Illinois 18S 17J lever set (LS) adj. 4p grade 65-E pocket watch #1375062, beautiful 2-tone full plate movement with screw-down jewel settings, a gold and nickel wavy checkerboard pattern damascene and a jewelers mark, "Geo. T. Springer Portland, Me.", this movement was considered to be railroad grade at the time of production, double sunk (DS) porcelain enamel dial with fancy Arabic style numbers and a subsidiary seconds register is also marked with the jeweler's information, "George T Springer Portland, ME", dial has a few faint hairlines, lovely blue steel open Morning Glory style hands, re-cased into a heavy yellow gold filled (YGF) smooth polish screw back & bezel (SB&B) case with heavy shoulders and short pendant that is engraved with deep geometric designs, slightly recessed crown, heavy modern French style bow and a glass crystal, case is showing normal even wear with some scuffing on the back cover, a few thin lines of brass on the bezels & frame and a bit of brass & wear on the bow, measures approx. 54mm in diameter x 71mm in length x 18mm thick (crystal included). An impressive, high quality Illinois jeweler's mark watch from the 1890s in excellent overall condition!
- Year Made: 1897-1898
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Company:
Illinois
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Movement Size:
0418S
- Jewels: 1117J
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Setting/Movement Type:
lever set
- Adjustments: 4 positions
- Model/Grade: 65-E
- Serial #: 1375062
- Movement Finish: 2-tone
- Movement Details: screw-down jewel settings, private label mark, "Geo. T. Springer Portland, Me."
- Dial Material:
porcelain enamel
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Dial Details:
double sunk (DS), private label mark, "George T Springer Portland, ME"
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Hand Style:
morning glory - open
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Case Style:
SB&B
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Case Material:
Gold Filled - Yellow
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Case Details:
re-cased, French bow, recessed crown
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Case Width/Diameter:
54mm (2.13 inches)
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Case Length, bow included:
71mm (2.80 inches)
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Case Thickness:
18mm (0.71 inches)
- Crystal Material: glass
- Country of Origin: United States
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Condition:
Excellent
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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.
For a comprehensive set of links we have information on for the Illinois Watch Company, along with multiple sources of additional reference material, be sure and head to the "Watch Company Links" section on our
Research & Reference Materials page.
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 October 15th, 2026, 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 glass 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 watch features a private label mark, also sometimes referred to as a "jeweler's mark", in addition to the name of the watch manufacturer. Private label marks may be engraved or printed on the dial, case, or movement, depending on the watch. See the Full Description for details specific to this timepiece.
Instances of private labels can include small batches of watches marked for individual jewelers: a jewelry shop would commission a small run of watches directly from a watch manufacturer, such as Hamilton, Illinois, etc., who would then add markings for that jeweler at the factory to the dial, movement and/or case. This would allow for the jeweler to offer a customized branding of a high quality watch without the prohibitive cost of directly manufacturing and/or assembling the watch components.
Also included are large batches of watches for wholesale & retail sale; examples of large batch private labels include Caravelle watches made by Bulova and Burlington watches made by Illinois. The most common example that many will recognize is Tiffany & Co., which for a short time did manufacture their own watches but realized it was cost prohibitive for their label and transitioned to commissioning watches from a multitude of high-end European watch manufacturers instead. On many of their vintage watches, you'll see the "Tiffany & Co" markings on the dial, and occasionally also stamped on the movement and case, but additional markings on the movement will show Longines, International Watch Co., etc. to also indicate the manufacturing company.
A detailed article on the history and advertising practices for these watches can be found at this
Pocket Watch Database page. To view all such timepieces we offer, visit our
Private Label 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.
