Monogram on old wristwatch

[Sam]

Found in a junk store a couple of weeks ago. What a brilliant example of design and execution!!

 

[vilts]

It's a good looking junk, what can I say

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Sam

Now that's some really interesting cuts there. A really nice way to add a shadow giving it a 3D appearance. Those block letters have some interesting cuts as well............almost a block, chiselled Roman style.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Sam]

Andrew: The shadow cuts as well as the date are cut with a 4-line liner. Then he cut the serifs with a v-graver or possibly a flat. It's crisp and very neatly done. I don't know about others, but this kind of engraving really appeals to me, and I admire the talent required to do it! / ~Sam

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Yip, it appeals to me as well. The sheer simplicity and clever use of the gravers to acheive a desired effect I think is what makes it so stunning.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Otto Carter]

What a thing of beauty.
Otto

 

[fegarex]

Sam,
I agree as well. I've always been impressed with this type of engraving as well as some of the early "production" engraving on firearms. Not only because it was well done but the truth of the matter is that is was probably done very fast and VERY cheap. Back then, a monogram like that was done like it is done with a pantograph now. Most jewelry engravers could do that lettering nearly as fast as I could write it.

 

[Sam]

Rex: Yes, it was probably done quickly. I spent a couple of days watching E.C. Prudhomme engraving jewelery items and he was very, very fast. Maybe I'm wrong (and I hope I am), but I think this style of work is going by the wayside. I rarely see anyone designing and cutting like this, including me.

 

[fegarex]

I'm afraid you are right Sam. The pantograph and computer engravers have taken over this. It's too bad. It requires a lot of time to develop that kind of skill just for lettering. I love to look at it because you can see there wasn't a wasted cut in doing it. The work was done quickly but still looks fantastic. I would probably take 10 times as long to do the same thing.

 

[PS_Bond]

Is that a single picked cut for each of the serifs? I know the Jewellery Engraver's Manual talks about doing them that way, but I still haven't quite figured out how to get the cut right. Can't quite get the shape I want.

 

[Christiaan]

Its got an old world romance to it. I like it. Just draws you into it.

 

[Shanna Moran]

Beautiful, isn't it?

Oh, how beautiful - and to think those guys could turn that stuff out so fast. When I was a very young girl, I remember watching an engraver/jeweler work in my grandparents store. He almost could hold those pieces in his hand (sometimes laying them on a sand bag) and push that graver or liner for this same style of lettering! I am also afraid that we won't see this in the future unless we learn to do it and commit to the time it takes us. What a find in the junk pile! I recently recovered an 18K gold watch case engraved much like yours, Sam. A treasure! Thanks so much for sharing. Shanna

 

[Abigail]

Sam and I visit the local antique and junk stores here in our town...and the surrounding areas quite often. We love treasure hunts.
When we walk in the proprietors often call him over to the counter to show him the "new" old watches that have come in.
I'd like to see some of the engraved 'treasures' you guys and gals have found.
Abigail

 

[goldcutter]

I do alot of lettering and monograms, and it's just this sort of engraving that keeps me excited. Lettering takes time and practice to become proficient, and maintain accuracy. I always try to make some design element special in some way on each job that I do. It sometimes takes longer to do the layout than to do the actual cutting, but it makes my work visually appealing, and adds to my reputation for clean, artistic work. The more you do, the easier it gets.

Although many items that were engraved by hand in the past, like lockets and watch backs, are now done by machine or not at all, there is still a market for elegantly designed and smartly cut lettering. (And to make those serifs, depends on the angle and size of the pick you want to make. Look at the edges you want to connect, and choose a graver that closely matches the angle involved. The biggest challenge is to avoid cutting across your previous engraving~y'know, push, push, oops!)
Melissa

 

[Mike Cirelli]

That's a great example of old lettering. I run into this kind a stuff a lot on old jewelry. Some really great stuff from the early 1900's inside rings also. It's fun to study, trying to duplicate in mind the cuts and graver types they may have used. It's a shame most all modern jewelry is machined engraved, doesn't leave much for the imagination. I think I have some old stuff stowed away somewhere, if I get some time I'll shot a few pictures.

 

[PS_Bond]

(And to make those serifs, depends on the angle and size of the pick you want to make. Look at the edges you want to connect, and choose a graver that closely matches the angle involved. The biggest challenge is to avoid cutting across your previous engraving~y'know, push, push, oops!)

Thanks Melissa - that makes more sense. I went back and had another look at the book, and I was getting myself tied in knots - it reads as though the gravers is rolled for the serifs. I may have been confusing that with the terminators for wriggled lettering.

 

[pilkguns]

The biggest challenge is to avoid cutting across your previous engraving~y'know, push, push, oops!)

yep, thats the one thing about push engraving I don't miss at all. I was just thinking a 100 years from now engravers who have always used air powered gravers will have no concept of what that means.