INGRAHAM BYRD POCKET WATCH

Ingraham Byrd Pocket Watch

Q: I turned up an Ingraham pocket watch engraved with an airplane, a globe with (Admiral Richard E.) Byrd's image on it, and the phrase, "Trail Blazer, commemorating Byrd's Antarctic Expedition." The paper face has a picture of an airplane and an Antarctic scene on it.

A: E. Ingraham & Co., founder Elias Ingraham's fourth clock-making venture, made clocks and watches from 1860 to 1967 in Bristol, England. The company was sold to McGraw-Edison, and electric clocks with the Ingraham trademark are still made in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Ingraham was one of five companies that sold a one-dollar pocket watch, lowering the price by using a pin instead of a jewel for a bearing. From 1913 until the mid-1960s, the company manufactured about 65 million pocket watches. Your pocket watch dates from about 1929, the year Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd flew over the South Pole and back. Ingraham made other watches commemorating historic flights, including Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight. One of those sold online recently for $130.

OOPS: COLLECTORS' CONCERNS CORRECTION

A reader emailed: "Thank you very much for the free Kovels Komments online newsletter--I look forward to it regularly. In your August 27, 2008, issue you noted that the E. Ingraham Co. (clockmakers) were located in Bristol, England. They were located in Bristol, Connecticut. There is a wonderful museum located in Bristol with one full wing dedicated to Edward Ingraham alone. It's the American Clock & Watch Museum in the Miles Lewis House, 100 Maple St., Bristol, CT 06010 (860-583-6070 or http://www.clockmuseum.org/). This museum is a treasure trove of clocks & watches (three floors!) along with an extensive research library."

CLOCK MARK

Clock Mark

Q: I have a wall-hung, wood case clock with a pendulum and chimes. There is no maker's name on the clock face, but this mark is engraved on the clockworks. The clock belonged to my grandfather, who came from England to Canada in the early 1900s. Can you tell me who made it and how old it is?

A: This mark was used by Gustav Becker (1819-1885), who founded a clock factory in Freiburg, Silesia, Germany, c.1848. The mark includes his initials and an image of the Medaille d'Or (gold medal) that Becker won at the 1852 trade exposition in Silesia. Becker also marked his clocks with serial numbers, which indicate the year of manufacture. (The serial number in 1890 was 800,000.) Gustav Becker's clock company became part of Junghans in 1926, but the Becker name was used until 1936.