Lord Elgin Bradford

I recently picked up this Lord Elgin.  A 1952 ad identifies it as the Bradford.  The watch features Elgins 670 manual wind movement.  It has 21 jewels and is stand “adj’d” on the back.  Ranfft notes that it is a 15/0 size movement, runs at a rate of 18,000 bph, and has a power reserve of 50 hours.

The 670 was made between 1950 and 1955 and 188,000 units were made.

The case is 14K gold filled and the dial is a waffle design also found on the more prevalent Clubman.

Condition-wise, the dial is very clean.  For some reason, many of the waffle dials seem to collect dirt.  The Lord Elgin emblen is a bit faded, but still legible.  The hour marks and hands are remarkably clean and retain their original luster.

The gold filling is intact, though it has a few dings and scratches.  Of course, being over 60 years old, that is expected.  If I had to give it a grade overall for condition, I’d say it rates a solid B, to a B+.