Illinois Grade 605 Dress Pocket Watch (1921)

About this Illinois 605

Made in 1921, this Illinois Grade 605 arrived as the Roaring Twenties were just finding their voice. President Harding had been sworn in that March, KDKA was broadcasting the first commercial radio, and the well-dressed American professional was reaching for something more refined than the heavy railroad watches of the previous generation. This is that watch: a 16-size, 17-jewel gentleman's movement from Springfield, Illinois, in an open-face Majestic 20-year yellow gold-fill case. A highly refined dress watch, built to the standard Illinois brought to everything it made.

Seventeen jewels, nickel finish, pendant-set, adjusted to temperature, a guilloché metal dial, and an art deco case. Grade 605 was Illinois's workhorse gentleman's movement, produced across 84 separate runs between 1907 and 1934. Total production across all variants came to 30,880, and this exact configuration, 16-size, Model 7, open-face, 17-jewel nickel, accounts for roughly 11,830 of them. Respectable numbers, but scattered across nearly three decades of small batches, which is why examples from any specific year turn up less often than the totals suggest.

The dial itself is a masterclass in Roaring Twenties design. Crafted from double-sunk metal rather than the traditional enamel, it features a beautifully executed guilloché center that catches the light with quiet elegance. Applied Arabic numerals rest against a cream background, framed by a classic railroad-style outer track that perfectly complements the intricate art deco motif. Paired with exquisite blued-steel spade-whip hands and a crisp subsidiary seconds dial at six o'clock, the face of this watch offers a level of visual sophistication that feels incredibly modern even a century later.

Pendant-set means you set the time by pulling out the crown and turning it, the same motion you'd use on a modern wristwatch. That sounds unremarkable until you remember the alternative: lever-set watches, required for railroad service, made you pop off the bezel and pull out a small lever beside the dial before the crown would set the hands. Lever setting was a safety measure for men who couldn't afford to bump their crown against a coat pocket. A dress watch didn't need it, and this one doesn't have it.

By 1921 Illinois had been making watches in Springfield for half a century and was entering what collectors now consider its peak, the final decade before Hamilton bought the company in 1927 and slowly wound the Springfield factory down. Gentleman's grades like the 605 were what a well-dressed lawyer or banker wore to Sunday service; the Bunn Specials went on the rails. The year itself carried weight: Prohibition was in force, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated at Arlington that November, and the first weather forecast in American history went out over the radio in January.

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