Ebay Image

[HighPrvt]

Is this guy wearing a wristwatch?
I downloaded the pic, and blew it up, but I still can't tell what it is. maybe it's just his shirt.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

[jgr1974]

Re: Ebay Image

That Is a very good question!!!! Looks Like It could be a wristwatch to me!!!

The Mad Mick!!!

[Hank Trent]

Re: Ebay Image

Bottom line: I don't think enough is showing to tell. However, there's the old saying about when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras.

If the photo were 100 years later, we'd all assume it was a wristwatch. Since the photo is from the era it is, my first reaction is to look for another possibility. I think it could also be the edge of the cuff, that's overlapping where it's buttoned.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[markj]

Re: Ebay Image

I'd have to agree with Hank. I think the "wristwatch" is likely just part of the man's sleeve cuff and looks like a "watch" due to a trick of light. By the same token, the "watch" may be a wrist band of some kind. Personally speaking, the earliest image I've seen of a soldier wearing a wristwatch dates to the Spanish-American War period (i.e., circa 1898). And there is also the possibility that this image is a clever fake. However, the photograph itself and the man depicted in it do appear to have the right "look" to them, so I would tend to believe this item is legitimate.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Deborah Hyland]

Re: Ebay Image

You can see a similar illusion of a wristwatch in this image:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290105998664&indexURL=2&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

[Drygoods]

Re: Ebay Image

My best guess is that it's a man's bracelet. Yes, men wore them too, just not as often as the ladies. If you study enough antique jewelry, you come across men's bracelets. I've got one made of military buttons, but sadly some of the buttons no one has yet to identify.

Remember the days in the 1960s when men's Spiedel link bracelets with flat bar (for name engraving) was the rage for the young graduates? All the magazines advertised and kids wore them. Funny to think that they are still on the market, but happily not selling as fast as they once did.:tounge_sm

I always thought those Spiedel bracelets were as sappy as the Yardley lipsticks with the key-chain tops, pale, wimpy, washed-out colors so that you too could look like a cadaver.

Oh dear, was that my inside voice? showing my age again?

[Watchdog]

Re: Ebay Image

I believe that what we are seeing is the cuff of his shirt. The cuff is either twisted or sewn so that the two edges have come together on top--giving the appearance of something else. The simplest solution is more often than not the correct solution.

[Watchdog]

Re: Ebay Image

I am more intrigued by the coat. Is that piping on the collar?