Kent
10-21-2005, 06:51 AM
Hi Jo:
Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!
The American Waltham Watch Co. (Waltham, MA) had its origins in the 1850's. It was the first successful company in America to manufacture watches in mass production using machinery to make identical (or at least, near identical) parts. Over the next hundred years or so of its existence, its output of jeweled watches (over 34 million) was only exceeded by one other company, the National Watch Co. at Elgin, IL. Commonly referred to as "Waltham," the company made a full line of watches ranging from modest, affordable watches to some of the finest watches made in this country. An 1884 article on the American Watch Co. (http://members.aol.com/gfrauen10/walthampage.html) is available on Greg Frauenhoff's website.
You can find out some basic facts about your Waltham watch by entering the serial number on the movement (the "works") in the field on the Serial Number link accessable from the NAWCC Information Storage (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/walsernum.htm) website. Don't use any commas in entering the serial number. There is also a Glossary (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/Glossary.htm) of the terms provided by the serial number lookup. Note: When a number appears by itself in the Comment Column, it is the page in the factory serial list where the entry and explaination appeared. i.e. "Comment 42" is on page 42 of “Serial Numbers With Description of Waltham Watch Movements,” Waltham Watch Co., Waltham, MA, 1954, (commonly referred to as "The Gray Book"). Or, a similar search may be done at the Swiss - Waltham Website (http://www.waltham.ch/cgi/waltham/search.asp). This website also has a short history of the American Waltham Watch Co. and other interesting information. But, as old ref::Tom McIntyre Pointed Out, more complete information is available at the NAWCC Information Storage website.
Should the date not be listed in the search of the NAWCC Information Storage - Waltham Serial Number Data Base, Oldwatch.com's Waltham Production Date Chart (http://www.oldwatch.com/walthamdate.html), or the PocketWatchSite's Waltham Date Table (http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/walthamserials.html) are a means for determining the approximate production date. In general, we think of serial number lists (not just for Waltham, but for other watch manufacturers as well) to only be accurate within a year or two at best, and recognize that there are numerous exceptions wherein which the dates may be off as much as 3 years or more.
Having checked serial number 7,210,661 at the above reference site, I can see that it is a small, modest ladies watch: a grade No. 60, Size 0, unadjusted, gilt, hunting-case movement of either 7 or 11 jewels, built in the mid-to-late 1890s. If the top plate of the watch just shows the polished 'cups' at the pivot holes, it is a 7-jewel movement. If you can see jewels mounted in the top plate, it is an 11-jewel movement.
Catalog Information for your Waltham movement, showing a brief description and where it fit in the Waltham line, can be seen online on page 191 of the 1896 Marshall Field Jewelry Catalog at:
www.elginwatches.com/scans/sales_catalogs/1896_Marshall_Field/m_index.html
To view, go to the Elgin Watch Collectors Site Home Page at elginwatches.com, then copy and paste the address in your browser's address bar and click on 'Go'.
Only a small percentage of American watches (or Swiss watches for the North American market) were cased at the factories prior to the mid-1920's (even then, uncased movements were furnished to the trade at least until the 1960's). Most watch companies just made movements (the "works") in industry standard sizes. The case companies made cases in those same sizes. The practice at that time was to go to a jeweler, select the quality of the movement and then pick out the desired style and quality of case. The jeweler would then fit the movement to the case in a matter of moments.
Or, watches were sold by mail-order. Large outfits such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, or T. Eaton (in Canada), would offer the movements in a variety of cases of different design and quality in their catalogs. Smaller mail-order retailers would case the watches, typically in a 20-year gold filled case and offer it only that way, with the buyer not having a choice of cases.
The case name "Orient" sounds familiar to me, but I can't pin it down. Perhaps somebody else can say who made it. It may only be gold-filled and not solid gold - but I can't be sure of this.
Your link didn't work too well. The best I could do find a picture of 4 dogs.
As it says in the upper left-hand corner of this page, we don’t provide timepiece values. However, knowing the proper description of your watch, by using a Google Search (http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en) you should be able to find similar watches offered by internet dealers, or on eBay, and see what they are selling for. Alternately, check the value in the "Complete Price Guide to Watches, No 25," C. Shugart, T. Engle and R. Gilbert, Cooksey Shugart Publications, Cleveland, TN, 2005. A new edition comes out each year in February. The book is available at libraries, at most major booksellers and online at the NAWCC Gift Shop (http://www.nawcc.org/giftshop/americart/bk_watch.htm). The No 24 (the 2004) edition is shown, but contact them and ask for No. 25. Condition matters!
