Know everything about the punch of a pocket watch!

Are you interested in jewelry, and more specifically in the value of your watches? You want to know a little more about the punches in your pocket watch?

Welcome to My Pocket Watch, the specialist shop of old watchmaking! Each week, we offer our watch enthusiasts articles that will allow them to know a little more about their passion. Whether it is simple general culture in practical articles, you will necessarily find your interest in it! Today, we are going to focus on the different punches that can be found on certain watches or some jewelry .

In this blog article, we will see together:

• How find the punch of your pocket watch
• The different punches of a pocket watch
• Some tips for know the value of your pocket watch

Don't lose one more minute, let's go!

where is the punch on a pocket watch?

Before seeing together the meaning of your punch , let's first see its marking place! The punch is similar to a small symbol (a badge, a profile head, an animal, ...) accompanied by 3 digits. You will find the punch of a pocket watch at the rear of the lid ! Please note, not all watches have a punch. Indeed, to benefit from it, your jewel must be made of real metal (with a very specific alloy ratio) such as solid silver , the or , copper or diamond .

You will understand, we find the punches in all jewelry (watches, rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets, ...) and not only the watches of Pocket! In general, the punches will always be marked in the concave part of your jewel , with the exception of watches where the punch will be located at the back of the case.

the punch of a pocket watch

Now that you have learned to identify your punch, let's see together how to read it! You will see, there will be nothing complicated.

How to read a punch?

When we talk about punch, we talk about the title hallmark . This is the marking to certify the content of the metals used! There are several names such as manufacturer's punch or masterpiece , depending on the house. Each country offers its own punches! In the case of the article, we will only present the French hallmarks . Let's see it all!

the punches of a silver pocket watch

Let's start with Identify money punctures ! A silver punch will be made up:

• of a title : this is the symbol (the rooster, the old man or the minerva)
• And 3 digits : 925, 900 or 800

The different titles vary according to the manufacturing era, we can deduce that the older the title, the more value the jewel. The 3 figures indicate the percentage of pure silver in the alloy of jewelry (925 for 92.5%, 900 for 90%, ...). It will then be, more exactly for a thousand (‰)!

There are other ways to recognize a money jewel, click on the banner just below to visit our article devoted to it!

the hallmarks of a gold pocket watch

Now that we have seen the silver punches, you will quickly understand the logic of the golden punch! Like silver, the golden punch is presented by:

• A title : a hippocampus, an eagle head, a scallop or a clover
• From 3 digits : 999, 916, 755, 585 or 375

You will understand, the figures indicate the solid gold ratio/other metals of the alloy. The closer the figure gets closer to 1000, the more the jewel will have value! However, the titles do not indicate the manufacturing era but the value of the jewel , just like figures ! Therefore, a golden hallmark can be represented only with its title . Let's finish the presentation of the gold punch with the carats:

• or 24 carats = 999/1000 = Hippocampus
• 22 carats = 916/1000 = Eagle head
• or 18 carats = 755/1000 = Eagle head (without border)
• or 14 carats = 585/1000 = scallops
• or 9 carats = 375/1000 = Clover

The price of the alloy

Of course, punches are not limited to money and gold ! There are other rarer punches such as platinum punctures or diamond punctures . Always on the same logic, these are represented with a title and thousandth system! Finally, here is a small price comparison in order to have an idea of ​​the price of a silver alloy jewel and gold alloy ! This is only alloy prices , it will therefore be necessary to take into account the labor and a whole bunch of additional loads to have a Idea of ​​the price of jewelry.

Silver alloy :

• 800/1000: 0.33 €/G
• 900/1000: 0.38 €/G
• 925/1000: 0.39 €/g

Alloy d'Or :

• Or 9 carats: € 18.4/G
• Or 14 carats: 30.2 €/G
• 18 -carat gold: € 39.07/g
• Or 22 carats: € 47.4/G
• 24 Carats: € 51.69/G

No punch? Do not panic!

You may have your jewelry does not offer a punch! However, this does not mean that your jewelry is worthless. As said before, we have only seen the French hallmarks and the marking is not compulsory in the goldsmithery! Thanks to several clues such as magnet test , ice cubes' test or sound test , you can Know the value of your Pousset watch .

Discover all our mechanical pocket watches!

Here we are finally at the conclusion of the article! Let us see together the different points we have learned. We have seen in this article that punches differ according to the material used in the manufacture of jewelry ! Gold, silver and copper have its own punch and the latter will indicate the type of alloy. We have also seen that the punch is generally found engraved inside the jewel , in the cover of the pocket watch or in the inner part of the ring, for a ring. We hope that this article helps you to better understand the world of jewelry, do not hesitate to visit our various gusset watches by clicking on the banner below!