The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-03-26
MAYBE THE OLDEST WATCH.
Dated Nearly Century Before tho Ear
lest Record of Matchmaking


Sam Longabaugh. of Empire, has in
his possession probably one Of the most
valuable relics in the country. IL Is
timepiece in the shape of a watch and
bearing the name of Joseph Davis. Lon
don, 1221." The genuineness OF the article
is unquestioned and it's great value lies
in the fact that the earliest record of Il
pocket timepiece is 1894 and is Swiss.
The DAVIS watch has been an heirloom OF
tie Swan family for nearly two hundred
years 1t finally came into the possession
of Frank Swan. one of the family. who
lives in Nevada. lie did not appreciate
the value Of the watch, and gave il 10 his
children to play with, and when Mr.. Long
abaugh first il, about fourteen years
ego, the hands had been broken off, and
enc OF the three cases. within which the
works were enclosed was lost. He recog-
nized it's value, and secured IL from
Swan. The watch was examined by
Tucker. the San Francisco jeweler, and.
after making researches, he pronounced
II genuine. More recently High & Fair
child. of Butte. made search In the
misty past, but the earliest date they
could find of the existence OF watches
was 1900.
The watch In qucs tion doubtless repre-
sents .he labor of many years. as It was
made entirely by hand. and the tool
marks throughout all its parts are plainly
visible. and the watch was probably the
only one made by Mr.. Davis, of London.
The machinery consists OF d large steel
balalce wheel. which works with pendu-
lum like a lever. and in place Of the
modern hair spring is a long steel chain,
which winds and unwinds upon pulleys
Another large wheel the purpose Of
L. Ga1t
wheel on a thu eshing machine
The works are protected and held to-
gether by a fine ornamental network
of brass carved out by hand and riveted
together with brass rivetS which show
plain hammer marks on the back of the
works is a polished steel face similar TO
the second dial on a modern watch. but
the figures run from one to six. The OBJ
ject Of II has never been figured out by
any Of the jewellers who have examined
it. The face OF the watch is of polished
steel and the hours are marked by raised
Roman numerals. Around the edge OF
the face are figures from five to sixty
to represent either seconds or minutes.
In the centre of the dial is the British
coat Of arms in raised brass. consisting
of the crown, lion and unicorn.
The whole works are enclosed in a sill
yer hemisphere, the silver being hammer
ed and shaped by the hand, the inden-
turcs of the hammer showing distinctly.
On the outside of the silver case is an
other of hammered brass. and the evil
dence is plain that at one time there
was still a third case on the outside OF
these two. The watch was wound up
with come kind of key, the keyhole
being protected by a rude trap or sliding
door.
The watch has a stem nearly two inches
long and a ring on the end large enough
to hitch a horse to. The stem is Of solid
silver and in the middle is nearly half
worn away, which alone is a slight
indication OF it's extreme age. The watch
is said to have been in running order up
to about twenty years ago. 1t weighs
about four ounces. and in shape 1t looks
+ like a baseball cut in halyes.-Carson