The History of the LARGEST Watch Manufacturer in the World

[@ronacosta2903]

I’ve recently become interested in Elgin watches. One of my wife’s great grand uncles was a superintendent and master watch case maker at Elgin, from the early 1900s to 1927, when he passed away. His name was Thomas Floyd Hathaway.

[@TimesTicking]

@ronacosta2903 That’s fascinating! Thank you for sharing.

[@lindaburns5817]

My home town! A lot of my family worked there. Good memories of Elgin. Thank you for sharing ❤⌚⚘🇺🇸🙏🦋

[@mikelamz3711]

great job, i live in elgin. My parents met at the watch company, and i've been to the observatory many times. never knew why it was there though, it was just a great "field trip" day that got us out of school lol. Mr Tuttle ran the lectures and observatory for years. great info, thanks for making this.

[@richard8342]

I have my fathers Elgin watch that was given to him in the 1940s and still works today. Great video, thank you.

[@TimesTicking]

Very cool! Thanks for watching 😃

[@markusbe.musicfromtheunder2497]

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL VIDEO..! Thank you for producing this entertaining and educational video and sharing it. Really great stuff...!!!! Cheers. Markus Be.

[@TimesTicking]

Our pleasure!

[@drytung9526]

Can’t believe they leveled that building.

[@TimesTicking]

@drytung9526 Was just talking about that last week!

[@Jamesc2024-q3p]

i'd worked in elgin for 7 years but didn't know anything about its watch making history until watching this video. thanks for sharing this valuable information.

[@TimesTicking]

@Jamesc2024-q3p You're welcome! Thanks for watching!!! Check out our other video on: The Elgin National Watch Company Observatory kzbin.info/www/bejne/roXafmindtyVm80 You may enjoy it too. Take care.

[@jerelcdberepchambliss2655]

Very informative and good content

[@TimesTicking]

Glad you think so!

[@toddhall1018]

I remember the building when I was a kid before they destroyed it. Now its Apartments in the bad part of town next to the fox river & the Gambling boat

[@htw7867]

Great video, have three beautiful pocket watches from Elgin. Elgin is a great brand to collect!

[@TimesTicking]

@HT W Yes, they are! Thanks for watching and your support too.

[@phildimuro150]

EXCELLENT video man. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm currently fixing up my grandfather's Lord Eldgin and this video has been insanely helpful 🙏

[@TimesTicking]

Glad we could help!

[@danr1920]

I have an Elgin pocket watch, made in 1921. Railroad grade, still runs. Use it for special occasions.

[@r100curtaincall]

Same. A 1920 veritas in my case. Its a stunning work of art.

[@thermann9]

This is great info, good job!

[@TimesTicking]

Thank you, glad you think so!

[@ElationProductions]

Lot of good footage and information here. My great grandfather used to work as a repairman in the Elgin IL. plant, so Elgin watches hold a special place in my heart.

[@TimesTicking]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[@Michael.Chapman]

Excellent presentation, thank you. Loved the factory footage. Sitting here ‘watchin’ while holding my ornate 1954 Elgin B.W.Raymond Railroad pocket watch :-)

[@TimesTicking]

Glad you enjoyed it! Very cool watch!!

[@IlluminatingWatches]

Great video. The Elgin and Lip collab on initial electric watches an important point in watch history .

[@TimesTicking]

@Illuminating Watches Thanks for watching! We appreciate the support.

[@egomaniac8510]

What is the difference in the models that contain an owners name? I have a gm wheeler. From 1883

[@machinistmikethetinkerer4827]

GM Wheeler was the original founders of Elgin Watch Co. in 1864 and held many positions over the years within the company and was on the Board of Directors and Secretary. He did alot of other things too in life. First "Wheeler" grade came out in 1867.

