Fredric J. Friedberg

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The Illinois Watch And Its Hamilton Years

This new five-volume, boxed set completes the Illinois Watch story in detail never before revealed, describing the American watch industry at its inception and at the time of the Great Depression, including the impact this economic disaster had on the watch industry, in general, and on Illinois and its new corporate parent, in particular. Organized into five distinct books, volume 1 is a massive, in-depth history, placing the Illinois Watch Company in the context of the American watch industry and detailing the reasons that Hamilton eventually acquired the company. Volume 2 discusses the major components of Illinois wristwatches: movements, dials, and cases. Special features include information about major casemakers and manufacturers of watchbands, and interviews with watch repairers and with the world’s leading dial refinisher. Volumes 3 and 4 comprise three complete identification guides, each with superb color photographs, including a greatly expanded guide to the Illinois men's wristwatches, the most comprehensive guide ever undertaken for the Illinois ladies’s models, and a new guide detailing the men’s and ladies’ watches in the Hamilton-Illinois line introduced and sold by Hamilton between 1953 and 1955. Volume 5 provides information about collecting and tips on how to go about doing it (plus an interview with four top collectors). Beautifully illustrated throughout, these books include many rare advertisements in addition to pictures of the watches themselves.