I just cleaned and timed this sweet Grade 171 Illinois Getty Sears Roebuck Special. Of a total of 1680 Grade 171's made, 500 were Sears Roebuck Special. The price guide lumps all of these together at $65.00. Lets see how many "stars" are a 500 piece run? . . .

Dave it's sad that the lower jewel count, low production grade watches get ignored. It looks to be in very good condition and with less than 1000 made you would think highly sought after. I picked an Elgin grade 412 (18s 21j adj3p LS) for a touch over $100 and I was a bit surprised since this movement was the last 18s Elgin that was made and only 3600 were made. I have no issues with picking up lower jewel 11-17 watches if they are lower production.

The dial alone is a keeper - love that Olde English script .

Guess what? There was a second run of 250 Pc's and this one showed up in my "rummage" while I was rummaging for a parts mvt! It looks hardly used. Also note the single sunk ROMAN numeralled dial and Gold Wheel train. This is still a 171 but actually quite different from the above.

Well, there is so much that Cooksey is wrong about. I'm sure they're not going to get fixed that soon either. And when I say so much wrong I'm mostly referring to the South Bend section.