red 'un

English

Noun

red 'un (plural red 'uns)

  1. (UK, obsolete, thieves' cant) A gold watch.
    • Arthur Morrison, Chance of the Game
      But if the clock was a red 'un, and the opportunity undoubted; to be pinched in the Bow Road merely might well imply loss of caste in the mob, but nobody need be ashamed to be pinched anywhere for a gold watch, after all.
    • R. Austin Freeman, A Savant's Vendetta
      'Do you know a jerry when you sees one — a red 'un, mind you?' [] The fellow looked furtively at the door and then, diving into an inner pocket, pulled out a handsome gold watch with a massive chain attached, exhibited it for a moment and then dropped it back.

References

  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary