Yes, a watch can be considered railroad grade without being officially railroad approved. Here’s the distinction:
- Railroad Grade: This term generally refers to the design specifications and quality of the watch. A railroad grade watch would have all the characteristics necessary for railroad use, like high accuracy, readability, durability, lever-set mechanism, etc. However, it might not have undergone the official inspection or might not carry the specific certification or marking indicating it has been approved for railroad use.
- Railroad Approved: This means the watch not only meets the railroad grade standards but has also been officially inspected, tested, and approved by railroad authorities or watch inspectors designated by the railroads. Approval often came with documentation or specific markings on the watch itself.
Here are some scenarios where a watch might be railroad grade but not railroad approved:
- Manufacturer’s Standards: A watch might be made to all the specifications required by railroads but never submitted for official approval. Perhaps the watch was intended for railroad use but was sold directly to the public or used in another industry where similar timekeeping precision was valued.
- Time Period: During the era when railroad watches were mandatory, not every watch that met the grade would necessarily go through the formal approval process unless it was going to be used by railroad employees in positions where such approval was mandated.
- Aftermarket or Collectors: Modern collectors or enthusiasts might restore or create watches that meet railroad grade specifications for historical accuracy or personal interest, but these wouldn’t have contemporary railroad approval since they’re not being used in actual railroad service.
- Variations in Standards: Over time, as railroad companies or regions might have had slightly different standards or as standards evolved, a watch could meet one set of railroad grade criteria but might not have been approved under another set of rules or by a different railroad company.
- Reproduction or Homage Watches: There are modern watches made today that replicate the style and specifications of classic railroad watches. These would be railroad grade in design and function but wouldn’t carry historical railroad approval since they’re not from the original era or context.
So, while all railroad approved watches are by definition railroad grade, not all railroad grade watches necessarily carry the formal approval for railroad use. The approval was more about the formal recognition and certification for use in a specific professional context rather than just the inherent qualities of the watch itself.
In the shop this distinction comes up on almost every “railroad” that arrives in a box of family watches. Someone read “21 jewels, adjusted” and assumed a conductor carried it. Sometimes they did. Sometimes the watch sat in a drawer in a town with no railroad, built to the same drawings because that is what the factory was making that year.
For a buyer, grade is what you can prove from the plates. Approval is what you can prove from history, markings, or paperwork you probably do not have. Pay for the watch in front of you: the movement, the dial, the case, the service it needs. Do not pay a premium for a vanished inspection unless the seller can show something more than a hopeful title. If you are unsure, photos of the movement and case marks are enough for a first reading.
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