Do companies still give gold watches?
Hi
I wanted to share this which is the watch my dad received for 25 years service at Price's tailors.
It is 9ct gold Bernex from 1959. I believe this was a popular brand of gift watch in the UK at the time. It is probably a brand that is not well known outside of Europe though, although the company is still going. I think they specialise more in pocket watches.
My dad would have received this when he was only 39, so he must have started working at 14. Price's was a large clothing manufacturer based in Leeds. Back when Leeds produced more than half the suits produced in the UK alongside other companies such as Montague Burton.
He would also not have completed 25 years full service as he spent 6 years of it in the 14th Army based in Burma during World War 2.
Returning to the UK, he later met my mum at the company where she worked as a seamstress. Fatherhood came late to him in life and he was in his middle fifties when I was born. Unfortunately he developed Early Onset Alzheimers and died when I was 9.
I was given this watch in the 90's and it wasn't working at the time. After getting it repaired, I started wearing it myself. I tend not to wear it often these days as it is very precious to me. When I do, I like to put it on a nato. I think it looks good!
So do companies still give gold watches for service these days or does anyone have any stories about their inherited service watches?
Hi All, I am a Special Needs Teacher originally from Yorkshire now living in Staffordshire. I Started loving watches after my older brother brought home a Watches of Switzerland catalogue in the 80's....
I have my grandfather's watch that was given to him for 30 years service to Bell Labs. Until your post it never occurred to me that 30 years was from 1940 to 1970 and necessarily included his wartime service in the US Navy. Employers must have included that time in their calculations. Beautiful watch to remember your father by.
I wish they still did! It seems that this tradition may only exist in a few select industries, but isn’t as common as it used to be. I have a gold filled Elgin that my g-pa received in the fifties, but I don’t expect anything like this when I hit 20 years with my company
I have a Smiths gold one of my dads when he’d done 25 years in the year I was born. It’s pride of place in my collection, hardly ever worn so I don’t damage it and is beyond value.
such a great stories, keep wearing and keep the watch safe my friend. it is also looking dresswatch 👍
I have a buddy who isn’t a watch guy who recently received a steel date just for 10 years of service at a mort company. Took him to my AD to get it sized up. I was amazed his company still did it.
Oh wow this is great! Imm just about to post a thread today on a watch I’ve discovered which was my Grandads Dad which he had for 25 years service in 1958. We have the original papers, box and instructions too!
I’ll post details shortly.
In Norway, there was an opinion piece written in 2019 (NRK), by someone in public sector who were about to be cheated out of their gold watch due to budget cuts. They though it a nice tradition and were not happy.
If I remember correctly, 25 year employees there, had the previous year been given a gold plated Swiss quartz. Worth less than 8000 NOK (~$916), due to tax on employer-employee gifts.
From what I observe on the secondary market, a number of different "gold watches" are sold by recipients or family, directly or through jewelry dealers.
While I can appreciate the tradition, I hope that employers aren't throwing these watches at employees, without first asking if they would like something else.
I bought my Tag Aquaracer from a jewellers called Fraser Hart in Plymouth a couple of year ago. I got talking to the gentleman who was dealing with me and he was wearing an Omega Seamaster that the company had recently given him for forty years of service. Nice!
That’s a great story about your dad and I’m sorry that you lost him at such a young age.
There is a long tradition of giving gold watches for length of service or sales accomplishment. My Seiko 8122-7039 is a quartz movement with gold plating over base metal and no engraving and I have seen the same model with other company dials. I didn’t earn it but keep it because it was given to me as a gift by a friend who did earn it and he has since passed away, so I think of him every time I put it on.
Thanks for all your comments. Great to hear your stories.
I have a gold "years of service" Universal Geneve that was engraved with a great uncle's name, and of course the company name. I believe the math comes out to 36 years, which is odd, and it appears he kept working there a few more years. I was surprised that a gold Swiss watch would be given to someone that worked in a fairly remote rural area, but I guess the corporation was big enough to do so.
Personally, it's such a long gone practice that I regularly joke about it, because nobody I know will be getting a gold watch presented to them by any employer ever.
I must add that, regardless of how personalization generally devalues collector value, it was greatly appreciated when more than one generation or estate has been mixed as it indisputably resolves original ownership and timeframe.
What a beautiful watch made special by its significance. Thanks for the story. It reminds me that I need to see if my 85 year old Dad still has his retirement watch from when he retired 25 years ago (worked his whole life at one company). He's not a watch guy. He has a watch that he wears. I'm not sure where a second watch would end up.
As noted by some above, a lot of companies moved to a catalog approach where you are given a certain amount of points or are allowed to select from a certain level in the catalog based on your years of service. That was how it was when I left the last job I had at an old school aerospace company. I remember seeing a watch in the catalog but they were not personalized with the company logo. I'm at a tech startup now where they understandably don't care about years of service being a newer company and having their employees seemingly change jobs every 2-4 years. Sorry, old man complaint but not blaming the kids/ companies have little, if any, loyalty anymore.