Illinois - Grooved White Case - Blued Steel Hands - One of Two Thousand - 1930

In 1930 more than thirteen hundred American banks closed. Deposits carried no insurance then, so the money inside was gone. Men went out looking for work in the suits they had bought in better years, shaved, their shoes shined. In Springfield, Illinois, the watch factory stayed open.

The Illinois Watch Company had built watches there since 1869. The grade 207 left its benches in 1930, in a run of two thousand.

The dial is silvered and still bright. The numerals are blocked Arabic figures filled in a soft mustard yellow, even from one to the next, and the printing around them is crisp, a track that steps inward at the corners to follow the case. The seconds keep a square register of their own at six, numbered around its edge. The hands are blued steel, tapered to points, and Illinois is printed under the twelve.

The movement holds seventeen jewels and winds and sets from the crown. Its plates are finished in narrow bands that run from top to bottom, each band cut in a tight ripple, so the light breaks across the movement in rows instead of sweeping over it, and the large barrel at the left carries lines radiating out from its center instead. Illinois Watch Springfield is signed along the top, the serial 5397801 stamped at the bottom edge, and the whole of it is clean and bright.

The case is white, marked 14k gold filled and signed Wadsworth inside the back. Its corners are cut flat, three grooves run the length of each flank and stay sharp along their edges, and the lugs leave those corners as thin curved horns that carry the strap in tight against the case. The crystal is clear over the dial.

The back is plain and carries fine scratches across it from years on a wrist, with one small warm toned spot near its center. The strap is new, brown lizard grain in a sixteen millimeter width, and is not original to the watch. The watch runs, and its service history is unknown.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.