In near pristine condition, and original even (We think) down to the strap, a lovely simple 5 Jewel watch in the earlier heavy chromed brass case - Working well, and keeping time.
The Ingersoll Watch Company was an American/British watch manufacturer.
The company was started when, in 1882, brothers Robert Hawley Ingersoll and Charles Henry Ingersoll started a mail order business in New York to sell low cost items. In 1892 the started supplying watches manufactured by the Waterbury Clock Company.
In 1896 Ingersoll introduced the Yankee watch which became better known as the dollar watch for it’s price tag of $1. The watches were mass produced, no jewels and stamped parts. They were cheap and became very popular and by 1899 were selling 8,000 watches per day and were available from some 10,000 dealers. By 1910, Waterbury Clock was manufacturing about 3.5 million watches per year.
In 1905, Ingersoll began selling in England with the Crown pocket watch. At the time a crown (five shillings) was equivalent to $1. The watches were eventually manufactured in Great Britain under Ingersoll Ltd.
Ingersoll purchased a bankrupt watch company in 1914 and manufactured their own models, making some 16,000 per day. In 1919 the Ingersoll Brothers created the World’s first luminous dial watch making the watch visible in the dark.
However, during the recession that followed World War II Ingersoll files for bankruptcy and was purchased by the Waterbury Clock Company for $1.5 million. After a management buyout in 1930, Ingersoll Ltd became a British-owned company.
The Waterbury Clock Company was renamed in 1944 to the United States Time Corporation, which is now Timex Group USA. They produced Ingersoll watches in America during the 1950’s.
Ingersoll Ltd continued on with its mixed fortunes. It joined with Smiths Industries and Vickers-Armstrong in 1946 to form the Anglo-Celtic Company based in Wales and the watches were branded as Ingersoll Triumph and Smiths Empire. Despite manufacturing over 30 million watches, the factory closed in 1980.