The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-01-07
LEAD SOLD AS GOLD.
ARGUMENTS ON BOTH SIDES OF A
PRACTICE OF WATCH CASE MAKERS.
Receiving $3.50 Pound For an Article
That Costs o Cents-The system of Sell
ing by Gross Weight Some
Good Points Claimed.

THE practice of selling watch cases by
'sty and ultimately forces even the most
manufacturers to adopt meth
DDS that they would repudiate under any
other circumstances, a dealer said, de.
scribing some of the peculiarities Of the
rade "If competitors offer IA carat gold
rases, stamped Ia k, or warranted lax.
U. $. Assay Weighing 80 pennyweight,
FOR $25 or less, others must either meet
these prices or lose trade To avoid this
an effort Is made TO hold the
market by meeting the INSCRIPTIONS deal
er on his own ground Thus prices and
standards of workmanship are lowered
onfidence is destroyed and the trade brings
.pon itself certain amount of discredit
that eventually rebounds TO the injury of
all concerned.
ITO clearly understand this examine
the workings of gross weight sale To
the value of case weighing 48
the gross weight is multi
piled by the price of the gold it contains,
which, for the sake of illustration, say, is
for IA carat, GA cents a pennyweight This
gives an actual cost of S3072. Add to
this interest and cost of labor and the
total is the price of the case, As the chief
factor in determining this is the gold used,
it is necessary to find out how much this
case contains.
1.-The crown weighs 81 pennyweights
and is made of base metal plated, with
socket of lead for the winding stem, and
is probably worth 20 cents. To the back
of the springs arc attached solid pieces of
lead, iron or copper composition, which
are concealed in the center, when the
springs are in position, and weighing 1917
pennyweights, the value of which is prob
ably about the same as the crown. The
three make total of 20 pennyweights,
worth about 90 cents, but which is charged
as gold at the rate of SIG.
''lt will be seen by this that the dealer
pays for $40 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 plated
crown and lead or base filling. Conse-
auently the crown and other parts of the
case would be solid gold, whereas now
they only look like gold. Assuming that
the dealer knows of this deception and re-
fuses to accept the case markings and
weight, as indicated on the manufacturer s
invoice and tag--the basis on which to
estimate value-how is he to ascertain the
real worth of the cases he may purchase?
He cannot do it. If he discards the usage
of tho trade, there Is no legal standard by
which he could determine it, and conse-
quently this practice is carried on with
out violating any law except a general
one, under which it would be very hard to
secure conviction.
"That these practices have attained their
present magnitude by one bound is not to
be supposed. The present system has been
evolved from small beginnings. The evo-
buttons can be observed by examining
three crowns. One is gold crown, weigh
ing 2 pennyw ghts In it Is no pillar for
the winding stem, and the shell is hollow.
Another Is q plated crown, filled with
brass or some weighty composition, and 1t
has large pillar, in which the winding
stem is set. 1t weighs AZ pennyweights.
Tho third has plated crown, filled with
lead, and tho winding stem is screwed into
lead collar 1t weighs S1a pennyweights
and is in general use
"Tho same increase in weight Is notice
able in the spring. Not only the size, but
also the weight of material used, has been
increased. Tho 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 rs long as the gros'
weight system prevails this kind OF thing
will be continued The temptation Is toe
great TO resist. Tho system that enables {
manufacturer to secure $3.50 to 5000 {
Mound for an article that costs him from
| TO 20 cents is too valuable to be discarded
lightly. To belieyo that the beneficiarie
of tho system will voluntarily abandon i
would DO expecting too much from hursaI
nature. The system will be continued un
til it is not prsfitablc or until some on
| steps i'm and wipes it out by the htroduc
| ton of the net weight system of selling
l Watch cases. Then the public can hop
to obt2in what they pay for' ot1 not vi
| then.
While acknowledging that the system o
| selling watch cases by gross weight has 1t
evils another dealer in Maiden lane SAT-
| that it has its good points also
"For example" he added, watch case
are cheaper today than ever they were
solely on account of the practice In Tn
trade of selling them by gross weight in
l 6tedu Utb NclkAt' VIZ
system you had to pay for labor, whic
I'amounted to anywhere from 50 to $40 pc
case. Under the system in vogue at pres
emit you get case which contains just
much gold, but you do not have to pa
separately for tho labor of making It, In
springs, ETC., are, of course, sold as GOLD
and it is from tho profit derived In TIL
way that the manufactures reimburse
/ u - <.f Lob
however, who desires to purchase wats
case under the net weight system can
so, bat the case has to be torn to pieces b'
fore 1t can DO weighed, and the cost
making it is added to the cost OF the geit
"a the long run 1t is better to purchas
lead, steel sad gold together, rs gold, an
get the labor thrown in than TO have you
gold weighed. by itself and The COST
manufacturing It added to tho cost OF Vi
gold. New York Commercial.
II a'