Hello Larry,
Thank you for sending in this pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Gent’s Art Deco era, 12s, pendant wound and set, gold filled, open face pocket watch, Grade 405,
S/N 4936613, made by the Illinois Watch Company, Springfield, Illinois, circa 1927.
DESCRIPTION:
Case – This is a size 12, 39-mm diameter, three leaf, 14k gold-filled, keyless, Art deco style, open face pocket watch with an embossed bow and rounded gilt, fluted crown placed at the twelve-position relative to the dial. The bow has a rounded-arch shape with embossed design. The barrel of the watch case, including the dial bezel and the circumference of the back cover have small foliate embossing while the back cover has gilt guilloche vertical striping surrounded by a ring of gilt floral and foliate patters against an ebonized ground. Also on the rear cover is an oval cameo for the owner’s initials (left blank). The interior of the back cover is not shown. The interior of the back cover indicates that the case is 14k gold-filled and made by the Wadsworth watch case company with case number 6948944.
Dial: Round silvered dial with applied gilt brass Arabic hours, closed minute track to the outside, satiné silvered subsidiary seconds dial @6, gilt brass fenestrated lozenge hands and the upper dial marked, “Illinois”. The dial center has silvered filigree work in foliate designs.
Movement: This is a size 12, nickel damascened half plate and curved finger bridge movement, the Grade 405, model 3, made by the Illinois Watch Company, Springfield, Illinois with a serial number of 4936613 and manufactured in 1927 during a run of 2000 such movements, each made with 17 jewels, some in gold screw settings, going barrel, adjusted to three positions and temperature, bimetallic balance wheel, swan-neck regulator. The plates are properly signed and numbered by Illinois.
CONDITION:
Case: Very good with a fine old patina to the case and mild signs of wear.
Dial: Very good with scattered fine speckles of dark oxidation (silver oxide).
Movement: In excellent condition, fully jeweled and most likely in functional condition. Original to this case.
HISTORY:
(1)- WADSWORTH WATCH CASE COMPANY: Born in Birmingham, England in 1845 and emigrating to America in 1857, Henry Wadsworth founded this company in 1889. H.A. Wadsworth & Co was located in Newport, Kentucky from 1889-1892 and then as the Wadsworth Watch case company of Newport until 1900 when they moved to Dayton, Kentucky until 1953. They earned a high reputation in the trade with their solid gold- and gold-filled cases. They sold cases to the Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham watch manufacturers. In 1953 they became a division of the Elgin National Watch Company of Illinois.
(2)- 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 size, 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.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/84855646_vintage-art-deco-style-illinois-pocket-watch (Sold for $72 in 2020)
https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/illinois-pocket-watch-202-c-5d741e7a53 (sold in 2019 for $125)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/76691927_illinois-pocket-watch (sold for $125 in 2019)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/73121451_elgin-pocket-watch-2-in-diameter-art-deco-style (sold for $40 in 2019)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/65491705_deco-illinois-14k-white-gf-keystone-pocket-watch (sold for $60 in 2018)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21949147_illinois-art-deco-pocket-watch (Sold for $150 in 2013)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21949143_elgin-art-deco-octagonal-pocket-watch-with-chain (sold for $200 in 2013)
PRICING:
This is well designed Art deco pocket watch and the back cover is most attractive. Judging by the comparables and the way that the pocket watch database priced the watch (which a=was in agreement with the comparables), I believe that if offered on the watch market today, it would have a fair market value in the range of $120-$140, with retail pricing about twice that amount.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for this appraisal. And thank you for supplying some important info and photos for me to do this appraisal properly.
My best,
David

Hello Larry,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry. So that I may best assist you are you able to supply the following:
(1) - Width of the case not counting the winding crown?
(2) - a view of the inside of the cover with anything engraved on it?
(3) - a view of the movement showing the serial number?
Please let me know, so that I can proceed with your appraisal.
Thankyou,
David