The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-01-05
LEAD SOLD AS GOLD.
ARGUMENTS ON BOTH SIDES OF A
PRACTICE OF WATCH CASE MAKERS.

Receiving $3.50 = Pound For an Article
That Costs cents-The System of Sell
ing by Gross Weight Responsible--some
Good Points Claimed.
"The practice of selling watch cases by
gross weight puts premium on dishon-
esty and ultimately forces even the most
scrupulous manufacturers to adopt meth
/ dds that they would ropudiate under any
other circumstances dealer said, de.
scribing some of the peouliarities of the
trade. "If competitors offer IA carat gold
| cases, stamped IA L., or warranted lax
U. s. Assay, Weighing 80 pennyweight,
| for S25 or less, others must either meet
these prices or lose trade. To avoid this
| alternative an effort is made to hold the
market by meeting tho interruptions deal
er OIL his own ground. Thus prices and
standards of workmanship are lowered
confidence Ia destroyed and the trade brings
upon itself certain amount of discredit
that eventually rebounds to the injury Of
oil concerned.
'1To clearly understand this examine
the workings Of q gross weight sale. To
ascertain the value Of u case weighing 48
pennywelghts the gross weight is multi
piled by tho price OF the gold 1t contains,
which, for tho sake of illustration, say, Is
for IA carat, "a cents pcnnywoight. This
gives an actual cost of s30.72. Add to
this interest md cost of labor and tho
total is the price Of the case. As the chief
factor in determining this Is the gold used,
1t is necessary to find out how much this
case contains.
"The crown weighs 81 pennyweights
and Is made Of base metal plated, with
socket Of lead for the winding stem. and
is probably worth s5 cents. To the back
of the springs are attached solid pieces of
lead, iron or copper composition which
are concealed In tho center, when the
springs are In position, and weighing 1914
pennyweights, the value of which is prob.
ably about the same as the crown. The
three make total of % pennyweights,
worth about 30 cents, but which is charged
as gold at the ratio Of Sl8
''lt will DO seen by this that the dealer
pays for SIC worth of gold that he does
not receive. Had the case been sold by
net weight there would have been no In
centive or inducement for the so called
gold case manufacturer to use a plated
crown and lead or base filling. Conse.
quently the crown and other parts of the
case would be solid gold, whereas now
they only look like gold. Assuming that
tho dealer knows OF this deception and re.
fuses to accept the case markings and
weight, as indicated on the manufacturer
invoice and tag-the basis on which to
estimate value-how Is he to ascertain the
real worth Of tho cases he may purchaser
He cannot do IT, II he discards the usage
Of the trade there is no legal standard by
which he could determine it, and conss.
quently this practice is carried on with.
out violating any law except general
one, under which it would DO very hard to
secure conviction.
"That these practices have attained their
present magnitude by one bound is not to
be supposed. Tho present system has been
evolved from small beginnings The evo.
lutions can be observed by examining
three crowns. Ono is gold crown, weigh.
ing . ponnywoights In 1t is no pillar for
the winding stem, and the shell Is hollow.
Another is a plated crown, filed with
brass or some weghty composition, and it
has o large pillar, in which the winding
stem is set. 1t Weighs ~ rcnnywcights.
Tho third has n plated crown filled with
lead, and thowinding stem is screwed into
lead collar. It weighs 81 pennyweights
and is in general use.
"Ihe same increase in weight Is notice.
ablo in the spring Not only the size, but
also the. weight Of material used, has been
increased The first filling and backing
was of comparatively light metal. 1t was
then found that copper was heavier, and
now lead is the popular metal.
''Tho purpose of this is too evident not
to be understood, and as long as tho gross
weight system prevails this kind of thing
will bo onrfnuru. Tho temptation is too
great to resist, The system that enables
manufacturer to secure $3.50 to 5000 a
pound for on article that costs him from 5
to 20 cents Is too valuable to be discarded
lightly. To believe that the benefcares
Of the system will voluntarily abandon it
would be expecting too much from human
nature The system will be continued un-
til 1t Is not profitable or until some one
steps in and wipes it out by the introduce
ton OF tho net weight system of selling
watch cases Then the public can hope
to obtain what they pay for. but not till
then"
While acknowledging that the system Of
selling watch cases by gross weight has its
evils, another dealer in Maiden lane said
that it has its good points also.
For example," he added, "watch cases
are cheaper today than ever they WERE
solely on account of the practice in the
trade of selling them by gross weight in
stead Of by net weight. Under the latter
system you had to pay fer labor, which
amounted to anywhere from IS to $40 per
case. Under the system in vogue at pros
ent you get case which contains Just us
much gold, but you do not have to pay
separately for the labor Of making it, Tho
springs etc, are of course, sold as gold,
ard 1t Is from the profit derived in this
way that tho manufacturer reimburses
himself for tho cost Of labor Any one,
however, who desires to purchase a watch
case undcr tho net weight system can do
so, but tho case has to be torn to pieces be-
fore 1t can bo weighed, and the cost Of
making 1t Is added to the cost of the gold.
In the long run it is better to purchase
lead. steel and gold together. rs gold. and
get tho labor thrown in than to have your
gold weighed by itself and the cost of
manufacturing it added to the cost of the
gold New York Commercial.