An Antique South Bend Full Hunter Pocket Watch

An antique South Bend full hunter pocket watch.

The watch has a stem-winding movement with 17 jewels which is ticking away nicely and the time keeping is good to within around two minutes over 24 hours. The movement is signed South Bend Watch Co Ind, USA, grade number 212 and a serial number which dates it back to 1912. The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover.

The watch measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The full hunter case is gold plated and it is in pretty good condition for its age with gentle indentations and surface marks. The winding crown pushes down to release the front cover.

The plastic lens is in good condition.

The white dial is signed with the South Bend name. Unusually as well as having the minute markers, each one is numbered. The hands are initially set by pulling out the small lever on the bezel below number 4 and turning the hands clockwise with the winding crown.

The South Bend Watch Company was formed by three brothers, George, Clement and John M. Studebaker. South Bend movements were identified as model 1, 2, or 3, with grades numbering 100 to 431 … even number grades denoted hunter-case movements such as this one, and odd number grades were intended for open face cases. Through the first two decades of the twentieth century the company grew and prospered. During its peak years the company produced 60,000 watches annually and employed nearly 600 employees. Ambitious nationwide advertising was largely responsible for this early prosperity and full-page adverts showing the South Bend watch running in a block of ice were particularly effective. All watches carried an “insured for a lifetime guarantee.”

With the onset of the Depression and the fact that the company never moved over to wristwatches meant the company began to struggle and they closed their factory on Thanksgiving Eve in 1929.

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All of our watches are checked over before listing, and are also checked for accuracy which is usually within around +/- two to three minutes over 24 hours (unless otherwise stated), which is considered respectable for a vintage watch.

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