Collecting antique time pieces recognizes the true masterpieces created by early craftsmen.

Although time keeping mechanisms have been around for thousands of years, the first mobile clocks did not appear until the 1500s. Up until that time, the method of creating a clock's movement was so large, heavy and ponderous, few people ever considered the possibility of a portable clock.

Most clocks were huge and resided in churches or cathedrals. Counterbalances and weights to power clocks were usually made of stone blocks or metal. In the 1500s, Henry De Vick invented a clock for the royal palace in Paris with a 500-pound weight that traveled 32 feet - and it only had an hour hand (as did all clocks at that time). You can see why a hand-held timepiece would be a ridiculous thought in those days.

Yet the invention of the portable clock would bring great advances to civilization. It was needed for the study of the heavens, for physics, and for ship captains to calculate their location-which increased the likelihood of the safe return of a ship, its cargo, and its crew.

The Egyptians are known to have used sundials at least by 1300 B.C., as did the Aztecs some years later. But a German locksmith by the name of Peter Henlein is one of the first recorded inventors to create a watch in the 1500s.

The first watches were made of steel; consequently, the first watchmakers were locksmiths and blacksmiths because those guilds worked steel to make tools and implements. Eventually, locksmiths dominated the trade as brass, silver, and gold were used to replace steel. Also, "miniaturization" slowly swept the trade, and locksmiths were more adept at the fine work required. Watches at this time were typically four or five inches wide and about three inches thick.

It was the discovery of spring technology by Peter Henlein and other watch creators that made the personal timepiece possible. Spiral springs could be wound and then uncoiled to move the hour hand of the clock. Although, this technology was a great leap forward from hanging weights, it was still highly inaccurate because coiled springs do not unwind at a constant speed. But in comparison to judging the hour by the sun, having a timepiece you can carry in your hand or wear on a necklace-even though it was off by an hour or so-was close to a miracle.

The first solutions to this problem came when watchmakers realized that the spring uncoiled more evenly if it was not completely wound. Various means of preventing this were invented: the stackfreed was a cam with an additional spring that compensated for the main spring's changes in speed, and the fusee was a stop usually made of hog bristle that prevented the spring from being wound too tightly.

In 1675, several watchmakers discovered that a spiral spring attached to the balance greatly increased accuracy. Suddenly, watches reflected the correct time within minutes rather than being off by close to an hour. This heralded the addition of the minute hand.

Up until about this time, watches had to be wound twice a day. A fourth wheel added to the movement decreased the winding required to once per day.

A hand to measure seconds was added a little less than a century later. As years passed, the customer's appetite for more and more gadgets on pocket watches led to the addition of calendars (including the day, date, and month), phases of the moon, alarms, chimes and music.

The early pocket watches had no covering to protect the face or the hour hand. In the 1700s, English watchmakers began creating gold and silver pair cases for safekeeping. The manufacturer's name or mark can usually be found on a pair case. If it does not match the name on the watch, then the pair case is not the original, but a replacement.

Eventually, glass crystals were added to protect the dial, but because they were translucent, they still had to be removed to read the time.

Also in the 1700s, English watchmakers added jewels (gemstones) as bearings in the watches to prevent friction and wear between metal parts. This innovation helped catapult them to the forefront in the industry. Remarkably, watchmakers from other countries did not adopt the English method of jewelling for nearly a century. Today, the number of jewels a watch has is a sign of quality and durability.

Finding a pocket watch made prior to 1700 is rare these days. Most of those in existence reside in large collections.

Currently, antique watches crafted before 1865 are very popular. They are sought by not only collectors, but also by Civil War buffs and re-enactors, says Eric Engh, co-owner of the Web site www.oldwatch.com, the world's largest internet seller of pocket watches.

"Walthams, in particular, are very collectible," he said. "They were the first mass-produced watches with interchangeable parts. But because of the evolution of their watch designs in the early years, they sometimes made very few of some models. This is why they are in high demand."

Not long ago, Engh sold an 18-carat gold, size 20, Waltham Model Appleton Tracy with key wind from the rear for $10,000.

"Less than 350 of this model are known to exist," Engh explained.

Engh reports that the Internet is influencing the demand for American-made watches. In the past, European and Asian countries did not appreciate the craftsmanship of American watches. But over the last 18 months, he has seen a large number of American timepieces going overseas. He attributes this trend to the availability of information about American watches on the Internet.

Determining the age of an antique pocket watch is a matter of finding a good reference guide and checking the manufacturer's serial number. On an American watch, the serial number is located on the movement inside the watch, not on the watch face or the casing.

Older English watches have hallmarks that can be researched to find the manufacturing date. Antique watches made in Europe are more difficult to date. They sometimes have serial numbers, but often do not. Their patent numbers can be used for dating.

Also, be aware that the name on a watch's face is not necessarily the name of the manufacturer. Watch manufacturers would often print a company's name on the dial in return for ordering a specific number of watches. Mail order and distribution companies did the same thing.

A good reference guide for dating and valuing an antique watch is American Watches-Beginning To End, ID and Price Guide (Meggers & Ehrhardt, Heart of America Press, ISBN: 0-913902-53-5, $35, 352-669-4791, www.hoapress.com). Another good reference book is the Complete Price Guide to Watches (20th edition by Cooksey Shugart, et al, $26.95 at Amazon.com).

What determines the value of a watch? As with all collectibles, it's what the buyer is willing to pay. Michael Roesch (mroesch@bellsouth.net), a collector of antique watches, recommends these key points:

Materials: watches made of gold, silver, or plate are more valuable than brass.

Completeness: no missing parts. In addition, the box, bill of sale, or original papers all add value.

Condition: look for wear and tear, scratches, hairline cracks, dents, blemishes on the metal, brassing (where the gold plate is rubbed off), fading or stains on the face, or repairs to the face. All functions (calendar, chimes, moon phases, etc.) should work, and the watch should have been cleaned and oiled by a professional every 2-3 years.

Quality: number of jewels (the most highly prized watches have 21 or more); the number of positions adjusted to (usually five, often marked on the movement); and marked "adjusted for temperature."

Rarity and Historical Value: ownership by a famous or historical person adds to the value of a watch, but paperwork proving this provenance is needed. Most engravings detract from the value of a watch, unless it is inscribed to a famous person or the inscription authenticates its presence at a historical event-a presidential event, a maiden voyage of a famous ship, plane, etc. Of course, this type of inscription is easy to fake. Look for other corroborating materials, such as invoices, photos, certificates, presentation materials, etc. Pocket watch collecting offers the collector all sorts of sub-categories. For instance, Notre Dame fans and Studebaker car fans are avid collectors of the Studebaker watch. This watch was made in South Bend, Ind., by the same company that made the cars. (Today, the timepiece company is South Bend.)

Eric Engh can't keep a Studebaker on his Web site for more than 48 hours before it sells. Generally, Studebakers sell in the neighborhood of $1,200 to $1,500, and the price keeps going up. There are only about 3,000 in existence.

Engh cautions the novice collector about making sure you're buying THE Studebaker and not A Studebaker. South Bend printed "Studebaker" on the faces of many watches. Even though most people shy away from opening the case for fear of harming the watch, inside is where you will find the "key." The words The Studebaker are on the movement of the genuine article. If it says just Studebaker or South Bend, it is not The Studebaker, and it is worth considerably less.


Railroad Watches

Another area for pocket watch collectors is railroad watches.

On April 19, 1891, a train engineer's watch stopped for four minutes and then started again. This temporary mechanical failure resulted in a train wreck that caused nine casualties in Kipton, Ohio. As a consequence of this disaster, a commission was set up to create new standards for pocket watches used by the all railroads. A few of those standards included: having 17 jewels or more; being accurate within 30 seconds per week; having a white face (but silvered faces were allowed until the second decade of the 20th century); black Arabic numbers (the X's, V's, and I's of Roman numerals sometimes caused confusion in reading the time); each minute delineated; size 16 or 18; adjusted to five positions; and temperature compensated.

The last two requirements were critical. As the early watch makers discovered to their frustration, not only would cold and heat cause the movement to slow or speed up, but so did the watch's position. Imagine trying to carry a watch in one position, especially while working on a train.

Railroad watches had to stand up to constant abuse from the jarring and swaying of the early trains. Consequently, engineers were required to have their watches inspected regularly and to submit a certificate stating its reliability to supervisors.

The picturesque movie scene of a train conductor looking at his watch and then shouting, "All aboard!" does not reflect the true importance of a train staying on schedule. In the early days when there was only one track for trains barreling in both directions, being on time was a matter of life and death. As the Kipton wreck proved, an engineer's pocket watch being off by as little as four minutes could mean disaster.

In watch descriptions, a size is usually listed, from 0 to 23. There are also key sizes for watches wound with keys. A watch's size is not the width or length of the watch or casing. It is actually a standard measurement for the sizes of movements. To meet railroad requirements, a watch's movement must be a size 16 (1 7/10 inches), size 17 (1 11/15 inches), or a size 18 (1 23/30inches).

Railroad watches are particularly appealing to collectors for several reasons. The quality of railroad watches was very high, second only to chronometers. Railroad watches were not produced in the same quantities as everyday pocket watches, even though quite a few companies made them. Another aspect that adds to the value of this timepiece is the ephemeral "romance of the railroad." Young and old alike have been captured by the spirit of the rails, and that same feeling inspires collectors of railroad watches.

Amazingly, railroad watches are quite affordable. A typical watch in fine condition sells for some $200 to $450. However, the cost has accelerated in the past 24 to 36 months, according to Eric Engh, due to demand from Asian and European collectors.

For collectors, Waltham and Elgin produced the most railroad watches, so "You'll need deep pockets for an extensive Waltham or Elgin collection," says Engh. "Another manufacturer, Hamilton, made less than five million watches total (both RR and non-RR), and that was less than 10% of what Waltham and Elgin produced."

The actor, Dom Deluise, collects both antique pocket watches and railroad watches, because, as he said, "They take up very little room, and they are beautiful."

The beauty, craftsmanship and history of pocket watches make them great collectibles.