ILLINOIS WATCH COMPANY POCKET WATCH MANUFACTURING FILM - FACTORY FILM 1922 -GOLDEN 20S WATCHMAKING

#watchmaking #watchmaker #watchfactory
The Illinois Watch Company was founded on December 23, 1870, in Springfield, Illinois by John C. Adams, John Whitfield Bunn (1831-1920) and various additional financiers. Twenty years later, Jacob Bunn, Jr. (1864-1926) took over and ran the company until his death in 1926. The Bunn family surname was used in their most famous railroad watch, the Illinois "Bunn Special".
The history of the Illinois Watch Company contains three distinct institutional chapters. First: The Springfield Watch Company. The corporation was established as the Springfield Watch Company by John C. Adams of Massachusetts, and John Todd Stuart, William B. Miller, Dr. George Pasfield, John Whitfield Bunn, John Williams, and George N. Black, all of Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. John Todd Stuart served as the first President of the new corporation, which had been capitalized initially at $100,000.00. William B. Miller served as the first Secretary. The other named men constituted the original Board of Directors of the Springfield Watch Company. In 1873, the corporation established a corporate office in New York City. By the end of the year 1872, the corporation had sold approximately 10,000 watch movements.
Second: The Illinois Springfield Watch Company. The Springfield Watch Company encountered severe financial difficulty during its institutional infancy. Consequently, the corporation had to undergo reorganization in 1877. In July, 1877, the corporation changed its name to the "Illinois Springfield Watch Company." Erastus Newton Bates, the second President of the corporation, assumed the chief executive leadership of the newly reorganized concern until July, 1878. The corporation again faced severe financial crisis, and had to be reorganized.
Third: The Illinois Watch Company. The Illinois Springfield Watch Company was reorganized in the autumn and winter of 1878, and was renamed the "Illinois Watch Company" (the final name of the corporation). Chief executive leadership of the corporation was assumed by Jacob Bunn, Sr. (1814-1897), an Illinois industrialist, railroad financier, railroad reorganizer, wholesale grocer, commission merchant, newspaper publisher, land developer, coal operator, political advisor and financier, banker, and rope manufacturer. Jacob Bunn was the older brother of John Whitfield Bunn, and both men were among the closest friends and political allies of Illinois lawyer and statesman Abraham Lincoln, whose political career was largely financed and managed by the Bunn brothers. Jacob Bunn, Sr., oversaw the steady growth of the new corporation, and under his administration the corporate employment grew from 260 in the year 1879 to 400 in the year 1880. Jacob Bunn led corporate sales along a certain and definite trajectory of growth in both volume of manufacture and corporate revenue. In 1879, the corporation manufactured 33,285 watch movements. In 1880, the corporation manufactured 47,065 watch movements. By 1890 the concern had established corporate offices in Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. The corporation helped pioneer the logistical technology that served the enforcement of standard time for railroads throughout the world. At its apex of profitability, the Illinois Watch Company employed approximately 1,200 people.
Principal Corporate Governance of the Illinois Watch Company: 1. Jacob Bunn (1814-1897): President, reorganizer, Director, Chairman. 2. John Whitfield Bunn (1831-1920): Vice-President, Director. 3. Charles Smorowski: Secretary of the corporation. 4. Jacob Bunn, Jr. (1864-1926): Vice-President, President, Director, Chairman. 5. Henry Bunn: Vice President, President, Director, Chairman. 6. Benjamin Hamilton Feguson: Director, Vice-Chairman, Chairman. 7. Frederic W. Morgan: General Cashier, Credit Manager. 8. Julius Armbruster: General Salesman.
The passing of Jacob Bunn, Jr. threw Illinois Watch into disarray. In 1928, for a sum in excess of $5,000,000.00, the Illinois Watch Company was purchased by the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which continued to operate the factory under the Illinois name and shifted the emphasis from pocket to wrist watch production. By 1932, the Great Depression forced Hamilton to close the Illinois factory, though they retained possession of the brand name.

[@user-md9qv8ts1l]

My great grandfather Harold Wells worked at Elgin Watch factory for 50 years. River grandpa lived in a single family home on the Fox River. I was gifted his personal timepiece by my father passed down from his mother. Railroad train keepers type 21J.

[@philclock]

And do you still have that pocketwatch in your family?

A most educative, interesting and historic video. Thank you!!!

[@bvds2007]

Fantastic historical record

[@philclock]

Whan you have a look at the NAWCC you find more Informations about the American watchmaking. Greetings from Berlin :-)

[@rgion29247616]

Wow! what a historic video made. I had no idea such material was ever available. Thank you for your upload. Keep them coming. Hamilton, Waltham, Elgin, Howard, and many other American makes.

[@bunnspecial]

Thank you for posting. I have seen portions of this at the NAWCC museum in Pa. It was nice to see more.

[@MrWTBeck]

what a piece of history, thank you so much for sharing.

[@Bowtie41]

Thank You so much for sharing this,most informative!

[@TheFarmerbrownw]

Thank you for this film. We have one that my husbands father had. He was born 1898.

[@illinoiswatchcompany]

A very educational video. Thank you for sharing.

[@WatchRepairChannel]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for posting.

[@riccardoom]

Molto,molto interessante. Grazie.

[@bing12345678901]

thanks for the awesome video!

[@Waltham1892]

No plastic, very little stamped, nothing cast and almost everything machined. I wounded what a watch made like that would cost today?

[@alvarosilva3751]

sinceros PARABÈNS por este filme, aconselhavel a todos os relojoeiros que gostam de relógios antigos, para verem em que condições se faziam peças maravilhosas

[@tonyaxeman4381]

I thought the banking pins for the pallet fork is what makes the ticking noise. They never sowed or talked about them . Even the banking pins for the balance cock.

[@philclock]

Now you know

[@digitalman269]

Time travel is reel.

[@philclock]

That were be nice.

[@ps-mq7tm]

Too bad USA can't make quality timepieces today just like the folks in this documentary...Times have changed and cheap battery watches/imports have taken over the industry...

[@philclock]

Have a look at RGM Watches. Greetings from Berlin :-)