Craig Duling directs Heritage Management Services, Inc., and provides leadership in all aspects of the San Francisco firm as CEO. A longtime collector of antique pocket watches, Craig Duling maintains HeritagePocketWatch.com. One topic covered is American-crafted mechanical watches, which were archetypal of the railroad era. With hunter-cased and open-faced varieties of timepieces manufactured, railroad-grade pocket watches were by definition open faced, as they needed to be read quickly and without obstruction. Both types featured clear crystal faces that protected the watch from impact and scratches. At the back would be an opening mechanism that allowed viewing of the movement. Before the mid-1920s, watch movements in American-made timepieces were not cased at the factory, but constructed by watchmakers whose services were rendered through local jewelers. This enabled almost infinite variations in quality and durability of movements within watches with the same exterior. Now highly prized, American mechanical watches are largely a thing of the past, as less-expensive overseas manufacture and quartz imports, in tandem with digital technologies, have led to a major decline in manufacturing viability in the United States. A former engineer, Craig Duling heads Heritage Management Services as chief executive officer. In addition, Craig Duling is an antiquarian horologist who owns HeritagePocketWatch.com, where he shares his expertise on antique pocket watches. One of the most important events in the history of watch development was the proliferation of the railroad system in the United States. While working for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, Henry S. Montgomery came up with a unique watch face design to meet the needs of railway professionals. He received a patent in 1920 for his personal design, which varied from other marginal minute designs at the time in three distinct ways. First, the numbers on the dial appeared vertical instead of being slanted or arched, a convention that we still see in many watches today. Second, Montgomery enlarged the five-minute numbers and typically had them appear in red instead of the standard black. Again, this convention can still be seen in some clocks today. Third, the sixth hour received a clear mark on the watch face. Before Montgomery, most pocket watches did not have a clear mark for this hour because of a subdial for the second hand. Montgomery placed the six within this subdial. Lastly, around the outer edge of the dial the seconds were numbered 1 through 60. For instance, this enabled one to know when it was exactly 13-minutes after 2 o'clock because the minute hand would point not only at a marker but also at the number 13. Craig Duling has served for nearly three decades as president and CEO of Heritage Management Services. In addition to leading the property management organization based out of San Francisco, California, Craig Duling channels his lifelong passion for antique pocket watches into the administration of an educational website, heritagepocketwatch.com.
Whether found, purchased, or inherited, an antique pocket watch can be a highly regarded collectible item. In order to assess its monetary value, a collector must first determine a number of details about the pocket watch in question. After establishing basic information such as the brand, model, and movement type of the watch, owners should establish the timepiece’s age. A pocket watch’s serial number can be useful for determining this, as lower serial numbers suggests earlier production dates. However, age does not necessitate value, since many former companies such as Waltham and Elgin mass-produced relatively inexpensive pocket watches while in business. The composition of a pocket watch also plays heavily into its value. Gold or damaskeened finishes, polished screws, and high jewel counts indicate a higher quality piece. Collectors should take care to determine whether gold watches are merely gold plated or comprised of solid gold. A pocket watch’s value also relies on its condition. Unaltered watches with their original parts will be worth more than those that have undergone repairs, and pocket watches that are still in working order will generally warrant a higher appraisal than those that have stopped ticking. Additionally, blemishes such as scratches or dents can lower the value of a pocket watch, and these cosmetic faults often suggest internal issues as well. Craig Duling's fascination with timepieces goes back at least to his college days, when he built a digital clock from scratch for his senior year physics lab class. Currently the head of Heritage Management Services, a business management firm in San Francisco, Craig Duling is also a significant collector of rare antique pocket watches.
Pocket watches are often associated with images of 19th-century railroad conductors consulting them as steam trains left the station. This close attention to correct time was essential. In the 19th century, most trains traveled in both directions on single sets of tracks. Sidings were placed at regular intervals to allow trains to pass safely. Printed timetables showed the arrival and departure of trains, as well as when they were waiting in sidings. This system depended on accurate watches. The problem with this became evident in 1891 when two trains in Ohio had a head-on collision, killing nine people. Investigation disclosed that the engineer's watch on the passenger train had stopped and restarted, making it four minutes slow. This tragedy prompted railroad officials to set up standards for pocket watches. These specifications mandated that watches share a common design, as well as being reliable, easy to read, and impervious to extremes of temperature. |
AuthorBefore accepting his current position, Craig Duling served as an engineer with Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California. Archives
September 2017
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