1884 Illinois Watch Co Full Hunter Pocket Watch

An 1884 Illinois Watch Co full hunter pocket watch.

The Illinois Springfield Watch Company was organized in 1869 and the first directors included a Springfield lawyer and former partner of Abraham Lincoln, president of the First National bank of Springfield and the owner of a grocery business. Even though the first movements were produced in 1872, the company only went into full production in 1875.

This particular watch has a stem-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement is fully signed and the serial number 541339 dates it back to 1884. The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover.

The watch itself measures 55mm diameter excluding the winding crown stem and the loop. The case is coin silver and is the Atlas model from Fahys, a New York based case maker who supplied various watch manufacturers. Coin silver is 90% silver as opposed to sterling silver which is 92.5%. The case is beautifully decorated on both the front and back.

The winding crown pushes in to release the catch for the front cover, which can then be lifted up. Inside there is an acrylic lens. The watch probably had a glass lens originally but this would have been replaced with acrylic when it broke, a much more durable material.

The signed dial has a few hairline cracks although fairly faint. Lever set blued steel hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and an outer minute track.

The watch will be sent in a new presentation box.

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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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