Hamilton and Illinois Wristwatches

About Antique and Vintage Hamilton and Illinois Wristwatches

Founded in 1870, the Illinois Watch Company was primarily known for its pocket watches favored by American railroad workers. The Hamilton Watch Company arrived on the scene almost a quarter century later, but by 1900, more than half of all U.S. railroad conductors, engineers, and workers made sure their trains ran on time with the help of a Hamilton. In 1928, Illinois was purchased by Hamilton.

Illinois got into the wristwatch business like most other makers of pocket watches—by producing a wristwatch for women. That was in 1905. An Illinois wristwatch for men would not appear until 1921...

During the 1920s, most men’s Illinois wristwatches were sold to jewelers, who would put their own cases on them. Of the Illinois watches that were cased at the factory, models included the Square, Canby, Cushion, Champion, Special, and Atlantic.

The late 1920s were Illinois’s prime period. Instead of plain and generic names, these new models were called the Picadilly, Marquis, Ritz, New Yorker, Beau Royale, and the top-of-the-line 14-karat gold Consul, which some collectors consider the finest American wristwatch ever made. These were designed in high Art Deco, with silver pinstripe dials, tiny second hands, and cases of two-tone gold.

After the sale to Hamilton, Illinois watches from the 1930s embraced the Streamline Moderne design. Their names leaned to the preppy (Chesterfield, Wentworth, Andover, Rockliffe) and were almost identical to Hamilton watches of this era, which were named after famous explorers (Stanley, Livingstone, Byrd). These antique Hamiltons are quite collectible today precisely because their movements were made by Illinois.

Of course Hamilton has its own history of wristwatch making. It got into the field because of World War I, when it produced wristwatches for servicemen entering the military. In the 1920s it launched a line of modest, Art Deco masterpieces, with names that evoked the Americas—Piping Rock, Langley, Coronado, Spur. Many of these watches feature white-gold cases with enamel inlays.

In the 1936, Hamilton offered the twin-dial Seckron and in 1938, it introduced its own version of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, which Hamilton called the Otis. Other collectible antique Hamiltons from the 1930s include the Mount Vernon, Andres, and Oakmont.

The 1940s were largely devoted to making wristwatches for the U.S. military—one rectangular, twin-dial steel watch from this period was even known as the Bomb Timer. Then, in the 1950s, Hamilton proceeded to make a slew of conservatively styled watches named, seemingly, after archetypal American dads—Ryan, Craig, Grover, Brent, Carlton, and Alan, to name but a few.

For Hamilton, the 1950s were only in part about tradition. In 1957, it introduced the world’s first electric watches. Designed by Richard Arbib, whose previous credits had included the fins of both World War II bombs and 1950s automobiles, these new late 1950s-1960s watches had space-age, asymmetrical shapes, with equally space-age names like Ventura, Spectra, Altair, Polaris, and Gemini.

By 1971, Hamilton had embraced the electric revolution so completely that its Pulsar would have no moving parts at all, but that would be the last gasp for the once-proud American watch maker, which was sold that year to the company that is today known as the Swatch Group.

