It was great talking with you on the phone earlier today.
About your watch, a "Find-Or-Search" of "Hallmark" on our site brings up this topic wherein Jerry Treiman identified the private label seller as being Macy's Department Stores...
If you share the movement serial number it will help us to narrow it further. The Illinois Watch Company probably made more private labels than any other makers.
Again, it's great to have you with us.
Lindell
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
Your movement number 3011014 turns out to be from a run consisting of 3011001-3012000 inclusive. Those are 12/14-size Pendant-Set, Open-Face, 15-Jewel, Model 4, Grade 503 from 1916 Illinois production and private labeled to the "Hallmark Watch Company" according the Bill Meggers listings in the Illinois Encyclopedia.
Checking into the private label names further, same source, we find "Hallmark" watches were produced by Illinois for the R. H. Macy Department Stores of New York City and three grades of 16-size as well as five grades of the 12/14-size are listed. Looks like some 5,510 of the unadjusted Grade 503 like yours were made.
Hope this helps,
Lindell
Posts: 10553 | Location: Northeastern Ohio in the USA | Registered: November 19, 2002
It is frustrating how one's mistakes can haunt them. My impression that these were for R.H. Macy came from eroneous information in the Illinois encyclopedia by Meggers & Ehrhardt. In fact, the trademark was owned by United Jewelers of Wilmington, DE and later by Louis Aisenstein & Bros. of NYC. This information comes from Kurtis Meyers' "United States Horological Trademark Index"
Posts: 1455 | Location: Los Angeles, California USA | Registered: January 14, 2003