Elgin Grade 240

Manufacturer	Elgin
Grade Number	240
Railroad Grade?	Yes
Jewel Count	19J
Size	18
Beats Per Hour	18,000 bph
Winding Type	Pendent (crown)
Setting Type	Lever set
Hairspring Type	Breguet
Adjusted?	Yes
Functions	Central hours and minutes; small seconds at 6:00
Other Features	Jeweled safety barrel
Finishing	Nickel, damaskeening
Years of Production	1899~1912
Units Produced	~68,000
Country of Manufacture	Made in USA (Elgin, Illinois, USA)

The Elgin grade 240 is a 3/4 plate pocket watch movement in found in B.W. Raymond pocket watches, produced by Elgin between circa 1899 – 1912. This grade was manufactured in Elgin, Illinois, with approximately 68,000 movements made.

The 240 has 2 jewels more than a typical 17 jewels movement, thanks to the jeweled safety barrel aka motor barrel. This means the barrel arbor pivots were running in jewels to reduce friction and wear.

This grade is comparable to the higher priced Veritas line of Elgin pocket watches — and technically was marketed alongside the Veritas models, but is signed “B.W. Raymond”, rather than “Veritas”. The Veritas grades 239 and 214 have 21 and 23 rubies, respectively, with the additional stones being cap jewels.

As proclaimed on the balance cock, the 240 was adjusted at the factory for temperature, isochronism and positions.

Grade 240 powered watches are popular in the pocket watch collecting community and tend to be highly praised by collectors.

Patents:

• Safety barrel with spring box
• Recoiling click
• Self-locking setting device

Additional Resources

• Benjamin Wright Raymond Wikipedia page
• All about pocket watch sizes
• Shop vintage pocket watches