Seven people created The National Watch Company on August 27, 1864. One of these people was the former mayor of Chicago, Benjamin w. Raymond. The National Watch Company was built on 35-acres of land in Elgin that had been donated by local business men. The National Watch Company lured machinists from the Waltham Watch Company to manufacture watch movements.

The salaries for the seven machinists were unheard of during this time period. The Civil War was progressing and young workers were hard to find and $5,000 a year salaries were offered to get the National Watch Company into full production mode. The first watch movement was produced in April, 1867, and was named after Benjamin w. Raymond. Naming watches became a matter of tradition for the National Watch Company from this point forward.

It took machinists at the National Watch Company six months to create one Elgin Watch. The Elgin Watches were key wind watches that were constructed with a full plate, with quick train and straight line escapement that was arranged to sit on the face of the Elgin Watches. The casings for Elgin Watches were made so that they could be adjusted to temperatures.


Models Of Elgin Watches
The first wrist watch was constructed in 1910 by the newly named Elgin National Watch Company. Elgin Watches were manufactured to be timepieces that kept time with extreme accuracy, and the Elgin National Watch Company built an observatory so that they could ensure that each Elgin Watch had accuracy that matched the alignment of stars in the night sky.

Other Elgin Watches were produced during the course of a year, and were named for members of the Elgin National Watch Company board of director’s and the original machinists that started the production line of the Elgin Watch Company. The first Lady Elgin watch was produced in May of 1869. Production techniques improved and by the end of 1898, more than 2500 watches were being produced during the course of a week.


Splendid Remedies Of Elgin Watches
The accuracy of timepieces was affected by temperature changes, vibrations and changes to air pressure. The Elgin Watch process allotted for these changes by establishing a system that included sealing Elgin watches in vaults, and pumping air out of these chambers to ensure an equal air pressure was maintained. The Elgin National Watch Company went as far as constructing glass houses to maintain the correct amount of air pressure in the watches they were created.

More accurate methods of timekeeping were developed and eventually inventions such as the atomic clock and others caused the demise of the Elgin National Watch Company. The demolition of the manufacturing building in October of 1966 signaled the end of a proud American watch company.