Many of our IHC185 members know and may have enjoyed some of the few thousand watches I have sold on eBy and elswhere over the past 2 years. While these sales have not eroded the core of my collection, some may think that I hold that nothing is sacred. Let me tell you, one is!

Nice gothic dial, worn but clean case . . .

All wrapped around a Grade 186 Getty that is one of the most exquisitely finished Illinois watches I have ever seen. With this who NEEDs to "run a railroad". It does keep RR time after careful service

One of 1420 ever made and one of 200 in this pattern

Beautiful watch, David!

Dave I am not sure why you say it "can't run a railroad" if you read the post "What is a railroad watch" there were many railroads that accepted 17j adj 3 position watches, C,B&Q,Santa Fe and a few others are listed which would probably add up to over 50,000 miles of track. This was was made prior to 1920 so it may not have run all all the tracks that Ball had heavy influence on but all the other class 1 railroads out there that did not cave in, it could have easily been used to run the tracks and would have been completely approved. And since many of the other railroad lines that we do know existed we don't have their standards, we can't say what their standards were. So for Santa Fe, C,B&Q this would have pass the standards in place at the time and an engineer running a big boy or 4-6-4 steamer could well have carried that watch. It looks to be a lever set, but I can't tell for sure.

The Getty is truly one of the most outstanding watch movements made.

Claude, you are certainly right.

I said: "With this who NEEDs to "run a railroad". It does keep RR time after careful service."

Indeed, it is lever set and would be able to run a railroad, but the beauty of the movement certainly separates it from the pack!

I agree with you Dave, this one is certainly a beautiful watch and with it who, indeed, needs to run any railroad with it, even though it certainly would be capable of doing so....and it definitely is a COLLECTOR'S KEEPER....

Thanks for showing it to us....

Regards,

Jerry

Wow! That one is a work of watchmaking art.Thanks for showing it.That is one to be proud of for sure!Best regards, Ted.

David,

I love this watch. In fact, I love it so much, that I just bought one on ebay! Mine needs some TLC when I get it (mainspring, hairlines, rusty hands). However the movement is fine, fine, fine. Serial number 2537764 a little later than yours.

Just curious, how did you determine the production figure of 200 for this fancy finished Getty movement?

John III

John, can you post a pic of the two-tone Getty that you won from Dave on eBay a while back (unless they're the same)? I'd like to see them both together.

Hi David;

I look at watches (inside & out) the same way I look at good guns, knives & swords that I collect. I see them all first, as a work of art. I don't know why, I just do.

That one is no different David and the damaskeening and jewelling on that movement is absolutely superb.


Obviously done by a professional who loves what he does.

It's apleasure to look at David, thank you.

Bud

Eric,

There is a picture of the Grade 185 two tone in this link

John III

They're both gorgeous, John. I imagine you've got them next to each other in your display case.

Eric,

I've got a few other Illinois two-tone beauties. Check out this link.

John III

Very cool. That's practically the exact same movement I have in a Burlington. It's one of my favorites.