The Aurora Watch Company had a very short life and a tough time, investing close to a quarter-million dollars into the venture before producing a single watch, eventually turning out fewer than 90,000 men's sizes during their seven-year run before being bought out by the investors of the new upstart Hamilton Company.
The Aurora Company was founded in 1883 in a town of the same name in Illinois, near Chicago, with the unusual strategy of offering local jewelers a stake as investors, thereby gaining dealers all across the country. The factory only made two of the popular sizes of the day - 6 and 18, both of which had a single plate layout. Hunters were the norm, but when doing runs of open-face pieces a fifth pinion was added to move the seconds hand opposite the winding stem. This 11-jewel example was fairly early in the production run and has an unusual polished-gilt finish. It's been fully restored with a new balance staff and a new alloy mainspring, and all of the jeweling appears to be original, an increasingly rare thing. The matching dial is flawless behind correct light spade hands and the gold-filled Premier case is in excellent shape with tight hinges, a tight bow, a sharp crown, a blank cuvette, and an NOS crystal. Matching lanyard and display stand included.
Manufacturer - Aurora
Serial Number - 25600
Watch Size - 18
Watch Model - Hunter
Jewel Count - 11
Winding/Setting - Stem/Lever
Production Year - Around 1885
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The pinnacle of Hamilton's 16-size railroad watches - their 23-jewel 950B with correct dial and hands.