This identical watch, serial number 101, was sold at auction in New York in 1988 for $12,000. Raymond model, which sold in April of 1867 for the astounding price of $115.
The factory for the National watch company was completed in 1866, and the first movement produced was an 18-size B. Mason – with financial backing from former Chicago Mayor Benjamin W. Some of the organizers of the National Watch Company would later become a few of the biggest names in the American watch industry: J. Total production over their 100 years of operation reached 60 million watches, making Elgin one of the most commonly collected vintage watches, since there are still so many examples available at reasonable prices.
In fact, Elgin produced approximately half of the total number of “better quality” pocket watches manufactured in the United States. Founded in 1864 in Elgin, Illinois, the Elgin Watch Company (also known as the Elgin National Watch Company) was the largest American watch manufacturer in terms of total production.
