Elgin Watches

Making Elgin Watches

admin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:36:30 +0000

I added a nice article that’s more than 100 years old to the main Elgin Watches site. It’s about the production of Elgin watches as it happened at the turn of the century. It provides a glimpse into what life was like at the Elgin National Watch Factory in Elgin, Illinois. It’s a really amazing article about the division of labor and industrialization. Elgin perfected the techniques of watchmaking on a massive industrial scale. They were far ahead of the Waltham company in this regard. And despite the huge scale, they were able to maintain the highest standards of quality. I think that’s really amazing, and a testament to American ingenuity and technical superiority.

Elgin Watch Serial Numbers

admin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:30:24 +0000

I’ve added a table of Elgin serial numbers to the main Elgin Watches site. This table should be used for a rough estimate only of the estimated production date. You can use it to find the approximate age of your Elgin watch. A good thing to keep in mind is that the first Elgin watch was serial number 101, a B.W. Raymond movement. I think at some point, the Elgin Watch Company stopped using serial numbers but that was after more than 55,000,000 serial numbers had been used. The 50-millionth watch was a Lord Elgin.

The Elgin Watch Company produced more fine watches in its 100 year history than any other American watch manufacturer.

Elgin Veritas price information added

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:30:23 +0000

I added price information and additional information to the Elgin Veritas page of the main Elgin Watches site.

Veritas was among the Elgin Watch Company’s top lines, and it’s a great watch to collect. It was sold at a high price when it was being produced (production started at the turn of the century), and prices remain high today. These go into the thousands, and the least expensive Elgin Veritas in mint condition sells for no less than $600.

See the Elgin Veritas page for more information.