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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Pocket watches · Purpose

Dress Pocket Watches

Partially verified

Slim, plainly finished pocket watches intended for formal wear rather than for railway or working use.

Mechanism

Typically a thin lever or, earlier, cylinder movement chosen for slimness rather than positional precision.

Typical characteristics

  • Thin case profile
  • Restrained dial design, frequently open-face
  • Lighter jewelling and simpler grades than railroad-standard watches

Identification characteristics

  • Slim case and movement height
  • Restrained dial and case decoration relative to railroad or presentation grades

Collector significance

Illustrates the segmentation of the pocket watch market by use rather than purely by grade.

Known variations

  • Thin lever dress watch
  • Cylinder-movement dress watch

Related photographs

Cylinder Watch Movement (48709170233)
Cylinder Watch Movement (48709170233) — Auckland Museum Collections from Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. General horological surveys

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.