European Musical Watch Fobs, ca. 1820
Watch
GUEST:
Well, today I brought some musical pocket watch fobs. Um, normally, gentlemen that wore pocket watches would wear fobs or seals on the other end of the, their chains, but these, um, all five of these actually have a musical movement underneath it, and each one of them plays a separate tune. You just turn the top, and there's a small switch in the front, and the watch owner could listen to the tune. I started collecting regular watch fobs, and when I was on travel for work, a young lady in the U.K. showed me this one.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And as soon as I saw it, I was hooked. So this has taken me about ten or 12 years to collect.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for them?
GUEST:
This one was about $900 to $950. Um, this was under $2,000, more like $1,900. This one was just at $2,000. Um, this one was around $2,100. And this one was a little bit more expensive, because it has the original Moroccan leather case...
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
...and it was just a touch over $4,000.
APPRAISER:
Oh, okay, very good. Well, they're really fantastic. When you brought 'em to the table, I was immediately engrossed in them. (laughs) They're from the early to mid-1800s. They're a great collection of watch fobs, and they're musical.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And they play a beautiful little tune.
GUEST:
Would you like to hear one?
APPRAISER:
Yes, we would love to hear one.
GUEST:
Certainly. So you just turn the stem on the top. (fob whirring, tune tinkling)
APPRAISER:
That extra added element of the playing the music is just amazing. Absolutely fascinating to me. So have you ever had anybody currently appraise them?
GUEST:
I have not. I have not.
APPRAISER:
And so how long ago did you, were you buying these?
GUEST:
Um, around 2002, 2003.
APPRAISER:
They're very difficult to find.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This one, you told me, was nine-karat rolled gold.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Which actually means it's gold-filled, or has a layer of gold on the outside.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The others are 18-karat gold. And this one, I believe, is the oldest one and the most difficult to make.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Because it is the tricolor gold. And the way they made that was, they made the basic component of the fob, and then they applied all the different colors to that, and then they put the music box inside there...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...and then, then attached the activator, which is what sets it off. So, the estimates that I would give for this at auction are $3,000 to $5,000 for this one, since it's gold-filled. For the other three pieces-- these two are similar-- I would say they're going to be at $6,000 to $8,000. And for the tricolor gold one, the auction estimate would be $7,000 to $9,000. So as a group, the estimate would be $28,000 to $38,000. However, when you sell such a desirable, rare item like this in a group, the price tends to go way higher.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And I would think that the auction estimate for this would be $45,000 to $55,000 for the entire collection.
GUEST:
Wow, okay-- thank you very much.
APPRAISER:
My pleasure-- thank you.
GUEST:
My daughter will be very happy. (laughs) That'll put a nice dent in the, uh, law school tuition.
Appraisal Details
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