Welcome to the NAWCC Pocket Watch Message Board!
The American Waltham Watch Co. (Waltham, MA) had its origins in the 1850's. It was the first successful company in America to manufacture watches in mass production using machinery to make identical (or at least, near identical) parts. Over the next hundred years or so of its existence, its output of jeweled watches (over 34 million) was only exceeded by one other company, the National Watch Co. at Elgin, IL. Commonly referred to as "Waltham," the company made a full line of watches ranging from modest, affordable watches to some of the finest watches made in this country. An 1884 article on the American Watch Co. (http://members.aol.com/gfrauen10/walthampage.html) is available on Greg Frauenhoff's website.
You can find out some basic facts about your Waltham watch by entering the serial number on the movement (the "works") in the field on the Serial Number link accessable from the NAWCC Information Storage (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/walsernum.htm) website. Don't use any commas in entering the serial number. There is also a Glossary (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/Glossary.htm) of the terms provided by the serial number lookup. Note: When a number appears by itself in the Comment Column, it is the page in the factory serial list where the entry and explaination appeared. i.e. "Comment 42" is on page 42 of “Serial Numbers With Description of Waltham Watch Movements,” Waltham Watch Co., Waltham, MA, 1954, (commonly referred to as "The Gray Book"). Or, a similar search may be done at the Swiss - Waltham Website (http://www.waltham.ch/cgi/waltham/search.asp). This website also has a short history of the American Waltham Watch Co. and other interesting information. But, as old ref::Tom McIntyre Pointed Out, more complete information is available at the NAWCC Information Storage website.
Should the date not be listed in the search of the NAWCC Information Storage - Waltham Serial Number Data Base, Oldwatch.com's Waltham Production Date Chart (http://www.oldwatch.com/walthamdate.html), or the PocketWatchSite's Waltham Date Table (http://www.pocketwatchsite.com/walthamserials.html) are a means for determining the approximate production date. In general, we think of serial number lists (not just for Waltham, but for other watch manufacturers as well) to only be accurate within a year or two at best, and recognize that there are numerous exceptions wherein which the dates may be off as much as 3 years or more.
Having checked serial number 7,210,661 at the above reference site, I can see that it is a small, modest ladies watch: a grade No. 60, Size 0, unadjusted, gilt, hunting-case movement of either 7 or 11 jewels, built in the mid-to-late 1890s. If the top plate of the watch just shows the polished 'cups' at the pivot holes, it is a 7-jewel movement. If you can see jewels mounted in the top plate, it is an 11-jewel movement.
Catalog Information for your Waltham movement, showing a brief description and where it fit in the Waltham line, can be seen online on page 191 of the 1896 Marshall Field Jewelry Catalog at:
www.elginwatches.com/scans/sales_catalogs/1896_Marshall_Field/m_index.html
To view, go to the Elgin Watch Collectors Site Home Page at elginwatches.com, then copy and paste the address in your browser's address bar and click on 'Go'.
Only a small percentage of American watches (or Swiss watches for the North American market) were cased at the factories prior to the mid-1920's (even then, uncased movements were furnished to the trade at least until the 1960's). Most watch companies just made movements (the "works") in industry standard sizes. The case companies made cases in those same sizes. The practice at that time was to go to a jeweler, select the quality of the movement and then pick out the desired style and quality of case. The jeweler would then fit the movement to the case in a matter of moments.
Or, watches were sold by mail-order. Large outfits such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, or T. Eaton (in Canada), would offer the movements in a variety of cases of different design and quality in their catalogs. Smaller mail-order retailers would case the watches, typically in a 20-year gold filled case and offer it only that way, with the buyer not having a choice of cases.
The case name "Orient" sounds familiar to me, but I can't pin it down. Perhaps somebody else can say who made it. It may only be gold-filled and not solid gold - but I can't be sure of this.
Your link didn't work too well. The best I could do find a picture of 4 dogs.
As it says in the upper left-hand corner of this page, we don’t provide timepiece values. However, knowing the proper description of your watch, by using a Google Search (http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en) you should be able to find similar watches offered by internet dealers, or on eBay, and see what they are selling for. Alternately, check the value in the "Complete Price Guide to Watches, No 25," C. Shugart, T. Engle and R. Gilbert, Cooksey Shugart Publications, Cleveland, TN, 2005. A new edition comes out each year in February. The book is available at libraries, at most major booksellers and online at the NAWCC Gift Shop (http://www.nawcc.org/giftshop/americart/bk_watch.htm). The No 24 (the 2004) edition is shown, but contact them and ask for No. 25. Condition matters!