Cases

Created Thursday 31 October 2024


Different watch case companies used different names for their nickel alloy cases.
A quick look revealed the following:
Silverine = Dueber
Oresilver = Fahys
Iridimite = R R Fogel
Silveroid = Keystone
Silverode = Philadelphia, and later Keystone
There are others, such as Alaska Silver.
These are nickel, copper and manganese alloys.
Elgin and Illinois made nickel cases, which were marked as such.


Silverode

This is an alloy of copper and nickle with a small amount of magnesium.
Sometimes called German silver


Dennison


ALD Dennison Watch Case Co. Ltd. Birmingham, England; registered 16.10.1920



'Star' Watch case



In October 1871, Aaron Lufkin Dennison established the Anglo-American Watch Company Limited in Birmingham alongside a group of investors. However, after the company struggled to generate sufficient watch sales in the American market, Dennison departed in 1874 and was subsequently renamed the English Watch Company. In 1874, Dennison identified a niche in the market for high-quality watch cases produced in large numbers and started a company. He patented many designs for air and watertight cases.


Originating from a small workshop on the side of the family home, the company was called Dennison, Wigley & Company. Dennison had partnered with Alfred Wigley, an engraver, polisher and springer of watch cases. The company grew to produce 100,000 high-quality watch cases per year. Dennison died in 1895, and he was succeeded in business by his son, Franklin Dennison. After Alfred Wigley retired in 1905 the company was renamed the Dennison Watch Case Company Ltd and continued as a successful business until 1967. The Dennison Watch Case Company failed in February 1967 due to insolvency and the factory in Birmingham ceased production.


The Dennison Case Watch Company used specific grades to indicate how long the gold layer should last. A Sun grade indicated a case with layers of 14-carat gold, guaranteed to wear for 25 years. The Moon grade indicated layers of 10-carat gold, guaranteed to wear for 20 years. The Star grade indicated the outside of the case was a layer of 9-carat gold, guaranteed to wear for 10 years. The inside of the Star case, which naturally was subject to less wear, was electroplated with a gold plate to reduce costs.


Denisteel was a trade name registered by the Dennison Watch Case Company in 1934 to describe its stainless steel watch cases. Stainless steel was developed by Harry Brearley of Thomas Firth & Sons in 1912.


Filled gold must include at least 5% of the total weight of the item in pure gold. Rolled gold contains less than 5% of pure gold, but is many times thicker than simple gold plate. The thickness of the gold determines how long the item will last in normal use before the gold wears through and the base metal shows.


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