Fantastic 23 jewel Illinois Bunn Special 48Hr.

Top of the range 23 jewel railroad watch made by Illinois Watch Co. in 1922.
This is the scarce 48Hr. version of this watch of which only 13270 were made, the majority of 23j Bunns were the 60 Hr. version. A really high quality movement that features a fully capped Swiss lever escapement with double roller, Sapphire pallets, gold timing screws, sprung "Reed" regulator, a fully jewelled 48Hr. motor barrell, and Gold (alloy) train wheels. Beautifully finished with a lovely damascened pattern, gold jewel settings, and the Illinois trade mark plum coloured inlaid script.
This watch is in lovely condition as it's running strong in all positions whilst keeping excellent time withinn a few seconds per day. The movement is clean, bright and shiny, almost as new.
The watch is crown wind and lever set (withdraw the small lever by the 1 and rotate the crown to set the time.
Original 14K gold filled case fully signed "Bunn Special" inside the rear cover which sadly also sports some fairly amateurish engraving (see photo) along side the expected watchmaker marks, fortunately it's inside the case so out of sight. The 3 piece case has screw on / off covers front and rear. Both remove / replace easily and both close down square and tight. The exterior of the case is in nice condition with all of the gold bright and lustrous and with no apparent wear through. The rear cover has a couple of obvious scratches and in certain light conditions you can detect a couple of dings in the rear centre. Overall it's really nice original case.
The double sunk white enamel dial is in good order but does have a few light hairlines (see photo). In the hand these are not obvious and don't detract from it's appearance which is very good. All of the printing is in excellent order being very crisp and sharp.
A good set of plum coloured steel spade style hands indicate the time under a very good acrylic crystal.
Overall a highly collectible watch in lovely condition, fit to join any collection or to be used daily.