A score(?) today..................

[Ray S]

   Went to an estate sale this afternoon in search of knives and came away with this:
Sitting on the front table amidst a pile of jewelry without a bracelet was this watch.As soon as I picked it up I knew it was something special. The previous owner(whose estate was being liquidated)was a beekeeper by profession and also apparently a private pilot judging from the quantity of aviation books;pilot headphones(there must have been a couple dozen!),and miscellaneous instruments.
   It stands to reason that he would have a good quality chronograph. This particular one is a two register model made by La Marque I assume in France.It started to work when I gave it a cursory wind and the sweep hand started up when I hit the pusher and stopped when I hit the other one.The dial looks like it has some dust on it and there were a couple of small scratches in the crystal(which have since buffed out) and the pushers have quite a bit of wear on them on the bottom indicative of quite a bit of use.
   Went up to my friend who runs the sales and he gave me a price of five dollars which I promptly paid thereby not giving him a chance to change his mind. Got it home and gave it a cursory cleaning and polished out the scratches in the crystal;wound it fully and set the chronometer running. It has been running now for about eight hours and is keeping great time!
   I robbed a bracelet from another watch I have and with a bit of filing on the bits attaching the bracelet to thew watch everything fits. Going to wear it for a few days and see how it performs.
   I tried looking up the chronograph and only came across one on e-Bay that looked new and they were asking nearly two thousand dollars for it! I doubt mine is worth anywhere near that but it is definitely worth more than five dollars!

[Aloha]

   Quick search

Company Name:     LA MARQUE WATCH CO., INC.
File Number:     250657
Filing State:     New York (NY)
Filing Status:     Inactive - Dissolution (Feb 12, 2001)
Filing Date:     July 21, 1972
Company Age:     48 Years, 3 Months

Not sure its the same? 

In any case  great find and it works.   I found a mechanical watch Jessop with 17 jewel moment and incabloc made in Switzerland.  It keeps pretty good time and is a fun watch to wear.