This watch is an outstanding piece of memorabilia from the days of the Alaskan Gold Rush. The discovery of gold in the Klondike and in the territory of Alaska in the late 1800's resulted in the migration of not only prospectors, but merchants, all of whom saw economic prosperity in providing goods and services to those searching for gold.Mr. Schick was one such person. He opened a laundry and steam bath in the newly established town of Juneau and shortly thereafter a second establishment on the bank of the Chena River.Shick's laundry and steam-bath business proved quite successful. Having quickly become wealthier than most of his customers, he took the gold nuggets paid to him and commissioned a nugget encrusted watchcase with matching chain and fob. The long, cold northern nights soon took their toll and Shick, who battled alcoholism, sold his businesses and moved to Seattle, where he was assisted in overcoming his illness by a local physician, Dr. Shadel. The two men became friends, remaining close for manyyears, and upon Mr. Shick's death, he left the nugget watch and chain to Dr. Shadel. In 1992, the watch was purchased from the Shadel family and taken to Alaska by its new owner, William Carlo Jachetta, whose paternal grandfather, Carlo Jachetta, was one of the gold seekers who almost a century before had come to Alaska.