Illinois 18S 21J lever set (LS) adj. 6p Bunn Special pocket watch #1785512, beautiful nickel full plate movement with screw-down gold jewel settings (GJS) and a radiant scalloped line damascene pattern, double sunk (DS) porcelain enamel dial with gothic-style Arabic numbers, red Arabic 5 minute markers and a black-marked subsidiary seconds register has a few faint hairlines and a small flake at the edge of the dial at 6 o'clock, bold blue steel spade & whip style hands, re-cased into a heavy fully engraved yellow gold filled (YGF) hinge back & bezel (HB&B) case with an elaborate engraved design of a large fancy monogram at 6 o'clock, filled with blooming flowers, with radiant lines extending outward and filled with floral & vermicelli engraving, a beaded texture frame, scroll engraving on the front bezel and a large heavy bow, case is showing light normal wear with some light smoothing to the bezel engravings in places and a small bit of brass starting to show on the pendant & bow, measures approx. 55mm in diameter x 75mm in length x 20mm thick (crystal included). A very eye-catching, high quality railroad grade Illinois from the early 1900s in excellent overall condition!
- Year Made: 1905-1906
- Company:
Illinois
-
Movement Size:
0318S
- Jewels: 0721J
- Setting/Movement Type:
lever set
- Adjustments: 6 positions
- Model/Grade: Bunn Special
- Serial #: 1785512
- Movement Finish: nickel
- Movement Details: gold jewel settings (GJS), screw-down jewel settings
- Dial Material: porcelain enamel
- Dial Details:
double sunk (DS), Gothic-style numbers
- Hand Style:
spade & whip
- Case Style:
HB&B
-
Case Material:
Gold Filled - Yellow
- Case Details:
re-cased
-
Case Width/Diameter:
55mm (2.17 inches)
-
Case Length, bow included:
75mm (2.95 inches)
-
Case Thickness:
20mm (0.79 inches)
- Crystal Material: plastic
- Condition:
Excellent
-
Gender:
Gentlemen's
The Illinois Watch Company was founded in Springfield, Illinois and began production of its earliest branded models in 1872, although the company had been producing small runs of watches with various other markings as early as 1869. In 1927, the Hamilton Watch Company purchased Illinois and manufactured watches in the Springfield factory up until 1932. Afterwards, Hamilton continued to produce watches with Illinois Watch Company markings from their main factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania until 1939.
As an additional resource, we've posted a
Serial Number Production List which includes information for Illinois serial numbers and dates of manufacture.
The NAWCC also has a
comprehensive article about the company; additional information may also be found on
Wikipedia.
You may browse all of our men's pocket watches from this manufacturer at our
Vintage Men's Illinois Pocket Watches category.
This watch is in good running condition, unless otherwise noted in the description. This means that on receipt, pending any item-specific running conditions noted in the description, you can expect the watch to be winding and setting properly and to run smoothly while keeping reasonable time. We consider "reasonable time" to meet these basic guidelines:
- Railroad Grade Watches will be keeping +/- 5 minutes per day
- Pocket and Wrist Watches with 15 or more jewels will be keeping +/- 10 minutes per day
- All key wind watches and watches with 14 or fewer jewels will be keeping +/- 15 minutes per day
The above guideline is the lowest standard in which we would ship out a watch, however in most cases, you will see much better timekeeping. Most of our watches have been in storage for many years, so if you plan on carrying/wearing them everyday, you should consider having them cleaned and oiled soon, and then once a year thereafter to keep them in top running condition. If the watches will be for occasional use or display, they should be cleaned and serviced every 3 to 5 years depending on use.
As of September 17th, 2025, we are not offering a cleaning and service option through PM Time Service. While we do hope to offer this again in the future, we are unfortunately unable to meet customer requests for watch servicing at this time. Please note that, unless otherwise mentioned within the "Full Description" tab, this watch is being sold in good running condition and is ready to wear or carry on arrival.
This watch comes complete with an appropriate, intact plastic crystal; however, on request PM Time Service can replace the current crystal on this pocket watch for you. We offer a number of new and vintage crystal choices for pocket watches; you can select your desired choice from the dropdown menu below.
Please note that the average turnaround time for all pocket watch crystal replacements will be two days from the placement of the order.
Contact us with any further questions or for an estimate on any shipping delays.
Please note: if you add this watch with a crystal and/or band exchange option to your
shopping cart but later change your mind on the crystal and/or band selection type, you'll need to remove the watch from the cart in order to make a new selection. Once that is done, you can return to this page and add that new crystal and/or band combination to the cart. We apologize for the limitations to our system that prevent you from making that change within the shopping cart.
This is considered a "railroad-grade" pocket watch. To be a railroad-grade watch, the following criteria must be met:
- be 16S or 18S
- have 17 or more jewels
- be lever set
- be in an open face case
- be adjusted to 5 or more positions.
- have easily-legible Arabic dial numerals
In order to ensure the accuracy of pocket watches used by railroad employees, with the ultimate goal of preventing train accidents, the General Railroad Timepiece Standards Commission published a set of guidelines for railroad companies and watch manufacturers in 1893. These guidelines, which specified the criteria for a railroad-grade watch, were prepared by Webb C. Ball, the general time inspector of North American railroads and founder of the Ball Watch Company.
For more information, visit this
Wikipedia article on railroad chronometers or this
Smithsonian National Postal Museum article on the influential train wreck tragedy that resulted in the establishment of railroad watch standards.
Our entire collection of such timepieces may also be viewed at our
Railroad Grade Watches category.
Unlike modern quartz watches, most vintage watches need daily winding in order to keep the watch functioning for timekeeping. Additionally, there are a number of different ways to set the time other than simply pulling the crown away from the watch body. We are happy to provide an overview of each of the different setting types on our
"How To Use" page, where we also provide information on proper winding techniques for each style and some suggestions for the proper long term care and storage of your watch.
For your gift giving convenience, please find a consolidated overview of the information on this item, with no reference to the price, on this
printer-optimized page.
