Illinois A. Lincoln Railroad Grade Pocket Watch (1917)

About this Illinois A. Lincoln

Here is a railroad grade pocket watch that carries the name of the president who kept the Union together, built in his adopted hometown by the men who knew him. The Illinois Watch Company called this grade the A. Lincoln, and they did not hand that name out lightly. Manufactured in 1917 as America was marching into the Great War, this is the Model 9 open-face, 21-jewel movement, adjusted to five positions, temperature and isochronism, housed in a rare white gold-filled Wadsworth case. Every piece of it was made for the demands of railroad service, and a hundred and nine years later it is still here.

Inside beats a stunning 21-jewel nickel movement, lever-set and adjusted to five positions, temperature and isochronism. The real pleasure is the finish: diagonal pinstripe damaskeening sweeping across the plates, catching the light at every angle, with raised gold jewel chatons set into the bridges like gold rivets. This is the sort of visual craftsmanship Illinois was known for in its finest years, and the Springfield factory was turning out some of the most technically ambitious movements in American horology.

Housing the movement is a rare and beautiful white 14k gold-filled Wadsworth case, and the word rare belongs there. White gold-filled cases were seldom purchased by customers in 1917; they would not become fashionable until the Roaring Twenties pushed white metals into the mainstream. To find a 1917 railroad watch wearing one is to find an early example of a style that was about to sweep the decade, and Wadsworth was among the finest American case makers of the era.

The dial is a classic vitreous enamel, double-sunk and pristine white, laid out in bold Arabic numerals for the kind of instant legibility a conductor needed in poor light at a dead run. Look closely at the outer chapter ring and you will see the red five-minute markers so a man could read elapsed time at a glance without counting ticks. The spade whip hands are heat-blued steel, a traditional railroad configuration and a small flourish of craftsmanship on a watch built to work.

The A. Lincoln grade was introduced by Illinois in 1907 and named for the president who had lived, practiced law and is buried in Springfield, the same town where the factory stood. The Bunn family who ran Illinois had been personal supporters of Lincoln, and the name was no accident of marketing. 1917 was a pivotal year on the American rails: in April the United States declared war on Germany, and the railroads carried millions of soldiers from induction camps to the Atlantic ports. Accurate time was never more essential, and a watch like this one did that work.

The watch presents beautifully, with the enamel dial clean and crisp, the blued steel spade whip hands intact, the Wadsworth case holding up exceptionally, and the movement running as it was built to. This is a scarce and distinctive example of American railroad horology, carrying a presidential name, an unusual case for its year, and a movement finished to a standard the Springfield works was celebrated for. A cornerstone piece for any serious Illinois collection.

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