Watch, Elgin National Watch Co.
date: label: date made
content: 1875
name: label: manufacturer
content: Elgin National Watch Co.
notes: label: Description
content: This watch, once owned by a woman, dates from about 1879.
label: Description
content: The Elgin National Watch Co. was founded in Elgin, Illinois, in 1864 at the end of the Civil War to compete with the American Waltham Watch Co. In its early decades it helped to establish a robust American watch manufacturing industry, and, by the time it ceased operation in 1968, it had produced millions of watches.
label: Description
content: The donor of this watch, George W. Spier, was custodian of the U.S. National Museum's watch collection. He was also founding president, beginning in 1921, of the American Horological Institute, an organization for professional watchmakers. Born in Germany, Spier was a well-known jeweler in Washington, D.C.
label: Description
content: Details:
label: Description
content: Movement: spring going barrel, ¾ plate, gilt finish, 6 size, 7 jewels hunting, stem wind and lever set, bimetallic compensation balance, straight lever escapement, regulator on bridge; marked: "Elgin National Watch Co./ Patent Pinion/ 597929"
label: Description
content: Dial: white enamel with Roman numerals, blued steel hands, sunk Arabic numeral seconds at 6; marked “ELGIN” in decorative rectangle
label: Description
content: Case: hunting style; monogrammed "C.H.S."; dust cap engraved: “Presented by her Brothers”; also marked with maker’s marks: “B.&T./18K/11105”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanisms
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: George W. Spier
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: ME.307399
label: patent number
content: 577929
label: catalog number
content: 307399
label: accession number
content: 68114
objectType: label: Object Name
content: watch
label: Other Terms
content: watch; Mechanical, Spring-Driven; Pocket Watch
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (watch case material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, gold (watch movement material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in x 5/8 in; 6.35 cm x 4.445 cm x 1.5875 cm