth. Pawn shops are going to offer you 1/3 to 1/4 of what they expect to sell it for and they do not make a good living at that. The people who sell them mark them up a lot to cover the their costs. It's a good entry item for a collector, or a fashion accesory for someone who want to make a statement that way. The watch is in overall remarkable condition for its age.I can't be very specific due to rules I do believe in. The inside caseback is also signed by Cyma.
The dial, case, and movement are all signed by Tavannes. The black painted hands have developed a light patina. The dial has a commemorative text "IN APPRECIATION OF 25 YEARS SERVICE WITH ABITIBI POWER & COMPANY, LIMITED." The engine-turned small seconds sub-dial has developed patina with some wear. The dial is in good condition with some scratches and a few spots throughout, slightly more noticeable spots and scratches on the outer edge of the dial between nine and 11. The case is possibly unpolished and with light surface scratches overall. This Tavannes pocket watch is in overall great, attractive condition. Multi-layered dial with salmon colored accent Employee gift and retailer signatures on dial The Fine Print Maker: Tavannesĭimensions: 42.5mm diameter 9mm thicknessĬaliber: Tavannes, manually-wound, caliber 587 The cherry on top for this Tavannes is the handset, we've been calling them "skyscraper hands" around the office as they remind us of the shape we saw on a recently sold Longines Conquest Power Reserve. The curvature of the text at the top of the dial is really striking and integrated very well into the design of the watch. We were thoroughly impressed by the multilayered dial with its ring of copper tone and just the overall finishing on this example. The inside caseback is signed by Cyma, a sister company to Tavannes that is believed to have been created by executives as it was shorter and easier to say than Tavannes.īeyond the story, the look of this watch is truly stunning. All of this matches up, Candian company, Canadian jeweler, making this undoubtedly a Candian Tavannes pocket watch.
Mappins is a Canadian jeweler that is still in operation today and traces its roots back to the famed UK based Mappin & Webb. Furthermore, a retailer signature is found above the sub-seconds dial.
A quick google reveals this firm operated out of Montreal and was at its height in the first half of the 20th Century. Text wrapping around the upper portion of the dial hints the this pocket watch was given as a gift to an employee of 25 years at Abiti Power & Paper Company, Limited. Accompanying the Tavannes dial signature is, well, a lot of text and, with it, a bit of a story. This pocket watch is triple signed by Tavannes on the movement, case, and dial, and likely dates to the late 1930s or early 1940s, when the brand was at its height. The best example of this third-party manufacturing is Tavannes' involvement as the maker of many early JLC Reversos, but the brand also worked with names like Hermès, Dunhill, and Zenith. After a fire destroyed some of the brand's manufacturing facilities in 1940, Tavannes focused on working behind the scenes of Swiss watchmaking by producing movement calibers and even whole watches to be signed and marketed by other brand names. By 1938, Tavannes advertising materials touted its production and sale of over 30,000,000 watches – yes 30 million watches. The brand traces its roots back to 1891 and came to prominence in the first few decades of the 20th century, an era of watchmaking often overlooked by vintage collectors today. Tavannes may not be a name many collectors have heard it's a bit of a deep cut. Why This Watch Matters Here's a slightly funky, very elegant Tavannes pocket watch from the 1950s, seemingly a gift to an employee of 25 years at a Canadian power and paper company.
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