The original, obsolete factory in Elgin closed in 1964 after having produced half of the total number of pocket watches manufactured in the United States ( dollar-type not included). In 1963, the company relocated most manufacturing operations to a new plant in Blaney, a town near Columbia, South Carolina, which renamed itself Elgin, South Carolina. However, the company also located additional plants in Aurora, Illinois and Lincoln, Nebraska. Over time, the company operated several additional plants, mostly in Elgin. It moved into the defense industry, manufacturing military watches, chronometers, fuzes for artillery shells, altimeters, and other aircraft instruments and sapphire bearings used for aiming cannons. The company produced many of the self-winding wristwatch movements made in the United States, beginning with the 607 and 618 calibers (which were bumper wind) and the calibers 760 and 761 (30 and 27 jewels respectively).ĭuring World War II, the company halted all civilian manufacturing. The company built the Elgin National Watch Company Observatory in 1910 to maintain scientifically precise times in their watches. The company officially changed its name to the Elgin National Watch Company in 1874, as the Elgin name had come into common usage for their watches. In 1869, the National Watch Company won "Best Watches, Illinois Manufacture" at the 17th Annual Illinois State Fair, for which it won a silver medal.
#ELGIN POCKET WATCH VALUE GUIDE FULL#
The watch was an 18-size, full plate design. The first movement, delivered in 1867, was named the B.W. The company reorganized in April 1865 and completed the factory in 1866. Four Elgin businessmen agreed to acquire the property and then donated the required 35 acres to the watch company. The city selected a derelict farm however, the owners refused to sell the property unless the city purchased their entire 71 acres for $3,550. Initially, as part of the deal, the city was asked to donate 35 acres (142,000 m 2) of land for the construction of the factory. The growing young city of Elgin, Illinois, some 30 miles northwest of Chicago, was chosen as the factory site. In September of the same year, the founders visited the Waltham Watch Company in Waltham, Massachusetts and successfully convinced seven of Waltham's watchmakers to come to work for their new company. The company was first incorporated in August 1864 as the National Watch Company in Chicago, Illinois, by Philo Carpenter, Howard Z. 19th-century business card with Elgin logo
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