GUEST: I got it, or I found it, actually, in a safety deposit box when I was closing my brother's estate. I don't know how long it's been in the family. My grandfather was a developer in Denver. He actually had a mansion in Denver. That was finally torn down in the '50s. Family has been fairly quiet ever since.
APPRAISER: Approximately what year did you get this watch?
GUEST: 2009.
APPRAISER: It was made by a, an American watchmaker. His name was Albert H. Potter. He was born in Mechanicsville, New York. And later on, he went to Albany, New York.
GUEST: Huh.
APPRAISER: He studied watchmaking in the United States. He was born in 1836.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Died in 1908. On the face, it says, "Albert H. Potter, Geneva." So Potter, in 1876, for reasons why we don't know, decided to move his watchmaking business to Geneva, Switzerland. He was only there till 1895, and that was the end of his days making watches. He is considered one of the greatest watchmakers of the second half of the 19th century.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: He's revered all over the world. He held 16 patents. So he moved to Switzerland, started making watches there. He wasn't very successful, though.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: His watches, I think the craftsmanship and the quality were incredible, very low production.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: We haven't seen any with a serial number higher than 650.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So he made approximately 650 watches total in his lifetime. Yours, I think, was 5, number 521. So it was a little bit later in his career. We're going to estimate this, based on the serial number, mid to late 1880s. I'm gonna close the front of it, and it's in a massive, heavy, 18-karat-gold case. The movement is just beautifully jeweled. The layout of the plates of this movement were quite unique. When you see this movement, you don't have to even have a magnifying glass to see the name. You know right away you're looking at a Potter. The balance wheel, which is the part that ticks back and forth...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Something special about it. It's not a normal lever escapement that would go tick tock, tick tock, like watches do when you listen to 'em. This particular watch, if you listen to it ticking, you just hear it going, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And the reason why is that this is a chronometer escapement.
GUEST: Ooh!
APPRAISER: And it was meant to be the most accurate timekeeping device made at the time. Now, most hairsprings...
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: ...the blue steel part right there, they're, they're, they're spiral-shaped.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: But this one's a little unusual, too. It's a helical hairspring. This was only done in really high, high, very accurate, high-quality watches. What did you think you had here, in value-wise?
GUEST: Maybe $800 to $1,000. I have no idea.
APPRAISER: And this case actually has the trademark, it's a special marking inside the case, also by Potter.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: And not a lot of these cases survive because they, he made such heavy cases. Depression, wars, things came. These watches, the first thing they did was, they melted down the cases to get the gold. I would estimate that this case is probably cl, easily about three ounces of gold.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So it's, gold value at 18-karat-gold, I, I would estimate that you have somewhere around $4,000 to $4,500 just in gold value.
GUEST: And that's the case.
APPRAISER: That's the case.
GUEST: Oh, my God. (laughs)
APPRAISER: A time-only example of this.
GUEST: Yeah?
APPRAISER: With a normal ticking movement, with a lever escapement, in this condition, by Potter, right now, at auction, they're trading for around $10,000 to $12,000.
GUEST (chuckling): Good. (sniffs) (clears throat) That's a little breathtaking.
APPRAISER: But I got some bad news for you.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Yours isn't that model.
GUEST: I know, scary.
APPRAISER (chuckling): But the good news is, it's, it's a better watch. Pocket watches, in general, the market is going down. This is the only pocket watch that still is revered, and there is such limited production that everybody still wants to have an example in their collection. With your watch today at auction, $20,000 to $25,000.
GREAT: That's a little breathtaking. And it's been hiding in a safety deposit box for... (blows out): 50 or 60 years. Amazing.