[@9118693223]

great quality watches . i have an elgin, and a lord elgin , pocket watches

[@Bhethar]

So sad to see such an amazing company being betrayed by the government despite its patriotic endeavour. Those Art Deco pieces were stunning! Great video man 😃

[@OffGridInvestor]

NAFTA.... Then the bush admin pushing hard to get China membership to the WTO. Remember Bush before 9/11??? He almost went to war with china. Wouldn't have caused America to be flooded with chinese junk....

[@tf1977sled]

The american government has and still does sell out to the highest bidder. Tens of thousands of companies have been gutted over the years due to unfair labor and trade treaties. like Nafta. The Clintons sold us to china.

[@samharper4289]

Agreed!

[@LogicalNimbus]

Awesome job!!

[@TimesTicking]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@MrRm125mx]

I’ve been needing to watch this video for a while, as Elgin is one of my favorite vintage watch companies I love to collect. I’ve seen it pronounced with the hard g sound so much I was thinking I was saying it wrong but after hearing you say it and everyone in the comments saying they live there or grew up there not correcting you makes me feel a lot better 😂😅

[@TimesTicking]

@MrRm125mx It’s easy to see why Elgin is a favorite!!

[@muthukumaransubramani7254]

Very informative thanks a lot.

[@WorldHayes-VR]

Thanks

[@paulschmolke188]

How about Timex? There are several others too I’m sure. Good presentation

[@TimesTicking]

@Paul Schmolke Thanks for watching! Here's our video on Timex, take care. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3PIqpVoaZJmq9k

[@goingmerry123]

Amazing video! I grew up in the Chicagoland area and was familiar with this company; hopefully at some point, would love to purchase one as well. Can't but help Elgin's story is a bit of a euphemism for manufacturing across America, so much of the beauty in this craft has been lost.

[@sallypollard1701]

I have my Dad's 14K Lord Elgin given to him around 1951 when he graduated from Dental School. Hoping to replace the crystal (which is falling off) and the band with something more appropriate. I look forward to wearing it!

[@TimesTicking]

Hello Sally, If you need help with your Elgin, we can help. We have different levels of watchmakers as we repair all/any levels of watches from luxury Swiss to fashion. We're proud to provide free estimates to our customers. We only do estimates on watches that we have had a chance to look at to provide an accurate estimate. We do not send parts out. To send your watch, visit www.timesticking.com/watch-repair to get started. We will send you an email notification once we receive your watch. Thank you, Times Ticking Team

[@propetamckissack524]

good to know about the history of Elgin company i have Elgin watch it’s old but still good i have the Durapower Elgin small watch,…

[@toml.8210]

I remember seeing Elgin ads in print and on TV when I was a little kid.

[@extremelydave]

What a cool video. So awesome to hear the history of an unfortunately vanished company. Shame on our government for letting Elgin go extinct.

[@patricko9170]

Wow, I learn something new everyday. What an incredible history Elgin National Watch Company had. Too bad the US government had a direct hand in their downfall. Thank you for the excellent video!

[@TimesTicking]

@Patrick O Our pleasure!

[@Embargoman]

I would love to see if Seiko where to settle a factory in the United States and bring back the Elgin brand but this time the company of instead of being Seiko of America it will be called Seiko/Elgin Incorporated or known as SEI probably we might see the first Grand Seiko watches that are made outside of Japan in Elgin, Illinois.

[@muthukumaransubramani7254]

I appreciate your efforts kindly make a video on history of Buren and Enicar my favorite brands

[@geirwickstrm9162]

I spent much time thinking you had a gigachad chin and it made me thing you were false. Now I am wiser and realise you just like watches and history. Keep going!

[@AntonioMartinez-tt7ud]

Thanks for make this video. I like a lot Elgin´s pocket clocks. My dream is to buy an Elgin American Railroad. Some day I will find one of them. Greetings from Spain.

[@dominickcolasanto6582]

Made in America is important for our survival as a independent and free country.

[@paulburgess1441]

how do i find out when my dads old elgin wrist watch was made and what kind of watch is it ? cant find nothing about the watch but know the elgin went out of business in 1968

[@RecklessAcceleration]

Elgin actually produced the ONLY American made self winding movements.

