1. Recommended: Grumpyguy’s pages on the Elgin 27 jewel (761 movement) and Lord Elgin 30 jewel (760 movement) watches are worth exploring. They include interesting photos of the watches, complete and disassembled, including case numbers and other information. Also unique photos of certain rare models.

2. Recommended: GeneJockey’s blog posts on Elgin automatics, including the early, circa 1950 “bumper automatics” and the technological aspects of Elgin’s American made 27 and 30 jewel automatics from 1959-1963, including a good explanation of why to avoid manually winding these watches using the crown.

3. Recommended: Jeff Sexton’s page on Elgin watches, which includes Elgin’s official Service Bulletin for the 27 and 30 jewel automatics (760/761 movements). Very useful information for watchmakers who do not have extensive experience servicing or repairing these watches.

4. Not recommended: Elgin.Watch . The owner repeats lazy myths like the example below. Dude, it’s not that hard… just search the same newspaper database where you found the picture of that watch to find the real story. And then to claim copyright © over a picture that Elgin created… 🤦‍♂️

Here’s the true story: “Thinline” was actually the third name used to market these watches, not the first:

There is also no evidence that Elgin stopped using the name “Thinline” due to pressure from Hamilton using the same name for its watches. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s database shows that Hamilton never had a trademark on “Thinline.” In addition, “Thinline” was occasionally used to advertise Elgin’s watches as late as June 1962 — almost the entire time these watches were being produced.

It is true is that Elgin reduced its use the name “Thinline” after 1959-60. The reason may have been to avoid confusion among its retailers and customers — or maybe as a courtesy to Hamilton, which at the time was both a rival (in selling high-end watches) and a partner (in trying to persuade the U.S. government to give the industry tariff relief). Hamilton had used “Thinline” in 1958, but then stopped using it in 1959, the year Elgin launched these watches. When Hamilton started using “Thinline” again in 1960, Elgin largely — but not entirely — stopped using that name.

During this time, “Thinline” was also the name of a widely-advertised line of General Electric air conditioners. Elgin may also have concluded that this name did not have a great connotation for a line of luxury watches.