I was watching this auction. Wow, what a price!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&it...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Yes, quite a nice one.

That seller also has had a bunch of great-looking Illinois wristwatches. These don't come up on eBay too often, at least the less common ones.

Adam

It is an extreme rarity -- but not all that wearable today - it has a very thin strap, 0.5 inches, and the case is only barely wider than the movement.

Dan

The Seller is Magnificent.

He is one of the most honest, direct, and sincere individuals that I've ever met on Ebay.

This fellow gets fantistic watches. For reasons that are unknown, he keeps them in Vicki's sock drawer. I don't even want to know about this!?!

I do know that I had the opportunity to buy this magnificent example of the Spur, and to my dismay, I passed.

Yes, it is small. Yes, it feels like a ladies watch. Still, It is among the greatest Hamilton Watches.

I missed a great one from a great seller.

Thank You William for your kind words... It means a lot coming from someone with your fine reputation...
Take Care
John

You can read about the Spur at http://www.vintagehamilton.com/pages/828870/index.htm

and

http://www.vintagewatch.info/Detail%20-%20Spur%20-%20White.htm

Don

I'm glad to hear about John's reputation as one of ebays most honest. I had an opportunity to aquire one of the Illinois wrist watches John was selling and it's outstanding. I missed aquiring a second Illinois he listed and hope the winner of that watch is as appreciative as I.

...off the main topic, the Illinois won from John,
Just wanted to share.

Looks like an Illinois Marquis, 6/0 size 17 or 19 jewels. It came in 14K white or green gold filled plain or engraved case. Leather strap with buckle. Found in 1928-9 Hamilton-Illinois catalog and 1929 Blue Book Jewelry Store catalog

Thanks for the info Don. The dials of these early Illinois shown in the Guide picture the seconds bit with numeral markers, yet mine does not. Would you say it might be a redial?

I think this is certainly a redial.

Bill,

I think you are correct about this Marquis being a redial -- I imagine the sub-second is a bit of a giveaway. No matter, this looks to be a great case from a great seller!! As you well know, (from our various watch-therapy sessions), I have been a bit crazy (my lay-term, not necessarily your professional opinion...LOL) when it comes to locating every possible variation of the Marquis.

To add to Donald's post, the Marquis also came in 2 variations of 2 tone. It came with a typical green center and white engraved bezel/back -- this configuration is rare but available. It also game in a much more rare green bezel/back with a white center -- this was the only Illinois so configured and around 12 are known. I have both variations, and I was lucky enough to own 2 different examples of the rare green bezel/back -- both with maching numbers.

The Marquis also came with a rare configuration without a second hand, and well as an extremely rare version with a second hand at 6. Only 2 Marquis with an original sub-6 dial are known, but a few others exist with redials. I own each of these variations also -- the sans-sub is on a 2-tone and my original sub-6 dial came on a plain (and terrific) green case.

Fred's great book on Illinois lists that the Marquis also can in yellow plain and engraved. I own 2 supposedly yellow examples, but I honestly cannot tell the difference from green -- so I still wonder about this. (Perhaps at some point they simply changed how they advertised them, but the watches remained the same???)

Problem, what problem??

Rick,

This is a little off the original topic, but I do have a question for you. As you seem to know quite a bit about Illinois, I was wondering if you could shed any light on the custom dials that are in the Friedberg book. I am referring to the painted custom dials. Were these painted dials done in the factory by Hamilton/Illinois as well? I understand they made the dials with letters instead of numbers, but was just curious about the painted dials with the beach scenes and others I have seen. I must admit that I have only read about 60% of the book so far, as I can't stop looking at the photos, so I apologize in advance if I skipped over more information on these dials.

Adam

Adam,

I'm flattered by your comment, but I'm sure that many here have forgotten more than I know!! As far as the scene-painted dials, I know very little. I have never even seen one other than the example in Fred's book. If anyone knows more, it is likely to be Fred. That said, this might be one fact of which very little is to be determined??

Rick,

Thanks for the reply. Besides the 1 in Friedberg book, I have only seen 2 others. They were both on Hamilton watches. I am lucky to have one of them. Mine is on a Greenwich and the other I saw was on a Hastings. They both date very close to the custom Major dial listed in the Friedberg book. I thought that they may have had a small quantity of dials produced all at the same time. All 3 dials have a similiar beach scene with Palm trees.

Adam

To add to Adam's question about the palm tree dials, I located an example last year on a Illinois Ace. It looked basically identital to the Major shown in Fred's book. Upon close examination, I am fairly confident that it was not original. After speaking with others, I doubt if the example in Fred's great book is original either! (If you look, you will notice that Fred's book refers to the example shown as a "custom dial", but not as original.)

To add to my post in 2006 about the Marquis, it is now believed that the Marquis came in a 3rd 2-tone variation -- with the bezel being plain green instead of engraved. I located this all-matching example in 2007.

Rick

at the right bottom corner of your own post is a yellow 'edit or delete message' button only visible for yourself. You can use it, edit the first and delete the second post.

Gerald

Gerald,

THANKS! You can see that I have not posted here much the last few years. (And also that I am a lousy typist!)