Ingersoll US TIME watch, 1950s.
A small non-running watch with an interesting font that may be an homage to early machine reading.
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Nice, small watch from US TIME, the company that became TIMEX. US TIME used to be called Waterbury Watch Company, and in 1922 Waterbury bought Ingersoll, after Ingersoll went bankrupt following the recession at the end of WWI. For many years, Waterbury and then US TIME manufactured watches branded as Ingersoll. It is uncertain when this watch was made. The first TIMEX branded watches sold to consumers were released in 1950s, but I'm virtually certain US TIME continued to make watches with Ingersoll on the dial after the introduction of TIMEX brand. So, it is probably 1950s. (btw, I'm Alan, and contact info is below.)
Caseback. A kind of brushed, striated pattern to the back. US TIME stamp, and 10 A75, whatever that means.
Here is the whole watch. The crown looks "huge" but it's in comparison to the small watch. The dial was probably more white when it was made, but over the decades has acquired some color. This pic kind of exaggerates it, tbh. Black tapered metal hands, and red seconds hand. 60 hash marks, and Ingersoll on dial.
View of the dial and the seconds hand, tapered at the tip, to avoid running in to the edge of the crystal. (Taken with 15x mag loupe.)
Take a good look at the hour numerals on the dial. Can I convince you that even though the lettering is different from the "magnetic ink character recognition" font (MICR) used on bank checks, that is where dial designers may have drawn their creative inspiration?
The E13B font, adopted in 1958 as the MICR standard for negotiable documents in the United States.
It is new to me that the ink used on the checks was a magnetic type of ink. The distribution of the ink, for each character, was interpreted as a specific numeral based on its magnetic interaction with the reader, so 8 was understood as 8 based on its magnetic distribution. Until now I had always thought the reading mechanism was optical. Wow, magnetic ink! 1958!
Here is the movement. It looks very much like the other early-mid 1950s movements from US TIME, same as the ones which went into the early TIMEX. Whether it is the same, I am uncertain. Like does it have the V-CONIC modification. I'm not sure. but looks to me identical, two plates, few screws etc. Nothing is written on the movement
More info and pics of the watch, below, but if you want to learn more about the early history of machine reading, see this August 1956 article. It's pretty interesting.
Here is more information on how the system works: "MICR characters are printed in special typefaces with a magnetic ink or toner, usually containing iron oxide. As a machine decodes the MICR text, it first magnetizes the characters in the plane of the paper. Then the characters are passed over a MICR read head, a device similar to the playback head of a tape recorder. As each character passes over the head it produces a unique waveform that can be easily identified by the system." From this link.
A brass movement holder sits in inside the steel caseback.
Notice how the dial is attached to the front movement plate using four tabs that are slotted into holes in the plate. Nearly all US TIME / TIMEX watches were made this way.
MADE IN U.S.A. This small watch was intended for women, or children or both.
I'm still intrigued by the dial, the hours lettering.
Thanks for reading.
I hope you will like it.
Alan
Contact information:
Website: Alan's Vintage Watches.
