“Transitional” Elgin automatics from the end of US production

Around the end of 1962, Elgin began using significantly different dials on its American-made 27 and 30 jewel automatic (self-winding) watches. This occurred in the leadup to Elgin’s 1963 launch of Swiss-made 25 jewel automatics, which replaced the U.S.-made automatics Elgin had sold since 1959.

In this transition period, American-made automatics received dials with only “Elgin” and “Self Winding” written on them, using the same font (typeface) as its prior automatics. Elgin omitted the words “American Made” and the jewel count (“27 Jewel” or “30 Jewel”) found on prior dials. Nonetheless, the entire watch remained American made.

We call these “Transitional” Elgins, because they represent a distinct phase in the transition from American-made automatics to the new Swiss watches. For a long time, collectors assumed that watches with only the “Elgin” and “Self Winding” language might have refurbished or replacement dials. However, the recent discovery of ads for the Elgin’s 27 jewel Model “S” — possibly the last American-made automatic Elgin introduced — shows that this change in language was intentional.

The “S” model ad from November 11, 1962 is shown below, along with photos of the watch. The Model “S” uses Elgin’s standard American-made “761” automatic movement and is housed in the same case (reference 6852) that Elgin used for its “Thin-Thin” 27 jewel Models “B” and “P”:

Another possible example of a “Transitional” Elgin is the watch below (photos from Ebay listing), which uses the standard 27 jewel “761” movement and is housed in a “D” model case reference 6851. Like the “S” model above, this watch is entirely American made. We do not know how Elgin advertised this watch:

We can speculate as to why Elgin made these changes to the dials. One theory: in 1963, Elgin’s new “top of the line” automatics were foreign-made and had a lower jewel count than the American made automatics Elgin was discontinuing. A customer seeing a clearly labeled American-made version in a jeweler’s display case next to the new imports might wonder whether “new” was actually a downgrade. Removing the country of origin and jewel count from the dial would have made this uncomfortable conversation less likely.

Continue reading below to see the entire lineup of Elgin 27- and 30-jewel automatic watches: