1950s Ingersoll Football Referee Timer
Made in Great Britain, probably Wales
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Hi, this is Alan. Thanks for reading these pages, and for your interest in watches. My contact information is at the bottom.
Here is a clean-looking, almost cheerful timer intended for referees of the game football (soccer.) It is said to be from "the 1950s," but I don't have any specific verification of when it was made. The timer is 50 mm in diameter, about the size of a pocket watch, made of typical 3-piece pocket watch construction with a snap-on caseback, main case/body, and metal bezel holding the acrylic crystal.
I obtained it for $15 + $4 shipping, and it runs very well. Here's another Ingersoll football timer, different style, orange dial!
Let's get right into the details of this timer. Here is a pic with the bezel/crystal removed, so you can really see the dial without any distortion. The most prominent detail is the "three-quarter color blocking" from 0 to 45 minutes. Football matches are of two 45-minute periods. The referee starts with the minute hand (black) set to 0/60, and when it reaches 45, the half is over. The color blocking, you could argue, may not be necessary, but it provides the referee a quick visual "proportional cue" about how much time is left in the half, without worrying necessarily if it's 12 minutes or 14 minutes, etc. Plus, it makes for an attractive dial! The color blocking is broken up with white lines at each 5 minute interval.
The same green is used to make hash marks at each 5 minute interval at the dial edge, where there are otherwise black hashes. The black minute hand has a nice tapered shape, and the seconds hand is painted red Lettering for the hours uses a black sans serifs font. MADE IN GT. BRITAIN at the bottom.
Here you can see part of the 3-part nature of the timer, with the bezel in the front. Bezel snaps off easily with a removal tool, just like the caseback.
Not my watch or picture, but from an extinct sales site showing what appears to be the original box.
The history of the name/brand "Ingersoll" is kind of convoluted, and I won't go over all the details here, but at some point there became a company called "Ingersoll, Ltd," a wholly British-owned company, and it appears that this was made by Ingersoll, Ltd. Their operations were in Wales, United Kingdom. An ironworks facility called Ynyscedwyn, in the village of Ystradgynlais near Swansea, Wales. The place name of Ystradgynlais was first recorded in 1372. There was a river, and also a canal, creating a kind of "island" village as shown on this old map from 1877 (two pics I've fused togther).
There is a button on the side around 10, which the referee uses to start and stop the timer. When time needs to be stopped (injury, penalty kicks, etc?) the referee can slide it to the stop position. Internally, the button is connected to a small metal extension, and this extension lightly touches the edge of the balance wheel, stopping everything. When returned to the running position, the watch starts again.
Movement. The copper tension spring in the center is maintaining tension on the center seconds mechanism, much like in 1950s US TIME/TIMEX movements, Mainspring barrel is to its right. Balance wheel and escapement to the left. You can see the on/off button at upper left edge of case. Moving it toward the balance moves an internal metal strip (hard to see in this pic) that lightly touches the balance wheel, shutting everything off.
The design of this watch has what to me feels "Modernist." And/or resembling the admittedly vague category of "Swiss design." I feel that if the architectural term, "International Style" applied to watches, this would qualify.
What is this? Not my watch, but looks very similar. For yachting purposes, with blue color blocking, with a countdown feature, rather than the numbers counting up. But otherwise identical hands, case, hour markings, hash marks, case and start-stop button. Nothing says "Ingersoll," but it's MADE IN GT. BRITAIN, and almost certainly was made by Ingersoll, Ltd as well.
Crown, and the metal loop for attaching to like a lanyard around your neck. To set the minute hand, instead of pulling out the crown, you press it inward toward the watch as your turn it to set the hand to the desired time.
When you don't have a goal, a couple of crumpled-up jackets will do. These kids didn't need any 45 minute timers.
Back to my Ingersoll. View of the entire watch, above, and another pic of the watch with the crystal removed, below
NOT MY WATCH. But looks very similar. Essentially identical, except this says SIMBA where mine says INGERSOLL, otherwise identical. I wonder if Ingersoll, Ltd manufactured these watches for the company or "jobber" called SIMBA, for them to sell.
