Check out the very nice example of an Illinois 14K Consul on Ebay. [Administrative Note: This is Ron's Auction]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...ageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Randy,

Welcome aboard!

Nice original condition, including the radium hands & dial. That's got to be unusual.

Actually, in my world, the Consul is pretty common.

Included here is 1 in green gold, 2 in 2-tone, 5 white gold engraved, and 2 white gold plain... of these there are 1 sub-6 dial, 3 pinstrip dials, a black starburst, an uber-rare "standard" enamel, 2 silver starbursts, a white starburst, and a gold starburst.

Some have called the Consul "perhaps the greatest American wristwatch"... and I don't think that is far from the truth. In its day, the Illinois 21 and 19 jewel movements were instruments of amazing precision as good or better than anything else made in America or Europe. I am wearing a white plain Consul today with a black starburst that keeps near Chrono-time... in a MUCH smaller, more confortable, and more attractive 14K deco-inspired case.

One point of clarification, while the currently for sale Consul appears to be a very nice example of the Consul with the rare sub-6 dial position, the dial on it seems to have been printed as (or replaced with) an Illinois Beau Brummel dial. This is not a big deal. The Sub-6 Consul shares the same dial blank as the Sub-6 Beau Brummel (the sub-6 Consul is Illinois dial #8204 and the sub-6 Beau Brummel is Illinois dial # 8200), so it is a relatively inexpensive fix by Robert at International Dial to have the dial reverted to its proper configuration. The hands appear to be nicely-aged replacements also, but it is an easy fix to locate a pair of original hands. (Illinois' 1930 Dail and Hand catalogue listed 6 different 6/0 hand sets, and this pair is not one of them.)

For a comparison, this photo is of 3 rather rare Consuls. The one on the left is one of 4-5 known Consuls in green gold with an original (and perhaps unique) white tone/tone starburst dial, one in the middle is a very rare Consul sub 6 (12 or so known) with an original dial, and the one on the right is a very rare (perhaps 12 known) 2-tone Consul with an original silver starburst dial. All 3 have what I THINK to be original hands, although from the old advertisements and Illinois hand catalogue, original hands can vary a bit. One nice thing about the Consul is all of the possible dial, movement, and case variations!!

That's an impressive collection Rick. Thanks for posting it.

Ed,

I am always looking for a good excuse to share my babies! (Now... IF ONLY I could think of a good excuse to buy another one!!) Hopefully someone will give this example a good home.

Regards,