Vintage Illinois Octagon Steel Wristwatch with Metal Strap, AS IS. Octagonal face with the number 6 replaced by a circular second hand timer with 10 second increments. 

We cannot guarantee the working condition of any timepiece.

Size: 1 1/2 x 5 in. 

The Illinois Watch Company was founded on December 23rd, 1870 in Springfield, Illinois by John C. Adams, John Whitfield Bunn, and several minor additional financiers. It was first called the Springfield Watch Company, and by the end of 1872 they had sold approximately 10,000 watch movements. The company was reorganized due to financial difficulty in 1877, however, at which time it took the name Illinois Springfield Watch Company. The new president, Erastus Newton Bates, fared little better than his predecessor, and within a year the company was in financial crisis once more. The 1878 reorganization led to the permanent name change, dropping Springfield from the title, with Jacob Bunn Sr. (John Bunn’s elder brother) at the helm. The Bunn brothers had heavily focused on promoting the career and presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and their political connections helped them through many of these crises. By 1890 they had established corporate offices in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, at which time Jacob Bunn Jr. took over and ran the company until his death in 1926. At the height of their prosperity they employed over 1,200 people, and their technology and influence helped standardize time schedules and watch use for the railroad, as well as future industries. The company was sold to Hamilton Watch Company in 1927 after the disarray caused by Jacob Jr’s death, and they shifted emphasis rapidly from pocket to wristwatch production. Sadly, they ceased to manufacture watches in the United States in 1932 after the Great Depression decimated the industry, with Hamilton closing the factory and finishing all the pieces they had started working on by 1938. This makes the relatively small number of wristwatches they created during the time, mostly with unique Art Deco designs, highly sought after by collectors. A new company based in Quincy, Illinois applied for the use of the trademark in 2004, after Swatch Group purchased Hamilton, and since 2009 they have repaired, restored, and started designing watches of their own, carrying on the brand legacy.

#5553 .