Age of Elgin Watch

[John F]

John,

The serial number records indicate that this was made about 1915 (it could take anywhere from 6 months or longer for a watch to go from start to finish - 1915 is just when the serial number was assigned). It is a grade 387, 16 size, 1 7/10th of an inch across.

[Kent]

john key:

Wayne Schlitt has a great web site devoted to Elgin watches at: <span class="ev_code_brown">www.midwestcs.com/elgin/</span>
(you should copy this address and paste it in your browser address bar - <span class="ev_code_blue">if this doesn't work the first time, try opening a new window for your browser, one without a previous visit to the NAWCC website</span>)
One can spend hours going through the comprehensive information contained there, including old catalogs and advertisements.

You can look up your Elgin watch, using the serial number on the movement (the "works") - not the case, by choosing "Elgin Databases" and then "Serial Number Lookup." After typing (keyboarding - whatever) the serial number into the "Serial Number off the movement:" field, add a space and type v=13 and then click on the "search" button. This will cause the program to report notes on all of the observations of examples that were reported to Wayne (or that he noted) when the data was entered. Choosing "Watch Codes" from the menu in the left-hand column opens a series of explanations of the abbreviations used in the "Serial Number Lookup" report. There is a lot of other good information on the site explaining the data found by doing a "Serial Number Lookup" and on pocket watches in general. Its worthwhile to spend a few hours exploring the site.

Good luck,
Kent