Illinois Watch Co

The Illinois Watch C° manufacture was the fruit of JC Adams' desire to create a new great watchmaking firm. He had already created the company Elgin Watch C) in 1864. He set up his new creation in Sprinfield, Illinois in 1869. The first directors of this great American company were B Miller, JT Stuart and John W. Bunn, who, among others, gave their names to movements. We are a long way from the superlative names that the Swiss firms were looking for and the initiators of the movements found here the consecration of their work.

As early as 1879, the firm was able to create a special interchangeable gear train and in 1882 it was able to create its own balance spring. The company used several brands to designate its movements and it is therefore by their architecture that they are most easily identified. Burlington Watch Company, Santa Fe Watch Company, Plymouth Watch Company, SW C° or TW C° Springfield III were among these names. The factory acquired its own observatory.

The firm was one of the few to outbid in jewellery making by going up to 26 rubies for pocket calibres, notably in its Benjamin Franklin movement. It should be considered that the largest firms of the time only very exceptionally exceeded 23 jewels and that Illinois Watch pushed luxury to the point of jewelling the barrel and placing counter-pivots as far as it was possible to do so.

A high level of finishing and a good mastery of watchmaking mechanics mean that from the end of the 19th century onwards the Manufacture has been producing chronometers that still in the 21st century remain within the standards set by the COSC.

The firm closed in 1927 and sold its calibres to Hamilton, which marketed them in its models.

Among the most remarkable productions of the manufacture, the railroads are in a very good place and the firm builds a good part of its communication on its Bunn Special caliber named after one of the directors of the brand.

Illinois Watch Company

Illinois Watch Company Factory Film