South Bend pocket watch in very good condition it’s gold and is heavy
SOUTH BEND - A Gentleman's Gold Plated Full Hunting Pocket Watch, Indian 1921,
the case decorated with floral decoration, now worn, with white dial with black Arabic numerals with subsidiary seconds dial with red enamel outer tachymeter, 19 jewel movement, inner case serial No:996254.
The assets of the bankrupt Columbus Watch Company of Columbus, Ohio, were purchased by two brothers from South Bend, Indiana, in 1903. The brothers were sons of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company co-founder Clement Studebaker. Clement Jr. was named president of the newly formed South Bend Watch Company. Along with George, Studebaker built a new factory in South Bend, Indiana, and hired 145 former Columbus employees, along with watchmaker Walter Cross Shelton Sr., from the Appleton Watch Company in Wisconsin. The factory was outfitted with mass production machinery, the workers were retrained, and in 1905 production began.
Several styles of pocket watches were manufactured and sold at prices ranging from $16 to $125. The watches were well received and the company was a success. Watch production was interrupted during World War I, when the company was contracted by the government to build gun sights. By the time watch production resumed in 1918, the market had changed, with the wristwatch rapidly gaining popularity over the pocket watch. Regardless, the South Bend Watch Company prospered through the 1920s. (Wikipedia)