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Interviews & Articles

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Vintage Hamilton Platinum Diamond Wrist Watch Ladies$1,999 Ends Friday 3 bids 6 watchers
Hamilton Jazzmaster Chrono 330ft 27jewels Watch$730.00 Ends in 4 hours 21 bids 47 watchers
Nib Hamilton Khaki Action Chrono, 44mm Automatic$725.00 Ends Monday 24 bids 14 watchers
Hamilton Jazzmaster 25 Jewels Chronograph Auto Watch$720.00 Ends Thursday 11 bids 32 watchers
Hamilton Khaki X-wind Automatic H77626553 | Chrome Dial$610.00 Ends in 9 hours 24 bids 32 watchers
Exquisite Hamilton X-wind 25jewel Automatic Speedmaster$511.00 Ends Monday 19 bids 40 watchers
Nib Hamilton Auto X-wind - Yellow Dial $500.00 Ends in 12 hours 17 bids 36 watchers
Hamilton 921 Historic Movement Similar 6498 6497 In46mm$499.00 Ends in 15 hours 2 bids 15 watchers
Limited Edtn Hamilton Conservation Auto Gmt 660ft Watch$427.00 Ends Friday 13 bids 23 watchers
Hamilton Reverso Rare Vintage Gold Filled Watch Nr$415.98 Ends in 15 hours 8 bids 18 watchers
Hamilton Khaki 25 Jewel X-copter Automatic Sapphire$397.92 Ends Tuesday 9 bids 37 watchers
Hamilton Electric Assymetric Flight Ii Modernist Watch $380.00 Ends in 14 hours 6 bids 62 watchers
Rare Hamilton Electric Pacer White Gold Filled-restored$365.00 Ends Tuesday 18 bids 66 watchers
Hamilton Khaki X-wind Automatic Chronograph H77696793$345.19 Ends Wednesday 13 bids 34 watchers
Solid 14k Gold Hamilton Brock Curved 50's Vintage $344.00 Ends in 14 hours 14 bids 36 watchers
14k Gold Hamilton Masterpiece Presentation Wrist Watch$334.00 Ends Monday 13 bids 28 watchers
Hamilton Khaki King Scuba Automatic H64515337 | Black$330.00 Ends Monday 12 bids 25 watchers
Rare Vintage 1957 Hamilton Electric "spectra" 14k Gold.$327.50 Ends Thursday 6 bids 29 watchers
Rare Hamilton "brock" 14k White Gold & Diamond Tanq$316.00 Ends in 19 hours 7 bids 28 watchers
Hamilton Men's Khaki Conservation Gmt Watch H77565833$306.00 Ends Tuesday 13 bids 34 watchers
Heavy 14k White Gold 4.55ctw Diamond Hamilton Watch$305.00 Ends Sunday 5 bids 26 watchers
Hamilton Khaki Navy Gmt - Croc Band$290.00 Ends in 3 hours 6 bids 25 watchers
Hamilton Mens Khaki Navy Frogman Chronograph Automatic$290.00 Ends in 15 hours 14 bids 79 watchers
Hamilton Flight 2 Quartz Wristwatch$280.00 Ends in 13 hours 2 bids 26 watchers
Vintage Women's Hamilton Antique 14k Gold Diamond Watch$255.00 Ends Wednesday 3 bids 15 watchers
Hamilton Men's Khaki Aviation Qne Automatic H76515533$248.50 Ends Thursday 11 bids 12 watchers
Hamilton 25 Jewel Auto Khaki Field Sapphire 330ft Watch$242.50 Ends Tuesday 19 bids 37 watchers
Hamilton H776350 Ss Khaki Gmt Automatic Watch$237.50 Ends in 16 hours 16 bids 47 watchers
Hamilton 14k Solid White Gold Diamond Dial Watch$227.50 Ends Wednesday 6 bids 6 watchers
Hamilton "wesley" Solid 14k Gold Nice 1950s Gents Watch$225.00 Ends Tuesday 10 bids 13 watchers
Nib Hamilton Aquariva - Chrono 45 Mm$224.50 Ends Saturday 2 bids 7 watchers
Hamilton Mens 25jewel Khaki Field Sapphire 330ft Watch$224.50 Ends Monday 15 bids 31 watchers
Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Automatic Chronograph Watch$222.51 Ends in 18 hours 19 bids 71 watchers
Nib Hamilton Khaki Navy Black Pvd & Gold Plated$205.29 Ends in 10 hours 17 bids 43 watchers
Hamilton Military Aviator Pilots Hack Watch - Nr$202.50 Ends in 15 hours 11 bids 82 watchers
Nib Hamilton Khaki Action- Black Dial - Automatic $202.50 Ends Thursday 5 bids 5 watchers
Hamilton H327160 Jazzmaster Maestro Ss Automatic Watch$202.50 Ends in 16 hours 8 bids 64 watchers
Nos Vintage Hamilton Watch Led Mint Rare Lnib Nib Mint $202.50 Ends Sunday 10 bids 68 watchers
Hamilton,19jewel,14kt,vintage Diamond Men's Watch 40's$199.99 Ends Thursday 1 bid 8 watchers
Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic - 42 Mm - H70515137$182.50 Ends in 13 hours 13 bids 39 watchers
Hamilton Dodson Mens Auto Blk Strap Watch H27415953 *$178.50 Ends Friday 2 bids 3 watchers
Mens 1948 Vintage Hamilton 14k Gold L&k Wind Wristwatch$177.50 Ends in 16 hours 14 bids 16 watchers
Vintage Hamilton Thin-o-matic Automatic 14k Watch, Runs$174.50 Ends in 14 hours 9 bids 19 watchers
Vintage 14kt Yellow Gold Men's "hamilton" Dress Watch$169.16 Ends Saturday 4 bids 8 watchers
Hamilton 14k Solid Gold Thin-o-matic Men's Watch Nice$156.50 Ends Thursday 6 bids 18 watchers
Nib Hamilton Khaki Automatic- Gmt Dark Blue Dial $154.39 Ends Thursday 9 bids 30 watchers
Vintage Hamilton"nordon" Pillowback Dress Style Watch$153.73 Ends in 13 hours 7 bids 16 watchers
Rare Hamilton "kevin" Solid 18k Mib 1954 Gents Watch$153.53 Ends Tuesday 10 bids 31 watchers
14k Gold Hamilton Masterpiece Electric Wrist Watch 1969$152.50 Ends Monday 8 bids 18 watchers
Hamilton Diamond Dial 14k Solid White Gold Watch Runs$152.50 Ends in 14 hours 6 bids 28 watchers
Vintage Hamilton 14k Gold S&w Men's Wristwatch Forties$152.50 Ends in 5 hours 3 bids 10 watchers
Cool Vintage Men's Hamilton Electric Triangle Watch$152.50 Ends Monday 10 bids 58 watchers
Hamilton "brockton" Solid Gold 1952 Vintage Gents Watch$152.50 Ends Friday 3 bids 10 watchers
Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Sapphire 330ft Watch$152.50 Ends Wednesday 20 bids 35 watchers
Vintage 14k Mens Watch Hamilton ~solid Gold~ Wristwatch$150.00 Ends Thursday 1 bid 6 watchers
Hamilton Navy 3tz Watch$150.00 Ends Monday 1 bid 18 watchers
Vintage Illinois Special Model 19j 14k Gold Fill Watch$144.94 Ends in 14 hours 9 bids 22 watchers
Vintage Men's Hamilton 14k Gold Watch 982 19j 8g Estate$127.50 Ends Wednesday 3 bids 8 watchers

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