Elgin Father Time Up/Down Wind Indicator Railroad Pocket Watch (1917)

About this Elgin Father Time

Manufactured in 1917, the year America stepped off the sidelines and into the Great War, the Elgin National Watch Company was turning out some of the most meticulously built timepieces on earth. Chief among its railroad offerings was the legendary Grade 374 Father Time, a 21-jewel size 16 produced in a mere 11,000 units across its entire life, and this one carries the configuration serious collectors wait years to find: the rare Up/Down Wind Indicator. A hundred and eight years on, finding an exquisite surviving 374 with that complication is a true horological treasure.

Inside beats a stunning 21-jewel nickel movement, lever-set and adjusted to five positions, temperature and isochronism, built to the uncompromising safety standards that kept the nation's trains on schedule. The plates carry a beautiful sunburst damaskeening that catches the light as you turn the watch, with scalloped work laid across the barrels and a small spray of gilt-inlaid gold flowers set into the hairspring bridge. It is a working movement finished like a presentation piece.

The movement is housed in a 10K yellow gold-filled case by the Dueber Case Company, its back and bezel covered in rich floral engraving that has stayed crisp through more than a century of pockets. Dueber was one of the great American case houses of the era, and this is the kind of work they were known for, deeply cut, generously laid out, and still handsome at arm's length. It is a case worthy of the movement it protects.

The standout here is the Up/Down Wind Indicator set against a pristine railroad dial with blue steeled spade whip hands. In the golden age of American railroading, strict rules required workers to wind their watches every 24 hours, and this small indicator was the visual safeguard that kept a mainspring from running out mid-shift. Fully wound, the indicator points to zero. As the day goes on, you will see the small hand track the elapsed hours, drifting across the printed legend, a life-saving glance for the men running the trains.

In 1917, the Elgin National Watch Company was at the height of its prowess, the largest watch manufacturer in the world and the standard against which American railroad timekeeping was measured. That April, Congress declared war on Germany and the United States formally entered the Great War, and almost overnight the railroads became the arteries of the war effort, carrying troops to training camps and material to the ports. The men running those trains carried watches like this Father Time, held to the second against the schedule.

This is one of 11,000 Grade 374 Father Times Elgin ever built, and only a fraction left the factory with the Up/Down Wind Indicator. It is a cornerstone piece for any serious American railroad collection, and a watch to carry proudly or display as the centerpiece it is. To own it is to hold a working survivor of the golden age of American railroading, and a true family heirloom for generations to come.

All Vintage Pocket Watches are cleaned, oiled and adjusted for accuracy and warranted for one full year from the date of purchase.