Imagine stopping at the local jeweler in 1941 on your way home from the factory. America hasn't entered the war yet, and you want a pocket watch that will be worth the money. You choose this high-grade Elgin from behind the counter, wind it for the first time, set the hands, pay the clerk, and proudly head home for dinner, feeling its steady ticking in your pocket. Want to be the next owner?
Former Chicago mayor Benjamin Raymond helped choose the small Illinois town of Elgin as the site for a new watch company. Investors raised $500,000 in the early 1860s as the Civil War raged and construction began on a huge brick factory with Raymond as president. The first watch was finished in early 1865, named in his honor and retailing for $115, and the grade continued, even eighty years later. This gorgeous 21-jewel Model 15 is an all-original example - even the case is stamped for Elgin - and was just thoroughly restored with a new alloy mainspring for the next owner. Everything under the dial is present and correct, all of the factory jewels are in gold settings, and this was a railroad-accepted model, adjusted to multiple positions and temperature. The heavy Arabic dial is flawless behind blued spade hands and the Star case is in excellent shape with a pinstripe Butler finish, a tight bow, a sharp crown, and a new glass crystal. Matching lanyard and display stand included.
Manufacturer - Elgin
Serial Number - 39384873
Watch Size - 16
Watch Model - 15
Watch Grade - 478 BWR
Jewel Count - 21
Winding/Setting - Stem/Lever
Production Year - 1941
Make sure to tether your watches to prevent drops and store them safely when you're not carrying one.
A two-tone 12-inch brown leather strap with russet as the accent stripe with a pair of brass ferrules and a matching spring-loaded swivel snap.
This compact mahogany chest has three felt-lined cedar trays that can hold twelve of the larger 18-size watches. Inventory card included.
There will come a time when you want or need to sell this watch for one of several reasons. If it's going to a fellow collector or someone who will genuinely appreciate it, then that's fine. On the other hand, if you're consigning it to an auction house or selling it to your local jeweler or gold hog it will almost certainly end up on eBay in pieces with the case melted down.
Instead of the watch being parted out for the bottom feeders to pick over, we will gladly buy the watch back from you, less 10% and the cost of a COA, plus anything else needed to return the piece to the condition in which you originally bought it.
One of the rarest of all Waltham dials - the coveted red guilloche with fancy hands, fronting a Model '88.