Elgin started it all back in 1946!

Rumours that Elgin were developing an electric watch prompted Hamilton into action and the rest is history with Hamilton releasing the World’s First Electric Watch in 1957…Elgin’s own electric watch didn’t appear until 1962.

There are three known Elgin Electronic calibres: the 722, 725 and 910 and much of the information about the calibres, and Elgin’s work in this area, has been kindly provided by John Runciman, FNAWCC of the Chapter 50 Puget Sound, NAWCC. I would not have been able to construct this section of the web site without his extensive knowledge and help.

The scan on the left is part of Patent 2,865,163 filed by Elgin on 15th April 1952 and shows a sketch of an electronic movement; this subsequently became Calibre 722.

Elgin’s own electronic calibres were not a commercial success and all were reported to have been scrapped by the factory…clearly some survived as shown by the photographs in the links on the left hand side. However Elgin continued to produce electronic watches but using a variety of movements from other manufacturers including the Junghans 600 and ESA 9157 transistorized movements. These are not nearly as interesting but you can see a couple by using the “Other Elgins” link on the menu above.