History of the American Waltham Watch Company
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A A R O N L. DE NNIS ON T h e Fath e r of Inte rc h a nge ab le W a tc h Mate ria l . 1 01 C o pyrigh te d 1 b y H a z litt W ait e : INDE X . A e ric an H o ro o e C o . T h e m l g , A e ric a n W a tc C o a n T h e m h mp y, A ppleton , D a n ie l Fu ll er A t n pple o , T rac y 6: C o . A stronom ic a l O b se rva to ry Bake r , J a s. B r a tle tt, P . S . Bo t s on W atc h C o . , T h e Bu i in s C o n stru c tio n o f ld g , C h u rc h , Du ane H . C o re sse A ir Use o f mp d , e nniso n A a ron . D , L De a r t e nts O r a n iz a tio n o f p m , g u nc a n H . D , E First Divid e nd First W atch e s , T h e itc . C . F h , E Fo gg , C h a s . W . o ar u t e r G dd d , L h H ow a r w a r d , Ed d H u a r A . ll , Edg o an o n L g , J h M a rs a i S . h , D v d M a rs . A . h , E M a rsh , O live r Mo se le y , C h as . S . Nashu a W atc h Fac to ry , T h e t n a e s a nd H e n r Pi ki , J m y R ob b ins, R oya l R ob b ns R o a is a i , y l El h S e a r ae . h p d , J T S e rw oo . B . h d , N Stra tton . P . , N Trac y, Bake r 6: C o . W a t a Fac to r o c a tio n o f l h m y , L n W alth a m Imp ro veme t C o . W a rre n M f g. C o . , T h e W eb ste r A b ro se , m Woe r C a s V an e r d , h d A ILLUS T R T IONS . A p ple ton, Da nie l Fu lle r 44 A stro nomic a l C l oc k lib Ba ro me te r and Le ve l Te ste r 98 Ba rtlett, P. 8 . 74 Bo ston W a tc h C o . , Fa cto ry o f 17 C h ronograp h 101 C u rc u a n H . 60 h h , D e o C l ck R oom , S e ctio n o f 96 Denn son A a ro n . rontis ie c e 32 i , L F p , u nc a n H . D , E Eight- Day W atc h itc C . F h , E . Godd a rd W atc h H u ar A . ll , Edg Mars v S . h . Da id Ma rs A . h , E . Mosel ey, C h a s . S . o f O b servato ry, Inte rio r Ou te r Passage Pitkin W atc h R ob b ns R o a i , y l R ob b n R a is a i s. oy l El h S rw oo N . B. he d , W altham Facto ry in 1857 00 H I“ 1865 1870 1904 1905 Watch of 1500 Webster. A m b rose Wo rd C n r s . has. V a de F E W D OR OR . the o m Under title , Watch Fact ries of A erica , sixteen a T H E ye rs ago , the writer prepared a series of articles for M E R ICA E W E LE R A N J , and it was later published in book Th form . e edition was a limited one of one thousand copies o and the b ok has long been out of print , but the demand for it has been steadily going on . During the lapse of time new factories have been started and many of the old ones have failed and gone out of busi ness or been given a new lease of life under other names . Men w ho were then prominent in the trade have passed away and new men taken their places . Factories have been expanded , new machines and methods have taken the places ce of the old , and so great have been the changes taking pla that a new volume must needs take the place of the old to accurately chronicle the changes of sixteen years . This work presents nothing that is new or startling , but is c s simply a collection of fa ts , recorded in pre entable shape , in connection with the rise and development of one of the most marvelous growths of a mechanical business that the world has ever seen . In less than one hundred years this branch of industry has grown from the humble factory of Luther tw o Goddard of Shrewsbury , with its weekly product of w m W E c atches , to the ma moth altham and lgin fa tories , with their daily output of as many thousands of the finest productions of mechanical precision that has ever been seen . h Surely suc a development deserves a history . The first watches were made in 1500 in Nuremberg and h w o . ere r und , not oval , as has been erroneously stated T ey 9 E W D FOR OR . e m - of o the ff i e k rs w re ad { ir n ; sta s , pin ons , whe ls , coc s , pilla , l tes n n l f i Th e p a fa fi eve the dia being made o this mater al . fuzee was not em ployed until 1509 ; brass plates were sub ' stituted for iron ones in 1530 and oval or egg- shaped “ s ehes n w N r in f vat , k o n as u emberg eggs , came into vogue In 1570 watches of hexagonal and octagonal shape b to be fashionable and in 1575 the mechanism for tak " egan ing up the mainspring w as first applied . It w as not until 1 8 h the hm 5 7 t at Swiss began the industry of watc aking, A W 11100 atc h 01 . and the fuzee chain was the first important m h n t e 1 0 ade by t at a ion , it being inv nted by Cruet in 59 , h u not n 1600 c t o gh ge erally used until , a catgut ord being e u t h i of fi employ d p o t is t me . Watch crystals glass were rst made in 1615 ; enamel dials were invented in 1635. The a r w as 16 6 the b lance sp ing invented in 7 , minute mechanism d 168 fi and han in 7, and watch jewels and the rst keyless w The atches did not make their appearance until 1700. E W D FOR OR . I " 1 es compensation balance was invented in 749 , the duplex ca em ent 1 0 1 60 p in 75 , the chronometer escapement in 7 and 1 the lever escapement in 765. The very thin watches of e fi 1 6 Lepin were rst marketed in 77 , the helical balance spring and the seconds hand were first used in 1780 From the above it will be seen that important rudimentary inventions in connection with the watch were not of Ameri s - can origin , and even the thin watche in favor to day were 1 6 put upon the market as early as 77 , when this country was fi still ghting for its independence . n the What , the , have we done in watchmaking line that the people of other countries have not done ? We have im o e pr v d upon the inventions of the European , have made a watch so w ell that the people of the world demand and use it , have placed them on the market so cheap in price that the m av h e laborer possess them , and , above all , ave made th m interchangeable so that a part may be taken from one watch and placed in another without changing it in any way and both watches give perfect results . Aside from this , we have o S invented new f rms of prings , more perfect balances , safety and to pinions devices too numerous mention . While the makers of Europe were having their trains made by one m an h or family , their balances by anot er, their assembling e e don in one house and their adj usting done in anoth r , we have been erecting modern factories in which the w atch was manufactured complete and ready to be placed upon the market , a monument to American genius . Lepine made w atches as thin as any now in the market and various S w iss makers have turned out watches as small or " smaller than any we now make , but , alas their useful ness was in doubt , for as timekeepers they were failures , and not being made on the interchangeable plan , it cost about as much to repair one as it did to purchase a new m ovement .