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1888 St. Louis Browns Champion Pocket Watch with Presentation Fob
A magnum find with huge historical significance, this championship pocket watch was presented in 1888 to St. Louis Browns pitcher Jim Devlin and engraved with his name, for the team winning the American Association for the 4th straight season, though they lost a “World Series” to the NL’s New York Giants. Presenting these gold pocket watches was the least St. Louis’ tightwad owner Chris Von Der Ahe could do after pocketing the Browns’ $1,200 pennant purse and calling his own players “chumps” in the papers after dropping the series to the Giants. As a result, the Browns had played in 27 straight postseason games without ever receiving a dime beyond a $200 bonus, plus an additional $128 for playing a few benefit games. Von Der Ahe, in fact, played the whole league for suckers, his sole aim being to force his team into the NL, which he did when the money-strapped AA went belly up in 1891 (they become the Cardinals in 1900). Thus, there is some rich baseball history about the watch. Manufactured by the Seth Thomas company, the most precious component is the 1 x 1 1/4” oblong 14K fob which has the most lucious patina and different shades of gold. This precious fob dangles from a 10K chain and is engraved in gold on black with “Champions” and on pennant-style segments “1885-1886-1887-and...”, with an “88” in the middle, each “8” attached to what looks like a dollar sign (plausible given Von Der Ahe’s priorities) and “St. Louis Browns” along the bottom just beneath the figure of a person seemingly holding onto the “1885” pennant for dear life. The silver-dollar-thick bottom edge of the medallion is engraved “Jas. Devlin, Pitcher” in vintage scripted lettering. Back has an intricate Gothic-style design of interlocking bars and tree figures surrounding a “B” and an “A”. Chain also has a 10K gold bat dangling from it. The case of the watch, itself is 10K, and has intricately etched patterns around the edges and on the case’s top. The watch has a clean and lovely white enamel face with azure blue tips on the hour and minute hands. The patent date of the watch is Dec 6, 1887 (incised near the movement), there are at least 21 jewels, however, there may be more. Most watches record the number inside, with this watch we had to resort to a count and may have missed some inside. The watch is not working, and there is a tiny hairline on the enamel face. A crystal bezel is needed to attach the glass which can be accomplished fairly cheaply by a competent jeweler and the watch restored to nearly brand-new (though not operational) condition. Overall condition, as display, is EX+. Watch comes with an LOA from the family. Rarely, does a championship presentation come in so beautiful a package.
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