I have in front of me an Elgin 162 and a 161, both with Breguet(moon) hands. I also have a 161 that does not have moon hands. Some ads mention moon hands some do not. Does anyone know if the moon hands were standard on all the 161s and 162s?

I wish I could give you a better answer, but I doubt that we are ever going to come across a document from Elgin that said "these watches were never sold with other than moon hands."

My 1896 Elgin Material Catalog lists which hands you should order for which class. (Unfortuantely, I didn't scan these particular pages.)

The grade 161 is in class 37, while the grade 162 is in class 41. At the time, these were the only watches in their respective classes. Both classes list moon hands (part #396) as the only option. However, as documented in the 1896 MC, the part numbers just represent the general physical dimensions of the part, while the class is used to distinguish the quality of the part. The grade 161 hands cost 10cents a piece, while the grade 162 hands cost 40cents per.

Now, whether Elgin sold these grades with other hands, I can't really say. They could have changed after the 1896 catalog was published. Later Material Catalogs don't list the appropriate hands for each class. And then, there is nothing that says that just because the recommended replacement parts are one particular type, that Elgin didn't also sell them with another type.

The Elgin Watch Collectors Website