Happily found this chart of approximate Hamilton dial signatures and dates. Does anything similar for Illinois? Didn't see anything in the archives.

James,

The best I could come up with is a "Find" search for "correct Illinois dial"... it brings up two pages of posts on a myriad of specific questions.

My manuals and catalogs are spotty at best and some are very hard to even nail down a particular date.

I rely heavily on the Illinois Data Base disc to tell me the style of dial I should find on any particular watch I run by serial number.

I'd like to start a post in the Illinois Watch Company Research forum where anyone who wants to can dump in their known to be correct or believed to be correct examples of matched movements and dials.

I'll kick it off with a couple I have and see if it catches on.

R/Pault

Paul, thanks for that reference. Incidently, AFTER posting that Hamilton dial pic, I purchased a 992B and didn't pick-up that the dial was incorrect! You can lead a horse to water....

James,

Thank you for making me laugh. I've been doing this for a couple years now and just last month managed to buy an otherwise really nice 18S Illinois without realizing the regulator bow was missing until I unpacked it at the house. It took me over a month to source a replacement bow and screws.

I have used the Hamilton Dial sheet more than once. Thank you for posting this gem.