Special Interest!
PW10148
Rockford 16s 21J Grade 505
Rare 230 Made
(Sold)
Rockford Watch Co. 21 jewel 16 size open face lever-set Grade 505 pocketwatch. The 505 (and its hunting case equivalent the Grade 500) were the finest 16 size watches that Rockford made and were absolutely beautiful movements with gold jewel settings, gold train, gold balance screws, a terrific fancy damaskeen pattern, mirror finished concave winding wheels, a script RWCo. signature, a frosted area around the balance jewel, and a very cool large mirror finished steel disk around the escape jewel which is probably the movement's most unique and distinctive feature. Only 230 total of the Grade 505 were produced making this a very hard piece to find. This example is fronted by its correct double-sunk enamel dial, and is housed in an attractive but later vintage Illinois Watch Case Company 10K rolled gold plate case. Movement serial number is 571521.
Running and a truly spectacular movement in excellent surface condition, some very small surface spots on the winding wheels are about the only thing I see to note. Dial faces up well but has a few faint hairlines. Case is attractive but of a later vintage than the movement, but it does not show any sign of having held another movement so it could very well be an old replacement for the worn/damaged first case. Case back has an attractive train engraving but does have contact scratches/abrasions, and case front does thread on properly but can be a little stubborn to start.
$2050 plus shipment.
