Bidspirit auction | Illinois Stewart Special 17 Jewel

Illinois Stewart Special 17 Jewel Adjusted Gold Filled Open Face Pocket Watch - A manual wind open-face pocket watch featuring a movement manufactured by the Illinois Watch Company. The white porcelain dial is printed with black Arabic numerals, a minutes track, and a sub-seconds dial at the six o'clock position. The dial bears the printed name ILLINOIS below the twelve o'clock position. The blued steel hands include a spade-style hour hand and a whip-style minute hand. The movement is visible behind a screw-off back and is decorated with damaskeening. It is engraved with a serial number 3639515, and the text ADJUSTED, ILLINOIS, STEWART SPECIAL, and 17 JEWELS. The interior of the case back features several stamped marks including an arched Illinois WATCH CASE CO. ELGIN, TIVOLI, GOLD FILLED, a diamond cartouche containing 14K, GUARANTEED, and the serial number 4162883. Several hand-scratched jeweler's service marks are present on the interior case back. The watch case features decorative foliate engraving along the edges. The watch runs. Diameter: 1 5/8 inches. The porcelain dial shows significant damage with multiple intersecting hairline fractures and spider cracks radiating across the surface, most prominently visible near the 4, 8, and 11 o'clock positions (photo 1). The printed brand name on the dial shows surface fading and loss (photo 2). The gold-filled case displays heavy wear and brassing, particularly on the back cover where the base metal is exposed through the engine-turned finish (photo 3). The winding crown shows significant plating loss, revealing the yellow base metal (photo 10). The crystal has light surface scratching throughout (photo 8). The blued steel hands exhibit minor surface oxidation (photo 2). The movement appears clean with no visible corrosion, though it has not been tested for long-term timekeeping accuracy (photo 5).