[@ronl7131]

Elgin made autos, too.

[@TheTarrMan]

This is neet, have you done Hamilton yet?

[@boggy7665]

At the toll plazas along the Tri-State Tollway (294) around Chicago, there were large clocks like bank clocks facing the approaching traffic. Looked like oversize ladies' watches, rectangular with marks instead of numbers. "Elgin Time", they said. Being a kid & not knowing about the Elgin Watch Company, I always wondered why we cared what time it was in Elgin, vs., say, Chicago.

[@MarketBasketSimp]

As a local elgin resident, I love looking at the old watches at the history museum, but i feel like the current site is not enough to represent what they did, as a small building with a few memoirs just isnt enough for what this company did for the city

[@TimesTicking]

@MarketBasketSimp We agree ‼️

[@rickmahoney317]

I hope to open a store that sells only Elgin watches in the shopping center on the old site and hopefully a museum one day.

[@carreteFILMSPro]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay my home awesome town.

[@TimesTicking]

Lets goooooooo

[@ls1jeeper]

Great video.... imagine that the govt f'ng something up

[@jeffcline7689]

Thanks for posting this informative video. Just shows that the United States used to produce just about everything they needed. These jobs were good enough for people to work at and have some kind of a life. Not like a rich person, but passable. Now it seems you have to be rich or on entitlements to afford housing. And currant policy is only making it worse ultimately destroying the United States from being a great country.

[@TimesTicking]

@Jeff Cline Glad you enjoyed the video, Jeff! We appreciate your support, thank you.

[@elg_dtzx5563]

Lol its my Name Elgin👁💦👄💦👁

[@lewis2553]

It sounds like Elgin was killed more by politics than by war. If it was killed by war, why isn't it being resurrected by the threat of an EMP weapon? I believe a mechanical, wind up watch would have a better chance of working than a quartz watch after the detonation of such a weapon.

[@TimesTicking]

@lewis2553 "I believe a mechanical, wind up watch would have a better chance of working than a quartz watch after the detonation of such a weapon." 😬😯 Thanks for the thought provoking comment!

[@leechjim8023]

Sounds like they were screwed by the government!☹️

[@EitriBrokkr]

A historic story of how worthless the Government is

[@TimesTicking]

@EitriBrokkr Thank you for watching!!! You may enjoy this video too we featured The Struggle Within The American Watch Market - kzbin.info/www/bejne/foGpe4OwgLuig9U

[@freepirate4470]

So, it would seem that the problem of government putting our own industries out of business started a long time ago.

[@mitch7850]

So basically our stupid politicians killed our manufacturing industry; they did it with the steel mills too. Where I grew up the steel mills employed thousands of workers without college degrees with good paying jobs, now steel comes from China and the mills are all but closed and what’s left is retail jobs. So sad. Great to learn the history of how things were before; I love my Elgin collection, thanks for the video!

[@TimesTicking]

@mitch7850 Yes, we love Elgin too! Thank you for watching!!!

[@mikeingeorgia1]

Sounds like the acclaimed Swiss movements were the cheap Chinese imports of their time.

[@ianguana8347]

pog

[@j.b.rawlsll2344]

Same old politishions....sounds familar.....wonder who was payed under the table by the Swiss.......

[@Embargoman]

Probably a Japanese watch company should revive the brand or that Elgin be rebirth in South Korea? What is better off that Seiko make watches in the United States, and that Seiko of America where to be headquartered in Elgin, Illinois or that the Elgin brand be born again and they are headquartered in South Korea? Seeing Seiko building a factory in Elgin, Illinois and reviving the Elgin brand will be great for Seiko to add the Elgin history once they build a factory in Elgin, Illinois and probably it will be the official watch of the Cubs. Who knows probably a baseball park for the Cubs in Elgin called Seiko Park.

[@robertjwilliams3532]

Sounds like their politics was wrong!! To bad we as a country have such trouble with foreign mfg. being allowed such advantage over home grown efforts.