Interstatetime Watch of the Month March 2001

ILLINOIS WATCH CO. - SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Model 2, Grade 105, 15 Jewel Hunter

Factory records seem to indicate that our watch of the month for March 2001 was made sometime in the summer of 1883. The grade 105 was one of the highest grade watches ever made by the Illinois Watch Company and, as reported by Bill Meggers in Illinois Watch Co.- Encyclopedia and Price Guide, "It marked a turning point in the company's manufacturing philosophy, toward high quality". Up until this time, the market viewed Illinois as somewhat below many of their competitors in quality.

These watches are beautifully finished as you can see, but you really have to look at the inside to see the lengths to which Illinois went with them. Every part is polished or damascened, even on the surfaces that can not be seen. They were outfitted with a beautiful glass enamel dial, which is polished to such a gloss, that it seems practically liquid. Many examples seem to have the "Christmas Tree" style of hands, as seen above, but it is not known whether all were so furnished.

The 105 was the first full plate Illinois watch to use a Breguet over-coil hair spring and the first to be timed in positions. It was offered in the model 2 hunter as seen above and in model 3 open face. The open face is a fifth pinion movement and has an extra pair of jewels on the fifth pinion for a total of 17. Both the hunter and the open face are hard to come by, but the open face is much more rare. The only known advertisement for the grade 105 was in a 1904 Jewelers' Circular.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE JEWELERS' CIRCULAR AD

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE 105 MOVEMENT TAKEN APART


THIS IS THE MARCH, 2001 interstatetime.com "WATCH OF THE MONTH" THIS PAGE COULD FEATURE YOUR WATCH!!! Every month we will pick a watch, submitted by one of our viewers, to be "Watch of the Month". "Watch of the Month" submissions should be a vintage or antique American pocket watch. They don't have to be rare or expensive, just interesting (this should give you lots of options). If you have a watch you would like to submit CLICK HERE to go to the "submission rules" page. THESE WATCHES ARE NOT FOR SALE! GO BACK TO OUR HOME PAGE OR TO THE WATCH OF THE MONTH ARCHIVES


ILLINOIS WATCH CO. - SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS Model 2, Grade 105, 15 Jewel Hunter Factory records seem to indicate that our watch of the month for March 2001 was made sometime in the summer of 1883. The grade 105 was one of the highest grade watches ever made by the Illinois Watch Company and, as reported by Bill Meggers in Illinois Watch Co.- Encyclopedia and Price Guide, "It marked a turning point in the company's manufacturing philosophy, toward high quality". Up until this time, the market viewed Illinois as somewhat below many of their competitors in quality. These watches are beautifully finished as you can see, but you really have to look at the inside to see the lengths to which Illinois went with them. Every part is polished or damascened, even on the surfaces that can not be seen. They were outfitted with a beautiful glass enamel dial, which is polished to such a gloss, that it seems practically liquid. Many examples seem to have the "Christmas Tree" style of hands, as seen above, but it is not known whether all were so furnished. The 105 was the first full plate Illinois watch to use a Breguet over-coil hair spring and the first to be timed in positions. It was offered in the model 2 hunter as seen above and in model 3 open face. The open face is a fifth pinion movement and has an extra pair of jewels on the fifth pinion for a total of 17. Both the hunter and the open face are hard to come by, but the open face is much more rare. The only known advertisement for the grade 105 was in a 1904 Jewelers' Circular. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE JEWELERS' CIRCULAR AD CLICK HERE TO SEE THE 105 MOVEMENT TAKEN APART