Watch collectors snap up Elgin vintage pocket watches sold at auctions from a few hundred dollars up to several thousand dollars. Vintage Elgin pocket watch values continue to rise over recent years. Later, when World War II would break out, Elgin produced military watches, chronometers, and other defense industry components.Īfter 100 years of watchmaking, Elgin would produce as many watches as all other American watchmakers combined.
Army to train 350 employees to make watch repairs on the battlefield. World War I erupted and Elgin was granted a government contract with the U.S. The Lord Elgin and the Lady Elgin would become a few of the first American-made wristwatches. Not long after that, the first wrist watches were released. The Elgin pocket watch was known for keeping “Railroad Accuracy” and one of the most well-known railroad pocket watches. Elgin Expansion and Innovationīy 1910, huge sales of the Elgin pocketwatch enabled the company to construct their own Observatory to keep precise times for all Elgin watches. If the company were to grow, it needed to service watch owners with replacement parts quickly and efficiently. Not only was mass-production important for new watches, but also critical for servicing existing watches with replacement pieces and spare parts. The factory covering 170,000 square feet would allow the company to focus on machined, interchangeable parts. To become the largest American watch manufacturer, Elgin would need to mass-produce watch parts on-site. Just a few short years after its formation, Elgin employed over 2,000 workers and turned out more than 7,000 watches per week. These production numbers make the company the largest American watch manufacture by volume. The company would end up producing over 60 million watches over the next 100 years. New Elgin watches sold for around $120 brand new. The company began selling pocket watches as the American Civil War was coming to an end around 1867. Raymond.” The Elgin Pocket Watch Dominance The very first Elgin movements the company produced were labeled the “B.W. Since the city of Elgin donated 35 acres to the group of watch entrepreneurs for their new headquarters, they decided to name the company after the city. Adams, who was working at the Waltham Watch Company at the time, to invest in a new watch company. Shortly after that, he was convinced by J.C. Next, Raymond was president of the Fox River Railroad. He started the first woolen factory in Elgin, Illinois. Raymond has a successful business career. One of the Elgin Watch Company founders was B.W. That’s over three billion seconds the tiny watch has ticked time away!
Since 1919, this amazing pocket watch has been functioning perfectly. It’s amazing to look at a one hundred year old Elgin pocket watch and hear it tick. Another Elgin founder, George Montague Wheeler, was a famous mapmaker and explorer. Philo Carpenter was regarded as the first pharmacist in the state of Illinois. This eclectic mix of founders were from many different walks of life, but they all were proven successes in their fields.
An article in Harper’s magazine was quoted as stating, “It was the genuine, audacious, self-reliant Western spirit.” Just a few months later, the company name would change to the Elgin National Watch Company. To build the best pocket watch company in the United States. In 1864, the National Watch Company was incorporated in Chicago, Illinois, by a group of men with various interests but one common goal. Enormous Aspirations From the Very Beginning In 1910, the city of Elgin was established. The watch was so popular they decided to name the town after the watch. One of the citizens of the small town possessed their very own Elgin, possibly the only pocket watch of its kind for hundreds of miles. The pocket watch brand also inspired a group of settlers to name their city, Elgin, North Dakota, after the company.
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