Just bought this watch, the case and bracelet looks to be the 6-blue-sapphire "Miss Liberty" type of pre 1930 with two emeralds on the bracelet, but the movement itself is a bit of an odd one - I've looked through most of the adverts pre-1950 but couldn't find a similar style of a two-tone blue-on-gold dial with blue hands.
The movement no. is either 87612 or 67612 or 87812.
Thanks for all your answers and the lovely comments!
Daca, that was my first guess as well, but then again, I've looked through all of the 'pre-WWII- advertisements (the blue hands would indicate it's rather an old make, right?) and could not even find a simliar dial at all (the light numbers on the dark-toned circle *are* very odd)... it's a bit weird.
BTW, being rather new to the world of antique watches, I have to confess I'm not too sure 'how much a dial refinish runs'.
Your watch looks like it was serviced and the jeweler simply used a dial he had on hand ( not specifically for this model) and probably changed the hands as well as they tend to corrode over time like the dial as these older watches were not sealed tight to the elements. You are right about this time period having used the blued (or black) hands. Those are most common.
Perspiration and oils from the skin would work their way inside and kind of attack the inner surfaces necessitating replacement or refinishing of the various pieces.
Normally the minute track on the dial will follow the edge of the bezel/crystal. When they don't it sometimes indicates that a different dial was installed that was not designed for that particular watch.
For me, a dial refinish tends to run $60 to $80 depending on the final color and whether or not luminescent details on the numbers are added.
I still think it's not a stretch to use the variant field for more information- like non-conforming.
We could convey the case/general watch ID info while including the dial information.
Would show up as 1929 Miss Liberty non-conforming...and this method would actually only apply to a few watches in the database which are tough calls.
Thanks for all your answers and comments!
I'm still waiting for the watch to arrive so I'm still excited to finally see the watch with my own eyes (note to self: Never order intercontinental shipments just before the holiday season, the tracking process will drive you crazy)
another newbie question:
is there a way of gaining additional information from the movement and case serial numbers, i.e. a sort of database starter-numbers and their assigned movement/case tpes are listed? I take it the numbering process was not random, even in the 1920s, but then again I reckon it all comes down whether this information has been kept, and subsequently released, by the company (many Swiss companies employ company historians dealing with exactly that these days, but I am not too sure how these things are handled in the US).