A 14k Gold Watch!

[SwiftSword]

I rarely find anything worth posting here, but I think you might enjoy this. 
I have a standing permission at an old farm yard here in eastern Massachusetts. I've been over this particular spot six or eight times, and found a Barber dime just before the end of last season. So that's where I started last night. Deus II, Sens FT, square tones. Settings probably wouldn't have mattered as this signal was pretty clear – low eighties, fairly clear tone with a slight scratch on the outswing, and a bit of an unctuous warble. So a bottle cap, or more likely a big screw top from a liquor bottle. I dug it anyway because I wanted to clear the trash out and hopefully find more coins. It was very dark already, so when I flipped the sod, I could barely tell that I had a pocket watch or compass, so on I went. 
once I cleaned it off a bit at home, I explained to my son that this wasn't plated because there were no flakes coming off, but that silver sometimes comes out gold toned. At that point the back falls off. I got so excited about the inscription that I didn't read the case marks. So it took quite a while for me to realize that this was, in fact, a 14k gold watch! 
 

[matt]

Now that's a great find! Was there a front cover?

[F350Platinum]

You usually don't find most of the parts of a watch in a farm especially. Nice!

I have an old Howard watch some somewhere, I think mine is gold filled.

Thanks for posting!

[SwiftSword]

3 minutes ago, matt said:

Was there a front cover?

No, the watch only has a front bezel, which is missing. The state of the dial and the presence of a lot of crud in the channel where the bezel sits makes me think it wasn't present. But of course I'll go back there and search for it! 

[SwiftSword]

5 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

in a farm especially

It was about four feet from a barn, so it was spared the plow!

[midalake]

VERY cool find! Congrats!!!! 

[Zincoln]

You can't beat that with a stick.  I think that is right up on there on most detectorists lists of white whales.  Have probably found 50 pockets watches that retained significant portions, and yet to find a silver one, much less gold!

Very well done indeed, and fun to see if one could find the provenance.  Pretty cool this was gifted by employees of TT Co.

 

[strick]

Cool find...Good luck finding the face plate you never know it my still be out there. 

strick 

[fogrider]

Absolutely stunning! Pocket watches are always a treat, and an engraved gold watch is a true treasure. Well done!

[JCR]

A very special find for sure.  Can you trace it back to a past owner of the property?