Lord Elgin and Lady Elgin Watches

From The American Horologist magazine, November 1937...

Elgin Presents Timepieces to Earl and Countess

"A gala program, broadcast on two continents, Thursday, Oct. 21st, introduced the new Lord and Lady Elgin Models.

"These watch represent the newest achievement in seven decades of American leadership in the industry. The Lord Elgin is a 21-jewel model and the Lady Elgin is a 19-jewel semi-baugette, the only watch of this type in the United States. The Lord Elgins sell from $50.00 and the Lady Elgins from $47.50.

"The Right Honerable the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, K.T., C.M.G., and his lady, the countess of Elgin and Kincardine, were the recipients of the first watches named in their honor. They were a gift from the city of Elgin, Illinois, named for the illustrious family of the present title-bearer. The watches were presented in silver boxes enscribed with the Elgin crest, in London England, by Mr. Francis Powell, president of london's American Chamber of Commerce.

"Through the facilities of the British Broadcasting Company, Trans-Atlantic Radio and the Columbia Broadcasting System, the dedication speech of T. Albert Potter, president of the Elgin Nation Watch Company, and the expression of gratitude by Lord Elgin was heard on 50 American stations. The program was climaxed by Lord and Lady Elgin setting their watches to the "time from the stars" tonebeat - exact to hundredths of a second - radio-transmitted from the Elgin National Watch Company Observatory at Elgin, one of the thee greatest observatories in the world.

"The American broadcast emenated from the Red Lacquer Room of the Palmer House, where several hundred civic leaders, wholesale distributors and company officials banqueted. Toastmaster Harry C. Daniels, president of Elgin's Association of Commerce, traced briefly the history of Elgin through the days of Chief Blackhawk, Joliet and Marquette, to the settlement along the river in 1935, the start by a handful of skilled workmen - of the Elgin National Watch Company and the founding, in 1865, of an industry that was to attain world renown."

More about Lord and Lady Elgin watches here and here...