Welcome

I recently completed THE ILLINOIS WATCH: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A GREAT AMERICAN WATCH COMPANY a book to be published in early 2004 by Schiffer Publishing.

For lovers of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne design as well as watch collectors, this unique volume comprises a complete cultural and technological history of the Illinois Watch Company (1870-1928), the leading American manufacturer of Art Deco/Moderne-designed wristwatches.

After explaining the rising popularity of the wristwatch in the United States, the book explores the culture of the Illinois Watch Company factory in Springfield, Illinois. My privileged access to factory documentation and other primary sources, much of which has never been published, plus interviews with some of the very few surviving factory employees, brings to life the Illinois Watch Company history. This comprehensive overview includes working conditions, employee benefits, women's issues of the era, and even extracurricular activities.

The technological history conveys how an Illinois watch movement was manufactured and references each wristwatch movement's production numbers and dates of manufacture as well as a myriad of case configurations and dial varieties among the many Illinois models.

Finally, the book blends the technological and the cultural by tying significant details of the factory's creativity and manufacturing decisions to sidebar historical timelines of world events and design aesthetics. To further illuminate the link between past and present, the book weaves dozens of collector anecdotes into a complete watch identification guide, which includes color pictures of every known Illinois wristwatch, along with a price guide. While these photos and the book's other factual references are sure to be a long anticipated boon to collectors, they will also delight Art Deco devotees -- and possibly convert a few into the newest Illinois wristwatch collectors.

PLEASE NOTE: Most of the information in this book with the exception of the Identification Guide is applicable to pocket watches as well.

Cordially,
Fred Friedberg

Menu

Welcome