These are interesting watches by Illinois made for Sears Roebuck & Co.. This Hunting version is Grade 175 a Getty Model with the 1 finger bridge.The Blue Illinois book says that this grade was made in a run of 200 and the OF model was made in a run of 150, so these would be considered rare BTW, the 16s Illinois program in Chattanooga by Fred Sr & Fred Jr was a educational experience for me because I did not know about all the different 16s Illinois Models, especially these 1, 2, 3 finger bridge models Getty's. I bought this watch at that show. It has a Fancy dial instead of the marked Inter-State dial so, that leaves it open to speculation, however I have seen Fancy dials on these before. It is in a beautiful Multicolored GF case that has 3 generations inscribed on the dust cover, I don't know it original to the watch, and would vote no if i had to. The Initials and dates on the case are 3-9-1912, which is correct for the watch,1961,1978
I love these high end Sears watches too Jim. I think the first time I met young Fred at a Chicago Regional back in the late '80s or very early '90s I had just bought my first Interstate Chronometer. It was a 16s 23j OF. Little Freddy took me over to meet his dad and to talk about the Getty model. We have all be great friends since. I actually met Glen Ellington, at about the same time, through and Interstate Chronometer related experience too. As far as the dial is concerned, I think Sears would have done almost anything to sell a watch. I have my doubts that the dial came on the watch from the factory but it could be original to the watch in that the original buyer wanted a different dial. Who cares. It is a little beauty.
Nice 16 size Jim. Made me think of 3 that I had. I always liked these also. Made me go through some of my old pix. I had the 18 size, 16 and 12 size but not all high grade. Sold them some years back. 18 size 23 jewel OF 16 size 17 jewel OF 12 size 21 ruby jewel marked OF - not sure about marking
Great watches Jim and Doug! I think the fancy dial on Jim's watch has a very good chance of being correct - I've seen unsigned fancy dials on Illinois "Interstate Chronometers," on Illinois "Plymouth Watch Co." movements, and on Rockford "Plymouth Watch Co." movements - and the common denominator to these three sets of watches is they were all private labels sold by Sears Roebuck.
I ran across another fairly rare Inter-State Chronometer, in a 12 size...... The DMK pattern is great and you can tell from the movement, trimmed in gold(Gilt) colored screws and Regulator, etc. and the dial that it is a special watch. I believe it is an all original watch, dial & case. This watch does not have much information available about it at all. The Blue book says it was made in a run of 100 and I believe that is all that were made. It is not mentioned in the info part of it and the Grade 273 was not very common. The "Price Guide" doesn't list the Hunting version, just the OF version.Russ Snider's data Base doesn't have a picture of it, just a partial movement missing the balance bridge & wheel.
This is a Complete Inter-State Chronometer production chart that appears in the 2nd article of Sears watches in the Bulletin by Bill Meggers in Oct. 1990 http://www.nawcc.org/images/stories/1990/articles/1990/269/269_540.pdf These were produced by Sears and sold in the nation wide catalog starting in 1911- 1915, the last 2 years they dropped the 0 size and just sold the 18s 23 J Bunn model, the highest grade sold by Sears. Sorry for the image quality, you can access the chart by the link if you sign on the main site.
This is a cute 0's with the paperwork from Sears. It is a grade 35, of which they had a total production of 1050 and unknown how many Inter-State Chronometer were in that production. Russ Snider's data base shows some pictures of the grade but no Inter-State examples. They were 15 J with composite (Brass) settings and had the Pat'd regulator and a fine damaskeen pattern
Serial number 2340235 a 12size 21J Hunter with a great 2-Tone checkerboard pattern. Marked 21 Ruby Jewels
Another 16s Serial number 2327813 a 17J Hunter This watch is 25 numbers earlier than the opening post movement, with the 1 finger bridge
