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Let's See Your Watches! The Vintage Watch Thread.

GJH

New in Town
Messages
31
Location
New York
1925 Illinois Central Canby
dOf9P9T.jpg
 

viclip

Practically Family
Messages
571
Location
Canada
Thanks. It looks larger in the photo. Compared to the monster watches these days
these are much smaller. The Illinois Watch Co. was the King of Art Deco.
Here is an extremely rare 1930 Illinois Skyway with White dial.
ve3wNKdl.jpg
According to the Price Guide,there are less than 350 Illinois Skyways kicking about.

I wonder whether the dials came in colors other than white.
 
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MrCairo

Familiar Face
Messages
66
Location
NL
Very nice pair of vintage wristwatches.

I especially like the alarm function of the Cricket. Those are super-
handy timepieces due to that reminder feature.

Agreed -- and a fairly unique complication, especially for its time.
 
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GJH

New in Town
Messages
31
Location
New York
As a matter of fact... it also came in a Black Dial.
I have been collecting these for years and that 350 number is
probably 10 times higher than the actual amount of these that have survived.
The "star" case had a screwback and bezel, and watchmakers couldn't figure
out how to get them off and pried them to bits. There are even several examples
with holes drilled in the back to get them off. Most were destroyed.
It also came in several other dial configurations, that I will show later.
UTl4l6Xl.jpg
 
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viclip

Practically Family
Messages
571
Location
Canada
As a matter of fact... it also came in a Black Dial.
I have been collecting these for years and that 350 number is
probably 10 times higher than the actual amount of these that have survived.
The "star" case had a screwback and bezel, and watchmakers couldn't figure
out how to get them off and pried them to bits. There are even several examples
with holes drilled in the back to get them off. Most were destroyed.
It also came in several other dial configurations, that I will show later.
UTl4l6Xl.jpg
Your Illinois Skyways are strikingly handsome wristwatches what with the unique logo below 12 o'clock and the stars around the bezel; I understand that the caseback also has matching stars around its circumference.

I'm generally partial to black dials but for some reason I prefer the white version on the Skyway, maybe because that logo presents itself better on a white background, to my eye at least.

I suspect that it wasn't watchmakers but rather "botchmakers" who stupidly pried & drilled the casebacks rather than simply unscrewing them. Whenever I come across a similarly mangled pocket watch case I always shed a silent tear; for such a unique watch as the rarely seen Illinois Skyway I'd perhaps bawl like a baby upon coming across a messed up specimen.

Thanks for posting shots of these & your other Illinois wristwatches, you must be quite the advanced collector & it's good of you to share your images & associated knowledge.
 

viclip

Practically Family
Messages
571
Location
Canada

MrCairo

Familiar Face
Messages
66
Location
NL
Looks like a great pair of Zenith wristwatches.

The second one I can recognize as the Zenith 2400 with the date window at 4:30 o'clock. Does it have the "T" for Tritium marking at 5 o'clock? Correct me if I'm mistaken but this model was made in the mid-1960's.

You're quite right on the second point: but the first watch is a Longines.As for the T on the Zenith: there is none, as there is no tritium or any kind of luminous on the dial of this particular iteration of the 2400.


The first watch I cannot make out from the photos. Can you describe it better?

Certainly. It is a 1957 Longines Silver Arrow, calibre 23ZS. 33mm diameter, it was intended as a sportswatch (and originally came on a matching bracelet). It was marketed as a young and cool watch, an attempt to attract the younger generation to the brand.

It is currently at my watchmaker for servicing so I can't take more photos at the moment, but here is a one I found online of the same model, nicer than I can make:

Silverarrow1.jpg
 
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