Elgin National Watch Company

Often we seem to get to involved with the internal workings of pocket watches.  Another aspect of the wonderful watch industry in America, was the creative advertising used to market watches to the buying public.  Here are a few interesting items that we hope you will enjoy looking at.

Back in the late 1800's to the early 1900's, companies created some very beautiful signs that were displayed in the ornate jewelry stores that sold pocket watches.  Probably our favorite advertising sign is this one by the Elgin National Watch Company.  This sign is made using a 1/2 inch piece of oak with a very detailed image of a boy who looks a though he has survived the fight of his life.  Holding up his Elgin watch, he exclaims, "But my Elgin is OK."  Most advertising from this time period featured faces that all looked the same.  We hope you enjoy this great advertising sign, from days long gone by.

Be Sure To Click On These Pictures
To See The Detailed Artwork

Another interesting area of the watch industry was the way companies inserted labels into the cases of pocket watches.  Over the years, these labels have become very collectible.  Many of them were used by watchmakers and were put into watch cases to remind the owner when to have his watch serviced again.  The engraving on these labels is very detailed, and many were produced by bank note companies.  Here are some nice examples.  We have more and will display them here later.

      This fine detailed label shows the Waltham Watch factory.  This label identifies this watch as being solid gold with the mint assay.  This item also has the facsimile signature of Royal E. Robbins who was the president of Waltham during this time period.