The South Bend Watch Company was slightly late to the pocket watch game (only having started in the very early 1900's), but the company saw great success through advertising excellence. However, selling watches on credit backfired when the great depression caused many delinquent accounts.
South Bend did not produce nearly as many watches as companies like Elgin, Waltham, and Illinois, and after going out of business in 1929 the company had made less than 1.5 million watches (this seems more insignificant versus Elgin's 60 million produced). In fact, the company only made about 200,000 more watches after this particular watch was made.
This watch features a gorgeous decoration pattern that looks as though straight Geneva strips were machined, then perpendicular wave patterns were damascened to form intricate cells. The watch also has a 3/4 plate design with a fingered bridge, circular graining on the main plate, 21 precision cut ruby and sapphire jewels, gold gilt lettering, a South Bend whipspring regulator, and adjustment to 5 positions and temperature. The movement bridges show signs of aesthetic wear, but the critical functional components are in excellent condition.
The beautiful, original, double sunk, white enamel dial has a red 5-minute track in the outer margin. The blued steel hands point to large, bold, black, traditionally serifed Arabic numerals. This movement is one of 45,000 grade 227 watches ever made.
