Canbys For Constantin

[GJH]

I decided to break out some Canbys to celebrate Constantin's first Illinois and really dig into them.
His Canby holds a little hidden secret.



The first thing I noticed about yours was that it is a Philadelphia case.
Most of Mine seem to Wadsworth.
The Canby came in a host of varieties and case materials. From Solid Gold to Gold Filled to Sterling.









Check out the Patina on this original Dial
I love Patina.



A Black Dial, not a lot of these around:



Here is an interesting one in Sterling:
(most likely a redial, but kinda cool)



Here is a unique Pinstripe version:





And a one of a kind Diamond Bezel... a little Canby "Bling"



They all have the workhorse 15J except one:



The Diamond Bezel was upgraded to a 19J



Now to that interesting "LUG" issue:

Some examples of the Canby have an incredibly unique lug system:
The lug has a swivel fixed spring bar attached to one side that poked into the
hole in the other side just like a regular spring bar.





The whole Lug actually screws out of the case:



Here is the threaded hole in the case...
A WILD design!



The variety of this watch is incredible and when Fred comes out with his new book, I am
sure we will get to see all the combinations offered in this simple, yet complex watch.

ENJOY~!

G

[GLADIATOR]

Let me first to say
FANTASTIC.
Lovely timepieces
Enjoy and enjoy THANKSGIVING with your lovely parents
A

[HamiltonIllinois]

Nice, I LOVE the pinstriped Butler Square dial!!! I wonder if it might have been made by Fluckinger like the similar dials in a few Hamilton models?

[Dave]

Who is the case maker of the case in the third case back photo? C.W.C.Co or O.W.C.Co?

P.S. I linked the Canby entry in the Illinois Photo Thread back to this page so anything you want to say about Canby, you can say it here and will be found.

[GJH]

Who is the case maker of the case in the third case back photo? C.W.C.Co or O.W.C.Co?

P.S. I linked the Canby entry in the Illinois Photo Thread back to this page so anything you want to say about Canby, you can say it here and will be found.

Hey Dave,
I believe it says SWCCO for Star watch case company.
Thanks for linking the thread!
G

Adam,
Happy Thanksgiving to you, glad you got home safely!
G

Rick,
I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by them... Just like the
Consul version!
Will see if I can look closer at it.
G

[Findingtime]

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. That swinging lug is great. I never noticed that before.

[indyago]

Those are super, Greg! I haven't ever seen the swivel lug like that. One question, is your black dialed version you show with the swivel lugs a Wadsworth? Did Wadsworth also have that lug feature? I didn't see photo of a Philadelphia case back in your post, so I am assuming both manufacturers did this?

[timeliz]

Greg,

Your post has been extra informative for me as I have one of these cases...

Right after acquiring it I was attempting to find a band that looked good with the case and in the process of fitting it
I managed to twist the lug. Bummer! So I very carefully twisted it back in position
and decided this case design had darn flimsy lugs and probably not something I'd wear much.
It has sat in a drawer since...until I read your post.

So out of the drawer it came to check whether mine screw in too and lo and behold the flimsy lugs are screw-ins!

So thank you Greg for your extra illuminating post!

Here's a shot of mine...

[GJH]

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. That swinging lug is great. I never noticed that before.

Thanks Adam!

Those are super, Greg! I haven't ever seen the swivel lug like that. One question, is your black dialed version you show with the swivel lugs a Wadsworth? Did Wadsworth also have that lug feature? I didn't see photo of a Philadelphia case back in your post, so I am assuming both manufacturers did this?

Yes that is a Wadsworth case, the Philadelphia case is in Constantin's thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3960

From looking at all the Canbys here, we can see that Star, Philadelphia and Wadsworth all made these cases!
Solid gold, Gold filled and Sterling, Wow!

Here is the Sterling by Wadsworth, note the different font.

Greg,

Your post has been extra informative for me as I have one of these cases...
Right after acquiring it I was attempting to find a band that looked good with the case and in the process of fitting it
I managed to twist the lug. Bummer! So I very carefully twisted it back in position
and decided this case design had darn flimsy lugs and probably not something I'd wear much.
It has sat in a drawer since...until I read your post.
So out of the drawer it came to check whether mine screw in too and lo and behold the flimsy lugs are screw-ins!
So thank you Greg for your extra illuminating post!
Here's a shot of mine...

Fantastic Liz!!!

Interesting design, huh?!?
Now these are cool and strange at the same time, I wonder how many folks couldn't
figure out this very strange design and even crazier, what happens if the springbar breaks?
I guess the only thing to do would be to drill the remaining lug out and fit a regular
springbar in there!

Yours is a beautiful example!!!!
Even Elgin got in the game with this watch.
Glad I could help.
G

[GJH]

Hey Constantin...
Don't know if you ever got to see the response to this
thread, but if you ever stop by here, say hello!
G