Description
WESTCLOX vintage mechanical watch
AMERICAN CLASSIC!
“Westclox” is exactly what it sounds like — “Western Clocks,” the trade name of the Western Clock Company of Peru, Illinois, which started life in 1885 as the United Clock Company and took the Western Clock name two years later. A clever new way of die-casting clock movements turned a small prairie workshop into one of the largest clock factories in the world, producing thousands of timepieces a day by the 1910s.
Every American of the twentieth century knew Westclox, even without knowing it: the company’s Big Ben alarm clock of 1909 — and its little brother Baby Ben — woke up generations of the nation, and both became icons of American industrial design.
About Westclox Wristwatches
Westclox built its empire on alarm clocks and affordable pocket watches, and from the 1930s it applied the same formula to the wrist: simple, tough watches for working America, most of them running unjeweled pin-lever movements and sold in drugstores by the million.
That is exactly what makes the 17-jewel models interesting. Sitting at the top of the Westclox range, they carried a proper jeweled lever movement in place of the everyday pin-lever, dressed in the same clean mid-century styling. Westclox listed 17-jewel men’s and ladies’ watches with Swiss movements from 1961, and this is one of them: an American case and dial around a bought-in Swiss caliber, marked M 101.
About This Watch
This is a Westclox “Waterproof 17 Jewels” dress watch from the 1960s. The silver sunburst dial is a textbook piece of mid-century American design: oversized applied gold Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9, all four in the same open, squared-off style, framed by faceted baton indices and slim dauphine hands. The gold-plated case wears its warm tone beautifully against the fresh tan crocodile-grain strap.
Inside ticks the caliber M 101, the 17-jewel manual-wind movement Westclox fitted to its jeweled models — its clean, silver-finished bridges are visible in the movement photos below. The case-back is marked “Antimagnetic – Shock Resistant – Waterproof – 17 Jewels – Stainless Steel Back – Base Metal Bezel,” and the watch winds and sets crisply. It is fitted with a new tan Nagata leather strap.
Technical Specifications
- Brand: Westclox (General Time Corporation)
- Line: “Waterproof 17 Jewels” dress watch
- Lug Width: 18mm
- Movement: Swiss-made, marked cal. M 101, 17 jewels, manual wind
- Production Date: circa 1960s
- Case Material: Gold-plated base metal bezel, with stainless steel snap-on back
- Case Diameter: approx. 33mm excl. crown
- Dial: Silver sunburst, applied gold Arabic 12–3–6–9 and baton indices, central seconds
- Crystal: Acrylic
- Case-back: Marked “Antimagnetic – Shock Resistant – Waterproof – 17 Jewels – Stainless Steel Back – Base Metal Bezel”
- Market: USA
Condition Report
The dial is in excellent condition — the sunburst finish is bright and even, and the applied gold numerals and indices are all crisp and complete. The gilt hands have discoloured to a mottled coppery tone over much of their length, clearly visible in the close-up photos. The gold-plated case shows plating wear and brassing at the lug tips and case edges — visible in the photos — while the stainless steel back remains sharp with clear engraving. The acrylic crystal is clear. The tan crocodile-grain Nagata leather strap is brand new and still carries its retail tag.
This watch has recently been serviced by a professional watchmaker and keeps good time.
Comes with new Nagata leather strap included.
This watch ships from 🇺🇦 Ukraine with tracking number
Why Collectors Want This Watch Today
Westclox wristwatches survive in large numbers, but almost all of them are the everyday unjeweled pin-lever models — worn hard, rarely serviced, and often past saving. Most 17-jewel examples that come up for sale are in the same state — running roughly, or offered as projects. What is uncommon is one that has been through a watchmaker’s hands. For anyone who enjoys mid-century Americana — the company that woke America up with the Big Ben alarm clock, on your wrist — this is an affordable, characterful piece of American horological history, serviced and ready for daily wear.
Modes of payment:
- PayPal
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We guarantee the item you receive looks and works exactly as advertised — or your money back.
Lug width matched leather straps: 18mm - 19mm - 20mm
About the watch factory
The company that became the Western Clock Company was founded in 1885 in Peru, Illinois, around a patented method of die-casting clock movements that made accurate timekeeping radically cheaper to produce. By 1910 the factory beside the Illinois River was turning out clocks at a rate the industry had never seen, and the “Westclox” trade name — Western Clocks — went onto every dial. The Big Ben alarm clock of 1909 and the Baby Ben that followed became two of the best-selling timepieces in American history. From the 1930s Westclox put the same honest engineering on the wrist as part of the General Time family, with plants in Illinois, Georgia, Canada and Scotland. The Peru plant closed on 31 March 1980, a few years short of its centenary — which is why a clean, running mechanical Westclox is a small surviving piece of the company that told America the time.
