The C.H. Hulburd was Elgin's prestige dress watch and is probably the most innovative, artistic and thinness American dress watch made .

During the early 1920s Hulburds were priced between $300 and $550. During the same time periods a Ford or Chevy was selling for $500.This particular Hulburd sold for over $400 new and I was able to pick it up on EBay for $700.

Although 8 blocks of 1,000 were reserved only a few hundred were probably sold due to their high cost.It took about 5 years to sell the first production block of 200.Many other Status watches such as the Premier Maximus, Polaris ,Edward Howard etc suffered the same fate and were slow to sell.

The movement is unlike any other American design and look more similar to European designs. It had 19 jewels with 8 adjustments and an Invar Steel balance.

Ads for the Hulburd stated that each Hulburd was "a distinctly different creation"-no two had the same combination of bows, crowns, cases, dials and hands. The Hulburds are distinguished by unusual bows, crowns, ornate dials and carved cases. Some in the first and second production runs also were enameled .

The watches in the first production were the most elaborate. As time went on the cases, bows ,crowns and dials became significantly plainer.

The watch shown is a in the first production run and personifies what a Hulburd is. That is it has an elongated stylized bow, an acorn crown, a fancy dial and intricate carving on the edge and back of the case.

The reason I had the seller send this watch directly to Chris was because it "was not running". My prior experiences with Chris is that he did a superb job repair/restoring my watches. As parts are rarely available for Hulburds I needed someone who could make parts etc if necessary. Also I was not willing to entrust this watch to someone who was not the best.

Ethan ,I don't know if you have any Hulburds you could share.

PS
I offered this watch to Lindell for $750 but he said it was too expensive since it wasn't a Bunn Special.

Movement

carved edges

Shot with 105mm Macro lens at 1:1. You can see the detail it can capture.

Bow and crown

back of case

Robert

Beautiful watch & case, I don't think I had ever heard of or seen one before. Congratulations!

Tom

That is a very big WOW! Congrats and enjoy.

Robert you have a very beautiful and unique watch, one that any collector would love to have....

They are very hard to find....and I agree with you, that they are more rare than one might think....

That is one of the nicest one's I have seen....

Thanks very much for sharing it with us....

Regards,
Jerry

Robert, your Hulburd is wonderful. If you really are interested in selling the watch, I would be very interested in buying it.

I have two Hulburds, and had a third.

The first one I acquired was a later Hulburd, #28,254,022, in excellent condition that came in its original leather case, on the paperwork in which a child had written "Dads White Watch."

The case of this watch is a plain polished version of your much more beautiful case, but the dial is very different.

The back of the case has a nice monogram.

Here is the movement, which I had Chris Abell service last year.

My second Hulburd has a dial like yours but a different case. It came with movement number 19,999,869, which made it one of the first 100 made, but the movement had so many problems and ruined parts that Chris Abell despaired of it ever running again. By a stroke of luck, I managed to buy an excellent movement, just 22 numbers higher than the first, #19,999,891, which Chris overhauled and then substituted for the original movement in my watch. I then gave the original movement and the dial from my replacement movement to a very well known collector, as a token of my appreciation for his sage counsel over the years.

Here is the second Hulburd, which like the first one, is in a 14k case.

Here is the case back.

Here is the original movement that I gave to a friend.

Here is the replacement movement.

If you compare the photos of this watch's original and replacement movements to the movements in my other Hulburd and in Robert's Hulburd, you will note that the first 100 or so Hulburds had a different regulator mechanism.

Ethan
Thanks for showing your Hulburds and the change in the regulator.

I personally think Hulburds are one of the most under rated high end watches.If these were RR watches they would be going for $5K to $10K.

Although I have shown my Hulburds before I thought I would dust them off.The watch is from the first production run. Note the unusual shaped crown.

For those who are unfamilair with Hulburds you will see the highest quality dials and cases sold by an american company.

There are only two known examples of a pillow shaped case. The watch was a given to a partner at Arthur Anderson Accounting--the inscription is on the inside of the cover.

Some of the highest quality and most unusual enamelling are found on some of the 2nd run Hulburds like the one shown below.

You have so many real beauties!

Ethan
I still think your watch in the original case is a great example--I bet it may be the only remaining original set. Your watches also show the great variety in style that the Hulburds came in.

Here is one of the ads for earlier Hulburds--1923

Below is part of a brochure from 1928. Notice that the Hulburds have become much plainer and less ornate.

I think what is interesting is that no one commented on the fact that most early Hulburds did not have a seconds bit.

My theory is that it was partially done for aesthetics and also as a way to make a statement --I just spent the the equivalent of $10K to $20K on a watch and I don't need it to be accurate to second.

Bob

I am reviving this excellent thread to show a new Hulburd I just purchased. Chris Abell is restoring it for me. The photos are his.

Here's the dial side.

And the back.

And the movement.

Ethan

Thank you for posting pictures of your latest Hulburd. Would it be possible to get a better picture of the dial?

For me it is always a treat to see another one surface.I really like the first production ones as they tended to have the most elaborate bows,dials and cases.

What I find most interesting is how similar bows and dials--probably as they are less than 25 numbers apart.

I showed my watch case to a jeweler who said the elaborate designs on the back of the case were acid etched.

Again congratualtions on a great find
Bob

I presently have no other dial photos to post, so I will instead relate the watch's provenance. I asked the seller about its history because she said the watch had been her grandfather's. She replied: "This watch belonged to my grandfather Fred C Kelly. He was a writer who was the first nationally syndicated columnist. He wrote many books on such subjects as the stock market, raising dogs and fellow Ohio humorists. He was most recognized for his autobiography of the Wright Brothers, Miracle at Kitty Hawk which I believe is still being published . He was great friends with Orville Wright and is credited for bringing the Wright Brothers plane to the Smithsonian. My father just passed away at age 98 and he claimed to be the last living person to shake hands with Orville Wright."

Here is the Wikipedia article on Fred Kelly. Article