Posted 14 years ago
cazksboy
(2 items)
This is a pocketwatch with fob made by New England Watch Co., and it is a Cavour model. You can see the Cavour name on the plate in the second photo. This watch was originally presented to my grandmother, Rose Shetler, on the occasion of her graduation from eighth grade in South Dakota. As the family story goes, she owned it for a short while and lost it in the winter of 1902 or 1903 (we're not sure which, but it was one of the two years). Sometime in the snow's thaw of the following Spring, Rose dreamed about the watch - she dreamed that it was under an apple tree somewhere on the property where she lived. The next morning, she went out to look for the watch and found it under an apple tree, just like her dream!
One interesting thing of note is that in South Dakota, there is a town called Cavour. No idea if there's any connection between that fact and the watch's model name, though.
Another interesting fact is that the base of the fob is a flat piece - which was stylistically descended from the old wax seals that used to be popular. In this case, the seal is blank, hence a flat surface, so I'm told.
Anyone who is interested can see more pictures of this watch on my website at http://dougsclocks.hpage.com/ . Comments or further historical details are welcome via my "E-Mail Me" link.
