Hampden General Stark

This 16 size Hampden was made about 1881.  It's a 17 jewel General Stark model in a fantastic gold hunter case.

Whenever I see one of these I think about how many more cases like this existed prior to the spike in gold prices in the 1970s. People destroyed these irreplaceable cases in large numbers for really relatively little cash.

This is happening now as well.  eBay is littered with bare movements that have lost their cases.  It was likely worse in the '70s though, since back then no one wanted these "clunky old watches".