Identify my watch or clock
Identification Centre
This workflow does not name your watch. It produces an accurate description of what you actually have, which is the only reliable basis for searching maker records, serial tables and hallmark registers. Photographs alone cannot establish authenticity.
AI assistant
Suggest clues from a photo
Add a photo and whatever details you know, then choose “Suggest clues”.
Workflow
Describe the object, step by step
Step 1 of 6
What type of object is it?
Start with the object class: this determines which reference sources apply.
Guides
Markings, hallmarks and numbers
Hallmarks
British marks give standard, town, date letter and maker. They date the case precisely — and only the case.
Serial numbers
American factory tables give approximate production years. Swiss trade numbers usually identify a finisher or retailer instead.
Import and patent marks
Import marks indicate the market and a date range; patent numbers can be traced to a filing and inventor.
Further reading
Go deeper on this subject
Identification works from the object outward: movement layout, case marks and numbers first, then makers, records and published ranges. These pieces take each step in more detail, with worked methods for hallmarks, serial tables and unsigned work.
Articles
Identification · 4 min
How to Identify an Antique Pocket Watch: A Step-by-Step Checklist
Identifying an antique pocket watch means reading five kinds of evidence in order: the movement, the case, the dial, the winding and setting system, and any hallmarks.
Identification · 4 min
Reading an Unknown Movement
Identify an unfamiliar movement by recording construction, winding, escapement and markings separately; resemblance is a research lead, not proof of manufacture.
Identification · 3 min
Dating a Watch From Its Case — and Why That Can Mislead
Case marks can identify assay, responsibility and metal standards; a complete-watch date needs separate evidence for the movement and their pairing.
Identification · 3 min
Reading a Swiss Bar Movement Without a Signature
Describe the construction of an unsigned bar movement before attempting attribution: bridge shape, escapement and markings answer different questions.
Identification · 3 min
Reading Hallmarks: A Practical Sequence
Read hallmarks as a complete group of metal, office, responsibility and date evidence; they date a case event, not the whole watch by themselves.
Identification · 3 min
Reading Hallmarks on a Watch Case
A hallmark records official testing of precious metal at an assay office. On a watch case it can date the assay and identify the sponsor, but it does not date the movement.
Identification · 3 min
How to Read a Serial Number Table Without Misreading It
Serial tables are the most-used and most-misused tool in watch identification. Understanding what a table actually records — and what it cannot — prevents the commonest dating errors.
Identification · 3 min
Dating an Unmarked Movement: A Method
Without a signature, serial number or hallmark to search, dating a movement becomes a process of accumulating weaker evidence carefully rather than finding one strong fact.
Identification · 4 min
Researching an Unsigned Clock
An unsigned clock can still be described well when its movement, case, dial and later alterations are recorded separately and compared with documented examples.
Identification · 3 min
Dials: Enamel, Silvered and Metal
A dial is the part most likely to be replaced, refinished or repainted, and also the part most collectors judge a watch by first. Knowing how each type was made explains what to look for.
Academy lessons
Academy · Advanced · 30 min
The Identification Decision Tree
A structured methodology for moving from an unidentified timepiece to a supportable attribution, and for knowing when to stop and say 'unknown'.
Academy · Beginner · 30 min
Reading a Movement
How to inspect an opened case-back and interpret what you see, without touching anything.
Academy · Beginner · 30 min
Identifying Escapements
Visual identification of the verge, cylinder, lever and deadbeat escapements.
Research guides
Research guide
Documenting a pocket watch: photographs, numbers and evidence
Build a useful identification record without confusing a signature with authorship, a case number with a movement number, or a running watch with a serviced watch.
Research guide
Reading museum catalogues and auction listings critically
Compare object identity, attribution, dating, condition and photographs across collection records and sales descriptions without upgrading uncertainty into fact.