Hello Rockie,
Thank you for sending in your family heirloom pocket watch to mearto.com for a fair market appraisal.
TITLE:
Gent’s, Size-16, 14k gold filled, pendant wound and lever set, open face pocket watch, S/N1840636, Grade 173, Model 5, made by the Illinois Watch Company, Springfield, Illinois, circa 1907. Accompanied by cloth double rope holder clipped to the pocket watch bow, and a Brigade Jeweler’s box.
PROVENANCE:
My dad had owned it before me, his dad before him, & then his dad's dad before him. It's been passed down 5 generations. As far as I know it's never been exhibited.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: Size 16, three leaf, 14k gold filled open face pocket watch with gilt undecorated back cover and a full fluted ball pendant and arched gilt bow placed at the twelve-position relative to the dial. The interior of the back cover has the 7-digit case number, “Cornell “engraved within a banner, ‘W.C.Co’ for Watch Case Company, and “Guaranteed to last 20 years” (the gold finish).
It appears the case was made of parts taken from the long-gone Cornell Watch Company originally of Chicago and later in San Francisco, California. Their watch items are to be found amongst the several regional watch companies that eventually absorbed this company (see their brief company history below). There is a broad gold-filled bezel around the dial crystal. The edge of the case barrel is knurled.
Dial: Round white triple tiered, double sunk dial enameled with upright black hours, open bar minute track with small black diamonds placed every five minutes around the periphery of the dial. Sunken subsidiary continuous seconds dial @6, signed “Illinois Watch Co.” in the upper dial center. There is a steel antique breguet hour hand and an Art Deco era (1920-1940) solid Pyramid minute hand (likely replacing a broken original Breguet minute hand. The minute hand should reach into the minute chapter ring and this just falls a bit short of the mark.)
Movement: This is a linear damascened split three quarter nickel plate movement, The Grade 173, model 5 made by the Illinois watch company with a serial number of 1840636 which indicates 1907 as the year of manufacture and made in a run of 500 such movements. This is a size 16 movement, made with 15 jewels, specified for open face pocket watches, pendant wound and lever set with a going barrel. (The going barrel indicates that while you wind the mainspring the clock can keep on running during the winding process so no time is lost.) this model was not adjusted to positional changes (accuracy may vary if is upside down or sideways) and in 1907 was not of railway grade. There is a bimetallic balance wheel for temperature regulation, and the George Reed variant of the Illinois Whipspring regulator, first patented February 5 1867. Patent number 61867. (See it in the lower right hand corner photo at:
https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/guide/company/illinois/regulators
The movement is signed, “Illinois watch Co. Springfield, USA” and carries the serial number on the plates, as well as the number of jewels.
CONDITION:
Case – Dull gold finish on the case with patchy darkened areas of oxidation of the underlying base metal case. Moderate wear to the interior of the cover.
Dial – Appears to be very good with no hairline fractures seen and only a replaced minute hand, very good condition.
Movement – Complete, genuine, original and in nice clean condition. Possibly in running condition.
The double cloth rope watch chain is reminiscent of the double cloth rope bands of lady’s wristwatches of the 19-teens, and perhaps that was a possible source of this particular cloth watch chain. The outside of the Brigade Jewelry box is clen and in good condition.
~HISTORY OF THE Illinois Watch Company:
The Illinois Watch Company (IWC) was formed by seven partners in 1869 under the name of the Illinois Springfield Watch Company. In 1879, a year they made their first nickel movement the name became the Springfield Illinois Watch Company. In 1882 they made their first mainspring in their own plant and the following year produced enamel dials for the first time. The final name change took place in 1885 when the name became the IWC. They used more names on their movements than any other company. The earliest watches bore the names of some of the original watchmaking partners on the movements and are the most valuable to collectors: e.g., Stuart, Mason, Bunn, Miller and Currier. The IWC was sold to the Hamilton Watch company in 1927. As the manufacture of watch movements developed both in quality and quantity, the American producer was quick to learn the lesson of their time, i.e., the necessity of specialization of watch movements for the use by railroad employees. The Illinois Watch Company was among the first to realize this lesson, and during the latter years of the 19th century, while not discontinuing its large output of moderate priced watches, nor abating constant effort to improve the quality of same, nevertheless sought the most highly skilled aid of workmen and inventors in producing a watch of the highest perfection. This means a watch to meet the exacting requirements of railroad service, and Illinois made a special effort in this direction by furnishing the "Sangamo" and the "Bunn", "Bunn Special", and "A. Lincoln" movements in 18 sizes, for the use of railroad men, so that those movements were well known wherever railroads were operated, and became the recognized standard watches for railway service.
~SHORT AND STRANGE HISTORY OF THE Cornell Watch company of Chicago and San Francisco:
1870 - 1875-
Chicago real-estate mogul Paul Cornell paired with John C Adams to form his own watch company, which was seeded by the failure of the Newark Watch Co. He purchased the failed Newark company. His new factory escaped the Great Fire of 1871, but watch sales were poor and in 1874 part of the operation including 60 employees was relocated to a rented building in Grand Crossing, California to make use of cheap Chinese labor. The movement made in California were virtually the same as those made in Chicago. This new venture also failed for a variety of reasons and in the fall of 1875 company president W C Ralston committed suicide. Rockford Watch company in 1876 the operation was sold to the California Watch Company
~Rockford watch company (1873-1915)
Located in Rockford, Illinois which was a natural choice to headquarter a watch company, since three rail lines converged on the small town. Local investors put up $150,000 and production began in 1875, as workers in the new factory on the Rock River turned out watches using tooling from the failed Cornell Watch Co. Rockford bought out the Cornell watch company after its failure in 1875 along with some of its employees.
Cornell
1876 - 1877-
After the death of Cornell Watch Co president William C Ralston, the California Co was formed with $250,000 and a new factory was built in Berkeley. Cornell's machinery was transferred but management was unsure if new machines were worth the cost. They evidently decided to do nothing and the business closed, selling the old equipment to the Independent Watch Co of New York. The remaining unfinished watches went to Albert Troller, the superintendent of the Rockford Watch Co.
1880-
Albert Troller, who would become superintendent of the Rockford Watch Co and die at his desk years later in 1913, bought all of the unfinished movements from the California Co and founded the Western Watch Co of Chicago with Paul Cornell, whose interest was bought by the California group. A very small number of watches were produced, which were based on the original 18-size 15-jewel Cornell design, before the business failed.
PRICING:
During the past several years the non-gold size 16 Illinois pocket watches with double sunk dials appear at auction and generally sell in the $120-$150 price range. The pocket watch database, when I entered the condition of the watch came up with a fair market value in the $140-$160 price range. Retail the watch would sell in the $250-$300 range.
It is a handsome heirloom of a time long gone and I also feel the contrast between the many failures of the barely known Cornell Watch company contrast well with one of the most successful American watch companies, The Illinois, the master of timekeeper of railroad watches. Very interesting contrast, another footnote to American horological history.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal.
My best,
David