The Illinois Watch Company was originally called the Illinois Springfield Watch Company. Founded in 1870 by John C Adams, John W. Bunn, John T Stuart, John Williams, George Passfield, George Black, and William B Miller, the company presented its first watch to the world two years later, dubbed the “Stuart’ after one of the company’s many founders. Over one hundred years later, Illinois Pocket Watches retain their style and character.
In the nearly seventy years the company was in operation, they produced a variety of watches and underwent a number of name changes, always including the original ‘Illinois’ part of the company name. The earliest models employed the use of a key to wind them up, and are among the most valued collector’s pieces of all the Illinois Pocket Watches. In later years, they produced a series of ‘Railroad Quality’ watches. These watches were of exceptionally high quality, highly accurate and finely detailed.
Like many companies, the Illinois watch company underwent several reorganizations over the years it was in business. In 1879, the company suffered a financial setback and was forced to restructure, in the process changing the name to the Springfield Illinois Watch Company. Six years later, in 1885, the company experienced a similar problem yet again, and changed the name to simply the Illinois Watch Company.
By the late 1920s, independent operation was no longer feasible, and the company was sold to the Hamilton Watch Company. Despite the sale, the Illinois factory continued operation for several more years, until 1932, the year in which the last authentic Illinois Watch was manufactured.
The Hamilton Watch Company continued producing watches under the Illinois name until 1939, many of which were stored and not packaged or sold until more than a decade had passed. Despite the somewhat ignoble end, the Illinois pocket watch continues to be collected and valued by watch lovers around the globe.